Lupin III: Blood Seal - The Eternal Mermaid
Wednesday, January 4th, 2012 09:38 amSo a little while back (maybe a week?) we watched the latest Lupin III special.
A little diatribe about Lupin III. I love the show, and Lupin, and I love Monkey Punch; I love the specials and totally look forward to them. Even if they don't actually have a government committee in Japan devoted to making more Lupin III stuff, I feel like they should, because-- like Batman, or Sherlock Holmes, or the original Arsene Lupin-- Lupin III has become a cultural icon.
This year was nerve-wracking because Lupin III is old enough that some of the VAs simply had to stop doing the characters. The original Lupin III VA passed away in 1995 after working very hard on the last special he was part of, but was replaced by a guy who has been absolutely respectful of the original Lupin's voice and done his best to mimic the original voice as closely as possible. Recent specials had seen a significant decline in the prominence of Zenigata as a character because Naya Goro has throat cancer and the demands of doing Zenigata's voice were a bit much to deal with.
This year, Fujiko, Goemon and Zenigata were replaced as their VAs stepped down, meaning the only original VA left on the project is my beloved Jigen. So, we were terrified by the prospect of the voices sounding nothing like the originals. Would Fujiko still have that certain way of speaking? That inflection of seductress but also kind of playful thief-girl?
Would Zenigata still be loveably devoted to the pursuit of criminals, but also capable of showing compassion when he saw that Lupin was not the greatest threat?
Would Goemon-- well, no, I wasn't really worried about Goemon. I like the guy, and he's hilarious, but well, he didn't have as distinct a voice because he doesn't talk too much. But he does need to be gruff!
Not only were the new VAs just as respectful and dedicated as new Lupin from 1995 in their effort to bring the characters to life in a similar, though unique, fashion, but the story also went out of its way to kind of celebrate all that Lupin is. Lupin III sometimes doesn't reference where he came from, but every now and then he refers to his grandfather, Arsene Lupin, the amazing thief and ladykiller-- the genius, the man by whom Lupin III measures himself. In this special, we not only got to see the show embracing a Japanese myth and using that as the framework for the plot (celebrating the fact that it's still a Japanese cultural icon), while also having the resolution directly reliant on the original Lupin acting exactly as the character would have in the theoretical situation of discovering a beautiful woman. He's painted as a supernaturally lucky and intuitive figure, which fits, and is definitely Lupin III's role-model without over-shadowing him.
I loved the special because it was everything I desire from the franchise. The side characters were some of the most adorable ever, and there were all sorts of nods to earlier shows and movies and even the comics in there. What was best was, for the first time in a while, all human characters were drawn in that same iconic style. Recent specials have often mixed 'standard anime style of the current era' with the Lupin-specific characters still drawn more or less as they always have been. This one went back to the Miyazaki style of the original TV show in the 70's, and Castle Cagliostro. I loved it! It also let them re-define the look of characters whose VAs had been replaced. New Fujiko is a little younger again, instead of that hot MILF look she was getting more recently; new Zenigata had a distinctly different face and nose, while keeping the chin and the mascara eyes. Goemon has lost the bags under his eyes.
It's all really exciting because, to me, it shouts boldly "We're going to keep on going! Fear not!" after about three years of worrying, year to year: is this the end for Lupin III? Without Naya Goro, will the show be able to continue?
I feel pretty confident, now, that it will. And I'm glad! Because I will always be a fan of all Arsene Lupins, even Lupin XXIII or whoever that caused Pycal to travel back in time to kill Lupin III.
Edit: Oh yes! D&D happened yesterday!
Sabine fought and killed a Flail-Snail! We used the anti-magic rod to destroy the puzzle house and chased off the crazy old man who had staged it. And then we went to Vellas to return to our ship. In between was much goofiness and some sexual innuendo to do with rods shooting light out of them; good times, good times.
A little diatribe about Lupin III. I love the show, and Lupin, and I love Monkey Punch; I love the specials and totally look forward to them. Even if they don't actually have a government committee in Japan devoted to making more Lupin III stuff, I feel like they should, because-- like Batman, or Sherlock Holmes, or the original Arsene Lupin-- Lupin III has become a cultural icon.
This year was nerve-wracking because Lupin III is old enough that some of the VAs simply had to stop doing the characters. The original Lupin III VA passed away in 1995 after working very hard on the last special he was part of, but was replaced by a guy who has been absolutely respectful of the original Lupin's voice and done his best to mimic the original voice as closely as possible. Recent specials had seen a significant decline in the prominence of Zenigata as a character because Naya Goro has throat cancer and the demands of doing Zenigata's voice were a bit much to deal with.
This year, Fujiko, Goemon and Zenigata were replaced as their VAs stepped down, meaning the only original VA left on the project is my beloved Jigen. So, we were terrified by the prospect of the voices sounding nothing like the originals. Would Fujiko still have that certain way of speaking? That inflection of seductress but also kind of playful thief-girl?
Would Zenigata still be loveably devoted to the pursuit of criminals, but also capable of showing compassion when he saw that Lupin was not the greatest threat?
Would Goemon-- well, no, I wasn't really worried about Goemon. I like the guy, and he's hilarious, but well, he didn't have as distinct a voice because he doesn't talk too much. But he does need to be gruff!
Not only were the new VAs just as respectful and dedicated as new Lupin from 1995 in their effort to bring the characters to life in a similar, though unique, fashion, but the story also went out of its way to kind of celebrate all that Lupin is. Lupin III sometimes doesn't reference where he came from, but every now and then he refers to his grandfather, Arsene Lupin, the amazing thief and ladykiller-- the genius, the man by whom Lupin III measures himself. In this special, we not only got to see the show embracing a Japanese myth and using that as the framework for the plot (celebrating the fact that it's still a Japanese cultural icon), while also having the resolution directly reliant on the original Lupin acting exactly as the character would have in the theoretical situation of discovering a beautiful woman. He's painted as a supernaturally lucky and intuitive figure, which fits, and is definitely Lupin III's role-model without over-shadowing him.
I loved the special because it was everything I desire from the franchise. The side characters were some of the most adorable ever, and there were all sorts of nods to earlier shows and movies and even the comics in there. What was best was, for the first time in a while, all human characters were drawn in that same iconic style. Recent specials have often mixed 'standard anime style of the current era' with the Lupin-specific characters still drawn more or less as they always have been. This one went back to the Miyazaki style of the original TV show in the 70's, and Castle Cagliostro. I loved it! It also let them re-define the look of characters whose VAs had been replaced. New Fujiko is a little younger again, instead of that hot MILF look she was getting more recently; new Zenigata had a distinctly different face and nose, while keeping the chin and the mascara eyes. Goemon has lost the bags under his eyes.
It's all really exciting because, to me, it shouts boldly "We're going to keep on going! Fear not!" after about three years of worrying, year to year: is this the end for Lupin III? Without Naya Goro, will the show be able to continue?
I feel pretty confident, now, that it will. And I'm glad! Because I will always be a fan of all Arsene Lupins, even Lupin XXIII or whoever that caused Pycal to travel back in time to kill Lupin III.
Edit: Oh yes! D&D happened yesterday!
Sabine fought and killed a Flail-Snail! We used the anti-magic rod to destroy the puzzle house and chased off the crazy old man who had staged it. And then we went to Vellas to return to our ship. In between was much goofiness and some sexual innuendo to do with rods shooting light out of them; good times, good times.
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