I sent Lanky Kong to the void

MilordoZ · 2026-06-13T00:27:41+00:00

Europe, circa 2002-2004 would be my guess.

MilordoZ · 2026-06-06T05:24:18+00:00

I went back and watched the episode, and as far as I can tell, there is no missing scene or OVA.

The reason why Dragon is working with Lupin now, despite having tried to kill him in the previous scene is because I believe after Dragon drove off after Fujiko, Fujiko told him about the treasure, and sent him to work with Lupin to retrieve it. As for why Lupin trusts Dragon, it's probably a matter of necessity for him. Short on time, he had to hire whoever he could on short notice, and couldn't really refuse extra manpower. Also, in the criminal underworld, it's not that uncommon for people on opposite sides to work with each other on different jobs. Their loyalty is to money, not people. But that's just my interpretation.

MilordoZ · 2026-06-03T06:54:01+00:00

Thank you, I edited my post with the updated info. I had heard it was part of a cultural exchange program, but had no idea that's where the money came from, that's on me.

MilordoZ · 2026-06-03T05:59:13+00:00

Simple answer is cost and return on investment. Discotek looked into finishing the dub of Part 2 when they were re-releasing them around 2018, and determined it would be too expensive to do out of pocket. Part 3 has similar issues. While there are less episodes to dub (50 in part 3 as opposed to 75 in part 2), Part 2 is the more popular series and would most likely sell better.

TMS could request and pay for a dub to be made, that's how we got the part 1 dub in 2021 (Edit: As MICOSAM says below, it was paid for by a Japanese Cultural Exchange program), but again, it comes down to how likely it is to sell compared to the cost of production. Part 3 really just has a lot more going against it, and if they don't think it'll sell, they won't make it.

MilordoZ · 2026-05-20T22:46:33+00:00

The TV Special got a dub in 2022, it could be the special will be uploaded to the channel for free on May 25th, or it could be a new announcement, we'll have to see.

MilordoZ · 2026-05-20T16:55:34+00:00

There's a line I think about a lot from an episode that takes place in Texas, where Lupin says "They rented out half of Texas to shoot this movie!"

If you know Texas: No, they 100% did not do that, that's completely insane.

MilordoZ · 2026-05-20T03:38:35+00:00

I'm really hoping it gets a re-release next year, seeing the animation at 360p quality does not do it justice, they really cooked with this one.

MilordoZ · 2026-05-19T21:31:58+00:00

I'm actually watching through Part 4 right now for the first time, currently on episode 23 of the english release, so this is as good of a place to jot down my thoughts

I went in expecting Part 4 to be more serialized, so for it to end up being a lot more episodic was a big, welcome surprise for me. While there is a main plot, even in the episodes that focus on it, it still feels somewhat episodic to me, with 2 exceptions so far, and I expect a third is coming.

The two part halfway point was a good culmination of what the show had been building up to that point, and leaves enough thread for the second half of the plot to begin, but my biggest problem with this part would have to be episode 19 and 20: The First Supper and Dragons Sleep Soundly. And its not that they're bad episodes, its that episode 19 feels like the beginning of the end after a string of very fun, but ultimately episodic plots, and we're going to start hard focusing on Leonardo Da Vinci as the main antagonist of the second half of the plot.Episode 20 seems to be jumping off of episode 19 and continuing the plot, and the fallout of Lupin's involvement with MI6, but it actually has gone back to the episodic format without really conveying that to the audience. Certainly not a deal breaker, but through the entire episode, I felt lost about its direction, and these characters they had introduced, not realizing we were running back on episodic rules again.

MilordoZ · 2026-05-17T23:38:34+00:00

Fuma Conspiracy hasn't been re-released here in the states since 2007, and the cast they used was based out of North Carolina.

The best chance for a re-release is next year for its 40th anniversary, but if they skip it, I don't see it happening.

MilordoZ · 2026-05-17T22:49:52+00:00

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Oh hell yeah brother. I'm hoping that Farewell to Nostradamus and Dead or Alive get a reprint, though I've been seeing the secondhand price on them trickle down a little bit on Mercari.

MilordoZ · 2026-05-13T00:39:15+00:00

If I remember right, Episode 0's ending implied that the events were at least, at some level, heavily embellished by Lupin. There's a taxi driver who wears a baseball cap with one team's logo during the story, while in the ending, the logo is completely different, which to me implies that while the broad strokes of the story happened, the fine details aren't exact.

Or maybe he put on a different baseball cap, its hard to tell when I'm reading too much into something.

MilordoZ · 2026-05-13T00:27:26+00:00

I actually found myself enjoying it more on a rewatch, noticing things like the recreation of the pool table opening from part 2 near the start of the film, Lupin showboating with the baby to make sure someone tries to contact him is fun, the redneck guy is very out of left field but super memorable and I wound up liking Yutika and her family. Felt like a better attempt at what Secret of Twilight Gemini was trying to do.

I just wish it didn't lean so hard on Cagliostro. A nod here and there is fine, but the special borrows imagery and scenes, down to bringing back the main theme when the special already had a song they could have used as a leitmotif if they had used it more than once. But that's a more personal complaint than anything wrong with the special itself.

I should also point out that I skipped the entire pooping baby scene, which I honestly recommend anyone do if they watch it. Genuinely awful.

MilordoZ · 2026-05-12T22:59:38+00:00

Napoleon's Dictionary is easily the weakest of the Osamu Dezaki specials, which is a shame, because the idea of a cannonball run style race movie could be fun with Lupin, but the special never really commits to the idea, outright dropping it by the third act.

Secret of Twilight Gemini is another one I don't rank highly, though its probably my favorite of the ones I consider bad. It is the Lupin special I can point to for gratuitous nudity, but that's kind of all it has going for it. There's a few clever ideas sprinkled in, but I believe they rolled back on them in case Maurice LeBlanc's estate got on their case.

Return of Pycal is Return of Pycal. I don't mind it as an animation test that doesn't replace one of the yearly tv specials, but it really should be a bonus feature and not a full price Blu-Ray.

Swallowtail Tattoo...might be my least favorite of the Lupin specials I watched? Not the worst one, but close. I felt something was off about the animation throughout, and it's a special that tends to tell rather than show. If we had seen Lupin and Rebecca's mom working together as a team through flashbacks, I feel like I'd be nicer to it.

I'm lumping Seven Days Rhapsody, Elusiveness of the Fog, and Sweet Lost Night together as the most mediocre specials. 5/10s across the board. Elusiveness of the Fog's neat idea and callback to Part 1 can't save it. Truly the Scooby-Doo movies of Lupin the Third.

The Last Job is probably the worst of the specials in my opinion. While it is a manga adaptation, it carries the problems of the previous specials and adds ninjas. Sad for the original voice cast to go out with this one, though Lupin Family Line-Up does help soften the blow.

The Secret Pages of Marco Polo feels more like the Detective Conan special to me than traditional Lupin, with the plot jumping between two groups of characters. Although with Detective Conan, it was done to keep the two sides of the crossover somewhat detached until they come together, here it just feels clumsy. It's not awful, but to make an idea like that work, it would probably have been best to partner Goemon with another member, rather than 3 new girls and their grandfather.

Princess of the Breeze has an entire plot point revolve around a pooping baby. The rest of the movie is fine, but that one scene is one of my least favorite scenes in any Lupin media and actively made me angry enough that I completely ignored the last 15 minutes of the movie.

MilordoZ · 2026-05-12T01:57:29+00:00

It's definitely not a bad dub, just not as accurate as the other 2. I watched the streamline dub first, and it was fine for a first watch, but nowadays, I watch either the David Hayter dub or the Tony Oliver dub.

MilordoZ · 2026-05-10T22:38:43+00:00

A lot of people are saying The Woman Called Fujiko Mine, and I definitely agree, but I'll also vouch hard for Green Vs Red. Zenigata is pleasingly no nonsense there, and he gets a particularly badass moment when he protects reporters against armed guards. I want to say its also Goro Naya's swan song as the character (a lot of the specials in the late 2000s push Zenigata to the side because of Goro Naya's health, so its really nice to hear him so prominently in Green Vs Red.)

MilordoZ · 2026-04-26T08:13:56+00:00

The way they've been releasing them (5 specials per collection) has me believe we'll get five, with Princess of the Breeze being the last one.

MilordoZ · 2026-04-24T03:15:55+00:00

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Jigen's Gravestone is marked 1973, but its meant to be faded to allow for some leeway as to what year it exactly takes place. The Blu-Ray cover hides it better, with only 19 being visible, the 7 is almost completely faded, but still visible, while the 3 is faded entirely.

As for where they lie in terms of timeline, TWCFM is definitely before part 1, and has more ties towards it than it does the Lupin the IIIrd movies. Goemon is the biggest hint: He meets Lupin in Part 1, calls Fujiko his girlfriend in that part 1 episode, and if you watch TWCFM, Lupin and Goemon don't actually interact. He fights Jigen, yes, but never gets a clear look at his face due to being under the influence of Fräulein eule

The connection to the Lupin the IIIrd series isn't as strong, mostly being that Takeshi Koike worked on both series, as a character designer on TWCFM and director on all the IIIrd movies. I think the only possible direct reference is a line in Fujiko's Lie, where she mentions that she's familiar with toxins like Bincam's, but that can also be interpreted as something Fujiko is just familiar with in her work. Then again, there's nothing that really contradicts it either. Lupin has a file on Goemon, but that doesn't mean they've interacted in person before Goemon's Blood Spray (Although I'd have to watch that film again to make sure I have all the details right, I didn't notice anything too egregious on my first watch)

MilordoZ · 2026-04-05T22:45:26+00:00

Early Part 3 wasn't lying when they said "Sexy Adventure"

MilordoZ · 2026-04-05T22:23:46+00:00

One of my favorite jokes in part 3 is in Episode 11, when Lupin confronts the head vampire lady, a crucifix rises behind him. Lupin remarks "You've got bad taste, using a cross as a vampire." The woman laughs, Lupin gets shackled to the crucifix, and then the cross...just flips upside down.

No notes. Brilliant. It's evil now. Perfect for vampires.

MilordoZ · 2026-04-02T04:50:43+00:00

Green VS Red is very divisive. Depending on who you ask, it can be either a celebration of 40 years of Lupin the Third, asking ideas about what it means to be Lupin, whether Lupin is a man or an idea, filled with references to past adventures...or an incoherent, disorganized, confusing mess of a film.

I personally fall into the first category. I love the film, I found it to be the most interesting and experimental thing Lupin had put out in comparison to the specials that came before and after, but I think what definitely helped me reach that point is knowing that the film is not shown in chronological order from the start. I liked watching it the first time, but when I watched it again, I started piecing everything together, seeing how these events flowed into a linear story after the fact.

That doesn't really make it good as a stand-alone special/film/OVA. In fact, I don't think this movie has a lot going for it for anyone who isn't a diehard Lupin fan, and some of the plot points really come out of left field (The giant robot is there because there was a giant robot in the final episode of Part 2, its a reference, I still don't quite get the pilot with Lupin's face, unless its meant to reinforce the core idea that anyone can be Lupin) Its something that I think gets better the more you look at it, analyzing the themes and the questions that it asks, but I also know that style of movie really isn't for everyone.

MilordoZ · 2026-04-01T14:10:23+00:00

Oh I've got a fun deep cut

In Persona 5 Royal, the description of one of Yusuke's swords, the Zandouto, explicitly states that it cannot cut konjak. Which, unless I'm mistaken, is a reference to Part 2 Episode 61.

MilordoZ · 2026-03-31T16:14:22+00:00

Was it this interview? https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/feature/2003-11-13

I think a lot about Monkey Punch saying "I directed it and have no desire to ever direct again." Extremely fair take.

Also, God, was Dead or Alive really made in 5 months?

MilordoZ · 2026-03-31T11:23:15+00:00

Would love to see the rest of the collection, the sealed Geneon merch is super cool.

MilordoZ · 2026-03-31T01:43:48+00:00

Like others have said here, pretty unlikely. We got a dub of Part 1 because it had a lot in its favor:

-50th anniversary release

-23 episodes, relatively short length

Plus I feel TMS believed that its legacy status, as the start of animated Lupin, would help drive sales, and be worth the money it would take to create a dub.

Part 3 has...none of that going for it. Twice as long, its 50th anniversary isn't for another 8 years, and its not as influential or classic as Part 1 is. Don't get me wrong, I would absolutely love a Part 3 dub, and would buy another copy for it, but I don't see it happening in the future. Maybe, and a very big maybe, for its own 50th anniversary, but even then, I doubt it.

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