Episode Zero: Indecisive but refreshing.

[Eyesic]

Hi, hey, hello everyone,

Just a little context to begin, I think it's a bit obviously but Lupin is such an important series to me, it holds the most influence over my creative works. I had an obsession for the franchise for about two and a half years, where It was honestly all I really thought of and drew. I never fell out of love wit the series, but for a bit there it became more of a casual respect where I would watch an episode of part 2 or from time to time or a new movie when it came out. Fast forward today, I want to finish what I started. I am entering a second hyper fixation on the franchise, which means I'm finishing up the few OVA's I haven't seen yet.

My return to the specials was Episode Zero, and I'm a little curious om what the general opinion on the film is? As a vanity project to commemorate the aniversay of the anime, I think it's very solid. But it's also far from the only origin story we've gotten from the gang. There's been TWCFM, Lupin zero and even part one to an extent. Out of all the back stories, we've gotten which do you all prefer. I am a bit biased towards TWCFM personally.

I've never been a massive fan of the art direction the the series adopted in the 2000s, I find the colurs to be dull and the expressions to be flat (not a fan of Lupin's head shaped as well lol). But I found it really intresting that this was direcred by Minoru Ohara, who was director on Neon Genesis Evangelion, another personal favourite of mine. So I thought it was really cool to see one of these TV specials have more intent behind it's direction. There were some really composed shots, which played with perspecrive. There were a ton of high expourse shots, that really reminded me of his work on Eva.

Overall, I wish this had more of a sense of scale or urgency. I did not care for Brad or his realtionship to Lupin. But I am happy to be back, we are so back. If you have seen this special I would love to discuss it with you all. And maybe I'll make more post like these in the future.

Have a good day!

 

[Tsushi]

I love concepts from Episode Zero, I think Jigen and Lupin's meeting especially was satisfying in this version. I've seen people portray Brad as having a past relationship with Lupin, so Fujiko dating him too, then there's a bit of that polygang vibe that people build into the gang later.

I think it has a lot of fanfic building block potential. I like the different origin stories and I like being able to draw from the vibes of multiple of them!

This special is definitely one of the more interesting ones at least, since it gives me stuff to chew on! I don't think I would recommend it as an introduction to the cast but it has inspired my writing many a time, and I can't ask for much more than that.

 

[Eyesic]

I love concepts from Episode Zero, I think Jigen and Lupin's meeting especially was satisfying in this version. I've seen people portray Brad as having a past relationship with Lupin, so Fujiko dating him too, then there's a bit of that polygang vibe that people build into the gang later.

I think it has a lot of fanfic building block potential. I like the different origin stories and I like being able to draw from the vibes of multiple of them!

This special is definitely one of the more interesting ones at least, since it gives me stuff to chew on! I don't think I would recommend it as an introduction to the cast but it has inspired my writing many a time, and I can't ask for much more than that.

I never even considered the undertones of him and Brad. That implication honestly makes a lot of sense, and I really like it. It's good to see that this special has some shooters!

 

[Kat]

Revisiting an old hyperfixation is a nice feeling, isn't it? Then again, so is diving right into a brand new one - I just started watching Lupin last year, so I've been experiencing it all for the first time Episode Zero was a TV special I hadn't seen yet been curious about because, to answer your question, it seems to have a good reputation in the fandom. I've seen a lot of people praise it for breaking up the TV special formula and heard at least three people recommend it as a starting point for someone getting into the franchise, though it wasn't mine personally - so yesterday I watched it for the first time thanks to you!!!

Personally I didn't mind the art direction too much, even if I do like my Lupin a little more colourful - it was kind of funny to see the gang interact with new characters drawn in such an "early 2000s" style. The specials are nice time capsules of what anime was like each year between 1989 and 2013! The story took a while to win me over, since at first it seemed like it was going for a less comedic and more "film noir" tone than your average Lupin TV series, but by the montage of Lupin and Fujiko trying to crack open the scroll I realised that was probably an intentional choice to showcase how much Lupin brightened up the cast's lives, and the movie's gradually-lightening tone made it a fun watch. I have mixed feelings on its suitability as an introduction to Lupin - on one hand it's nice how it zeroes (...heh) in on Lupin and Jigen's relationship and touches on a lot of other important dynamics too (Zenigata and Lupin, Lupin and Fujiko, Fujiko and Jigen, Jigen and Goemon, Goemon and Lupin), which is undoubtedly a good thing with the character relationships being such a core part of the franchise's appeal, and the ending twist was a perfect indicator of what to expect from Lupin: the unexpected! But on the other hand... well...

In terms of which backstory I prefer, Episode Zero doesn't even come close to part 1 episodes 5 and 7. Lupin and Goemon laughing together at the end of the latter ep was the scene that really made me fall in love with Lupin as a series - I'll never forget the way I started laughing along with both of them, and since Episode Zero referenced the original Lupin vs. Goemon fight I expected an equivalent of that scene too, but it never came. At least Lupin got to share a laugh with Jigen this time... anyway, while I'm glad I watched Episode Zero, I'm also glad I started with part 1 in order, which I know some people advise against, but my boyfriend Sof was the one who got me into the series and that's what he did - which turned out to be a good call! Maybe I'm just sentimentally fond of part 1, but I do think it has a certain sincerity to it that no TV special can replicate... I'll see when I watch TWCFM and Lupin Zero. I do know agree with Tsushi that Episode Zero has a lot of good fic and art inspo, at least - it's also fun to think of it as a fic within canon

 

[Eyesic]

Revisiting an old hyperfixation is a nice feeling, isn't it? Then again, so is diving right into a brand new one - I just started watching Lupin last year, so I've been experiencing it all for the first time Episode Zero was a TV special I hadn't seen yet been curious about because, to answer your question, it seems to have a good reputation in the fandom. I've seen a lot of people praise it for breaking up the TV special formula and heard at least three people recommend it as a starting point for someone getting into the franchise, though it wasn't mine personally - so yesterday I watched it for the first time thanks to you!!!

Personally I didn't mind the art direction too much, even if I do like my Lupin a little more colourful - it was kind of funny to see the gang interact with new characters drawn in such an "early 2000s" style. The specials are nice time capsules of what anime was like each year between 1989 and 2013! The story took a while to win me over, since at first it seemed like it was going for a less comedic and more "film noir" tone than your average Lupin TV series, but by the montage of Lupin and Fujiko trying to crack open the scroll I realised that was probably an intentional choice to showcase how much Lupin brightened up the cast's lives, and the movie's gradually-lightening tone made it a fun watch. I have mixed feelings on its suitability as an introduction to Lupin - on one hand it's nice how it zeroes (...heh) in on Lupin and Jigen's relationship and touches on a lot of other important dynamics too (Zenigata and Lupin, Lupin and Fujiko, Fujiko and Jigen, Jigen and Goemon, Goemon and Lupin), which is undoubtedly a good thing with the character relationships being such a core part of the franchise's appeal, and the ending twist was a perfect indicator of what to expect from Lupin: the unexpected! But on the other hand... well...

In terms of which backstory I prefer, Episode Zero doesn't even come close to part 1 episodes 5 and 7. Lupin and Goemon laughing together at the end of the latter ep was the scene that really made me fall in love with Lupin as a series - I'll never forget the way I started laughing along with both of them, and since Episode Zero referenced the original Lupin vs. Goemon fight I expected an equivalent of that scene too, but it never came. At least Lupin got to share a laugh with Jigen this time... anyway, while I'm glad I watched Episode Zero, I'm also glad I started with part 1 in order, which I know some people advise against, but my boyfriend Sof was the one who got me into the series and that's what he did - which turned out to be a good call! Maybe I'm just sentimentally fond of part 1, but I do think it has a certain sincerity to it that no TV special can replicate... I'll see when I watch TWCFM and Lupin Zero. I do know agree with Tsushi that Episode Zero has a lot of good fic and art inspo, at least - it's also fun to think of it as a fic within canon

This is a great review! Loved reading a lot of your insight towards the special. I like what you especially said montages, Lupin being this ever present source of light within the crew and their lives. I also have to agree with the more noir aspects of it's structure and visuals. I'd love to see more genre focused stories in the future. Please continue to share your other thoughts on the series!! I'd be more than happy to hear them!

 

[Seroster]

Episode Zero is one of my favorites, even though I think the ending pretty much indicates that the whole thing isn't canon. I would have to rewatch it (oh no!) to focus on particular elements like the art direction. I think it was better than a lot of the specials that came before it. edit: particularly, better WRITTEN.

 

[Tsushi]

Episode Zero is one of my favorites, even though I think the ending pretty much indicates that the whole thing isn't canon. I would have to rewatch it (oh no!) to focus on particular elements like the art direction. I think it was better than a lot of the specials that came before it. edit: particularly, better WRITTEN.

Better written for sure, it was cohesive and satisfying and everyone in the cast had something to do, which is not true of many of the specials lol

 

[Eyesic]

Better written for sure, it was cohesive and satisfying and everyone in the cast had something to do, which is not true of many of the specials lol

Absolutely agree with the two of you, the screenplay is a lot more realized than other specials