Lupin III Encyclopedia

Review for 2011 Special Posted

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 15:19:18 GMT

Read my thoughts on this year's special. That is all...

2011 TV Special gets date and new cast

Sun, 09 Oct 2011 16:43:52 GMT

ANN reports that the TV special for 2011 will air December 2 and feature new voice cast members for the first time in sixteen years. Blood Seal ~Eternal Mermaid~ will have new voices for Zenigata, Goemon, and Fujiko. Rumors still swirl if this is indication that the TV series briefly mentioned earlier this year is on track. Join the discussion and weigh in on this being the jump start the franchise has desperately needed or the final straw to clutch at.

Master File BD/DVD collection in Spring 2012

Wed, 10 Aug 2011 16:03:41 GMT

First reported at ANN, spring 2012 will see the start of a "Master File" project to produce a definitive, "condensed" compliation of the series on Blu-ray and DVD. What this means is anyone's guess. All I know is that I am not buying yet another copy of Cagliostro or Mamo... Unless there are some kick-ass extras...

Discotek bringing the first series to the US

Wed, 13 Jul 2011 18:56:43 GMT

First caught the news on ANN; Discotek has announced that they have licensed the first series for DVD release in the US. The release date is a vague "spring 2012" time frame. Few details beyond this are currently available.

Given their acquisition of Babylon never saw the light of day, I am not celebrating until I can actually pre-order the set. Far too much time between now and "spring 2012"; anything can happen... But, we can hope...

Something new this fall

Wed, 11 May 2011 18:06:48 GMT

I'm loathe to post news that has few actual details, but given the dearth of news... Why not... Apparently, a tiny promo aired in Japan announcing a new TV series in the fall. No other details were provided beyond that; ANN picked up the story once the Japanese fans started their buzz. The US fans started their buzz including Reed Nelson reporting his sources confirmed it was a TV series though few other details -- important ones like crew, cast, and even anime vs. live-action -- were yet to be established.

Flash forward a few days, and ANN followed up with NTV, the usual Japanese broadcaster of Lupin specials. They were saying only a TV special was slated for the fall. Reed's source still claims that it will be a TV series. So, confusion reigns until more official information is provided.

My money is on a TV special only. My hope is for the special to be a 90 minute pilot that leads into a new series.

Reviews for Scoopers and The Last Job

Sun, 09 Jan 2011 04:37:12 GMT

Finally sat down and watched The Last Job and Scooper. My reviews have been posted though there is not much to say about either.

March release for Japanese TV Special Blu-ray box set

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 14:17:36 GMT

CD Japan has a listing for an upcoming Blu-ray box set of 21 Lupin TV specials. It is a pricey set at 84000yen or ~ US$ 911 and will be released March 17.

Three interesting things to note about the set:

The Conan crossover is not included in this set. Make of that what you will.
This year's special is included in the set. That's quite the turnaround -- air in February, released on home video in March.
This appears to be the only way to get this year's special on Blu-ray. CD Japan has the standard regular DVD and regular DVD + CD editions listed. Nary a stand-alone Blu-ray version in sight.

While the price tag is steep, it is slightly cheaper than trying to pick all of the Japanese versions of the specials up individually. Where I have nearly all of the specials already on DVD, I think I'll stick with picking up the DVD+CD version.

Thanks to Buster Darkwings' post in the mania.com anime forums for the heads up.

2010 special coming February 12

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 13:59:53 GMT

It appears that winter is the new summer for the Lupin franchise; 2009 saw the crossover special air in March. February 12 will see the 2010 special air as announced by the Mainichi Shimbun (Japanese); titled The Last Job, the plot revolves around a Japanese artifact found in a Nazi sanatorium. A band of ninjas led by Morgana battle against Lupin for this treasure; the big twist is Zenigata will supposedly die at Morgana's hands.

Already, fandom is buzzing that this will be a turning point in the franchise, and this time they could be proved correct. Naya Goro, Zenigata's voice actor, has not been in good health or voice in recent years; he could be retiring leaving a large and unique hole to fill in the cast. The question remains if the writers can introduce a new antithesis for Lupin that the audience will embrace.

Then again, they replaced Lupin's voice with a similar one and kept the character going; maybe they have plans to do the same for Zenigata. A new direction for the franchise or just another stale gimmick (cf. $1 Money War as one example)? We'll find out in two months.

Lupin finally gets a DS game

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 15:07:52 GMT

Fans have long thought that the Lupin franchise would lend itself well to the DS; many thought a puzzle based game would work well. Looks like Bandai Namco thought so too and will release their DS game The Greatest Brain Battle in History next February. You can see the official site for the game for more details and a demo.

Discotek licenses Episode:0

Sat, 03 Oct 2009 18:20:17 GMT

Wonders never cease... After the disappointing sales of Fuma Conspiracy, Discotek decided not to release Legend of the Gold of Babylon. Instead, they saved their pennies and according to their recent blog post licensed Episode:0 First Contact. There are no more details other than a vague 2010 release date.

I'm going to lay it all out for you people; Episode:0 is held up as one of, if not the, best Lupin TV specials released. If the sales are disappointing for this release, you can kiss the notion of anyone licensing a Lupin title in the US goodbye for a decade or two. So, pre-order the instant you see it announced on Amazon, RightStuf, wherever. And don't stop there... spread the word and get your friends to check it out. Discotek is throwing us a huge bone here; let's reward them!

ARMS installation complete

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 22:48:17 GMT

Some of you playing at home may have noticed that the site went walkabout for a bit this evening. Was busy upgrading the software the site runs on. Seems successful so far, but if you notice anything odd, please let me know. This is actually step one of the upgrade process, as I try to catch the software up by a few revisions. I always play it cautious; upgrade and let it run couple of weeks to see if it is stable. If it is, upgrade to next revision. Shame on me for getting so far behind though. Will try to give a bit more advance notice next time, though I suspect it really is not necessary.

Lupin vs Conan on DVD & Blu-ray

Sat, 02 May 2009 00:27:51 GMT

A street date of July 24 has been announced for the DVD & Blu-ray release of the crossover special. DVD will set you back 4800¥, Blu-ray 5800¥.

Blu-ray:
CD Japan
Amazon Japan

DVD:
CD Japan
Amazon Japan

Lupin vs Conan review and pics

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 03:22:05 GMT

Finally sat down and watched the cross-over special; you can read the full review and look at the pretty pictures. Short version is that the word "versus" in the title is very misleading.

The Joy of Being Mentioned

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 23:34:17 GMT

Bright spot in an otherwise drab week... The Lupin III Encyclopedia was mentioned in the Episode 78 of the Anime World Order Podcast. I'm a shameless self-promoter, but I love it when others do the work for me. You can here the mention about 10 minutes in but don't skip over their great summary of the three series and some decent discussion about the specials.

clipsxparts collection hits DVD & Blu-ray

Tue, 24 Feb 2009 03:51:34 GMT

Coming out on 22 April are two DVD releases of PLAY THE LUPIN "clipsxparts" around what appears to be music videos based on the music from Lupin the Third. If you just want the clips, you can pick up a 20 minute DVD containing five clips running four minutes each. That will set you back 2100¥. For 4200¥, you can get 60 minutes of clipsxparts; details are scant at the moment, so it is difficult to tell what the additional 40 minutes contains.

Blu-ray aficionados can wait until 22 May and shell out 5250¥ for that version. Hasn't even hit the official Vap site yet; Amazon JP seems to be the only site I've found that has any listings for it.

Original news source: lupin-3rd.net

Product codes:

VPBY-13333 (clipsxparts)
VPBY-13334 (clips)
VPXY-7104 (Blu-ray)

Lupin vs Detective Conan

Sat, 24 Jan 2009 16:27:46 GMT

From 2ch to ANN, the news is going out that Lupin will be starring in his first (that we know of) official crossover when an special episode of Detective Conan airs later this year. Fortunately, it sounds like this is in addition to rather than a replacement for the annual Lupin TV Special.

You can wave your fanboy flag in Reed's forums. I'll remain cautiously optimistic about this gimmick.

Review, synopsis, and pics from Alice OVA

Sat, 27 Dec 2008 02:55:08 GMT

Didn't quite get everything I wanted done for the site in 2008; hopefully, 2009 will be slightly more productive. In the meantime, I'll close out 2008 with a synopsis and review of the 1991 OVA Alice along with some screen captures.

Lupin III Theme Attraction in Japan

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 14:11:25 GMT

A new attraction has opened in Tokyo Dome City, and it features our favorite thief! Visitors will be handed a PDA and set loose into the attraction navigating traps and puzzles in Lupin's hideout to find the treasure. You can read more at ANN; ah... must save up and get there before it leaves...

Lupin hits Blu-ray

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 15:13:08 GMT

Courtesy of nausicaa.net comes word that Lupin is finally hitting the next generation format. The official Vap site (Japanese) has the full details, but here is the brief summary:

Cagliostro and Mamo will be released 2008 Dec 3.
First TV series will be released 2008 Dec 21.
Second TV series will be released 2009 Feb.

Will be interesting to see if they've done further restoration for this latest release.

2008 TV Special DVD pre-order

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 14:07:32 GMT

Another year, another TV special comes to DVD in 'Limited Edition' form (CD + booklet) and 'Regular' form (just the movie please!). Streets on 2008 Oct 22; only seen it up on CD Japan for pre-order so far.
Limited Edition
Regular Edition

Title and date for the 2008 TV special announced

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 16:43:59 GMT

As of yesterday, the official Japanese Lupin site posted a small news bite announcing the date and title of this year's special. Airing on July 25, it is roughly titled Lupin the Third: sweet lost night ~magic lamp's nightmare premonition~.

Yeah... OK then... Not much else to go on right now, so begin the wild speculation!

Green VS Red written review

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 21:18:25 GMT

Following up on my video review, I've written down my thoughts on Green VS Red. Enjoy!

TokyoPop chooses not to renew Lupin license

Sat, 05 Apr 2008 01:35:36 GMT

A TokyoPop representative confirmed in a AnimeOnDVD.com thread what many have speculated. World's Most Wanted wasn't selling, and the license was coming up for renewal. TokyoPop chose not renew the license and shelved plans to release volume 10 and on.

Shame they couldn't finish the series out; they were so close...

Green VS Red review on my blog

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 23:01:25 GMT

I've posted my review of Green VS Red; tried something new for this review. Hope you enjoy; let me know what you think!

Photos from Tokyo Anime Fair 2008

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 12:31:02 GMT

Photos are starting to roll in as sites cover the Tokyo International Anime Fair. moe yo! has posted some from the TMS booth where they have the classic Cagliostro Fiat and a modern Fiat for Green VS Red.

I'll be collecting all photos for posterity as I come across them; keep checking the dedicated page for updates.

Lupin DVD deals at CD Japan

Sun, 23 Mar 2008 03:08:42 GMT

CD Japan's annual spring sale features three Lupin titles; you can pick up both the DVD/CD limited edition or the DVD only edition of the 2007 TV special for 10% off. The best deal is the 40% off you can get for the DVD/CD limited edition of the 2006 TV special.

NEC PC-88 games added

Wed, 12 Mar 2008 13:35:06 GMT

Entries for the two Lupin games, Cagliostro and Babylon, produced for the NEC PC-8801 system have been added. Thanks to Reed Nelson of LupinTheThird.net and podcast fame for pointing these out on the Japanese language site Typer's Lupin the Third Search Party.

Lupin the Night! Monkey Punch appearances and more

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 14:55:08 GMT

According to Hot Shot News, the upcoming Green VS Red OVA is getting a marketing boost through "Lupin the Night!", three days worth of events.

Monkey Punch will be attending a March 8 event at the Toho Cinemas in Roppongi Hills. He will also be signing 500 autographs at the Tokyo Anime Fair on March 29.

The March 8 appearance will also feature a pre-screening of the new OVA along with a number of films and specials. Other Toho theaters will screen the OVA and a smaller selection of titles on the 15th.

Mainichi Shimbun reveals Green VS Red release date and more

Sun, 20 Jan 2008 17:03:33 GMT

Via DannyChoo.com, an article in the Mainichi Shimbun has revealed the release date for the OVA, some plot and cast information, and a few pictures. The OVA will be released on April 2 and will revolve around the green and red jacket Lupins vying for the "Ice Cube" treasure held by the military organization "Nighthawks".

Additionally, Hirano Aya will be voicing a character. Once I learned a release date was set, I checked the usual online stores to see if there were any pre-orders available. This turned up even more interesting news.

The OVA will be released in two flavors; the first is a typical DVD+BGM CD combo (pre-order at DiscStation or Amazon JP. The second flavor is a two disc set that come with a figure (pre-order at DiscStation or Amazon JP). On the second DVD will be interviews, making of information, etc.

No pictures yet of the figure included, but I imagine it will mimic the green/red jacket Lupin combination pictures we've already seen.

Happy 2008! Third TV series completely summarized!

Sat, 05 Jan 2008 01:06:42 GMT

Thought I would start out the new year on a good note and slogged through the rest of the third TV series. Every episode now has a summary and an image; I've also jotted up a review of the series as a whole.

My next task will be to sit through the entire second series and grab images for all the episodes. With Geneon down for the count, I'll be back to watching raw episodes for the latter portion. I plan to watch one episode a day until I make it through them all.

Thank you for your support in 2007! I look forward to keeping you updated on any Lupin information in 2008.

Green Vs Red teaser trailer

Mon, 31 Dec 2007 13:26:21 GMT

A very brief teaser trailer for the upcoming OVA Green Vs Red is up at Lupin-3rd.net. If you want to save a copy to your hard drive, you can access the movie directly.

Naya Goro (Zenigata) voice work in Final Fantasy 4

Wed, 05 Dec 2007 18:30:06 GMT

Was watching the trailer for the upcoming DS remake of Final Fantasy 4. Heard a rather familiar voice and confirmed my suspicions via IMDB. Naya Goro is voicing the sage Tellah ("You spoony bard!"); haven't kept up with the details of the remake. Not sure if the actual game will have voice overs or if this is just for the trailer. I'm guessing the latter, but it was good to hear his voice in something other than the latest Lupin special.

Zantetsuken makes Wizard's list of ultimate fictional weapons

Fri, 23 Nov 2007 03:06:29 GMT

Wizard recently posted their "Top 50 Fictional Weapons"; Goemon's Zantetsuken place a respectable 31. The franchise may be running on fumes in the US, but it is good to see it getting some love on a small level.

Discotek's Babylon DVD release on indefinite hold

Wed, 21 Nov 2007 01:16:52 GMT

Reed Nelson, Discotek's commentator for the Fuma DVD, reports the DVD release of Babylon has been put on indefinite hold due to declining sales growth in the anime market.

New batch of Lupin toys

Tue, 06 Nov 2007 18:23:39 GMT

Hot Shot News has posted information and photos of the latest batch of Lupin merchandise. I hope the pistol alarm clock hits eBay soon...

Recent downtimes

Tue, 06 Nov 2007 13:19:13 GMT

My hosting provider recently moved their NOC from one state to another; no move ever goes smoothly, and they have been fighting various issues for the past week. Unfortunately, there is no way to predict when these downtimes will occur; if you find the site down, try again in an hour or two. Hopefully, they'll have the remaining issues sorted out this week.

Behold the custom YouTube player!

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 12:45:41 GMT

YouTube continues to roll out new features, and the latest one, custom players, makes life for this lazy webmaster a bit easier. Instead of having to manually rotate the video on the homepage, I can now display a custom player that displays an entire playlist of videos. Makes it a lot easier to shuffle videos around, add new ones, etc. So, I should have no excuse to keep that front page content fresh.

On a side note, I hope to get back into watching the third series and finish writing up summaries for the episodes. Keep your eyes peeled, as I won't be announcing every new episode posting. I'll be posting them as I go along.

The new OVA will be called "Green vs. Red"

Mon, 22 Oct 2007 16:38:32 GMT

Via Hot Shot News, the recent Akiba chat revealed that the new OVA will be titled Green vs. Red. Not many details beyond that at the moment, but the image in the news piece looks very intriguing.

Monkey Punch art exhibit and new OVA

Fri, 21 Sep 2007 01:12:43 GMT

Hot Shot News (official Japanese site) has two new reports up. Haven't fully translated them, but here is the general gist.

2007 TV special DVD pre-order

Sat, 25 Aug 2007 02:21:04 GMT

The DVD for the 2007 TV special is finally hitting the on-line stores for pre-order. Once again, there are two versions: just the DVD and a DVD/CD limited edition combo. You can pre-order from the usual sources -- CD Japan (regular, limited edition), Amazon Japan (regular, limited edition), DiscStation (regular, limited edition), and others I'm sure.

Back to school refresh!

Sun, 19 Aug 2007 23:35:34 GMT

Finally overhauled the design of the site, and I have transitioned to a new content management system. That last bit won't mean a thing to the non-web geeks in the audience; however, it makes my life a lot easier in terms of managing content and giving the site a make-over now and then.

Still trying to work out a few server configuration issues, so the site may be unreachable at points. Try back in a few minutes, and you'll be all set. Hopefully will have all of these issues ironed out in the next day or two.

Fujiko tops survey of "Most Beautiful Manga Girls"

Thu, 12 Jul 2007 13:56:47 GMT

Via Japan Probe, an Oricon survey (Japanese) of 1,000 Japanese women had Mine Fujiko taking the top spot for "Most Beautiful Manga Girl".

Kinro pages for 2007 special

Sun, 08 Jul 2007 15:42:18 GMT

Not much information available, but they have the story summary, cast/staff, and overall summary available.

Babelfish translations give a decent idea of the special's concept. They are dipping back into the first TV series and basing this story off of the 13th episode "Beware of the Time Machine!".

They are being coy about the overall plot and villain, but it appears that Kyosuke Mamo or own of his descendants is after Lupin once again. The time machine is mentioned along with a "special guest". They are not revealing the voice actor for this special guest and/or villain either.

They are hyping up the 40th anniversary (manga) angle also. Hope this turns out better than the 30th anniversary (anime) Pycal story they did.

Replacement program for Gemini goof

Tue, 19 Jun 2007 15:11:50 GMT

Funimation now has a replacement program for the First Haul box sets that contained the edited version of Twilight Gemini. Send an e-mail to orders@zstore.com with "Lupin Movie Replacement" as the subject line. They will send you instructions on how to get a replacement disc in their reply.

Edited Twilight Gemini ends up in Funimation's "First Haul" box set

Tue, 19 Jun 2007 15:10:51 GMT

Reports are flooding in that the first Funimation box set of their Lupin titles contains the edited version of Gemini. It is currently unclear if this is a small batch of the sets or all of them. Follow the AnimeOnDVD.com thread for the latest news.

Mega Lupin box set in Japan!

Tue, 19 Jun 2007 15:09:42 GMT

Decided to check out Vap's Lupin site today and found quite a surprise. Vap is producing a limited run of a DVD box set, but not just any old Lupin box set... This set features all three TV series, Mamo, Cagliostro, and Babylon. Oh, no; that's not all. They are using the HD masters produced for the recent satellite broadcasts with 5.1 soundtracks. Add in a booklet, box artwork by Yasuo Otsuka for good measure.

Seven Days Rhapsody DVDs out in November

Tue, 19 Jun 2007 15:07:51 GMT

November 22 will see the now standard practice of releasing a DVD only version of the year's special and a limited edition DVD/CD bundle version. You can pre-order the standard version or the limited edition version at CD Japan.

FUNimation to release two Lupin movie packs

Tue, 19 Jun 2007 15:06:58 GMT

Via AnimeOnDVD.com, FUNimation will be releasing two "movie packs" of their Lupin titles. Both are priced at $29.98 and will contain five titles. No word on packaging or which titles will be in which pack, but the release dates are November 7 and December 19. For those of you who complain about pricing, you are getting a bargin here; so quiet down and pony up that cash!

Gun-do Musashi DVDs already?!

Tue, 19 Jun 2007 15:04:00 GMT

Via Akiba Blog (Japanese), there is a DVD box set of Gun-do Musashi being released this month. According to the CD Japan listing, it is a five disc set titled MUSASHI Original Version (on-aired) DVD-BOX [Limited Release]; it contains the first eight episodes, additional footage for the first three episodes, bonus footage, and more.

"Lupin the Flame" DVD & CD single in Japan

Tue, 19 Jun 2007 15:02:46 GMT

Found on Lupin-3rd.net (Japanese), Japanese hip-hop artist Seamo is releasing a single called Lupin the Flame on 2006 July 26. Both a DVD version featuring the production of the music video and a standard CD single will be released.