Post by Jean Luc de Lemur on Aug 24, 2022 0:22:03 GMT -5
Kobayashi Kiyoshi, Jigen’s first voice actor, died on the eighth at age 89. First voice actor is a real understatement—with the exception of The Fuma Conspiracy Kobayashi was the Jigen’s voice from 1969 to 2021. 1969 was before the first series even aired—it was a proof of concept film (incidentally, I just found out, presented in cineramascope, as above, as well as 4:3) meant to demonstrate an animated Lupin series was doable. Kobayashi was there before the beginning.
Kobayashi’s voice changed over those 52 years, quite obviously, but I only really notice it if I’m going between the 10s and the 60s-70s—the character’s still there. There isn’t really one Jigen, though, as each iteration is written a little different. Jigen gets flanderized pretty often—a tough guy, stoic and coldly aloof from both his surroundings and inner life, a bit monotone—or would have been without Kobayashi breathing some life into him. Jigen wasn’t an archetype with Kobayashi’s voice—just a serious guy.
I prefer it, though, when we get a more well-rounded Jigen—one less Lupin’s sidekick and more his complement, a more subdued yin to his yang (shade vs. sun) but still with a range of feelings and expressions. This is the guy we got early on—he sounds so friendly in Part I—and even as the Lupin tropes became crystallized he never entirely left. Although Kobayashi’s progressively gravelly voice lent itself towards graver Jigen interpretations as late as 2019’s Fujiko’s Lie we still got effortless portrayals of Jigen in good humor, able to hold his own against Lupin’s goofiness and able to take wry satisfaction at his own marksmanship. Kobayashi’s voice was more gravelly, but the character as young as ever.
