Hello Again
In case you didn't get the title this is heavily inspired by Kat's similarly named thread (except I don't know how spoilers work). The Reader bit though is because I came to this franchise as an existing fan of the books which just means there are going to be many more side tangents.
The Unnecessarily Long Intro:
My first experience with Lupin III was not a good one and it was entirely my fault. I tend to get SUPER into a franchise and with every new franchise I get a massive misconception at the beginning about how said franchise works. (I thought that regeneration in Doctor Who made the Doctor lose their memory and I wasn't disabused of that notion until I listened to an AUDIOBOOK off all things in which the Doctor and the Master compare past experiences in previous incarnations (The Two Masters in case you're wondering)). My misconception for Lupin was very odd and I don't know why my mind went there but I was on YouTube looking for content related to Lupin the first and I saw the bad guys reference clip. I saw this Lupin with his goofy suit and tie that was brighter than his shirt and thought "so it's some goofy rich kid moping of his grandpa's legacy huh?". I do not know why it was that personal but anyway I saw some out of context videos I don't know what the timeframe for this was my memory is ridiculous. I eventually decided to watch Lupin III and after browsing the where to start thread I decided to start with...
Part IV and My Odd Opinion:
The first actual thing I watched for Lupin III was the English dub of Part IV on the TMS Youtube Channel. I enjoyed it just fine but in retrospect it didn't click as well as everything else. Even now with everyone talking about how good it is I find other things I would rather see. For clarification I watched the up to the zapping operation in English and then watched the zapping operation and onward in sub. I just stopped at Requiem for Assassins or a Lovesick Pig whichever one came after the other. It was by no means bad but it just felt wrong something which became all the more clear when I got into my favorite entries. (The theme from 2015 is really good though). Loved the Zenigata episode though.
The First and Fatigue:
I have seen this movie three times not because I enjoy it that much but rather due to the fact that it remains my go to for introducing friends and family into the franchise especially as it is the most family friendly (see what I did there). Anyway it was good had great animation and awesome music but I agree with the consensus in saying that it is a basic Lupin III plot with a hint of Indiana Jones (ironic considering rumors of Lupin's influence on that movie franchise). Side Tangent Incoming: My most recent time I watched it with one of my friends who had just recently recommended a show called Case Closed to me. I had no idea what that was until I looked at the picture he pulled up and realized it was Detective Conan one of my dad's favorite shows as a kid. A couple of days later I'm showing him the movie and I make the mistake of mentioning that there was two crossovers between Lupin and Conan. He proceeded to spend the rest of the movie yapping about how Conan could do this or that faster and better than Lupin. Of course by then I had gotten kinda bored of the film since it was my third go and I never was the kind of guy to rewatch and so I argued power scaling with him. His takeaway was that the plot was okay but the animation was the highlight as opposed to Conan which had good plots. That my friends is the downside of using The First as an entry. My sisters loved it though and spent the next day hounding me to watch more Lupin considering they are even younger than I am trying my very best to keep it family friendly.
Lupin Zero and The Click:
In terms of chronology I watched Lupin Zero right after my first watch of The First and way before my second. As stated by the title this is when Lupin really clicked with me. Funny Plots, heists, and action this may not have some groundbreaking themes but in a time where everything is negative in the mainstream entertainment world this was just good fun. It also was good that it didn't cater too much to children. We could have had some sappy coming into your own story but instead we got some goofy Lupin. We also got the great hype of the green jacket making an appearance at the very end. Given that the manga it was based off of typically had him in his suit and tie for most of the adapted stories a potential season 2 should really have him wearing it throughout. This would be my favorite entry if not for...
Lupin III Part V and the Peak:
This is hands down the best Lupin III content I have consumed to date. I would say this is the best part and here's why. The technological oriented plot really worked out to make an intriguing premise for me and the more serialized nature of it was great. Part V might have been one of the best series of television I have seen in a while. I usually remain relegated to movies and games never making a commitment to a series and while the vast amount of TV specials would have allowed for me to continue that lifestyle I was hooked watching episode to episode. Every weekend I would watch a few more it was great.
Lupin III Blood Seal of The Eternal Mermaid:
I also watched this with my sisters and it was certainly fine. You would think that as a fan of the books I would enjoy the reference and while it was cool... Side Tangent Incoming: They can't make up their mind with Lupin the First either he's some romantic like in this, is a jerk like in Zero, or serves as essentially a plot device and a reference at the same time like in The First. The First is named after him and he doesn't even appear in a flashback we have no idea how he acted in his prime in this show. Even Lupin II had some goofy antics in Zero that allowed us to correlate him to his son but all we get for Arsène is him cackling like a maniac while wearing a monocle to hint at his past glory. Anyway where was I? Lupin III Goodbye Par-Sorry Blood Seal of The Eternal Mermaid is kinda mid.
Lupin III Goodbye Partner:
Too much too little time
Lupin III Part VI:
I as of writing this have finished the first arc of Part VI and it was actually good? Like I see the issues people have with it and it is by no means anywhere near Zero or V but the plot is entertaining and it has Sherlock Holmes. The twist with Lestrade was a genuine surprise and I really like where it went with Holmes and Watson. Looking forward to the Witch and Gentleman arc.
Arsène Lupin and the Recurring Reference:
A side tangent section to end us off. Would you like to take a guess where Lupin's habit of sending an advance notice card came from? Yeah the OG except there is a caveat. While Blood Seal and other sources say it's just a thing he does the reason Arsène Lupin does it is to pull off the heist. When talking to Ganimard (His Zenigata) about a heist he orchestrated from prison he stresses that he could not have pulled it off without the note and he would not have sent it otherwise. Lupin III does understand this sometimes. The First shows him sending the card himself in disguise to steal the diary as a cop and the Zenigata episode in part 4 sorta gets it because he disguises himself as Zenigata using the excuse of looking for Lupin. So far in my limited Lupin experience the only time it's been done incorrectly is in Blood Seal. But for it to be such a recurring thing he has to have done it wrong at least a few times. The disguise aspect of the books is also one of the MAJOR aspects of Lupin III and it's what connects all of Lupin inspired media together.
The Koike Films:
So far thanks to jojosuibhnes list I managed to watch the first two with little issues (the first one messed with me a bit). They were definitely good and I see why they are so highly regarded. They feel quite oddly more grounded than everything else. Lupin is more of an actual criminal thief rather than some goofy gentleman. Goemon and Jigen both get more bodyguard/hitmen-like personalities. Zenigata functions like an actual cop that genuinely has a chance of catching Lupin. This of course has some drawbacks. Zenigata and Lupin lack their usual raport for a more antagonistic relationship. I can't possibly imagine Lupin calling him "pops" or episodes like The Day Without Daddio happening. Lupin would probably be fine with Zenigata being dead even if he won't kill him personally. I watched Goemon's bloodspray on DVD and it was english but Lupin's voice actor just doesn't click with me and it was a continuous problem. Funnily enough the theme songs Revolver Fires and Satori paired with the general plot's and gore make this feel like a more mainstream Lupin kind of like the netflix show. In a world where Crime Fiction and True Crime conquer this Lupin feels like a reaction to that. It still sorta feels like Lupin like the black files fake he gives Fujiko or the message he sends to East Doara. I definitely look forward to The Mystery of Mamo- I mean Lupin IIIRD The Movie later this year.
In case you didn't get the title this is heavily inspired by Kat's similarly named thread (except I don't know how spoilers work). The Reader bit though is because I came to this franchise as an existing fan of the books which just means there are going to be many more side tangents.
The Unnecessarily Long Intro:
My first experience with Lupin III was not a good one and it was entirely my fault. I tend to get SUPER into a franchise and with every new franchise I get a massive misconception at the beginning about how said franchise works. (I thought that regeneration in Doctor Who made the Doctor lose their memory and I wasn't disabused of that notion until I listened to an AUDIOBOOK off all things in which the Doctor and the Master compare past experiences in previous incarnations (The Two Masters in case you're wondering)). My misconception for Lupin was very odd and I don't know why my mind went there but I was on YouTube looking for content related to Lupin the first and I saw the bad guys reference clip. I saw this Lupin with his goofy suit and tie that was brighter than his shirt and thought "so it's some goofy rich kid moping of his grandpa's legacy huh?". I do not know why it was that personal but anyway I saw some out of context videos I don't know what the timeframe for this was my memory is ridiculous. I eventually decided to watch Lupin III and after browsing the where to start thread I decided to start with...
Part IV and My Odd Opinion:
The first actual thing I watched for Lupin III was the English dub of Part IV on the TMS Youtube Channel. I enjoyed it just fine but in retrospect it didn't click as well as everything else. Even now with everyone talking about how good it is I find other things I would rather see. For clarification I watched the up to the zapping operation in English and then watched the zapping operation and onward in sub. I just stopped at Requiem for Assassins or a Lovesick Pig whichever one came after the other. It was by no means bad but it just felt wrong something which became all the more clear when I got into my favorite entries. (The theme from 2015 is really good though). Loved the Zenigata episode though.
The First and Fatigue:
I have seen this movie three times not because I enjoy it that much but rather due to the fact that it remains my go to for introducing friends and family into the franchise especially as it is the most family friendly (see what I did there). Anyway it was good had great animation and awesome music but I agree with the consensus in saying that it is a basic Lupin III plot with a hint of Indiana Jones (ironic considering rumors of Lupin's influence on that movie franchise). Side Tangent Incoming: My most recent time I watched it with one of my friends who had just recently recommended a show called Case Closed to me. I had no idea what that was until I looked at the picture he pulled up and realized it was Detective Conan one of my dad's favorite shows as a kid. A couple of days later I'm showing him the movie and I make the mistake of mentioning that there was two crossovers between Lupin and Conan. He proceeded to spend the rest of the movie yapping about how Conan could do this or that faster and better than Lupin. Of course by then I had gotten kinda bored of the film since it was my third go and I never was the kind of guy to rewatch and so I argued power scaling with him. His takeaway was that the plot was okay but the animation was the highlight as opposed to Conan which had good plots. That my friends is the downside of using The First as an entry. My sisters loved it though and spent the next day hounding me to watch more Lupin considering they are even younger than I am trying my very best to keep it family friendly.
Lupin Zero and The Click:
In terms of chronology I watched Lupin Zero right after my first watch of The First and way before my second. As stated by the title this is when Lupin really clicked with me. Funny Plots, heists, and action this may not have some groundbreaking themes but in a time where everything is negative in the mainstream entertainment world this was just good fun. It also was good that it didn't cater too much to children. We could have had some sappy coming into your own story but instead we got some goofy Lupin. We also got the great hype of the green jacket making an appearance at the very end. Given that the manga it was based off of typically had him in his suit and tie for most of the adapted stories a potential season 2 should really have him wearing it throughout. This would be my favorite entry if not for...
Lupin III Part V and the Peak:
This is hands down the best Lupin III content I have consumed to date. I would say this is the best part and here's why. The technological oriented plot really worked out to make an intriguing premise for me and the more serialized nature of it was great. Part V might have been one of the best series of television I have seen in a while. I usually remain relegated to movies and games never making a commitment to a series and while the vast amount of TV specials would have allowed for me to continue that lifestyle I was hooked watching episode to episode. Every weekend I would watch a few more it was great.
Lupin III Blood Seal of The Eternal Mermaid:
I also watched this with my sisters and it was certainly fine. You would think that as a fan of the books I would enjoy the reference and while it was cool... Side Tangent Incoming: They can't make up their mind with Lupin the First either he's some romantic like in this, is a jerk like in Zero, or serves as essentially a plot device and a reference at the same time like in The First. The First is named after him and he doesn't even appear in a flashback we have no idea how he acted in his prime in this show. Even Lupin II had some goofy antics in Zero that allowed us to correlate him to his son but all we get for Arsène is him cackling like a maniac while wearing a monocle to hint at his past glory. Anyway where was I? Lupin III Goodbye Par-Sorry Blood Seal of The Eternal Mermaid is kinda mid.
Lupin III Goodbye Partner:
Too much too little time
Lupin III Part VI:
I as of writing this have finished the first arc of Part VI and it was actually good? Like I see the issues people have with it and it is by no means anywhere near Zero or V but the plot is entertaining and it has Sherlock Holmes. The twist with Lestrade was a genuine surprise and I really like where it went with Holmes and Watson. Looking forward to the Witch and Gentleman arc.
Arsène Lupin and the Recurring Reference:
A side tangent section to end us off. Would you like to take a guess where Lupin's habit of sending an advance notice card came from? Yeah the OG except there is a caveat. While Blood Seal and other sources say it's just a thing he does the reason Arsène Lupin does it is to pull off the heist. When talking to Ganimard (His Zenigata) about a heist he orchestrated from prison he stresses that he could not have pulled it off without the note and he would not have sent it otherwise. Lupin III does understand this sometimes. The First shows him sending the card himself in disguise to steal the diary as a cop and the Zenigata episode in part 4 sorta gets it because he disguises himself as Zenigata using the excuse of looking for Lupin. So far in my limited Lupin experience the only time it's been done incorrectly is in Blood Seal. But for it to be such a recurring thing he has to have done it wrong at least a few times. The disguise aspect of the books is also one of the MAJOR aspects of Lupin III and it's what connects all of Lupin inspired media together.
The Koike Films:
So far thanks to jojosuibhnes list I managed to watch the first two with little issues (the first one messed with me a bit). They were definitely good and I see why they are so highly regarded. They feel quite oddly more grounded than everything else. Lupin is more of an actual criminal thief rather than some goofy gentleman. Goemon and Jigen both get more bodyguard/hitmen-like personalities. Zenigata functions like an actual cop that genuinely has a chance of catching Lupin. This of course has some drawbacks. Zenigata and Lupin lack their usual raport for a more antagonistic relationship. I can't possibly imagine Lupin calling him "pops" or episodes like The Day Without Daddio happening. Lupin would probably be fine with Zenigata being dead even if he won't kill him personally. I watched Goemon's bloodspray on DVD and it was english but Lupin's voice actor just doesn't click with me and it was a continuous problem. Funnily enough the theme songs Revolver Fires and Satori paired with the general plot's and gore make this feel like a more mainstream Lupin kind of like the netflix show. In a world where Crime Fiction and True Crime conquer this Lupin feels like a reaction to that. It still sorta feels like Lupin like the black files fake he gives Fujiko or the message he sends to East Doara. I definitely look forward to The Mystery of Mamo- I mean Lupin IIIRD The Movie later this year.
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Like I said in my own thread, I love reading peoples' takes on media I like, especially when they have unpopular opinions: from what I've seen the fandom seems mostly positive about part 4, mixed on part 5 and mostly negative on part 6, so it's refreshing to see different perspectives. Everyone has different experiences with a piece of media and those experiences shape their opinion of it... like reading Arsène Lupin before watching Lupin the Third! Thanks for the reminder that it's our differences that make fandoms interesting; life really would be boring if we were all the same.
