#lupin iii meta

[vaguely-concerned]

I am absolutely positively irreconcilably LOSING MY MIND over what this:

(also... omg they're so cute here in their teeny tiny car)

is doing thematically when put up against:

the WEIGHT. the WEIGHT added to all of that when you realize that Lupin CHOSE to be Lupin the Third, and the first thing he chose as Lupin the Third was Jigen (Jigen's HEART, something a teen/tween Jigen seems ready to already half-believe doesn't even exist anymore fhsdfjka). recognizing something fundamental of himself in Jigen was what made him choose to be Lupin as we've known him all this time -- that one moment of connection, of true resonance, of 'whatever souls are made of, yours and mine are the same (utterly unhinged)'... after all his dad and grandpa each did to try to shape him in their image, that one moment of honesty from Jigen was what made him decide to be himself. and keep choosing that. for the rest of his life. he said 'fuck it, it IS a story, it's MY story, and I want my story to be with you if you want to come along for the ride'.

(and then from Jigen's side -- he's been pulling back from Lupin again and again in Zero under the reasoning that he's a bad influence, that he'll tarnish his life eventually because he's got something indelibly stained and broken about him already that he doesn't want to get all over Lupin as well, you sort of get the feeling that admitting how fighting a worthy opponent gives him a rush like nothing else was half meant as something to push Lupin away for good... and then to see Lupin just come to life because of it instead!! Lupin walks right past his gun and his skills and puts his hand on his chest and says 'no, this is the part that matters, this is what I want, the rest is just a fancy trinket', after pretty much every person we've seen Jigen interacting with thus far has only been interested in what he can do for them, as if he were nothing more than the gun. I mean. what was he supposed to do, not fall desperately and fathomlessly in love with this dude for the rest of his life??? unrealistic honestly he had no choice at that point. and despite all his fears Jigen goes on to be the one most stable and steady presence in Lupin's life, protective rather than corruptive. what a fucking relief that must be honestly, that not only did he not hurt Lupin by allowing himself to be closer to him, he helped him discover something wonderful -- with all his sharp edges he brought him joy instead of blood, and Lupin takes him along on that joy right through their lives, all the way up, through Part 5 and beyond. what the fuck. help. there aren't enough italics in the world to express what I feel here)

I thought I couldn't love this part 5 scene more than I already did but oh my god they've retroactively put in place the setup it's the payoff for and now I'm on my knees

[sauntervaguelydown]

what's interesting about Zenigata throughout the Lupin iii franchise is that he doesn't really have a core interiority. Everything about Zenigata is exterior.

Part 4 does this insane thing with him where he's locked into his role as judge/jury/executioner to such an extent that it seems pathological--he has to keep Lupin in prison even though it is making him, personally, miserable with grief. He has to make sure Lupin dies rather than let him escape. It will literally destroy the foundation of who he is as a person if he succeeds in the goal he's assigned himself, but he can't possibly do anything else. The law is the law and his job is his job, and he can't let himself be anything else even for a moment. It's fucking intense! It's Greek tragedy!

Compare that to part 5, which was made like? two years? later. And in this one, Zenigata explicitly states that he wants to put Lupin in jail because it's the only way to make Lupin understand his actions have consequences. To force him to turn over a new leaf, make him go straight, and then meet him on the other side. Literally wants to buy him a drink when he gets out of prison.

These could not be more different--I mean it's Antigone vs A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. Are either of them more true to the spirit of the character than the other? Well. It's really hard to say, because we just don't know these things about Zenigata in Part One!

What's his relationship to justice? How does he feel about The Law? Is he a corrupt cop, is he noble? Is his chasing Lupin driven by career aspirations or personal passion?

EDIT: I have now read the manga translations, and uhhh well. Apparently they met in college and Zenigata hated his vibe SO bad he spent the rest of his life trying to kill the guy. Not sure that helps us much here.

As it stands, here's a rough list of the stuff I've watched and what its take on Zenigata is

Part One: in the first episode, Zenigata gives a brief explanation of their dynamic (for the sake of the audience) which is already WELL established in-universe. Here he says something like, "Lupin, if you weren't the Grandson of Arsene Lupin, and I wasn't the descendant of the famous Zenigata..." implying that something about this dynamic would change if it wasn't for their Cosmically Assigned Destinies as products of their Two Houses Alike in Dignity etc. What would be different? Would they be friends? I don't know! But Zenigata definitely seems to be beholden to the legacy of his own family here.

there's also an ep where Zenigata has Lupin in jail successfully. Zenigata stays on site guarding the jail the whole 6 months, and eventually one of the other guards says if I didn't know any better I'd think you were looking forward to seeing him escape.

later episodes led by Miyazaki lean more heavily on the context of his career; his relationship to his boss, a conference he wants to attend in his field, the fear of one's job being outmoded by technology etc.

The Mystery of Mamo: Zenigata has so much personal passion! When they tell him to drop the case, he literally quits the force to chase Lupin as a private citizen! This is the one where he swears he'll follow Lupin to the gates of Hell because they are fated rivals. This is also the one where he literally tries to stake Lupin in case he's turned into a vampire. so. I don't know man. He's fucking unhinged in this movie, it's pretty great.

Mamo is known to be closer in tone to the manga than anything else, but Zenigata is not this rabid in the manga. Manga Zenigata is more contemptuous and put-upon.

The Castle of Cagliostro: this is a neutral good Zenigata at his most admirable. When he can't get justice through the law, he teams up with criminals in order to circumvent corrupt government officials. He's also headstrong and fully willing to risk his own career, but not ready to throw it away at the first inconvenience. He is "very fond" of Lupin. He enjoys the chase, but he can put it aside in order to fry bigger fish. You get the impression that he cares about correcting injustice more than the letter of the law.

Part Two: Lupin fakes his death twice that I can remember and BOTH times Zenigata cries about it. On the first occasion, Zenigata shakes the corpse, begs it to wake up, then wonders tearfully what he's going to do with himself now that Lupin is dead. On the second occasion, Zenigata first tries to KILL himself rather than allow Lupin to rescue him (out of a sense of pride) and then cries and calls Lupin a "great man" after Lupin fakes a fatal crash. The resentment IMMEDIATELY gives way to mourning. He's very cavalier with his own life, but precious about Lupin's.

By the way, I love how much this man cries. I ALSO love crying in public and being homoerotically obsessed with my enemies. He's so relatable

the other thing is that this Zenigata is VERY binary about roles; he refuses to jailbreak from extralegal imprisonment because "cops don't escape jail". Doesn't matter that the jail is run by terrorists who are going to kill him, that's Not What Cops Do.

The Fuma Conspiracy: Lupin has faked his death yet again, and Zenigata has--in direct response to this--quit the force and BECOME A MONK, and explicitly says he is busy praying for Lupin's soul so that Lupin can be reincarnated as a law abiding citizen in his next life. What the fuck does this say about Zenigata? Buddy we don't have time to unpack that whole suitcase. In brief: Zenigata is prescriptive about law and legality as equaling goodness/dharma/morality etc. But he also changed his entire life so that he could remain dedicated to THE SOUL OF HIS DEAD NEMESIS. So this is clearly very personal, and has nothing to do with his career.

Part Three: limited familiarity with this one but I HAVE seen the episode where Zenigata gets fired due to his boss's embezzlement scheme and subsequently uncovers the scheme--there's a bit where Lupin pretends to mug him in an alley so they can have a private conversation, and Zenigata IS pretty quick to jump on the trail of this embezzlement scheme instead of chasing Lupin, once he's been tipped off. Perhaps more career driven in this one.

Lupin First Contact: some combination of career-based ambition and, like, Unrequited Rivalry At First Sight. He came here to chase Fujiko and got so distracted by this other idiot that he nearly forgot about her. To be fair, this story is narrated by Lupin so it may not even be an accurate representation of Zenigata within its own canon.

Ten Thousand Movies other from 1990-2005: girl most of these are so bad they are so SO bad. Most of the time Zenigata is not a major player. I can't remember anything he did in these except--oh, in Burning Memories, he uses the jute he keeps in a shinto shrine in his apartment after it survives a major fire. Loved that.

Also, he dresses in drag at the beginning of Farewell Nostradamus. This has nothing to do with anything I just loved it.

The Woman Called Fujiko Mine: corrupt cop. dirtbag. full stop.

okay, no, really. Here he is explicitly concerned with his career; he laments that he had to take grunt work to get by, talks about being busted down the chain after reporting his dirty boss, is extremely defensive of anyone muscling in on his Case even someone he has every reason to trust... this is a man who only cares about his career

he does fuck Fujiko and it IS a corrupt move. He seems to imply he's done this before with other thieves. He KNOWS she faked an orgasm and he doesn't care. He's mean as hell.

He cares about his pride. He seems to think Having Personal Pride is incompatible with participating in corruption. Does not explain why he exploited Fujiko Mine for sex. Maybe corruption doesn't count if you don't respect the person you're violating the rights of.

So, overall, have I got a thesis?

Basically, everyone who writes Zenigata has a different take on what his core motivation is. All the stuff that is core to Zenigata is in his affect, in his actions. He's enthusiastic, emotional, hotheaded, stubborn, prone to cackling, smart but not quite smart enough. What he thinks and what he feels, what he does in his private life, remains surprisingly mysterious.

Several of these takes are mutually exclusive. Mamo and Cagliostro simply do not overlap, just like Part 4 and Part 5 are at odds with each other. You can't put Mamo and Cagliostro and Part 1 in a blender without creating some new third thing inaccurate to all three.

For my money, here's what I think the core points would be, if I was starting out to write a fresh series or something:

the Shinto angle; his duty to the family legacy, especially with a famous ancestor like the OG Zenigata, looms large over the current inspector. He has a lot to live up to.

although they met through his job, he's very specifically attached to Lupin in a way that has nothing to do with his job; in fact, his desire to be close to Lupin is at odds with his career

he started out being ambitious and career oriented--this is why he started chasing Lupin, hoping to make a name for himself.

his career has fully stalled out and he's in conflict with himself about the joy his gets from chasing Lupin vs the expectations he set for himself ten years ago

ACAB; if he's actually ethical and cares about civil rights, he's got to be Insanely Unpopular with other cops. The only reason he might be able to get away with this and still have a job is that he's A) an accidental celebrity now with a weird amount of public clout B) he's got insane tunnel vision and doesn't notice major violations of human rights unless they are Directly In his Line of Vision. Nonetheless, this is unsustainable in the long term.

*I'm also a proponent of "Zenigata used to be more ruthless and corrupt, but he's actually picked up ethics somehow from being around criminals all the time" simply because. it is funny.

In conclusion: probably the reason we don't have solid answers to these questions is because Zenigata is like a dog chasing cars. He doesn't know what he'd do with one if he caught it. Nonetheless, he's gotta chase that goddamn fiat.

[l6sadi]

Part 6 sucks because there wasn't any episode where all the characters watched a play/movie about themselves.

I think every show should do this at least once.

[princefado]

i have been rewatching bits and pieces of twcfm this past couple of weeks and one of the biggest tragedies of oscar's story is like.... zenigata knows. from episode 10, zenigata realizes that oscar is not doing well mentally, and from almost the start of episode 11, zenigata has figured out that oscar is pretending to be fujiko to get his attention. zenigata almost certainly knows, moreover, how oscar feels about him. and yet he refuses to fucking talk about it.

i think in his head, he probably thinks he's giving oscar space, he's respecting him by letting him 'makes his own decisions', he's waiting for oscar to come to his senses, not realizing this space feels, to oscar, like he's being pushed away. it's not until the very last second that he has this horribly constipated (very fatherly) conversation with oscar where he goes on about pride, still ignoring the actual issue at hand, and all that leads to is a self sacrifice that basically kills oscar, would have killed oscar, only he's forced back into the narrative to act as a fujiko clone.

oscar thinks to himself that he had zenigata's love all along; and he does, sort of, but it's not a kind of love that is helpful to his fragile mental state or lets him be free as a person. when oscar is in full brainwashed mode, zenigata still can't help but go on about oscar's pride. and zenigata is clearly surprised he can't get through to him—well, of course he is; oscar's always hung on every single word of his in the past, why should now be any different?

but oscar (and aisha) are in full, absolute breakdown mode. it's hard to know who's in control when oscar drives the truck into the estate, but clearly, based on oscar's disappearance from the story afterward (with zenigata only finding his badge) oscar is.... not exactly leaping back into zenigata's arms. he's leaving the narrative. maybe he's leaving for the outside world, or maybe he's just given up on life. but either way, it's too late for zenigata to change their relationship. oscar didn't need zenigata to love him back romantically, but zenigata's existing love for him was never right either.

even if zenigata had talked to him properly, he might never have understood what oscar needed.

[ctrl-lupin]

Bit of a tangeant here - I took this screenshot in case there was anything interesting in the filler text, and

OOOOH BOOOOOYYYYY.

It turns out there's a whole-ass anime/series about Lupin III in Lupin III's universe.

[thecartoongirl]

This is so beautiful. What I love most about their dynamics in Lupin Zero is that, even though they come from very different backgrounds, they're just two very lonely boys who never had a real friend before. Jigen being Jigen, he refuses to admit that Lupin is anything more than a casual acquaintance at first, whereas Lupin openly seeks Jigen's company and always drags him along in his adventures.

I personally see their relationship as friendship because they're both so young, but with the potential to develop into something else. And even if it's just friendship, it's still so intense they don't know how to handle it, because they never felt anything like that before, they never had someone they could trust completely and who felt the same in return.

Anyway, I never thought I would get so emotional about what I thought would be a funny miniseries about 13-year-old Lupin III, but here we are. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

they pining

[davekat-sucks]

imisshomestuck popping off with the jake meta, damn

i agree completely, but also this paragraph

"Unhappy endings are better because of that. Fuck that. That's not why people read stories. People read them to see the ideal, to feel the potential of a character and then later see their faith and hope be rewarded. Reading a fictional story shouldn't be like gambling where you hope the writer ends up closing a characters story well and having them turn into the best version of themselves. Why do so many writers have the idea that reality always ends up being shitty and disappointing! Stories should too! It's like that stupid Mad at Disney song. We should all be bitter and nihilistic. The 1990s nihilism trend did a number to these mother fuckers. They think that trying is pointless and flaws are weights around our ankles that make it impossible to win the race of lie."

yes holy shit im so fucking TIRED of nihilism in stories, yet it seems its all i can find in everything nowadays (example: GOT, that was ass and im tired of pretending otherwise, all the good interesting main characters dying triggered my homestuck ptsd). and i fucking hate how this garbage webcomic has ruined my perception of character interaction for me forever because nothing comes even close! and all i get in fanworks is davekat uwu shit or discourse! im so fucking pissed! i hate hussie, hiveswap, the epilogues and hsbc and this idiotic fucking nu fandom!

someone send some book/shows/manga recs plz

in exchange i can give some too, if you like homestucks minimalist art style give alex toths works a try, his artbooks in particular are great. invader zim, irkens is where hussie stole the trolls and alternia from. also emily the strange, the maxx (1993), sam & max. for manga, lupin iii is fun.

There is only such much nihilism I can take before it becomes annoying that we get it, everything fucking sucks. Worse if said media tells me that I'm an idiot for even caring for watching/reading the series in the first place. At this point, it makes one question then who the hell you are writing for at this point if you slap the audience in the face and purposely make yourself feel like shit. As for series: Smiling Friends, Mashle: Muscles and Magic, Crayon Shin-chan, Gintama, Sgt. Frog/Keroro Gunsou,

[desdemonafictional]

Indomitable on a Curve - DesdemonaKaylose - Lupin III [Archive of Our Own]

I archived my sort of meta fic on Fujiko Mine

I think she can be so interesting. Nearly no one has done anything satisfying with her since the 1970's, but I believe there's potential there. Anyway these are a bunch of my part one era headcanons.

[dandunn]

for the film ask game!! i have two, bc i am always curious if people have seen/heard of the Thief and the Cobbler. i rarely meet anyone outside my family that knows it

and then obligatory lupin iii question of Green Vs Red??? idk if that counts as a movie or a special but eh

Thief and the Cobbler

never seen | want to see | the worst | bad | whatever | not my thing | good | great | favorite| masterpiece

I have seen it! I remember watching the n*stalgia critic review of the chopped up hollywood version with mainstream actors and it got me curious enough to check out the recobbled cut. I remember the animation being really interesting but I probably couldn't tell you what the plot was.

The pacing of it kind of makes me think of MAD GOD - another animated film with a troubled production history that went on for decades. Interesting stuff. Shame Aladdin stole its thunder.

Green vs Red

never seen | want to see | the worst | bad | whatever | not my thing | good | great | favorite| masterpiece

I've seen G vs R uhm. About three times now. I do not understand why they made it the way they did. it's meta, it's confusing, I don't like what it implies for the Lupin series about how the protaganist might've taken over from the original Lupin and 'became' him somehow like girl what. Did the original Loop die? Is this all a dream??? girl what GIRL WHAT.

That being said the scene where Jigen rescues Goemon from the helicopter is the tits. I would like to see a cut of it where the scenes are actually in sequential order.

[canonical-transformation]

Focalors kit speculation — max HP weirdness

TL;DR: wouldn't it be messed up if Focalors's kit did some of the following:

HP% buff (i.e. the Sakura Shrimp Cracker effect. Temporarily scaled HP. Just like Noblesse 4pc, it adds (not multiplies) to other HP% buffs.)

HP% debuff.

Off-field Hydro application (less positioning than Kokomi, less NA dependent than YL/XQ).

(date: Jan 2023. If details have been leaked I'm not aware of them. No leak discussion please. Disclaimer: I very rarely pay attention to meta, purely considering this from a player choice perspective)

(1) is effectively a teamwide DEF or DMG reduction buff... that benefits our HP scalers, dampens corrosion, and weakens our non-HP-scaling healing.

(2) is effectively like a DEF/RES debuff (Zhongli, Lisa, etc) but boosts our True DMG such as Ocean Hued Clam (like Mona's ult?).

(3) is practically a given bc of how good Hydro is at off-field application.

Other rambling below the cut.

So, going in, some assumptions about constraints on Focalors's design, based on the Archons so far:

(i) Universal support — Archons should fit into the flex slot of many three-character comps.

(ii) Does what their element does — if you need a [💧/ 🌱 / ⚡ / 🪨 / 🍃] character on your team, the Archon should be a safe pick. Maybe not always the best, but never a terrible choice.

(iii) Mono friendly — if you want to build a triple/quadruple [💧/ 🌱 / ⚡ / 🪨 / 🍃] team, the Archon should be a safe pick. Maybe not always the best, but never a terrible choice.

How these fit the criteria

HP buff (i): An effective DMG reduction across the board gives survivability — differently to Kokomi or ZL, but the same kind of comfort pick. Add in interruption resistance and things are looking pretty good. It also "multiplies" with DEF% builds if you need a tankier Noelle/Itto for some reason; benefits vape Hu Tao, benefits almost all shielders, etc.

HP buff (iii): This is literally Hydro resonance, and directly benefits everyone except Tartaglia, Mona, and (more or less) Xingqiu. The fact that they changed Hydro resonance to boost HP indicates Hydro will likely get more HP scaling to come.

HP debuff (i): The way that Zhongli's RES reduction is boringly useful in most situations, this is the same. For bonus points it's technically a little better at shield breaking.

HP debuff (iii): Niche, but the effective boost to True DMG makes OHC!Kokomi that tiny bit better

Off-field Hydro application (ii): This is just standard for Hydro characters besides Tartaglia, and is kinda expected

Off-field Hydro application (iii): Hydro DMG teams already have several onfielder options, plus Candace if you have none of them.

What that might look like:

NA: Sword (rapier) or polearm (Arsène Lupin cane)

Skill: Raiden's E except triggered by NA/CA/plunge hits, differentiating her with better shield breaking but also meaning you need to be attacking to make her work. (CA trigger helps specifically with Morgana.)

Burst: field that debuffs enemy HP and buffs team HP (maybe scaling with 0/1/2 affected enemies).

Passive: burst gets extra effects. similar to Gilded Dreams, it depends on the team: debuffs Hydro RES the more Hydro you have, increases EM the more non-Hydro.

Is this ridiculous? Yes. But it'd be fun. What design would you give her to put her at the same level as the other Archons?

[taoofshigeru]

🎶✨✔️ for the Lupin asks?

🎶favorite track/ost?

All versions of the core Lupin III Theme. It's iconic for very good reasons.

I have a special affection for the 2014 theme, which plays while Lupin and Jigen do something particularly cheeky to the ostensible Macguffin of the film:

✨favorite thing about the franchise?

The way it's proven capable of remaining itself while also taking on elements of the creative staff at the time.

Yamamoto Sayo's noir-y Fujiko feat. Lupin III is very different from Miyazaki's more round-edged, gadgety visuals, both of which differ from Monkey Punch's original hard-nosed and stylized imagery, but you never lose the core joy of Lupin III having a fun crime adventure, sowing chaos and doing it for the thrill of it.

I'll watch a Lupin film from 1990 with friends and we'll be able to enjoy it in the same way as one plus or minus a decade in either direction, owing to how well it adapted to the zeitgeist over the decades. On a meta level, it really does feel like people retelling a myth to the kids. Sure, maybe dad's story has more explosions and maybe the samurai is more of a dork in grandma's version, but both are telling a story about about the one time they met Arsene Lupin III, and that counts for a lot on a deeper level.

I think Green vs. Red says it best in what I might be misremembering as it's final lines.

Pops: "There's another new Lupin on the loose!"

Some cop: "Another knock-off, sir?"

Pops: "Nope, this one's the real-deal reboot!"

There is no one real-deal Lupin, but every face of Lupin III is authentic. (Even his "real" face is literally a mask.)

✔️movie/special you’d recommend others watch (& why)

Castle of Cagliostro is the answer you might be tired of hearing but it's absolutely the correct one. It's a banger of a film and features cuts that still looks impressive 30+ years later. It's funny and fun as all-get-out, just make sure you're watching one of the dubs where Zenigata's VA really hams up the Printing Presses scene.

Otherwise, I'm partial to Dead or Alive as just a put it on and have fun adventure movie, preferably with the lights turned off and your drink of choice in hand. The way the prison break and car chase in the first couple of minutes ramp up takes you in, and it keeps things fresh throughout. (And it's got the tidbit with Zenigata deciding to name his autobiography "Love and War With Lupin III", so there's that for the Lupin/Pops contingent to which I belong.)

[thelavendercatalogue]

The star’s lived in the lining of her skin, no different than how the sun had lived in Lupin's eyes and the moon within his own heart. All different, none quite the same. But oh indeed, what a strange and cryptically beautiful universe they all made up. . .

----Lupin III: The Lavender Jacket Series

Main Portal Hub for all general Lupin III AU Content Such as:

Main Story Line: The Lavender Jacket Series  

Blog will Be 18+ with theme's of Gore, Violence, Drug Use, and various other adult theme's

VIEW DISCRETION IS ADVISED PLEASE READ META FOR FURTHER INFO

OFFICIAL TIP POST HERE

[sauntervaguelydown]

So I mainlined pretty much all of Lupin III canon in about three months this winter, right? Back to back, all the tv shows and the movies and also the limited amount of the OG manga that has been released in English. And here's my feeling about Lupin's personal backstory.

I really enjoyed the Zero anime, but it poses some interesting problems. It shows Lupin III and Jigen as teenagers caught in a bit of a family struggle between Lupin's father and grandfather, who expect different things of their younger relative. Zero clearly takes a lot of direct cues from the OG manga, going so far as to adapt the one "backstory" issue with Arsene Lupin the First. The thing about the Manga is that it is 1. mean-spirited black comedy 2. low-continuity high-concept nonsense 3. fanservice power fantasy, roughly in that order. Lupin the First is written as being a legendary asshole, perfectly willing to steal his own grandson's physical, biological heart if needed. They absolutely keep this for the anime, and kind of make him worse. (I cannot forgive pulling out a sex worker's tooth just to make a point, that is so MEAN.)

Now, I've also read some of the French short stories the Mangaka stole his protagonist's lineage from. And I can tell you right now, that Arsene Lupin is a lot more like the Lupin III from modern incarnations of the anime--good humored, a womanizer with a romantic streak, clever manipulator of expectations, lovable conman. Not the kind of guy who would yank out a woman's tooth for no reason.

In the manga, there's a Lupin empire, established by the First: networks of henchmen and resources and properties all over the world, employees, servants, etc. When Jigen shows up as a regular character, he's supposed to have been part of the Lupin empire, which is now falling part. They were friends growing up, although we don't know the details. It seems reasonable that Jigen's parent probably worked for the Lupin family.

In the various anime, even as far back as Part One, there's no empire. Not only that, but Lupin is less...dark. He has an episode about risking his life to save an innocent woman from a death trap. He treats Jigen like an equal. He's softer around the edges, picks his targets more fairly, all that stuff. Even when he's acting like a genuine sex pest, he always gets knocked back down and lets it go.

When you line up the pieces, a pattern starts to (accidentally, I think) arise. Manga Lupin is a crueler, nastier, more violent person, canonically raised by a crueler, nastier, more violent person.

In the various anime, Lupin III seems to respect his grandfather's legacy. He seems to have respected the man. He seems to have been fond of the man, at least in some complicated sort of way.

The accidental pattern here suggests: Manga Lupin is like that because he was not raised by Leblanc's Arsene Lupin. Anime Lupin is like this because he was.

Zero, however, throws a wrench into all this, because it is trying to preserve the various backstory elements of the manga while keeping the gentler, more mischievous Lupin III developed over decades of television and movies. If they're going to pull it off, I think the key might be the presence of Lupin the Second, who is a much bigger player with much more agency in this anime than in the manga--and who is utterly absent from every iteration of the TV shows up to this point.

Anyway, that's my unified Tonal theory of Lupin Backstories

[domidextrus]

I've seen Lupin III and Scooby-Doo compared a lot, in that both franchises have been around since the late 60s, they have a consistent cast of five characters that has remained completely unchanged, and most of their plots are largely episodic and border on exceptionally silly. The most obvious difference here is that Scooby-Doo's age rating usually doesn't go higher than PG-13, whereas with Lupin III, that's the minimum age rating that gets applied to its softest entries.

But another difference that Velma (HBO) put to light is that a lot of attempts at putting a new spin on Scooby-Doo only show that the people who work on those don't seem to have a lot of faith in that series' foundations. And in this specific show's case, the creators don't seem to have a lot of respect for its fanbase either. It is such a cynical attempt at a prequel that makes use of both cheaply crass adult humor and tired meta jokes, all whilst taking a sledgehammer to the personalities of the main cast, in some vain attempt to make it seem more mature than it actually is. At times, it almost feels like a parody of some jaded 14-year-old's super-edgy Scooby-Doo fanfic.

Meanwhile, we've had Lupin Zero putting a spin on Lupin III that shows nothing but faith and respect for both the foundations and the fans. The writers actually show their work and dedication, not simply by filling in the fanservice quota, but by recontextualizing the most familiar beats in ways that make you look at the series in general a little differently. Most daring of all, it took a relationship between two specific characters (Lupin and Jigen) that fans saw gay subtext in for decades and committed to that subtext without a hint of cynicism. (I've heard that the writers for some of the good recent Scooby-Doo entries also wanted to do that by acknowledging the lesbian subtext in Velma's character but had to fight tooth and nail with executives to make that happen, which honestly says more about the state of the American TV & film industry than it does the franchise.)

Velma (HBO) is a prime example of a prequel created with deeply scathing contempt towards the source material, while Lupin Zero is one of a prequel created with absolute loving sincerity.

[mechanimereview]

Lupin III: Tokyo Crisis (1998) - Claustrophobic Crimes

I don’t have a lot of interesting meta bits to discuss when it comes to this special when it appeared on TMS’ YouTube channel. Just some interesting things about the dub in which this is yet another Lupin Funimation dub. They still call Lupin “Loop in” and the Mine is said as “Mine” instead of “Me – Neigh” like how it’s pronounced in Japanese. A pretty crazy thing considering this special is one…

[dryingpanzer]

(CW: Minor Nudity, also spoilers for different media)

Alright baby! Here’s the TL;DR for the media!

Les Miserables: 10/10

Wicked: 9/10

“In Case I Make It”: 8/10

THE DEATH OF PEACE OF MIND: 7/10

Delicious in Dungeon: 10/10

Brooklyn 99: 9/10

Now that that’s done, let’s go more into detail!

Les Miserables - Oh, this musical hurts. The indomitable human spirit truly passes on in times of turmoil and misery. Amazing music, amazing set designs, and overall such a moving show. Going into it, I thought for some reason Jean Valjean would be this idol for which people rally behind, but instead he’s just some selfless dude that joins the revolution at the barricade and even saves Marius, bringing him home. This musical hurts, but it’s a good kind of hurt. 10/10

Wicked - Probably the pinnacle of media where it twists the roles to make the antagonist the main character. All of the meta, referential moments that callback to the Wizard are very cute and funny and also helps to connect the two different stories together. The costume design was also amazing and is very befitting of the strange world of Oz. The music was very compelling and catchy. The set designs were great as well, shoutout to the one dude up in the rafters puppeteering the giant dragon. Elphaba was a very compelling protagonist that shines light on the “Wicked Witch of the West” and it was cute seeing an actual friendship form between her and Glinda. Fiyero also had an amazing ass. 9/10, makes me appreciate Twisted more and what they went for.

“In Case I Make It” - Having listened to his previous albums “Everything is a Lot,” “SEFL-iSH,” and “The Normal Album,” the style in this album took me by surprise, but makes more sense as he didn’t have his band members from the Tapeworms this time around (iirc he still used Tapeworms for Normal Album, the album just isn’t listed as a Will Wood & the Tapeworms album). It seems this album goes through more of his mental illnesses and self-conflict, will definitely need to listen to it again more in depth to understand it more. 8/10, fave song is Vampire Reference in a Minor Key, Big Fat Bitchie’s Blueberry Pie (don’t make me type out the full thing please it’s almost as bad as the Song with Five Names) is funne.

“THE DEATH OF PEACE OF MIND” - Another album where the style was vastly different than what I came to know of Bad Omens. It could also be I was use to their heavy shit with self-titled and Finding God Before God Finds Me, but this seemed to have more clean vocals and electronic parts. Not a bad album though, I still enjoyed listening to it! Then of course ARTIFICIAL SUICIDE came in and just basically knocked me unconscious with its raw energy and sound. 7/10, might have to be another album I listen through again to appreciate more!

Brooklyn 99 - I finally decided to check out this series after hearing and seeing so much about it and also since I was waiting for Delicious in Dungeon episodes to drop. Absolutely hilarious show that I feel does the cutaway gags much better than Family Guy. All the characters are enjoyable in their own ways with my faves being Sgt. Terry and Capt. Holt (rest in peace Andre Braugher). 9/10, fun show!

Delicious in Dungeon - You mean to tell me there’s a show that is a fantasy party adventure that is comedic, heartfelt, AND has good food? Me ass show! From the beginning it felt like the show was already subverting expectations and tropes, from Laois being human fighter but having depth with his extensive monster knowledge, to Chilchuck being the smol-looking boi that (pseudo-head canon) enforces his union-mandated smoke breaks. I am super invested in this anime and is probably one of my fave ever (Lupin III still tops my fave anime). 10/10, I really need to make bread.