#lupin series review

[fogaminghub]

🎉✨ Exciting news, game lovers! Arsene Lupin – Once a Thief has officially launched, and it’s time to experience the legendary gentleman burglar’s thrilling adventures! Explore the artistic world, solve puzzles, and dive deep into Lupin’s iconic tales! Read all about it in our latest blog post! 💥🕵️‍♂️

[badlydrawnarsenelupin]

Thoughts on Chiho Saito's VS Lupin

So back in 2019, I found this series while I was browsing for Lupin things, as one does, and proceeded to buy the whole set, because it’s Lupin, drawn as a sparkling shoujo-manga pretty boy.

What is this series? 

VS Lupin (Original Title: VSルパン) is a currently ongoing series serialized by Shokugakan in the magazine Zoukan Flowers, based off of the original Lupin stories by Leblanc. It is written and drawn by Chiho Saito (さいとう ちほ), a shoujo and josei mangaka, who is best known for being a creator of the Revolutionary Girl Utena series. 

By the way, while I’ll be mainly using shoujo when describing the series in this post, VS Lupin is officially listed as a josei manga. The labels shoujo and josei for the most part are used as an age-rating to specify the intended audience. As a genre they have a lot of overlap in the style and tropes… I’m just using the terms interchangeably. If you’re a Manga Expert™ pretend you didn’t see this.

As of writing this, VS Lupin has a total of six volumes completed in the original Japanese, covering a handful of stories and novels including: The Countess of Cagliostro, The Crystal Stopper and The Damsel With Green Eyes. Volume 7 is currently in progress and is said to be based off of Eight Strokes of the Clock.

Volumes 1-4 from that have been translated into Chinese (which are the ones I have). 

Just look at how pretty the covers are! From left to right, we have Lupin, Joséphine Balsamo, Clarisse d'Etigues and Lupin again. I'm not entirely sure when the original VS Lupin actually started serialization in Zoukan Flowers, the closest to a date I have is the publication year of the first volume (2014) printed inside the Chinese-edition.

I actually went back and checked to see if the original listing I bought these from was still available but uh, no. Seeing how there hasn't been news for a translation of vol 5-6, I fear this series may be falling into the same fate as Aventurier Lupin (niche and cursed to cease physical publications forever). The original Japanese editions are still available for purchase, as well as ebook versions of the Chinese-translations… which are better than nothing, but I really would love to have the full series so here’s to hoping they continue the publication at some point.

General thoughts:  

As it is probably obvious from the art style and creator, VS Lupin is a retelling of the Arsène Lupin stories in a shoujo/josei-esque style. Visually, the art-style is heavily reminiscent of many classic shoujo series of the late 80s and 90s. 

VS Lupin, Ch 7 Illustration / Volume 1 Afterword

The illustrations are carefully drawn with very thin lines, giving everything a delicate and elegant appearance. It is especially noticeable in the details of the backgrounds and objects, such as the fancy frills and jewels. 

VS Lupin, Ch 1 "The Princess's Wedding" / Ch 3 "The Queen's Necklace"

It’s a weirdly fitting look for Arsène Lupin, as it really encapsulates the vibe of a past time period. Plus the whole heroic-gentleman-sweeping-away-young-girl-in-distress trope that Lupin has in common with the shoujo-genre.  

Also, just. Tuxedo Mask. 

Top: Sailor Moon, Act 47 / Bottom: VS Lupin, Ch 8 "The Wedding Ring"

And early Kaitou Kid, who was also originally created in the 80s and actually precedes Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask.

Magic Kaito, Ch 2, "The Police Are Everywhere"

Look at them sparkly-cape-hat-glove-boys go. There's probably something to be said here about the influence of the original Arsène Lupin as a trope in the genre, but it's not something I'm well-versed in so let's just leave it there.

Plot & Story:

Much like the art, the story and characters are also written through a more romanticised lens. The series is not a one-to-one adaptation of the original Leblanc canon, telling a more chronological story with slight but noticeable changes to the timeline. 

Volume 1 of VS Lupin starts off in a more episodic manner, with the three short stories of “Lupin’s Marriage” (Confessions of Arsène Lupin), “The Black Pearl” and “The Queen’s Necklace” (Arsène Lupin, Gentleman Thief). 

The first major change occurs in “The Queen’s Necklace,” where Raoul is shown meeting Clarisse d'Etigues for the very first time. The introduction of Raoul’s backstory with the Queen’s Necklace leads into vol 2-3, which covers the entirety of The Countess of Cagliostro and Raoul’s evolution into Lupin. Clarisse, unlike the original Leblanc canon, is given a much larger role and presence in the story as Lupin’s first wife. 

In the afterword of vol 3, Saito-sensei explains the reason she decided to change so much of the story:

「 Clarisse 」 "In Japan, perhaps it is because of the strong impression Lupin III’s anime (Castle of Cagliostro) left on people, the name ’Clarisse’ is the most well-known of all of Lupin’s heroines. "

But, but, as Lupin’s first wife, she only briefly appeared in the original story, I was very surprised. The original story of The Countess of Cagliostro itself was a work written very late (in Leblanc’s career), which was why there was no other way.  And so, I heavily rewritten chapter 8, ‘The Wedding Ring’ and chapter 9 ‘The Birth of Lupin’ from the original.  I’m sorry! Leblanc-sensei and fans of the original Lupin stories! – Chiho Saito in VS Lupin, Volume 3 "Afterword"

Honestly, for me personally, the changes and the original chapter “The Birth of Lupin,” were a big positive. It was well-written and tied Clarisse into Lupin’s life in a satisfying way, it also fills in a blank with how Lupin originally found the Hollow Needle, something that was not there in the Leblanc canon. 

Also, we get Clarisse coming in on a horse to save Raoul’s sorry ass. I see this as an absolute win.

VS Lupin, Ch 7 "The Countess of Cagliostro 4"

The last volume of the series I have, vol 4, covers The Crystal Stopper. 

Compared to The Countess of Cagliostro, the pacing of the story in this is noticeably more rushed. The Countess of Cagliostro had two volumes and a little more leading up to it, plus the original chapter, “The Birth of Lupin” rounding off the ending. While The Crystal Stopper had only less than one volume of time to cover the original novel in its entirety, having to share the page count with “The Silk Red Scarf.” (Confessions of Arsène Lupin)

As expected, much more was cut from the story. Especially noticeable were the scenes where Lupin in the original canon acted more… unflattering. I guess we can’t have our heroic pretty-boy doing cartwheels all over the villain’s lifeless body, it’s not very marketable for a male-lead in a shoujo story. I jest. 

Amongst the scenes that were cut, there were also Lupin baby-talking to “Hercules,” Lupin and Clarisse Mergy torturing Daubrecq then popping his eye out, and most regrettably, the little epilogue at the very end between Lupin and the Narrator. There were probably more, but it’s been awhile since I’ve read The Crystal Stopper and those were the main ones I can recall. 

On the positive side, here’s Gilbert being taller than Lupin. 

VS Lupin, Ch 10 "The Crystal Stopper (Part 1)"

And this fruity, very edible-looking blond Lupin harassing Ganimard. 

VS Lupin, Ch 12 "The Silk Red Scarf"

Bonus, the afterword from VS Lupin's Crystal Stopper:

「 The Crystal Stopper ��� The biggest impressions of Lupin this time are, "the weakest," "always losing." Or rather, the antagonist he was up against was the strongest! No matter if it was in the appearance, or rotten personality, (Daubrecq) excelled in it all! "At the start, I got scared of the graphic descriptions in the original story, however after getting used to drawing (him), M. Daubrecq made me feel very happy."

Not only that, Lupin, with the beautiful young man who believed in him without a doubt, then trying and falling in love with that certain mother, (his) feelings once again becoming messy amidst it all. And Lupin, out of his love for them, absolutely would not give up! "So good! In other words, when talking about 'cool' Lupin moments, people will no doubt think of these!" – Chiho Saito in VS Lupin, Volume 4 "Afterword"

Thoughts on the characters: 

In VS Lupin, Chiho’s Lupin is noticeably sanitized. The story smoothes out some of Leblanc Lupin’s more asshole-y behaviour and makes him more appealing for a shoujo/josei manga audience. I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s a complete negative, as it gives the story a more fluffy shoujo, romantic atmosphere. Good if you just want something light-hearted and a bunch of fluff. But compared to Leblanc!Lupin it’s definitely a bit lacking, and slightly takes away from some of the complexity Lupin has as a character. 

The female characters on the other hand, are more of a mixed bag. 

For Clarisse d’Etigues, she was definitely a big winner here. She was given more focus and screen time, plus a slight increase in her agency as a character, such as letting her save Raoul twice. She definitely reminds me of some of those magical girl protagonists in that aspect, able to be a heroine who saves people and while also being unapologetically girlish and feminine. 

I really do love how Chiho’s Joséphine Balsamo was drawn, probably my favourite character in the series design-wise. It really perfectly captures her more adult-ish allure with her thick, dark curls in contrast with Clarisse’s thinner, lighter hair and girlish grit. 

VS Lupin, Ch 7 "The Countess of Cagliostro 4"

Writing-wise, the narrative in VS Lupin noticeably leans more in favour of Raoul than Joséphine than the Leblanc canon, which makes sense as a decision for the series overall. Joséphine is shown more treating Raoul in a belittling manner, referring to him as a “youngster,” and from Raoul’s inner-thoughts, feeling as if he was treated like a dog. There was definitely an effort to make her more unlikable… After all, in VS Lupin, we are supposed to be rooting for him to get back to Clarisse. 

Clarisse Mergy on the other hand… I felt that she was, unfortunately, slightly scuffed on. She was framed as more of a classic damsel-in-distress role, while in the original stories, she was more aggressive in her desperation. I think the main problem here was just how much had to be cut from The Crystal Stopper, such as the scene where Clarisse Mergy tortures Daubrecq. 

VS Lupin, Ch 11 "The Crystal Stopper (Part 2)"

The one positive Chiho!Mergy got was the scene showing her directly rejecting Lupin’s confession at the end of the story. Compared to canon, where we were only shown Leblanc!Lupin complaining to the Narrator about how she refused him even after he saved her sons, which is… bad Lupin, bad. *bonk*

Conclusion:

I enjoyed this series a lot! The art is, again, absolutely gorgeous. The writing is pretty well-done overall, and paired with the lovely visuals, it’s very much worth a read for those who can. 

Here is Chiho Saito’s twitter, here are the Japanese versions of the series from the official Shogakukan site, and lastly, the Chinese-editions of volumes 1-4.

Please, publication gods let me have volumes 5-7 orz

[movieanimex]

Lupin Part 3 Is Here!! Checkout Spoiler Free Review On MovieAnimeX:

[lupincentral]

Oh my God it’s finally happening!

A brand-new work in the Lupin IIIRD spin-off series, tentatively titled Lupin the IIIRD THE MOVIE is coming to Japan in 2025. While not confirmed at time of writing, the film is also likely to be localised and released worldwide.

Directed by Takeshi Koike (of Redline and previous Lupin the IIIRD fame), the film is set to be feature-length and 2D animated, in line with previous entries.

While details are currently scarce, the teaser trailer (shown at the bottom of this article), mentions that Yūya Takahashi will be returning to write the screen play, and that James Shimoji is also back to handle the soundtrack. Katsuhito Ishii is also on board as a creative adviser. The teaser shows footage from the previous three spin-off films, some clips of the new one (which appears to be Zenigata focussed), and ends with a glimpse at a shaken and beaten-up figure, with the phrase “You don’t know the real Lupin III”.

The Lupin the IIIRD spin-off series first began in 2012, with The Woman Called Fujiko Mine. Labelled “hard and dangerous”, Fujiko Mine took the franchise in a vastly different direction from what fans were used to at the time, telling a darker story diving deep into the femme fatales past, and exploring her relationship with a slightly edgier Lupin, Jigen, and Goemon (and yes, it’s also the one where she has sex with Inspector Zenigata). While the fanbase was divided on this at the time, over the years, a deeper appreciation for the Fujiko Mine series has formed, and more recently, it was given the title of “anime of the decade” by website Fanbyte.

From there, the series continued in the form of three films - Jigen’s Gravestone, Goemon’s Bloodspray, and Fujiko’s Lie. Continuing the storyline and tone from the show, the films shone a spotlight onto each character in a way we had never seen up until that point, helping to create a gorgeous looking film trilogy that no Lupin fan should miss (you can read our review for each by clicking here, if it takes your fancy)! This latest entry appears to follow a similar trend, with Inspector Zenigata getting his time to shine - judging by the teaser and the images released today by Comic Natalie.

Takeshi Koike, who directed the films and acted as a character designer on the original Fujiko series, is a Japanese animator, illustrator and film director. He has previously worked on animated features such as Redline and Afro Samurai - with his first folly in the Lupin series being with the 2012 spin-off show, The Woman Called Fujiko Mine. It is great to see him back at the helm for a fourth film, and we cannot wait to see the see the direction things go - especially after the ending of Jigen's Gravestone, which saw the tease of the return of a fan favourite villain (who can be seen in this trailer, if you look carefully)!

More details are sure to be released on this upcoming film next year - stay tuned!

[just--vi]

2024 in Fanfic

In 2023 I wrote 185,542 words, and in 2024 I wrote 185,996, so at least I'm consistent?

I think it's interesting to look back at my 'goals' of 2024: Write something other than a Muggle AU (failed), convince everyone to ship Moonchaser (halfway there), write more smut (nailed it), read more (honestly, kind of nailed that too).

In 2025 I want to care less, write whatever I want, finally get that Armageddon AU out, and read ~even more~.

Anyway, here's what I did this year!

For the Love of Ducks - Wolfstar, started in 2023, finished in 2024.

Remus Lupin has always been sick, and he'd just like to feel normal for once. Sirius Black seems like the perfect man with a perfect, exciting life.

The Art of Getting Off - Jegulus

Regulus is a demisexual romance author who has one big hangup: Smut. After a mountain of bad reviews on his latest novel, an awkward meeting with his publisher, and a conversation with Remus, he decides to take the leap. Unfortunately the only person he really wants to sleep with is James Potter. Alternative title: "The art of fucking your brother's best friend six ways from Sunday without falling in love in the process."

Happily Never After - Jegulus

It’s a flurry of limbs. James doesn’t waste a second pulling him inside - or maybe that’s for practicality sake. If Sirius saw them together he’d lose it on account of them being them, and if Remus saw them together he’d lose it on account of it being the night before his wedding. Or, Regulus and James are friends with benefits. All hell breaks loose.

And They Were Roommates! - Wolfstar

Sirius scoffs, and when Remus doesn’t turn around to look at him says, “Face it Moony, you’re drying up. You need me.” “What?” Remus laughs tightly, squirting an aggressive amount of soap in the sink and twisting the tap with a little more viciously than it probably deserves. “So, you’re planning on playing wingman all night?” “Yep,” Sirius says, popping the ‘p’ for emphasis. “And you’ll play wingman for me. It’ll be perfect.” Or, living with Remus Lupin is torture. Thankfully, Sirius has a plan to address the tension.

Deerly Beloved - Prongsfoot

Over a night in the pub a series of escalating dares result in Sirius and James waking up married. It should be quick and easy to fix the mistake by getting an annulment, so why are they dragging their feet?

Love at First Bloom - Wolfstar

Remus Lupin took over his mother's flower shop after the passing of his parents. Now, he splits his time between catering to the floral needs of sleepy Hogsmeade village and pining helplessly over the devastatingly handsome man who buys weekly arrangements for his boyfriend.

Wreck the Halls - Jegulus

When Regulus is invited to spend Christmas with Sirius and the Potters, the last thing he expects is for James to bring a brand new boyfriend home for the holidays.

[tedwardremus]

2024 Year In Review

This year I came back to fandom with a vengence I never knew was possible.

I published 336,619 words to AO3 in 2024 (This doesn't count my tumblr only fics/drabbles which is crazy to think about. )

I made Harry Potter Social Media AUs and moodboards

Had some fun with House Elf Hotties, ToadButter, and the @nenaandmeldetectiveagency

But most importantly this year has brought me new friends. I would tag you all and thank you for a wonderful year but I would be too embarssed and ashamed if I missed anyone. Please know that I love all of you and thank you for making this year fun.

In 2025 I look forward to finishing the Remadora Lighthouse AU, starting the sequel to Rage Against the Dying of the Light and continue my First War one shot series about the members of the Order of the Pheonix.

My 2024 fan fic review below the cut:

Rage Against The Dying Of The Light - In a universe where James and Lily Potter survive Voldemort’s attack on Halloween night. Most of wizarding society is enjoying newfound peace after a decade of war, except the young heroes who fought the war learn you can never really go back to the way things were before

Padfoot in Privet Drive - Sirius Black follows Harry to Privet Drive after the Triwizard Tournament.

Querencia - The time Lily, James, and Harry spent as a family in their little house in the West Country was far too brief, but it was overfilled with love, laughter, and, above all, life.

30 Times James Potter Thought He Was Going To Die and 1 Time He Did  - 31 microfics for Jilytober

It’s here. Now’s the time. I tell myself I’ll be fine -

It was a normal feeling to be nervous, a rite of passage for any mother or father. After all, eleven years old wasn’t that mature—children at that age were still so small, so dependent on their parents for guidance, comfort, and care.

Hope Lupin hugs her son goodbye before he boards the Hogwarts Express.

Interesting House Guests - (Or The time Sirius invited the lads to spend the week at Grimmauld Place)

Tipping The Scales - James helps Lily get back something that is hers from the Slytherin dorms.

Does Permanent Mean Forever? - It is James Potter’s seventeenth birthday, and to commemorate the occasion, he proposes to the gang that they go out and get tattooed.

Your Friend, James - It is the summer before their 7th year, and Lily and James spend the entire holiday writing letters to each other as their relationship slowly changes from friends to something more.

Rumor Has It  - Severus doesn’t believe the rumors that Lily finally agreed to go out with James Potter.

A Happy Thought - The 7th-year Defense Against the Dark Arts Class learns the Patronus Charm. James is shocked to learn what Lily’s Patronus is.

Awful Euphemisms- Lily and James exchange laughs while discovering a new level of intimacy.

An Academic Study of Dungeon Dwellers - It was common knowledge that when the weather turned warm, students were impossible to teach and used their precious free time to soak up the sun and enjoy the outdoors. Unless of course, you were the Girlfriendus Potterus, also known by her common name, Lily Evans, who—despite the migration of most students to the sun-drenched grounds—had yet to leave the castle’s confines.

The Office Party - Petunia hoped that staying in London for Christmas would make her seem important. She imagined her parents would talk about her endlessly, telling Lily all about her new, sophisticated life in the city. How big and important she’d become. She didn't imagine that she'd meet the love of her life while at the office Christmas party.

Three Lemons and a Dragon - Once upon a time there lived a Prince named James who had to save his father’s Kingdom by getting married. One day an older woman gifts him three lemons that will lead him to his true love.

Erasmus Lovegoods’s Guide to Brewing Love Potions -At the start of every school year, the Ministry of Magic distributed leaflets to all students taking potions classes regarding the regulations and legality of highly controlled potions.

I’ll Meet You After Dark - An Alternate Universe where the Statute of Secrecy hasn’t been enacted yet. Tensions between the magical and non-magical communities are high.

My dog said I can’t go out with you - Lily had been waiting patiently for James to ask her out for the first Hogsmeade weekend of the term. Sirius insists she turn James down so Sirius can hang out with her instead. (it’s all part of Sirius’ greater matchmaking plan)

Tranquil Solitude (Until You Came Along)- All Lily wanted to do was take a nice, quiet swim on a hot day. And then James Potter showed up. And Lily had already removed her clothes for the private swim.

Midnight Train To London - An escaped yeti causes a magical snow storm that leaves the Hogwarts Express stranded without any power. Head students Lily and James take charge and bring a little holiday cheer to the students trapped on the train.

Summer Fling Don’t Mean A Thing - Lily and James meet at a potions camp over the summer and have a fling. James promises to write to her when the summer is over, but he never does. Then Hogwarts hosts an academic competition inviting all the top students from around the country to attend, including students from Cockersand Coven Academy, the school that Lily happens to attend.

This Town Is Fake But You’re The Real Thing - Teen radio star Lily Evans works for a show on the wizarding wireless network called, The Marauders. The teen soap drama stars James Potter as an arrogant school jock and centers on the secret adventures of his friends in the forbidden forest as illegal animagus and a werewolf. The show’s antagonist, played by Severus Snape, left after a scandal, and now Lily has a romantic storyline with James in the final season of the show. Basically, her life is a disaster.

Field Study - Lily and James get left behind on a deserted island after A Care of Magical Creatures field trip.

These things that are pleasin’ you can hurt you somehow  - Lily is stuck in potions for a classroom disturbance she didn’t cause.

In walks James Potter who she had been avoiding all week.

White Winter Hymnals - Holiday themed jily snippets from age eleven to adulthood

Cuckoo (or the unwanted interloper baby in the nest)  - Sirius rescues Regulus from the cave and drops him off at the Potters house so he can clean up his brother’s mess. Regulus has an awful time…. until he doesn’t.

Katabasis- Snape gets hurt when he goes into the Shrieking Shack on the full moon. It is time for Remus to face the consequences.

Citius, Altius, Fortius – Communiter - Sirius is an Olympic athlete competing in the wizard pentathlon, James is a quidditch player, and Lily is a sports reporter. The three of them meet at the Olympic Village. And well, you know what happens at the Olympic Village…

Finding Your Magical Roots  - The Black Family welcomes the reality show Finding Your Magical Roots into their home to film a special episode.

101 Padfoots - An accident in potions class results in 101 Padfoots running around Hogwarts while Lily and James work together to round them all up

She Faced Danger, But Never Feared It  - Dorcas Meadowes is a healer at St. Mungo’s who specializes in emergency healing. A grandmother in her 60s who believes in caring for all members of the magical community. She is recruited by Albus Dumbledore to join the Order after she publishes and article in the Daily Prophet arguing that the rise of dark magic is a public health crisis.

When Death Would Not Come - Moody and the others will be here soon. Just endure for one more minute. Thirty more seconds. Five more seconds. As long as Neville was okay, she could endure anything.

Goodbyes and Surprise Greetings - Ginny’s brothers have abandoned her at the Burrow while they go to school or leave the country. But then she gets a surprise visitor.

The Past is a Bucket of Ash - Over burnt photographs, Harry had a late-night chat with Sirius about his family history.

Our Troubles Are Miles Away - “Would you like to unwrap your present?” she whispered into his ear, her voice low and teasing, yet so tender it made him ache.

He hesitated. He shouldn’t. He knew better.

(Remus and Tonks have a small Christmas celebration while everyone else is asleep at Grimmauld Place.)

To Guinevere - The New Year's Eve party at Grimmauld Place was a complete bore. But then Ginny walked into the room with a basket of homemade cards.

The Parting Glass - The last full moon, Moony and Padfoot spend together.

Retrouvaille (or the happiness of meeting someone you love after a long time)- The times Sirius and Harry reunited and the times they were forced to say goodbye.

Attinge - Harry shaves his head after the battle. Only Ginny understands why.

Secret Garden - Neville plants Hannah a secret garden on the roof of the Leaky Cauldron. She wants to show him how grateful she is for the gift.

Burnt Cookies - Hannah keeps burning cookies as she gets ready for the Leaky Cauldron’s Halloween party.

Luckily, Neville is there to comfort her.

Tinsel In Her Hair - Neville helps Hannah decorate the Leaky Cauldron for Christmas. He notices something shiny in her hair.

1994 Quidditch World Cup  - Harry wants only one thing for his fourteenth birthday: tickets to see the final match of the Quidditch World Cup. Well, two things if you count his sudden desire to kiss Ginny Weasley.

A Time To Mourn - Sirius Black, recently declared innocent by the Ministry of Magic, visits his godson on Halloween.

Feels Like Home To Me - Snippets inside the Potter family home

Werewolf Registration Act of 1947 - A history of magic essay helps Teddy understand his deceased father a littler bit better.

Tethered - Teddy and Vic discover the isolated and deserted Hogwarts boathouse to be the perfect place to be alone together.

It’s All About The Timing - James Sirius Potter has wanted to ask Ellie Longbottom out since he was twelve years old. Unfortunately, he can never get the timing right.

Know Your Roots- Albus Potter is unsure if helping Uncle Neville repot moonwort plants is part of detention or a lame attempt at godfather and godson bonding. It might be both.

Acting Professional - Teddy wants to see Victoire’s new office while at a work event.

Ginny’s Very Serious Investigation - When Luna casually mentions in the postscript of her latest letter that she got married, Ginny is not having it. Who the hell is Rolf Scamander, and why is Luna marrying him without any prior warning?

Snuffles & Son - Sirius raises Harry and opens a shop that specializes in repairing cursed artifacts and places protection wards on family heirlooms. One day, an Unspeakable from the Department of Mysteries walks in with a cursed artifact from his cousin’s confiscated Gringotts vault, requesting Sirius’s assistance.

Be Not Afraid Of Greatness - A collection of Frank Longbottom stories

Without A Trace - Babies don’t just disappear without a trace

The Lighthouse - There is an old fishing town off the jagged rocky coast covered in permanent fog and a broken lighthouse that is no longer able to bring ships safely to shore. Tonks travels to the forgotten place to record an episode of her popular podcast. Imagine Tonks' surprise when she arrives at the abandoned lighthouse and comes face to face with its kind yet lonely keeper—Remus.

[sitp-recs]

2024 in review - recs & highlights

following last year’s tradition, here’s the 2024 version! I took several breaks this year and wasn’t able to do as much as I had planned, but I’m still so damn proud of these small accomplishments. also very grateful for being part of this inspiring and creative community, and for having made some amazing friends along the way. I’m tagging everyone who’d like to join me in this exercise of self-love and celebration - feel free to @ me!

this year I’ve…

✔️ wrapped up masterlist #4 and kickstarted #5 which will be the last one. I hope I can make it special!

✔️ put together a reclist to celebrate my beloved Teddy Lupin with some of my favourite rare pairs

✔️found my way back into single recs! @eleadore inspired me with her exquisite the sun between us and I wrote my first fic rec since April 2023. at first I struggled a bit to find my voice, but it was really special to pour my feelings out there again. I hope I get to write a few more in 2025!

✔️ joined @hprecfest last minute, and it’s been the highlight of a very busy December. I’m thrilled to be reccing so many works I love and excited to find new favourites thanks to everyone’s brilliant contributions! thank you both @danpuff-ao3 and @coconutice22 for running this wonderful project to celebrate fandom 💗

✔️ officially created my BL sideblog! curating old man yaoi pics for @pink-heart-jam is bringing me so much joy and comfort. I’ve already made a couple friends over there and have been reading so much more than I imagined!

things I’m looking forward to:

✍️ finish my Erised readings so I can update my fest rec list asap

✍️ post part III of my special rec series “fic as a sensory delight” which I really enjoyed doing!

✍️ getting back to the hidden gems series! got a few drafts from s2 waiting to be reviewed and posted, and am already planning a s3 👀

[seriousbrat]

Oh something I came up with for Hope Lupin is that she's an author who writes paperback fantasy romances under a pen name. They're a little bit on the trashy side lol but also very romantic and quite successful! And she's definitely inspired by the wizarding world, but Lyall has to read all her manuscripts before sending them to print to make sure they're not breaking the statute of secrecy. Her reviews always emphasise her beautiful writing and her ability to come up with such fantastic things!

Her most popular series is about a young woman who moves to an old house in the country and falls in love with the ghost of a gentleman who lived there in the regency era. (Inspired by Lyall's work with spirits obviously, though with a lot of creative liberty taken such as ghosts being able to have sex lol)

[wordrage]

Hi! So I was going through your snape tag (btw sorry for the million notifications you probably got), and I noticed you weren’t very much a fan way back on the early days of your blog. Feel free to completely ignore this if you don’t feel like answering (it is truly none of my business), but I’m always fond of hearing people’s “how I came to like this character” or “why I changed my mind about this character” stories and I was wondering what yours was :)

Hiii! Thanks for the ask! (No worries on the notification spam lol) and I appreciate that you reached out!

Yes! I think he was one of the characters I had the most difficulty empathizing with because I had such a strong, emotional reaction to him. Especially after OotP forward. He's divisive! (Also looking back through my Snape tag has me internally cringing a bit with how little grace I extended to the poor guy...ah well. With age/maturity comes wisdom...? D: )

I'm ngl, after reviewing some of the earlier posts, my immediate reaction is to delete them as my opinions have definitely changed, but maybe it's good to leave it as a record of my evolving mindset towards the character? lol

Ok, so what changed?

Well, it certainly helps I'm now closer to adult Snape's age from Book 1 than Harry's age when I was first reading the HP series as it was being published. I didn't give much thought to Snape beyond he was a mean teacher and a bully, for the first four books at least.

I got into the HP fandom around when GoF had been released so I was discovering plenty of fanfic and fan meta. Snape was one of the more ... well ... fans reactions to him that liked him or even wrote him sexually with the cast confused middle-school me, to be honest. I was more interested in the child characters than the adults, so I was vaguely aware of how he was portrayed in fandom but didn't really engage.

This changed after OotP was released, and we finally got some explicit Severus Snape backstory and history with the Occlumency lessons. I had a really an emotional reaction to SWM and some of the memories we got a glimpse of. I was empathetic and not completely surprised to learn Snape was from an abusive home, that he had possible trauma and issues that explained his actions and why he was so cold and angry. Like Harry, I was really disappointed in how his father and Sirius treated Snape. There's just no excuse for how they sought him out to pick on him for fun. I was on Harry's side with confronting Sirius and Lupin about how his dad and they acted.

Also, I read everything with shipper eyes, and immediately felt there was more to Severus and Lily's relationship beyond her just coming over and reacting to James actions lol. They called Jily a crack!ship but it looks like they were validated in the end lol.

However what really made me emotionally react with anger was that we are basically being shown that Severus knows what it's like to be a scared child being abused and tormented by authority figures and other children, but he does it to his students?? I could not understand his actions at a time but I would get genuinely angry when I did think about it. To child me, this felt like a betrayal, both for a fictional character and when actual people did this. Looking back I was reacting so strongly due to my own personal experience with trauma in the home and with authority figures abusing children.

I recall not caring much about him in HBP or DH. I was much more upset with Sirius' death than Dumbledore's, so Snape's "betrayal" was just not something I recall reacting emotionally to. In DH, I definitely remember reading his memories and just feeling irritated with him. To me, he was a guy with trauma and emotional issues, sure, but I felt his behavior towards Harry, Hermione, and Neville was not excused for me. At most I felt begrudging respect for him and acknowledged he was not a completely terrible person. Harry naming one of his son's after him felt so bizarre, and I just could not understand why Harry wanted to honor him. Forgive him, sure I could understand Harry doing that, but naming his child after Snape just left me feeling confused. I could not understand how Snape could have loved Lily so much, but treated her son like he did.

I know I'm basically rambling, but it really has been a journey. :P

When I grew out of HP and the fandom after DH was published, I never gave much thought to him or his circumstances until I (unexpectedly) returned to the HP fandom last summer. I reread all of the books as an adult and I had the life experience and maturity to understand that:

A) Snape was funny! A lot funnier than I remember.

B) His actions throughout the book were too subtle for teenage me, but they made me really question my previous feelings for the character.

C) Everyone Dumbledore was kind of terrible to him!

I read a lot of really well written meta on the characters and HP. Specifically I think it was @pet-genius posts on reddit I found that really helped me put my thoughts and feelings regarding HP, primarily Harry, in order. And I can't help but compare and contrast Harry and Severus as characters and how they each approach their trauma and grief.

@ashesandhackles metas on Snape was also really helpful in highlighting the examples in the text that showed how Snape's actions sometimes directly contradict with what he said, especially to Harry. He's always presenting himself as this cold and controlled person, disparaging emotional reactions and connections. Yet he's one of the most emotionally reactive characters in the series next to Harry!

I was able to see clearer a lot of things I liked about him. That he's an incredibly skilled and hardworking person. That he cares very deeply for people he does allow himself to have feelings for and connections to. That he was scared, so scared, probably all the time after Voldemort's return to power, but he never wavered in his determination to continue to show up and fulfill his duty. Him making the Vow with Narcissa to try to protect Draco. The incredible pain he must have been in when he used the Killing Curse on Dumbledore, the one person left that knew everything about him and still valued him. That he dies keeping silent about the Elder Wand ownership, protecting Draco from becoming Voldemort's next target.

I also viewed his relationship with Lily as so much more complex than unrequited love. There's a meta out there (I will edit this post and link it if I find it again) that argues Snape wasn't really in love with Lily, and that "Always" quote is so much deeper than a romantic, or sexual, type of feelings for her. I think it argues that Snape elevated Lily to a symbol of Good, or at least used her memory to guide him on morality. I felt so much more respect for the guy that he had dedicated his life as penance, basically, for betraying his once-best friend once more.

This is getting long, I hope this wasn't too much. I have changed my feelings on how Severus treated Harry and the other kids close to him in that year's class. Looking at how he acts to others and comparing to how he acts with Harry, I now now I feel Harry was a very specific trigger for Severus and he showed Harry and Harry's potions class a side of him that he generally did not show to anyone else. This is just my personal interpretation based on how other adults, from Dumbledore to even Lupin, and kids speak of Snape as a professor and seem to think Harry is just exaggerating that Snape hates him. When, no, Snape really is projecting his hate and rage and grief about James and Lily onto Harry and he does actually hate the kid. Which, it's probably easier for Severus to think he hates Harry rather than hates himself.

I could keep going but I will stop here for now. I hope that answers the question? But feel free to chat more :) I hope you don't mind I responded with a blog post, I can take it down if you would rather it be answered privately lol.

I suppose the tl;dr version is that Snape makes me angry because he makes me feel things about myself that I don't like, but with age and reading other people's thoughts on the character has definitely made me come around to they guy!

[sideburns-and-cigarettes]

NEW EPISODE: The Fourth Annual Sideburns & Cigarettes Holiday Special

'Tis the season to gather with friends and loved ones and tell those old holiday tales. Y'know, like the one where Fujiko got strung up on a cross by a backwoods cult in Alaska. Which of course means it's time for The Fourth Annual Sideburns & Cigarettes Holiday Special!

In this episode, Austin and Sully of Third Impact Anime join us again to discuss the most unfairly maligned Lupin series, Part 3! Listen as we continue to stretch the definition of a Christmas-themed episode with our review of Episode 8, "Operation Mother Mary Getaway."

You can listen on SoundCloud, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Podbean!

[peaterookie]

Most of us know by this point that the Lupin III manga series doesn't particularly have the best reputation, but why is that?

Is it simply because of the content itself, or is there more behind it?

It is August 10th, the 56th anniversary of the og manga, and I will be exploring the causes of the manga's poor reputation in the Lupin community with as most detail as I can try to be.

Bluntly put, I will not hide the fact that the manga series as a whole contains extremely problematic elements. All three series, OG manga, New Adventures, and Shin Lupin III all contain instance of Lupin and other characters raping and sexually assaulting women.

It certainly gets better as the series goes on. At the last three major arcs of Shin Lupin III, Lupin becomes almost entirely sexless, with some instances of plain pervertedness. However, it is not an issue that cannot be glossed over and it is the by far biggest burden that this series has to carry over its 56 years of existence.

OG manga is the biggest culprit of this, barely two chapter goes by without an instance of Lupin pulling his sexual advances onto random women and succeeding. Those moments of the manga are extremely gross and uncomfortable- and it really makes our protagonist extremely unlikeable, which brings me to my next point:

The fact that the OG manga is the first of the three manga series contribute heavily to its poor reputation.

"Aiee!! No way that the biggest manga preacher in tumblr is slandering the manga! Isn't that out of character!?"

It quite is, luckily I can think. As someone who has spent about 5 months reviewing almost all of the chapters, I can say that I know quite a bit about what it does right and what it does wrong... and it sadly does many things wrong.

Of course, the main thing is the sexual violence, but it is also the series with the least interaction between each member of the Lupin gang, who are characters people already come to really like. Lacking that element takes away what many people regard to be the best part about the series.

The beginning chapters of the og manga are also poorly paced. A bunch of things are going on, and the panelling certainly makes it hard to follow as well.

And to even add to the original issue, the english translation provided by Tokyopop also fucked everything up too!! Many of the extreme dialogues that you come across, including ones that make jokes at Monkey Punch's expense, are done by Tokyopop. Tabbiewolf explains this much better than I can:

"Just remember: a LOT of the…more offensive stuff in the manga is from the TokyoPop translations. I’m not excusing ALL of it, mind you — it was the 1960s and this was an adventure/spy manga marketed at cisdudes, after all — but the script writer for the English version was extremely, uh, artistic, with his localization of the translation."

"it was the early 2000s, manga was trying to appeal specifically to people who didn’t read it: teenaged cisboys who watched South Park, basically ;) So a fair amount of the stuff was very much the new English script, NOT the creator ‘s original work! Some plots got changed entirely just because the Japanese slang from the time didn’t translate."

First impressions matter, and the OG manga makes a very bad impression for people attempting to get into the manga series. Many readers are most likely taken back by how different it is from what they are used to, and they are definitely not going to like the problematic elements.

Those who still try to give it second chances are going to be met with disappointment when they find out these glaring issues are only partially fixed further into the series. Believing that it won't get better, they end up dropping the manga altogether and generalizing the rest of the manga series as depraved nonsense.

And I can't simply blame Monkey Punch for all these issues!! It was the first of what's to come, and he was not aware at the time just how big Lupin III would become in Japan and eventually worldwide. The og manga is very experimental, and you can tell he was only trying to figure out what works. I also cannot blame the people that dislike the manga. People naturally dislike something that is problematic and different.

Heck, most manga fans feel indifferent about the og manga as well, with the majority of them liking Shin Lupin III much better.

I have the statistic right here!!! It's not a lot of people, but there's an obvious majority choice here.

(By the way, if you're enjoying reading this so far, you should totally join my Lupin III server ahem cough cough nudge nudge)

So not even the manga fans love the OG manga. In my opinion, I would definitely not recommend people to read that as their first Lupin manga either. It is the type of media that if you really love the source material in general, then it'd be ok to read.

It is quite a shame to say that the series that does a better job at getting people in the manga, is the third one of the bunch. Most people aren't going to know that however, and they end up reading something that is going to likely give a bad image of the manga.

Ok so I dont have a good segway to the second part of this post so have a panel.

Now I'm gonna talk about how the fandom itself screw up it's reputation!!

(Before you get further I have to say that I have nothing against anime fans, if I do sound like I don't like them it's just sort of poor wording on my end)

Many fans of Lupin III start with the anime, if not probably all of them at this point. This causes a huge skew in public opinion, where those who are pre-exposed to the anime are probably going to view the manga as something lesser than its animated counterpart.

This can be seen particularly in CloudConnection's video of his manga analysis, which is concerningly just a portion of this 18 minute video, but I'll look over that. The portions of the video where he analyzes the manga contain a large amount of negative opinions about it.

A lot of his points are very good, and a lot of them I agree with, like his issues with the rape and sexual assault and how its a good time capsule but definitely not something that people should start off with. But a rest of the points seem a bit unreasonable to make and rather biased, like how the characters feel inconsistent, the bad pacing, and really emphasizing how dark and grim the manga is (it is very goofy and nobody ever talks about that)

And I have to state- It's totally valid for someone to prefer one thing over the other, but my point is that when this opinion is overwhelmingly the majority, it is going to cause the general public's opinion to unfairly be against something, ignoring what it does good and pinning the focus on what it does bad.

That video example was very popular, and I know someone personally that got the wrong memo from it and hated the manga without reading it for a long time, so you can see how it can probably effect the rest of the people that viewed that video.

So what can we learn from this?

We now understand that two of major reasons responsible for the manga's bad reputation is one: the unfortunate circumstance of the OG manga being the first series, and the overwhelming public opinion being unfairly skewed against it.

To wrap this up, I ask you to please give the manga a chance!! Read Shin Lupin first, and be aware of its flaws while also appreciating what it has contributed for the franchise and anime as a whole. I hope you enjoyed this little essay I wrote, and happy birthday Lupin III!

[m1ssword]

My favourite retro animes with their perks and perils

Let's start straight away!

1. Lady Oscar / The Rose of Versailles

(70s)

Such a lovely manga/anime series. The story follows the life of a military general's daughter Oscar and Marie Antoinette. Oscar is raised like a boy to succeed her as the commander of the Royal Guards at the Palace of Versailles. The story is set in France before and during the French Revolution.

Perks:

Strong multidimensional female lead

Surprisingly historically accurate

Interestingly captures the large scale of femininity and being a woman

Cool soundtrack

Interesting fact: this anime inspired the makers of Berserk (1997)

Perils:

You'll cry

2. Lady Georgie

(80s)

Lady Georgie tells the growth story of a girl named Georgie who lives in peaceful and pittoresque Australian countryside. Georgie doesn't know the secret about her origin while the rest of her family knows it.

Perks:

absolutely endearing setting

the storytelling of their childhood is beyond cuteness

reminded me of the book "The Little Princess" by F. H. Burnett

Perils:

I was a bit weirded out by the love square (?) which included her two adoptive brothers

The ending is not satisfying and the manga is even worse

The love between Georgie and her main love interest is quite bland

3. City Hunter

(mainly 80s)

City Hunter is a humorous anime classic from the 80s. The story focuses on Ryo Saeba, a famous underground sweeper in Shinjuku, and his partner Kaori Makimura. They together help different customers - which are all beautiful women, since Ryo is also well-known for his lecherous habits. Kaori keeps Ryo in check with her hammer.

Perks:

fun anime with a lot of seasons and movies

interesting characters

pictures the city life of Japan in the 80s

Perils:

the love story between Ryo and Kaori is sometimes frustrating

The fetishism of women in almost every episode starts early to feel like a worn joke (notice the time context)

Episodes follow the same plot almost every time, may start to feel repetitive

Tsukasa Hojo, the maker of City Hunter, has also done an another manga named Angel Heart which shares the same characters with City Hunter but isn't it's continuation. I don't yet have a full review of AH, since I'm currently watching it. Thus far, I have cried during every episode, it's good but different. (Please tell me in the comments would you like to have full review of AH)

And a lot more...

There is a lot more retro animes that I didn't mention in this post, like Candy Candy, Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, Utena, Ranma, Akira, Lupin the III, Neon Genesis Evangelion and Berserk (1997). This is just my list of favourites and I hope that you would like to share your favourites in the comments!

With love,

Jessica

[skjam]

Pulptober 2024 Day 8: Kogoro Akechi/Pulp from Around the World

Edogawa Rampo was a very pulp-style author in the first half of the 20th century in Japan. He wrote some chilling horror stories, but for the moment we're looking at his series detective character, Kogoro Akechi.

He started out mostly as a Doylist necessity because Edogawa wanted to prove it was possible to write a "locked room" mystery even using traditional Japanese architecture with no door locks. And you need someone to solve that mystery. Now that he had a detective character, the author put him in stories that needed one and slowly built up who he was. Over the course of time, Akechi moved from being an interested amateur to a professional private eye with his own agency.

I've read and reviewed a book with several of his early appearances.

I've also got but not read yet the novel where he fights Arsene Lupin.

As the 1930s moved on and government censorship made it more difficult for Edogawa to use adult themes in his work, he came up with the idea of switching to children's literature. "The Boy Detectives" had Akechi move to being the adult supervisor for a team of teenage boys that solve mysteries. It introduced one of Japan's favorite villains, the Fiend with Twenty Faces.

That series kept Edogawa Ranpo in lunch money for the rest of his life.

Manga/anime fans will note that Detective Conan/Case Closed pays homage to the Akechi Kogoro stories.

[lupincentral]

Have you heard the news?

Lupin III is diving into the world of live action once again, with Jigen Daisuke ‐ a spin-off film releasing “worldwide” on October 13th, 2023, exclusively on Amazon Prime Video!

Tetsuji Tamayama, who previously portrayed the character in the 2014 released feature film, will be returning to the role of Jigen.

Yoshimasa Akamatsu (BD ~Akechi Tantei Jimusho, Corpse Party: Book of Shadows) has produced the script for the film, and Hajime Hashimoto (The Detective Is in the Bar franchise, AIBOU: Tokyo Detective Duo, Shimauma, Signal) is directing.

In preparation for his reprising of the role, Tamayama states in an interview with Natalie that he has watched the Lupin the IIIRD spin-off film Jigen’s Gravestone, and hopes to bring this cooler, more mature version of the character to television screens come October.

Details on the plot are currently scarce - however, the Natalie article mentions that it involves Jigen searching Japan for the world’s greatest gunsmith, after his trusty combat magnum is in need of some TLC (and said gunsmith just happens to run a rather curious watch shop)…

More details on the film are to be revealed closer to its release date. For now, you can check out the films first trailer embedded below, and its announcement over at website Natalie.

After Lupin ZERO wrapping up at the end of last year, and VS. Cat’s Eye releasing in January, a live action Jigen spin-off is not where I expected TMS to go next with the Lupin franchise. It is, however, in my opinion, a welcome diversion from the norm.

I would be lying if I did not first meet the announcement with some scepticism, though, mostly due to the series’ less than stellar track record of live action adaptations (the amazing 2017 Inspector Zenigata spin-off drama aside). Taking a moment to think back, I quickly realised that while the live action film directed by Ryuhei Kitamura did not win the hearts of fans back in 2014, it did do one thing right - the casting.

Shun Oguri as Lupin III and Tadanobu Asano as Inspector Zenigata were big gets for the film, and both appeared to take their appearance throughout it seriously. Meisa Kuroki played a gorgeous, cunning Fujiko, with Go Ayano trying his best to bring the stoic samurai Goemon to life. It was Tetsuji Tamayama, however, that best looked the part. Fans on social media were swooning over his Jigen as soon as the character portraits were revealed, with some saying he was made for the role.

Despite issues with pacing and its overall narrative, all of the main cast members represented their anime / manga counterparts well, and if there is one positive to take away from that film, it would be their performances.

This gives me hope for Jigen Daisuke - with fresh writing staff and a keen new director to the franchise on board, with an actor we already know can do the character justice, both Amazon and TMS may be on to something special, here. Now slightly older and more experienced, I have full confidence Tamayama will exceed that of his already good performance as Jigen from 2014.

I’m looking forward to finding out how this comes together. Keep an eye out for a full review of the film come October, which I will aim to post up on lupincentral.com a few days after its release.

[hp-confessions]

SWM isn't biased. this is literally the design of pensieve memories. it is designed to be like a VR experience of the incident. if it was from snape's point of view and biased towards him, how do you explain that harry (the one who was viewing the memory) was able to see the interaction between james and sirius when snape was clearly preocupied with writing for his exam? and how do we get the "did you like question ten, moony?" conversation if snape was busy reviewing his exam questions and was separated from the marauders by a "gang of chattering girls"? and how do we get the "if it bothers you" exchange if snape had been tucked away in the shadows of some bushes and was "deeply immersed in his OWL paper"?

and did we forget why harry was viewing that memory in the first place? snape took that memory out of his head to prevent harry from looking at it without his consent during occulmency lessons. why on earth would he manipulate/edit it to be biased towards him? no one was supposed to see it. what point would he have to do that? even if he did do such a pointless thing, why would he manipulate the memory to have him be relentlessly bullied and tormented and generally made into a fool of himself?

and, if you extrapolate from canon, you can clearly tell SWM was nowhere near the first instance of snape being targeted by the marauders. "Snape reacted so fast it was as though he had been expecting an attack", "'I mean, James didn't take Snape on dates with her and jinx him in front of her, did he?'" the series is a story of harry, not snape. we're obviously not going to get a day-by-day recount of every day that the marauders decided to target snape for minding his business, but we can infer enough that it wasn't a one-time thing, and it continued even post-hogwarts.

and don't put words in my mouth. i did not say james was "evil". not one HP character is purely "good" or "evil". not harry, not ron, not hermione, not snape, not james, not sirius, not lupin, not peter, and (most notably) not even the ministry, dumbledore, nor voldemort. this is the whole point of the series. this is the story JKR meant to tell. but god forbid characters are morally complex, am i right?

~

[headcanon-territory]

☆ ~ Part 6 review and rambles - by a person who has part 6 as their first TV series watch -> reasons why because of that one edit in instragram that made it look cool

☆ CHAPTER 1 - Herlock Shomes arc aka Lupin III snooze fest ☆

>Ok to simply start, Part 6 has one of my favorite character designs in the series, I really love work of the Art Director of this Part and 2 of the specials they worked in

-But Part 6 Lupin is too attractive for me that I'm not normal when he comes up sometimes

-On a scale of attractiveness Teal Jacket is up there with Koike Lupin and CGI Lupin

~☆

>Art direction good, Animation was rough on them though

> especially the car scenes girl those are part of this series' core that it's kinda funny - they could have cheesed their way in making it cool by yknow by cutting the fps and do some squashing magic but I dont think budget and time can make up anything for it

>I should watch Part 5 for more Albert and Yata especially Albert because Yata, in comparison to what I said in the movie review post is actually... ok just not as exceptional as Prison of the Past Yata

>Ok to the biggest flaw this part have done - The Sherlock Holmes arc that took half the season

-ive been 2x speeding that whole thing because to simply put: It's almost all talk, the characters are cramped into one scene standing so awkwardly, NERFED ZENIGATA

-they should have some time to flex out the thing with Lily and Lupin because it feels so off that she immediatly knew that Lupin didn't kill her father with ease. Girl let the mystery be a mystery like how did she easily move on when that girl is trauamatized by his mere presence the first time she saw him

>And Sherlock and Lupin immediatly resolved their conflict with eachother when Sherlock disguised himself as Zenigata despite how they advertised part 6 as Lupin vs Sherlock

>SERIOUSLY ONE EPISODE WITH THEM INSIDE A LITTLE RESTAURANT WITH CRIMINALS?? THE TALKING TOOK HALF THE EPISODE IN ONE SETTING

>The Angel Fossil episode was written by Mamoru Oshii right?? Man nice to know he got a chance to show off a piece of his cancelled idea back then

-but instead of The little girl actually being an angel from the original pitch it's that blonde dude from the beginning actually being The Archangel, Michael.

-its an interesting plot but sadly was boring

-Do like that Heaven is canon to Lupin

>The time period episodes are the ones I only enjoyed along with the episode with a treasure hunter Grandma - Sad that they were kinda fillers and could have been used for more stuff with Sherlock

>GOT YURI BAITED FUCK

>God I don't think the production crew was enjoying the first half the moment theyre done with that and immediatly up with some Lupgang shenanigans felt like they can stretch their legs again

>I'm not a Sherlock Holmes fan but the closest thing that I watched related to this series is The Great Mouse Detective and I'm telling you TMS, you guys fumbled such a concept about Lupin III against Sherlock Holmes

>the story was almost all talk, they explained that shit to you with no proper buildup I was 2x speeding this shit in one day before school starts

>"Pops is not a badass" TMS count your days

~ CHAPTER 2: The Tomoe Arc ~ Mommy issues fuckfest ~

>Now Tomoe arc is the good shit and I'm so mad that the Lupin vs Sherlock thing was the thing that advertised Part 6 primarily

>infact all of my screenshots from Part 6 is from this half of the series

>Ok we have the Lupin fangirl episode, a Fanfiction episode, the episode with the fashion designer and Goemon -- THOSE ARE MY FAVORITES - AND THEY ARE ALL CONNECTED TO THE ARC THEY WERENT FILLERS??

>Me rn

>She got most of them from Pinterest boards

>I would have those photos as my pfp btw

>I like sweet man Lupin alot that's why I refuse to watch the more harsher lupin media because sweet lupin is such a comfort character

>I'm sorry Part 6, that whole monologue of Lupin in the trailer going "I'm a villain, I do bad stuff" goes nowhere in this series because Teal Jacket Lupin acts specifically like Cagliostro Lupin especially when he's with Mattea

>also Mattea kinda deconstructs the trope of the innocent girl character that we always have in the movies especially how Lupin treats her

-man she is fucked up but sad they didn't show her story more clearly

>Actually all the "Dangerous Women" that appeared each episode also deconstucts the whole thing with the NPC girls from the movies existing there for Lupin to solve their problems with how all of them are containing pieces of a puzzle that Lupin has to solve for his own problems - only for that problem to escalate

>The episodes that distances itself from the plot were fun that I didn't mind

>I'm gonna peg you Lupin

>I'm so horny for Teal Jacket Lupin save my soul

>Stupid snork minimi outfits

>Also the fact they even explained why the Lupgang are shown cooking dinner and have turns is because of Poker

-isnt that the most (unconvetional) marriage thing ever

>Even the 2nd half dosent Yuri Bait you this immediatly is superior than whatever the first half tried to offer

>Ok now the Tomoe arc has some unavoidable flaws, of course the ending and the reveal was lackluster and turns out that Tomoe was just chilling somewhere but hey what else can they do

>But the 2 episodes before the ending was wow..

>slowly and surely we are trying to figure out the nature of Tomoe through all the perspective of the girls and only in Episode 22, we finally got a peak of what Tomoe is capable of

>and how fucked up she is - Tomoe is doing all of that just to get Lupin back??

[TW:S/A AND SUICIDE MENTION]

-She has to fuck up lives of girls especially with Mattea and Mariel like girl?? You are manipulating a girl that she loves the guy that raped her???? And even got another girl in the scene to shoot the men Mariel interacted with and shoot herself after

>Wow how everything is set up and all comes together is great. sad that they all end up standing there in the last confrontation

>Also the surreal parts and fucked up lupin is what I came for holy shit look at that

>Tomoe's plan can't work dawg has his gang on the back of his mind

-Also the cage symbolism

-i really fuck with these scenes

>tomoe those cards aren't meant for you and Lupin that's meant to represent The Lupgang and their poker nights in order to see who's cooking dinner

>Fujiko's symbol item was a lipstick?? but what else can represent Fujiko

>Should have some Zenigata in there because of them being in eachother's subconcious

>Also fucked up Lupin shots goes so hard

>I should watch Mamo I need to dissect the lupins

>I absolutely love Tony Oliver's performance I was interested on how hes gonna work this past episodes out especially that this cast started with this series on crack

>The ending was saved by the conclusion being Polycule love wins

>and the lupgang being important to Lupin kinda shows too during the episodes with the ladies and how they are also connected to some of them

>seriously hold up

-You woke up from a hypnotist's trance because of your "companions"

- Your 'partner' shoves a cigarette into your mouth that was from his MOUTH

-said that they have dinner duties when one of them lose to poker

>Yea Fujiko you simply said that one episode regarding the lupgang, "I wouldn't call them exactly friends"

Yea because THEIR YOUR BOYFRINEDS!!!! YOUR STUPISF BOYFRIENDS!!!1!‼️‼️

>also the series after this was Lupin: Zero and weirdly never shows Lupin's mom but what they show is that Grandpa Lup and Dad Lup are also terrible parents so therefore: Lupin is the result of unproper care when he was a kid, genetics by horrible people and his only loving figure was a creepy woman that manipulated him

~~~~ END - What could've been & Zenigata ~~~~

How everything was set up in the tomoe arc and how that part of of the season was enjoyable enough I do wish They executed it better because alot of ideas had so much potential

Especially some scenes in the middle of the sherlock Holmes part

Like Zeni telling Yata to leave because the case is not safe for him since he knows the lengths Lupin can go and plus Sherlock Holmes but Yata refuses as he won't leave his teacher. Cool right?? And then got fucked over with the lack of Zenigata just for Sherlock to shine.

The overwhelming lack of Zenigata was the biggest flaw this part done even for the 2nd half. The writers don't wanna handle him that they put him in fucking jail for some Yata screentime. I love Yata but Yata content in exchange for Zenigata's??

And Zenigata was the guy that found out Tomoe's hiding spot for the audience to know but he came there last minute

And even they put the usual lupgang shenanigans in the last second

But in the end: Part 6 was saved in the second half but was still overshadowed by the very very undercooked first half that would have worked If the production team even tried

and The cast being so enjoyable kept me going but it really shows that without them I wouldn't have watched anything from the part at all..

~ ~ ~ ~

Sivhghgh,; you can even watch the 2nd half without the need of watching the 1st - It's fun and fun angst