|
|
Post by Jean Luc de Lemur on Feb 22, 2019 0:47:04 GMT -5
Lupin III Part V: The big review thread
I expected from Part V basically an extension of Part IV—after all, the look is the same, and it would apparently be sharing a country-based theme: this time switching Italy (in at least partial homage to Miyazaki and Cagliostro) for France (in honor of the original character), to go along with the fiftieth anniversary of the Lupin franchise. I expected basically more of the same—a very well-crafted, but also somewhat lightweight, addition to the franchise, one that tries to keep the series contemporary while trying to elide its dated aspects as best it can (as opposed to The Woman Called Fujiko, Jigen’s Gravestone, and the recent, as-yet-unseen-by-me Goemon film, which take an explicitly retro/period approach). After all, Part IV was apparently a success (I have my critiques but I enjoyed it very much) and the new series is basically keeping the same look, down to the blue jacket. Why mess with success? Luckily, Part V seems to be going for a more varied approach. It’s also going for a more stylistically-distinct one, too—rather than just one series-long arc, we’re getting more variety per season, with shorter arcs and even big stylistic changes from arc to arc. So here we start with Lupin III Part V: Episode 1 which consists of the first five small-e episodes: Lupin III Part V: “Episode I” (episodes 1-5)
Let’s talk about tone some more. Since Cagliostro, or arguably even since “Rescue the Tomboy!” all the way back in the first series there’s been a theme as a true gentleman-thief, chivalrously rescuing some young, innocent girl as a means of giving the character a bit of extra moral high ground and to provide a jolt of melodrama. There’s Fujiko, of course, but she’s bad, and her relationship with Lupin is always going to be by nature and necessity unresolvable, whereas with girls-of-the-installment a (chaste) resolution is possible. Of course, these girls being good doesn’t mean they’re unproblematic—even Rebecca in the last series, who had a far more agency than most previous such characters, ultimately ended up dull and well-behaved in the end. Of course, that’s what that story structure became—it didn’t start out that way. Scratch not too deep in Cagliostro and you have a pretty disturbing story of lust, and not just from the vile titular count—although I’ve Lupin’s relationship with Clarisse often described as “paternal” there’s definitely more than that in his final hug, and when he pushes her away it’s for both of their sakes—that’s why Cagliostro has a power that later stories lack. Right underneath the fairytale exterior is a very Monkey Punch-ish story of greed, revenge and sex, only the leads manage to escape the cycle rather than reveling in their lowness. Later Lupin stories lack that, well, punch, following the form of Cagliostro but not its content. Part V turns this old formula somewhat on its head. The female guest lead is a young, approximately Clarisse-aged (so about sixteen) hacker girl, Ali, but to the story’s told more from her point-of-view than usual for such a character. This has obvious story advantages since it keeps us a bit in the dark about Lupin and co.’s plans: necessary since you know he gets out of various cliffhangers, and seeing more of the story from an external character’s POV helps keep the balance between leaving the audience breadcrumbs (so the solution isn’t pulled out of thin air) and impressing with the prestige. The computer stuff in the first episode is somewhat hokey in details—the usage of “dark web” reminds me a bit of my mother’s (she was worried I was “involved in The Dark Web” when I mentioned that my copy of A Charlie Brown Christmas came from the internet), and her life story is fairly unbelievable, if it matters. The point is, though, that she’s a recluse, tired of a constantly-online life (to the point of a subdermal implant), takes advantage of Lupin’s invitation for a heist of a Silk Road-type marketplace as an opportunity to test out life outside. And that includes taking a look at Lupin’s life, in particular his love life or lack thereof. There’s long been something contradictory about this with Lupin, part of the have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too appeal—he cuts a dashing figure, but he’s nearly always unlucky in love. He brags about his sexual conquests, but Ali asks him who he’s sleeping with and he can’t answer. There’s blunt, analytical naïveté from Ali that helps shine a light on these ambiguities, allowing them to propel the story without blowing them up too much (although it has the odd side effect of Ali being a less realistic person than our near-superheroic gentleman-thief). Fujiko makes a dramatic appearance, but there’s no jealousy on her part and again more curiosity on Ali’s—unlike early in the first series, where they were ambiguously together, now they’re ambiguously separated. We get out melodrama, but it’s between Lupin and Fujiko as seen through Ali’s eyes—a much better solution than the usual shunting of Fujiko off to the side. As noted above, while the computer stuff and hacker aspects of Ali are a bit hokey, the counter-scheme devised by their adversaries certainly isn’t. They organize a human flesh search engine to find Lupin, essentially gamifying Lupin sitings around the globe and using them to hunt him down. This also points to another one of those little longstanding contradictions—Lupin’s a master of disguise who almost always chooses to wear the same thing—and shows how the environment of previous series no longer holds and that our leads have to find new ways to . Even a souped-up Fiat 500 ends up crashed, temporarily replaced by a Tesla. Recommended. While the Episode (i.e. the sequence of five episodes) wraps up fairly neatly, it’s a satisfying appetizer for the series to come. And that Lupin can stay fresh in the twenty-first century. Stray observations• Kiyoshi Kobayashi is still voicing Jigen. He’s great as always, but damn it feels a bit too real when you hear his voice coming from Jigen’s old man disguise. • One place where the show does go for total sixties is in the final sequence, which is like the opening to a Bond film. Next week is on to the next episode/set of episodes—and despite my praise for how the series was updated here, they’re going for a sort of anniversary throwback…to Pink Jacket. Good thing I like that series more than most.
|
|
|
|
Post by Jean Luc de Lemur on Mar 1, 2019 1:08:08 GMT -5
Lupin III Part V: “Lupin vs. the smart safe” (episode 6)
Here we have our homage to Pink Jacket Lupin and…it hits directly at my issues with how that series is remembered. While the Pink Jacket series does get almost this goofy, and at least half as goofy of this pretty regularly, it still gets the tone wrong. There’s a drive to most Pink Jacket episodes that’s lacking here—the situation may be cartoonish, but Lupin generally remains less on the comic side and keeps his determined edge sharp, as opposed to here where it is literally blunted: Lupin needs to crack a safe in order to help two kids out, but the safe can only be unlocked by registering a low score on an electronic brain scan. The chosen solution: blows to the head. While the basic setup might find its way into Pink Jacket, this zany scheme would be less typical. The series’s flaw was one of competence—the plots were comic actioners, but rarely much more…or less. Additionally, they arrived at head trauma as a solution after toying with an earlier idea: nothing makes a (hetero) man stupider than a nude women, so doesn’t Fujiko… WHOMP!. I knew I forgot something when writing my Pink Jacket review, and it was that missing from the series—the sort of sexual slapstick that pops up constantly in Red Jacket. So in a sense Pink Jacket is again looked over (though to be fair Lupin III Part II was large and varied enough to warrant two homages). Beyond a historiographical critique, though, how does this episode hold up? Fairly successfully—I feel like “it achieves what it’s trying to do” is sort of my default “it’s okay” phrase, but that means a bit more here. A lot of the elements that you find in the more ridiculous seventies and eighties Lupin episodes—the ridiculous inventions, the bizarre plans, the Lupin’s louche streak, the resolution hinging on a Japanese pun or aphorism that left unsure whether it doesn’t quite translate or just isn’t that well-constructed—are all here. But it all works as an episode of modern TV in terms of production value and pacing, and even that climactic hinging joke is such a groaner it’s hard not to laugh along. And, despite the reintroduction Lupin’s over-the-top lust for Fujiko, part of the reason it works is because the story uses her well, making her a full partner and the instigator, rather than the butt of, a lot of the jokes. Many of this episode’s inspirations haven’t aged well because, not in spite of, their humor, and the fact that “Lupin vs. the smart safe” actually works—“achieves what’s in trying to do”—in 2019 is a small miracle. So it’s recommended—still not quite my thing, but a fine breather between the big arcs of the series. Stray observations: • Character designs stay consistent with the rest of Part V through the retro interludes, which is nice because they’re not only good character designs but, in this case, highlight how good Pink Jacket’s color palette really was.
• There’s also a bit of Cagliostro homage in the use of bandaged Lupin, which might be the most-referenced moment in the whole franchise. Next week I look at big-E Episode II, consisting of small-e episodes seven through ten. |
|
|
|
Post by Jean Luc de Lemur on Mar 7, 2019 23:56:44 GMT -5
One week delay on this review; next week will cover both big-E “Episode II” (little-e episodes 7-10) and episodes 11 and 12, both of which feature Lupin in the red jacket again.
|
|
|
|
Post by Jean Luc de Lemur on Mar 28, 2019 22:31:20 GMT -5
Lupin III Part V: “Episode II” (episodes 7-10)
“Episode I” essentially brings us up to speed: we haven’t seen Lupin in a while, so we get something of an outside view, with a lot of the episode coming from Amy’s point of view and allowing for a more gentle reintroduction to the character, and some of his more complex relationships—there’s the big one, with ethics, but also with characters who have an existence more independent of Lupin, i.e. Zenigata and Fujiko. It eases old fans into this Lupin’s world (and how it changed for this iteration), and should help newcomers adjust to the norms of it. We’re up to speed now, though, and this sequence of episodes essentially comprises a short, non-stop action film. It starts fairly quietly, though: our first MacGuffin is actually an F for Fake-style art forgery story which quickly turns into one of corruption in the French police and security services, going all the way to the top of the DGSE (Direction générale de la sécurité extérieure, essentially the French CIA and similarly shady). And the almost preternatural abilities we’ve come to know from Lupin, Jigen, and Goemon are found in the French security state, too—the story turns from forgery to corruption when our second Maguffin, a notebook containing a records of corruption in the French security and police services. And written on its side is a name: Albert. Albert, it turns out, is a former thief gone straight, an old partner of Lupin’s who joined the DGSE. Making a new character was a smart decision—he has the official sanction and professional tension of Zenigata, but the wiliness and some of the personal tension of Fujiko. Indeed, Albert’s the first non-stereotypical gay character in the show, and while there isn’t necessarily heat between the two characters they definitely have a chemistry that we nearly never see beyond the regulars—and, given their easy familiarity, is sometimes even lacking between them. Albert brings an unpredictability that we wouldn’t necessarily get with, say, Fujiko (who sometimes cooperates or does outside work for intelligence agencies—and notably doesn’t appear in this story). It’s also much more clearly implied here for us in the West that Lupin name is a title, akin to how Japanese craftsmen take up the name of their masters (many thanks to patthemoron for pointing this out to me). Albert could have just have easily been Lupin III instead (and our Lupin could have ended up Albert, maybe a little homage to the Bondian inspiration of the original manga and first series; Albert does first appear in a green suit to boot). This means that Lupin can’t be one step ahead—he’s finally matched in guile. While there’s a great deal of suspense in the build-up and it’s amazing watching Lupin and Albert’s dynamic unfold, the problem is giving Lupin his match in cleverness also means that cleverness is mostly off the table as a means of resolving the main story. Now, the DGSE is an ideal state actor for Lupin to go up against—it has been associated with everything from killing civilians of allied countries, corporate espionage and getting mixed up with electoral politics (much as you’d expect from an organization whose motto is “Partout où nécessité fait loi”—“Whatever necessity makes law”). And it’s not just Albert who’s special—pretty much every one in law enforcement we meet in this serial has some kind of special skill, so it’s not just Lupin vs. a bunch of mooks. It’s that last one which provides the deeper meaning of the story, pairing higher-ups in the French security state with a Jean-Marie LePen-esque political candidate. But it has little relevance to the actual storyline, a clear attempt at trying to make this story relevant. And I can see why they did that—again, the presence of Albert means we can’t relish Lupin being two steps ahead as usual, so once our players are all lined up the only way to resolve it is via brute force. The DGSE has contracted out its dirty work to a set of colorful criminals, so we get the Lupin and company going up against a group of eccentric, somewhat trope-y assassins and having to dispatch them. They’re good matches for our leads and the fights are well-animated, certainly, but for all the care put into crafting maguffins it’s a bit of a shame we don’t get much more than a series of boss battles. The “important” background doesn’t play a role. Oddly, maybe a story that just went for amoral action would have avoided feeling a bit empty at its climax. Nonetheless, I’d still stamp this as Highly recommended—the big peak of the climatic serial’s climatic arc can’t quite match its build-up, that build-up’s quite good and provides more than enough energy and characterization (even in the fight scenes) to carry it through. Stray observations• I mentioned the divergence between the more all ages-oriented Part IV and more sex and violence-filled Woman Called Fujiko and more all ages-friendly Part IV my review of Blood Seal-Eternal Mermaid . This series undoes that—while the first was definitely a bit more intense, here there’s a legit bodycount. People shoot to kill. And bleed, though not as much as Blood Seal, though that also makes this iteration less cartoonish (in a good way). • Department of WTF: after dispatching with the penultimate boss, Lupin says something cryptic about his grandfather being avenged. • Incidentally this has nothing to do with the Spain caper teased at the end of Episode I, nor did the previous “Pink Jacket” episode or anything in between. No complaints, but it’s slightly odd given the continuity between the big-E Episodes that they’d have that. • Auto spotting: DGSE honchos—including Albert when we first meet him—get around in Citroën C6’s, which have a reputation as officialdom’s vehicle of choice. Jigen and Goemon are in a first-generation Mercedes 300SL roadster, maybe an homage to Ascenseur pour l'échafaud? Lupin’s also gifted a replacement for his old vintage Fiat 500 at the end of the series: Next week I’ll look at the two (have to be two, given the length and nostalgic importance of the series) Red Jacket episodes: “Get Pablo's Collection” and “The Extravagance of Goemon Ishikawa III.”
|
|
|
|
Post by Jean Luc de Lemur on May 31, 2019 0:53:34 GMT -5
Lupin III Part V: “Get Pablo’s Collection” (episodes 11)
Hm. After an arc without Fujiko, we get an episode quasi-centered on her. And it’s not centered on any Fujiko we know. Well, it kind of is—this episode is something of an homage to the…hm, less extraordinary but nonetheless fondly remembered, let’s diplomatically say…episodes of the Red Jacket series. Fujiko was not always well-served in those episodes—getting herself into some kind of trouble, only to require Lupin to rescue her—but she was never this bad. She’s both uncharacteristically unclever (not even knowing the value of Pablo’s titular collecxtion) and exaggeratedly girly, as if to drive home that she’s only there because Lupin lusts after her (and he’s very grabby here, in an episode that aired in 2018 CE), as evidenced by her outfit. This episode actually ends up worse than your typical Red Jacket episode—even there when Fujiko was a fashion plate she was still capable of kicking ass and taking names. So this rings very false, and frankly makes the episode nearly-unwatchable. One of the strengths of the second series, though, was to have one nugget of goodness that makes it memorable. “Get Pablo’s Collection” follows the slightly scattershot structure of a lot of Red Jacket episodes (particularly after Seijun Suzuki came onto the production team), as well as its willingness to abandon all expectations of suspension of disbelief. That leads to a really superb middle sequence, though: a supercar race (with Lupin driving a Lamborghini Countach, appropriately for an homage to the late seventies) deep in the Brazilian rainforest. That’s not enough to carry the episode, though. It’s a shame the all-round high production quality was put to work in service of something not just bad, but purposely so. This is the first of the series so far (and only, at least ass far far I’ve watched ahead) I would not recommend. Stray observations• As long as I’m critiquing Fujiko-related things, I have to admit I dislike the translation of “Fujiko-chan” as “Fujicakes”—it just reads dumb, English is poor in diminutives, and if I’m watching with subs I can hear “Fujiko-chan” anyway and get the meaning, even with zero Japanese knowledge. • Unlike the other retro-inspired episodes, “Get Pablo’s Collection” has a little intro with Lupin, Goemon, and Jigen in their Blue Jacket dress, reminiscing on a heist of the past. • The constant wardrobes of the male leads gets lampshaded when Jigen tells Fujiko he always wears an outfit of the same design, just with different materials. “The Extravagance of Goemon Ishikawa III” (episode 12)
While the first of the red jacket episodes is framed explicitly as a throwback, beginning with Lupin, Jigen, and Goemon in their blue jacket-era garb sharing a meal (an homage to “Albatross: Wings of Death”). This one takes place in the series’s present day—here the change is jacket isn’t so much an excuse to make a bad episode indulge in a bit of nostalgia but rather as an excuse to take things a bit easy before we return to the main action with the more intense “Episode 3.” It’s also our big Goemon-goes-it-alone story for the season (or at least its first half)—while Goemon’s solo stories often lean into the opportunities for violence (a recent special was entitled The Blood splatter of Ishikawa Goemon) and Goemon’s combination of serious demeanor, swordsmanship, and social awkwardness meant that episodes that focused on him in the Red Jacket series were often among the more intense, although this can sometimes verge into unintentionally self-parodic territory. This episode wisely avoids that, though, by placing Goemon in a position where his swordsmanship, and the martial aspect of his honor, are largely useless. The humor comes from putting Goemon where he’s less-than-comfortable: he’s looking for a gem in a tourist trap town having some kind of cosplay festival. It sounds lack a hacky concept—and I was less-than-fond of the last series’s otaku episodes ( “High School Undercover!” and “From Japan with Love”), but it works here because Goemon’s understated nature puts him at odds with his surroundings. And that includes an infatuation with the girl who might be his target, or he might have to protect. Goemon’s been well-used this series in part because he’s used fairly sparingly, and often as a sort of taciturnly wry observer, and that’s essentially what he does here, really—much of his time is spent waiting, guarding, and observing. But it’s worth praising the show for its ability to languid and subdued well. That’s not the whole episode, of course, and Lupin plays an effective foil to Goemon, both energetic and at ease with himself. And women—this might be one of the few times, if not the first, time we’ve seen a Lupin side chick in the series. Donning the Red Jacket provides more than a break in the narrative. Next week (or thereabouts) we’ll look at the next arc, “Episode 3,” spanning from episodes thirteen to sixteen.
|
|
|
|
Post by Jean Luc de Lemur on Sept 13, 2019 0:56:42 GMT -5
Stray announcementLupin III Part V has gotten dub that people who follow Lupin are actually enjoying, which is noteworthy, and is airing on Toonami, i.e. broadcast TV. “ Episode 3” (episodes 13-17) Highly Recommended, with the rec. coming up here because it’s hard to review this without spoilers. Given my big time gap in watching, though, I’ve seen this sequence of episodes twice and it does hold up once you know what’s going to happen, mostly, because the meat of the story’s not in the blow-by-blow of the plot, at least until the final episode of the sequence, which doesn’t really stick the landing.  Two general aims in this series: a broader world, and a more contemporary one. While Part IV went for specificity—Italy, the Renaissance, journeys to the center of the mind— Part V is taking the opposite tack, going for wider relevance and putting Lupin into new situations, both chronologically and literally (although there’s been a certain amount of “tech” in Lupin since Miyazaki’s “First move wins the computer operation”, I don’t think it’s ever been as embraced as here, even if he become more comfortable with it through the late eighties and nineties). In addition to this thematic extension there’s an emotional extension too. This is partly being done the old-fashioned way, by introducing a character that can interact with Lupin outside the constraints of his regular gang (and Zenigata)—that’s Ami (meant to be a bit like “Amy,” though Lupin, highlighting the pun in her name, calls her “amie”). Ami’s better-developed than previous guest characters, though—by this episode she gets her own friend, Dolma, and to a large degree this is Dolma and Ami’s story. Dolma is the heir to the throne of a Himalayan country, Padar, a sort of Nepal/Bhutan/Tibet analogue: the political instability of the first, the cultural milieu of the second, the religion and surveillance state of the third. Dolma gets enmeshed in a struggle over Padar’s future, pitting her in a muddy struggle between her father and multinational Huawei/Google analogue ShakeHanz (transcribed in subtitles as “Shake Hands,” but really if such a company existed it would be spelled ShakeHanz) and traditionalists led by the Buddhist clergy in concert with the army and gendarmerie, with Dolma and her quasi-rogue CIA handler Ugo in the middle. The civil conflict provides an excellent set of maguffins to get the story moving and our characters in their places, or rather it does for the for the first three episodes. The concluding episode is largely concerned with finishing up the Dolma-Ugo-Padar plot. It’s a bit too confident in the power of radical transparency, in a way that actually makes the episode feel dated (this could have worked in 2015, but it certainly feels naïvely idealistic now), giving all the tech-y stuff a “trying too hard” feel. And actually trying to resolve the civil conflict is just too much to ask of the finale, revealing the wisdom of the more typical choice of letting our protagonists use the chaos to their own advantage (the thefts in Lupin are usually maguffins, but the jewel heist is almost completely forgotten in this arc). A bigger issue, though, is that the political plot centers Dolma and Ugo, whose characters are less well-sketched than the leads, particularly Lupin and Fujiko (with Ami serving as something of a chorus for them). This is a continuation of the plot thread from the first episode—we mainly see Fujiko through Ami’s point-of-view, and it’s implied that Lupin and Fujiko had some kind of falling out. Indeed, the show leans into them having been in a capital-R Relationship. That’s never really been implied before, but it’s a nice change and allows for the writers to draw from a broader emotional palette. There’s an intimacy and tenderness we usually don’t get from these characters, and we really haven’t seen between the two since “An Assassin sings the blues” back in 1971. Indeed, the climax of the Lupin-Fujiko plot, where Lupin’s injured and Fujiko needs to give some impromptu medical care, is a role-reversed homage to that episode. Even the bit of nudity in the episode is in the context of affection, not titillation (Ami sees a bit, but Fujiko’s facing away from the audience). Ami’s arc with Fujiko is largely about her gaining respect for her; it’s the writers’ arc as well. All of this is in the context of a propulsive, exciting, and ingenious plot. The characters are all well-used, even if only in small pieces (Albert’s there, for instance, but mainly in France watching over the situation in Padar as an effective exposition delivery device and breather from the main action). Even if there’s a bit of confusion and convenience to the ending, there aren’t any punches pulled—as noted above, Lupin’s seriously injured, and the episode does not shy away from making it clear that enacting a coup is bloody business. The intensity of Episodes I and II continues here, and picks up in pace—the fact that the action plot is so well woven together with the character threads is probably why I was let down a bit by how it’s the main storyline’s tied up, though the trip’s exciting enough to retrace. As for the Lupin-Fujiko plot, it also reverts to status quo by the end, but making the journey there feel natural—even with all the drama of the plot—might be this episode’s best achievement. Stray observation—Is the Lupin-Fujiko balloon heist a flashback or a quasi dream/fantasy sequence? On first watch I thought the former, on second, though, it felt a bit more like the latter, or rather a sort of idealized and embellished memory. Next week we are “Introducing Detective Jim Barnett III” and lose “Fujiko's Souvenir.”
|
|
|
|
Post by Jean Luc de Lemur on Oct 3, 2019 22:26:02 GMT -5
Ahhh, it appears like my last upload was flagged for nudity—and for once it’s Lupin himself! Hah, I didn’t even notice, nevertheless… “Introducing Detective Jim Barnett III" (17) I was very excited for this episode—after all, I adore the original Green Jacket show, and I’d heard good things about the big anniversary homage for this season. Unfortunately, that homage, “Is Lupin still burning?”, is an OVA, not part of this series. “Introducing Detective Jim Barnett III” is their Green jacket “homage,” and it’s…really not. It’s more taking advantage of the Green jacket being from a long time ago and going for a drawing-room mystery (indeed, the story’s almost more an homage to a storytelling style I associate more with the 1930s, not the 1960s—perhaps it’s worth noting that green suit jackets saw their sales high water mark in 1939). There might be some tenuous thread of connection with “Danger of a rainy afternoon,” which also features a mansion, a murder and a jewel, but that’s about it. It’s really barely a Lupin episode at all, beyond the fairly stock Lupin forges-a-(chaste)-connection-with-a-young-woman bit there’s barely much to identify this as a Lupin III story—hell, he’s even not operating under his own name (and he’s the only regular to appear). There’s nothing wrong or bad with this episode, just nothing to really recommend, either. And that, combined with a very busy/preoccupied real life, is why I fell so off-schedule. Stray observations: Is this the only time we’ve seen Lupin in a repp tie? I’m also kind of surprised by the glasses—although they are very 1960s, they’re also much thicker than the oft-referenced glasses he wore all the way back in Introducing Goemon XIII. Recommended? It’s completely inessential. “Fujiko’s souvenir" (18) And we’re back to the Blue Jacket. The other-colored-jacket episodes provide a bit of a breather from the main storyline, tapping into the lighter aspects of previous Lupin series. Here we get the same, but with the blue jacket. It’s fitting for two reasons: “Fujiko’s souvenir” is in many ways an epilogue to Lupin and Fujiko’s plot in “Episode III,” and the like the rest of Part V it’s focused on taking Lupin stories to new places. In this case, that new place is the bathroom. Their hideout apartment’s toilet isn’t working, and Lupin, Jigen and Goemon quickly realize it’s because Fujiko hid some loot in there. That’s not quite what I mean by “new place”—much as we saw Fujiko reveal her feelings about lupin in “Episode III,” here we get a better view of Lupin’s vulnerability to her. There’s a bit of the stock comedy of Lupin being over-his-head at the prospect of sex, with Jigen and Goemon tut-tutting in the background, but when Lupin’s alone with Fujiko we see him drunk, actually drunk and shit-faced. Is that the first time we’ve seen Lupin like that? It’s an odd thing to see, honestly—I don’t think the original Arsène Lupin ever had such vulnerability, and the more direct influence of Bond, while a drinker, is rarely drunk. Lupin’s always been a bit of a have-it-both-ways parody of that sort of masculine species of action adventure—a bit of a sendup (gets by the skin of his teeth, constantly rejected, a bit funny looking) but fully adept (obviously skilled and athletic), but it’s odd to see the adept side of the mask fall so completely off. And there’s a bit of mask-slipping for Fujiko as well—she’s carrying on an act for much of the episode as well, but without giving too much away she’s doing the opposite of what would be expected of her in one of these sorts of episodes episodes. Another mask—it’s a silly little episode, the sort I’d usually find almost obnoxious in its use of hoary Lupin tropes, but there’s a legit core to this story that makes it work. Actual masks play a role, too—this being their hideout, any interaction with the outside has to be mediated from behind disguised voices and old-man masks. When Goemon—craving Soba noodles—attracts Zenigata, we also get a bit of farce with a disguised Lupin having to placate the inspector’s appetite (and ego) while simultaneously dealing with Fujiko. So there’s a bit of everything: bathroom humor, farce, Geomon’s cultural persnicketiness, and well-worn but comfortable interactions, whatever makes you laugh (or not). But this time underpinned on a stronger emotional foundation, making it a bit more rewarding than your standard light comedy episode. Recommended
Next week the final standalone episodes of the series and two focusing on supporting characters: first Jigen finds himself facing “A 7.62mm Mirage” and then we’re introduced to “Zenigata, Gentleman Thief.” |
|
moimoi
AV Clubber 
Posts: 5,003 
|
Post by moimoi on Apr 13, 2020 12:57:35 GMT -5
|
|
moimoi
AV Clubber
Posts: 5,003
|
Post by moimoi on Apr 29, 2020 22:15:10 GMT -5
Okay, I finished the first 5 episodes of this series and I really liked it! Ami is a fun new character and a good addition to the team for the reasons you outlined. I found the 'dark web' villains and the gaming aspect amusing - especially since the world of European aristocracy and gentleman thieves is long gone. One thing I found interesting (though I don't know if it goes anywhere) is that when Ami is on the ground laughing after nearly getting killed, there's a closeup where she looks and even sounds a bit a like Fujiko. The way I interpret that whole dynamic is that Lupin and Fujiko have a long history, but ultimately can't make it work because she's complicated and damaged (I'm only a couple episodes into A Woman Called... but I think that's where it's headed) while he's intentionally, self-consciously happy-go-lucky. I think when Lupin hears Ami's story, he concludes that he doesn't want her to turn out damaged and so he tries to give her something different. It's not that he's attracted to Ami in a sexual conquest kind of way or even a Daddy Long Legs way...though I could see things going Gigi at some point...it's that he wants to give her the kind of uncomplicated happiness or normalcy he can't seem to give Fujiko. |
|
moimoi
AV Clubber
Posts: 5,003
|
Post by moimoi on May 1, 2020 18:19:42 GMT -5
Lupin III Part V: “Episode II” (episodes 7-10) Albert, it turns out, is a former thief gone straight, an old partner of Lupin’s who joined the DGSE. Making a new character was a smart decision—he has the official sanction and professional tension of Zenigata, but the wiliness and some of the personal tension of Fujiko. Indeed, Albert’s the first non-stereotypical gay character in the show, and while there isn’t necessarily heat between the two characters they definitely have a chemistry that we nearly never see beyond the regulars—and, given their easy familiarity, is sometimes even lacking between them. Albert brings an unpredictability that we wouldn’t necessarily get with, say, Fujiko (who sometimes cooperates or does outside work for intelligence agencies—and notably doesn’t appear in this story). It’s also much more clearly implied here for us in the West that Lupin name is a title, akin to how Japanese craftsmen take up the name of their masters (many thanks to patthemoron for pointing this out to me). Albert could have just have easily been Lupin III instead (and our Lupin could have ended up Albert, maybe a little homage to the Bondian inspiration of the original manga and first series; Albert does first appear in a green suit to boot). This means that Lupin can’t be one step ahead—he’s finally matched in guile. Stray observations• Department of WTF: after dispatching with the penultimate boss, Lupin says something cryptic about his grandfather being avenged. Episode 6 is soooo silly I couldn't help but like it. As for Episode/Arc 2, it has lots of fun action, though I was less interested in the story than with Episode 1. As you point out, it's more 'dudes fighting' without any sort of overarching theme...unless you read in a little bit. Hear me out here: what if Albert is related to Lupin? Perhaps a half brother? That would explain why he'd have equal claim to the title "the 3rd" and their whole ambivalently affectionate dynamic (better than gay subtext, anyway). Wouldn't it make sense for Lupin's first partner to be family? It would also explain a little better why such a masterful thief as Albert (who knows Lupin's methods so well) would go straight without making any attempt to capture Lupin nor with Lupin coming after him, and why their partnership/rivalry seems so much more personal than with the rest of the gang - even Fujiko. But why don't they say this at any point? When was the last time you spoke to your sibling about the fact that you are siblings? Only Asians regularly refer to siblings as such, and Lupin is at most half Japanese. Plus Lupin's not one to actively maintain his personal relationships. ご兄弟だよ Speaking of family, when Lupin says "gramps, consider your death avenged", he means Camille Bardot, to whom he referred earlier as "jee-san" (grampa/gramps). |
|
moimoi
AV Clubber
Posts: 5,003
|
Post by moimoi on May 3, 2020 22:15:58 GMT -5
Episode III has a South Asian girl character and she looks like moimoi?! Yataaa!!! (Though I stopped wearing barrettes in high school when I got a Justine Frischman-style asymmetrical bob.)
I can't say I was as surprised by Lupin being drunk, since in the course of watching the original series, it occurred to me that Lupin has probably had a significant impact on generations of Japanese men - particularly their speech and conduct. Drunk Lupin is basically just any drunk Japanese guy - and they're drunk a lot, yo. But it's part of their charm.
I was generally happy with episode IV and the series as a whole. I'm glad that they introduced new characters, while also allowing for callbacks to the old adventures. I didn't particularly like Ami's dad as the quasi villain - something was off about his characterization - and the whole 'villain turns the hero's friends against them' is straight out of bishoujo manga. It's unusual to see male insecurity play out that way, since men are typically portrayed as unquestionably loyal to each other unless there's a woman between them. The only male insecurity we typically see is fear of aging... But anyway, aside from Goemon's strangely-timed betrayal, I thought the rest of it worked. I give the series an A and I hope they do more.
|
|
|
|
Post by joleancujoh2 on Mar 25, 2023 23:51:32 GMT -5
I’m quite impressed with this thread so far. This is a breath of fresh air after all the weird and rather disappointing discussions I had about this series in other online spaces. Though there are a few disagreements I have with you in regards to some of your critiques, I believe you nailed quite a lot of them on the head. I’ve been working on an essay on Part 5 for quite a bit. docs.google.com/document/d/1Tt-wilU1d6w8yBp6urubj3-cMYq5sekOT4MOPCKauAA/edit?usp=sharingIt’s been a back burner project for a while and I was thinking about making a video on it possibly. I’m curious to know what your thoughts are in regards to why Part 5 is so controversial and your thoughts on some of the English speaking community fanatics. My personal experience with them has been less than ideal to say the least. |
|
|
|
Post by Jean Luc de Lemur on Mar 28, 2023 18:02:44 GMT -5
joleancujoh2 I’m not sure bc I was mostly unconnected with any online fandom when I wrote this and still not really in close tabs with it now (esp. now that it’s on platforms like Discord). My guesses would be: 1. I feel like a lot of Anglophone Lupin fandom dates from when Part II was airing on CN in the aughts and their take on the franchise on a whole is derived from that: fairly gag-oriented humor and satirical, with storytelling and characterization taking a back seat. Part V is very much not in that tradition. It’s akin to how people will claim Cagliostro isn’t really a Lupin movie, so kind of a reoccurance of the hardcore Japanese red-vs-green fandom thing. 2. They felt like a lot about and around the character of Ami was inappropriate
|
|
|
|
Post by joleancujoh2 on Mar 28, 2023 22:55:49 GMT -5
joleancujoh2 I’m not sure bc I was mostly unconnected with any online fandom when I wrote this and still not really in close tabs with it now (esp. now that it’s on platforms like Discord). My guesses would be: 1. I feel like a lot of Anglophone Lupin fandom dates from when Part II was airing on CN in the aughts and their take on the franchise on a whole is derived from that: fairly gag-oriented humor and satirical, with storytelling and characterization taking a back seat. Part V is very much not in that tradition. It’s akin to how people will claim Cagliostro isn’t really a Lupin movie, so kind of a reoccurance of the hardcore Japanese red-vs-green fandom thing. 2. They felt like a lot about and around the character of Ami was inappropriate Before that, from what I've gathered, most of them are mostly on Tumblr, Twitter and Instagram. Now they've made their own platform here: lupiniii.club/index.php. From my experience they complained about TMS being colorist because the skin tones of the characters became paler? I'm not kidding, this is something they actually think is an issue: imgur.com/a/p1a4Bk0And they also complained that it was taking shots at queer people. Apparently, people cite Anime Feminist of all sources for doing this: www.animefeminist.com/perspectives-the-peoples-hero-some-people-not-included-the-exclusion-of-queer-viewers-in-lupin-the-3rd-part-5/Which I think is hilarious since, the writer for Part 5, wrote another series called, Princess Principal and there are two main characters who are implied to be lesbians. Funny enough Anime Feminist recommended this anime in one of their articles: www.animefeminist.com/anifems-top-picks-2017/There are some similarities between this show and Lupin III, actually. What's even more hilarious is that he later worked on Lupin Zero and he had a very ship-heavy scene between Jigen and Lupin. 1. That's pretty funny to think about actually. Do you think the original Lupin fans probably complained about the same thing when Part 2 aired? I imagine they would probably not be very happy when they made Lupin goofier and turned the series into a children's show. I wonder how these fans would react when there are quite a number of significant people who didn't like Part 2. According to a Twitter user @mitorict, Hayao Miyazaki actually disliked Part 2 heavily: Monkey Punch seems unhappy with Zenigata's portrayal in Part 2: According to the Lupin wiki, Yasuo Yamada also disliked Part 2 lol: lupin.fandom.com/wiki/Yasuo_Yamada#:~:text=He%20was%20displeased%20with%20Lupin%20the%203rd%20Part%202%20as%20he%20felt%20like%20it%20was%20too%20kid%2Dfriendly.%20He%20much%20preferred%20Lupin%20the%203rd%20Part%201%20. With that being said though, I don't think I can confidently say these are 100% true, so perhaps take it with a grain of salt. But if these true, it would be hilarious. 2. I understand why they would feel that way about Ami, but I really think the fans blew it way out of proportion... I'm just confused by their criticisms. |
|
|
|
Post by Jean Luc de Lemur on Mar 30, 2023 17:28:36 GMT -5
joleancujoh2 Ohh yeah I can see Jigen taking umbrage at Ami’s assumption that he and Lupin are more-than-professional partners rubbing people the wrong way. I took it as a wink at the fan pairing and I can see why people were pissed at Jigen’s offense it’s also true to the character (and it’s fun seeing him flustered). I think some stuff definitely gets traction in a “look at this dumb argument!” sense rather than as actual widespread opinions, though. wrt Part II my understanding is that, for at least a while, red vs. green had pretty devoted partisans, with people taking either one or the other. Part II wasn’t really always a children’s show—there’s a fair amount of louche humor and political references, as well as a bunch that are very direct adaptations of manga chapters. That disappears after the first couple of years, but there’s definitely a school of people who think Part II’s mo—the pacing of gags, the willingness to go for more eccentric/expressive character design, and the less flattering depictions of Lupin and Fujiko—is closer to MP’s original intent with “green” being the deviation. Miyazaki’s a polarizing figure, I think—from what I’ve been told green vs. red die-hards in Japan was largely polarization around him (though some of the best of green predated his arrival), though the fact that he currently has kind of disowned his early, pre- Nausicaä work and expressed negative feelings about Lupin as a franchise has soured some fans on him. That said, Miyazaki’s views on Lupin are kind of a moving target because his opinions have changed over the years (I love this interview with him from the 80s) and it’s hard to tease out some nuances. I’ve read Miyazaki disliked Monkey Punch’s comic (and it’s an interesting contrast because they’re a half-generation apart) but he praises aspects of it here. Is it a mixed appreciation where he appreciates MP’s drive but dislikes the materialism? Has his opinion changed over time? Has the combination of translation plus fandoms’ tendencies to turn dials to eleven washed out nuance? All of it plays some role, certainly. I’ve definitely read the same about Zenigata’s depiction, and I agree with the criticism. That was supposedly Gorō Naya’s doing—he was insistent that he preferred the clownish version of the character and they generally followed him. I didn’t realize Yamada could be such a drama queen (and years ago I saw things about how he was gracious to the Fuma actor so maybe some salt’s required…or he was mercurial enough that he went both ways which sounds right), but I definitely agree with him wrt how interesting the character is in I versus II (though I also made a turn to more family-friendly halfway through too). It’s fun finding out about their preferences and personalities, though I don’t feel the need to go back to their to “justify” mine like some do. fwiw I just posted a Lupin Zero review, too.
|
|
|
|
Post by joleancujoh2 on Mar 30, 2023 23:30:19 GMT -5
Well, I suppose I can understand why certain people feel offended by it. However, I can't help but feel as though these same people are trying too hard to look for everything to feel offended by... It was only a joke and I don't think it's healthy or productive to assume malicious intent in harmless jokes like that... I took it as a jab at the fandom. Nothing wrong with poking fun at it. To me, I feel like the kind of stuff they inserted in Part 2 is an indicator of how much they could get away with at the time. I feel like some of the adaptations from the manga chapters are softened for younger audiences though. That's odd... I believe Monkey Punch said in an interview that Part 1 (or at least the earlier episodes) is closer to his manga?: www.lupinencyclopedia.com/dist/asset/file/Monkey-Punch-Interview-Mangazine-1995-Jan.pdfI'd like to know what he truly meant by this. Was it the criminal edge or the more serious tone? I see. Miyazaki seems to be in a strained relationship with Lupin overall, huh? Well, to me, I just find it very interesting to learn about their thoughts on other Lupin material. Plus, it was kinda funny to me when I have certain fans act entitled and think they know everything about Lupin and then I learn about the opinions of these people who worked on Lupin to compare with. I'll have to read your review of it some other time 👍 |
|
