First Impression – Lupin III: A Woman Called Mine Fujiko [NSFW]
Celebrating 40 years of Lupin III
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The last time a Lupin III series aired on TV, I was just about to be born in ’84. The 3rd Lupin series went 50 episodes and ended in September of ’85. Since then, several OVAs, specials and movies have been released. For the first time in 27 years, in celebration of the 40th anniversary, Lupin has a TV series airing. |
Now stop everything you’re doing, allow your heart to race, and look at Fujiko. A Bond-like opening with her naked, it’s tough to recall an anime OP as titilating as this one.
Let’s get some specific cast and crew info out there. There are some Redline ties in this new Lupin anime, with Sayo Yamamoto directing (she’s mostly done storyboards and her only main directorial work was Michiko to Hatchin) and Takeshi Koike is doing animation directing & character designs. Mari Okada handles the series composition, who most recently has done Aquarion Evol, Black Rock Shooter and the yet-to-air AKB0048 among several other series. That is correct, the director and scriptwriter are female, a first in Lupin’s long anime run. Continuing with the seiyuu cast, Mine Fujiko is voiced by the awesome Miyuki Sawashiro, Lupin is voiced by Kanichi Kurita (who has voiced Lupin thru pretty much all of those OVAs/Specials/Movies) and Goemon is voiced by Daisuke Namikawa. Naruyoshi Kikuchi is doing music, and if you’ve heard a sax in Trigun or .hack//, it’s probably him that played it. So there’s quite a unique blend of talent that’s bringing back Lupin to the small screen, and it’s very unique from anything else we’ll see this Spring season.
We got a couple thieves looking to steal the Fraeulein Hoyle crystals that make up a special drug. Stepping right into the thick of it is Mine Fujiko, a woman who’s recently gained notoriety as a thief. In the shadows, Arsene Lupin III has some explosives set up. Fujiko attempts to poison Guru with some tongue action, but after she and Lupin meet each other for the first time, they realize it didn’t work on him and he pushes a button that brings up some gates around them.
Fujiko infiltrates Guru’s mouth. The audience is quite shocked.
I agree Lupin. She sure is an extraordinary woman!
Lupin is a pretty famous dude who likes putting out calling cards. Fujiko relies on her skills of seduction to steal what she wants. She takes off her dress and throws one of her earrings at an alarm button, and guys come in and grab Lupin.
The show’s unique way of drawing shadow/shading
A public execution for these “caught” thieves is happening. However, who they thought was Fujiko ended up being another guy, and Lupin’s body was a dummy. The two thieves meet up again and challenge each other to steal the drug.
Really funny scene with headless Lupin. His disarming of Fujiko was impressive.
As previously mentioned, seduction is Fujiko’s specialty. Wearing a sexy outfit, Fujiko does a dance and uses a sleeping drug to knock out the other girls. She explains how Guru’s drug worked and asks him to lead her to it, but it ends up being another trap.
Her body is a drug, and I’m addicted
Running away from trouble, she finds the statue, but Lupin’s a step ahead.
The start of a great rivalry.
Lupin plans to ride the statue like a skateboard to victory, but Fujiko isn’t gonna give up. Sets a zipline, uses her bra for handling, and shoots out the tanks which causes the statue to sink and all of the crystal drug to surface.
Lupin likes calling his shot. His next task? Mine Fujiko herself. He even wrote it on her inner thigh. Sexy~
Bonus… Lupin?
Lupin is one cool customer in this version
I’ll admit that I’ve not seen any Lupin, but maybe this is a nice starting point since it’s kind of an origin story of how Lupin and Fujiko met each other. But even if it were some sequel or something new, just how sexy and stylish this show looks is worth plenty enough for me to keep up with the series.
Sex sells, and this show is selling it big time. For those of you that’ve seen Redline, Takeshi Koike’s style should be noticeable. Taking his character designs and animation style into the Lupin/Monkey Punch style for a 2012 TV series, it’s visually impressive and appealing. The sketch style looks good and will be heavily utilized throughout the series, the character designs look great, and the many shots of shadowing and how it goes in and out during the action scene between the two thieves are all enjoyable to look at. Also enjoyable to look at is Fujiko. She was topless twice in the first episode (and much more in the OP). From all the pictures I’ve seen of past Lupin series, this current one looks like the tone is a bit darker, so it seems like they want to go for something darker and also sexier. I also loved the music.
I always thought that Lupin was kind of a doofus, like the anime version of Leisure Suit Larry. Surely Lupin is good at what he does, and in this series, he seems like a really awesome male lead character. He’s fun, charismatic and has a lot of qualities you’d like in a character like him. I love Kanichi Kurita’s voice in the role; I can’t recall ever hearing him before, but it’s right on with what I thought Lupin III might sound like. Fujiko’s a sexy lady, but even though the episode (and the show) will be told through her perspective, we have yet to really get to know Fujiko. We know what she looks like topless, that’s pretty much the extent of it. While she’ll have plenty of time to have character development, I love how the rivalry has been established. They’re so evenly matched that they might be able to steal, but never keep what they’ve taken so long as both are in the same place.
About Jrow
Produces the MetaVerse podcast. Also plays games and watches sports of all sorts. Is an actual Pirate King.
POWUH: Meta Team and Ringleader Extraordinaire~ with 6433 comments
Damn, this was pretty interesting. I want to catch up to the previous franchise just because of this.
POWUH: 1000-1099 and Pirate King with 1048 comments
This and Space Bros so far are my two favorites of the season.
I even watched the most recent Lupin special (Blood Seal) on Saturday and have another one (The Last Job) that I’m gonna watch soon! I also downloaded the Studio Ghibli movie Castle of Cagliostro.
btw, Akira Ishida as the bad guy in that Blood Seal special. Damn that guy’s such a great villain!
POWUH: 1000-1099 and Critique with 1024 comments
I love Lupin, I do, but I just find all the nudity awkward in that style. It’s really put me off following this show.
POWUH: 1000-1099 and Pirate King with 1048 comments
I never thought about this style from a purist perspective, although your concern doesn’t seem quite in the same line of sight.
I like boobs many (not all) ways, so it doesn’t bother me.
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 243 comments
I’m far from any kind of Lupin III fan (all I’ve seen is Castle of Cagliostro) but I’ve got to say this was pretty damn awesome. It was a lot better than what I’ve already seen of the franchise, and given that my only other experience is a Hayao Miyazaki film, that shines a pretty positive light on this series, wouldn’t you say. It looks and sounds absolutely amazing (someday someone will figure out why jazz music and noir stylings work so damn well with anime) and Lupin and Fujiko make a great pair of loveable, and also badass, rogues. Their differences in attitude and approach offset each other perfectly, too.
This has overtaken Space Brothers as my new Spring favourite. Can the other anticipated titles match or surpass it? I don’t know but I do know that we’re in for one hell of a season.
POWUH: 1000-1099 and Pirate King with 1048 comments
Jazz and Anime, it’s almost like peanut butter and chocolate, man! I also love how Lupin and Fujiko compare/contrast to each other.
I’m with you on this and Space Bros. Those are my two early faves as well. What seperates them from the pack? Not in high school. I mean, it is the primary setting for a high percentage of anime and plenty of high school animes are great, but it’s damn refreshing when you can escape school and watch adults live their lives or do awesome stuff like Lupin.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I think I’ve seen something like this before. Ah yes, the current Sherlock that is running on BBC, Scandal in Belegravia. Holmes and The Woman.
Loved this show, great style with just the right amount of substance (or lack thereof).
POWUH: 1000-1099 and Pirate King with 1048 comments
A google search isn’t helping me. All I see is The Woman in Green, but I guess what you mention is current.
Agreed! Looking forward to more episodes!
POWUH: 800-899 and Flying Sage with 856 comments
I’ve never seen a Lupin title before, so I wasn’t quite sure what this would be like. I enjoyed the unusual art style (including the interesting shading), and the constant reversals and plan upsets were great.
POWUH: 1000-1099 and Pirate King with 1048 comments
Hopefully the first episode is but a taste of the excitement we’ll see the rest of the way. Seems like the visual appeal (and the nudity) are the biggest sells of this show, but as you elude to with reversals and upsets, I think the missions in themselves should be tons of fun.
POWUH: 400-499 with 428 comments
Explicit opening monologue. Explicit scenes without the beams of censor. Explicitly splendid Miyuki Sawashiro as Mine Fujiko. Everything about this show is explicit and I’m hooked on it already. I’ve never watched the other Lupin franchise but I have heard of it so when this prequel(?) came along for the 40th anniversary, I was pretty keen to see what Lupin would be like and I agree it’s definitely different from the other series of the season. So looking forward to this instead of writing a 3000 word essay 😀
POWUH: 1000-1099 and Pirate King with 1048 comments
Explicit, it can be great sometimes, right? Especially when it’s Fujiko’s skin we’re looking at. 🙂
I’d heard there was going to be a Lupin series, but just thought, “Lupin, never seen it, probably might just watch the first ep, w/e.” But it’s awesome!
POWUH: iLurker with 1 comments
[…] was Jrow alone who covered the first episode of Lupin III, as most of us had little to no expectations for the series. I’ve personally only seen Castle […]