Last movie/episode you watched?

[Psycho_Kenshin]

The Fuma Conspiracy (why do I often think of this as "Plot of the Fuma Clan"? It's never had an English release by that title, has it?)

As we all know, it's pretty great.

Not one of my favs to be honest, and it slipped more on a second viewing. Great animation, but the replacement seiyuu voice cast weren't as good, nor the music, and I find it kind of ho-hum, a middle of the road entry in the series. Most of the TV specials I'd rank above it, despite their lower budget animation.

On the ol' continuity thing, that is interesting. Where does the idea Cagliostro and this are later on in his career originate? I got the vibe Lupin was young and idealistic in Cagliostro, and since series 1 is green and he meets everybody (meets Goemon at least), series part 2 is red jacket, I figured green jacket stuff took place before red jacket. Though I don't think Lupin has a strict continuity in general.

[Reed]

The Fuma Conspiracy (why do I often think of this as "Plot of the Fuma Clan"? It's never had an English release by that title, has it?)

As we all know, it's pretty great.

Not one of my favs to be honest, and it slipped more on a second viewing. Great animation, but the replacement seiyuu voice cast weren't as good, nor the music, and I find it kind of ho-hum, a middle of the road entry in the series. Most of the TV specials I'd rank above it, despite their lower budget animation.

On the ol' continuity thing, that is interesting. Where does the idea Cagliostro and this are later on in his career originate? I got the vibe Lupin was young and idealistic in Cagliostro, and since series 1 is green and he meets everybody (meets Goemon at least), series part 2 is red jacket, I figured green jacket stuff took place before red jacket. Though I don't think Lupin has a strict continuity in general.

One notable example:

Miyazaki:
 Yes, quite a lot, indeed. Or maybe I want to believe so simply because I was one of the main staff of that series.
  Anyway, then after the first TV series comes the second, and then the movie (“Mamo”)... I felt that Lupin had seen all the glory and ended all its chapters. So I was quite astonished when they were starting up again.
 I questioned myself. What do I want to do with it now? For what kind of audience? Maybe I am being over melodramatic about it, but I did not know what I was doing this all for. Of course, there were some materials and motifs which I always had in mind, but I had to rethink of the character “Lupin” all over again, who he is, what he is.
 First of all, the structure of Lupin is a very loose one. There is no “unchangeable/untouchable image of Lupin the Third” which we are bound to. It can take anything. We can throw anything at it. It encompasses anything and everything. So as Otsuka-san said, there are lots of different interpretations. If there are 100 people (viewer or creator, he did not specify), there are 100 different Lupin exists as well. And when opportunity came around and I had to create my version of Lupin, all I could think was the image of Lupin lived in his glory in 60s and early 70s, now living in the regret and shame for his young and wild life.
 So even the selections of cars in the film, I did not make them too contemporary. I did not want to go too antique either, but I limited the selection of cars from 50s and 60s. A torpedo boat seems bit too outdated, however, I was trying not to show motorboat or anything new of that sort to keep the tone of the film. It was rather a fashion statement and approach when determining the design of the animation.
  Then I thought this Lupin was probably a kind of man who used to drove Mercedes Benz SSK but now he is out of that phase and bored with it. He realized, after all, it does not matter what car he drives, as long as it drives, and he is just driving around with the most basic car. He is over the fame and status which came with the money. He is no longer a man who would pull out the most rare and expensive cigarette lighter to light his cigarette anymore. He does not give a single damn about such things. He is fine with the cheap disposable one as long as it does the job. That was my image of Lupin. I felt like I finally understood Lupin. And based on that image, I created this film.
  I think that underlying philosophy was displayed and carried throughout this film. For example, he is using a disposable lighter to light his cigar and eating instant cup noodle. He is returned to the basics. Recently, there is a trend which people wear designer brand closes and items, but he is the one who would see it all from outside and thinking “it is only country bumpkins who would do that.” He stopped caring about those fashion and status ten years ago. The same goes for his comrades.
 Even when it comes to love, he keeps the same stance. Maybe if it was ten years ago, he would have fallen for love, but now he knows he is not that young nor innocent, so he excuse himself as “old man” and draw the line. (laugh)

[DrFurball]

Not one of my favs to be honest, and it slipped more on a second viewing. Great animation, but the replacement seiyuu voice cast weren't as good, nor the music, and I find it kind of ho-hum, a middle of the road entry in the series. Most of the TV specials I'd rank above it, despite their lower budget animation.

Fair enough. I wasn't sold on the music or the voices either (although, I watched the dub, which was pretty bad, honestly).

On the ol' continuity thing, that is interesting. Where does the idea Cagliostro and this are later on in his career originate? I got the vibe Lupin was young and idealistic in Cagliostro, and since series 1 is green and he meets everybody (meets Goemon at least), series part 2 is red jacket, I figured green jacket stuff took place before red jacket. Though I don't think Lupin has a strict continuity in general.

Miyazaki talks about it a bit in this interview. (Beat me to it) I think Reed discusses it in his commentary, too.

...all I could think was the image of Lupin lived in his glory in 60s and early 70s, now living in the regret and shame for his young and wild life...Maybe if it was ten years ago, he would have fallen for love, but now he knows he is not that young nor innocent, so he excuse himself as “old man” and draw the line.

Took me a long time to realize it myself. Lupin's a lot more mellow than we usually see him, and he tends to surround himself with things for their practicality over their stylishness (e.g the Fiat over the Benz, a cheap Bic lighter, instant ramen). There's also Fujiko changing up her style a bit; she doesn't really use her sex appeal as a tool in Cagliostro, seemingly preferring grenades and machine guns. Likewise, I think that this movie is the first appearance of Zenigata having a loyal squad of officers that respects him and answers to him only. The Discotek DVD also refers to Pops as Chief Inspector Zenigata, implying that he got promoted somewhere down the line. The fact that the "traditional" interpretation of Lupin only shows up in a flashback to ten years prior should've been more telling, in hindsight.
As for continuity, it's usually not a huge deal, but there are some attempts to add some, like how apparently the Woman Called Fujiko Mine leads to Jigen's Gravestone, which leads to Green Jacket, which (down the road) leads to Mystery of Mamo. Personally, I see Cagliostro as being to Lupin what The Dark Knight Returns is to Batman. It's about the protagonist being older and near the end of their career, but it's also really awesome, despite not being "canon".

[Reed]

The Discotek DVD also refers to Pops as Chief Inspector Zenigata, implying that he got promoted somewhere down the line.

Actually we learned that "Keibu" translates to "Chief Inspector" by British-English standards. We overlooked the British part at the time. So a UK Chief Inspector is the same as a US or Japanese Police Inspector, and a US or Japanese "Lieutenant" would be a UK "Inspector." It's just a terminology thing; don't worry about it too much. We won't use "Chief" too much going forward (although I think Operation: RTT might have used it).

[Psycho_Kenshin]

Interesting, thanks for the interview. I had noticed the flashback to a young Lupin running wild, some of it tidbits from the first series or intro. Though even if it was say 10 years ago, that still wouldn't set the movie near the end of Lupin's career necessarily. If anything that could still be relatively early in a decades long career.

Though I know the franchise isn't really doing aging or anything. Interesting none the less, and I can see why somebody might want to look at one of the best Lupin stories as an ending for some closure, but I don't think Lupin is designed for that myself.

[JAG2045]

Been watching lots of Lupin since my return from Japan, starting with a Myazaki marathon

1. Castle of Cagliostro - I love this film, even if some people say Lupin is too "nice" in it, I like the fan theory that's its later in his career so he's more mellow. I watched the streamline dub & Michael McConnohie is really sinister as the Duke, a nice oily villain for our hero to stop 

2. Wings of Death - Albatross - a fun episode with loads of Myazaki's trademark flying scenes, nice to see Fujiko save herself really easily from the villain (whos Dr Robotnik?) though I’m surprised they got away with her being naked for most of the episode. Lots of funny moments of Zenigata & his officers trying to catch Lupin, especially them all dog piling onto the boat

3. Farewell My Beloved Lupin - not as good as the previous 2, while seeing Nausicaa (well a girl who looks like her) and the robot from Laputa (itself based on the Superman: The Mechanical Monsters short) I didn’t feel this was Myazaki's best work, something about it didn’t grab me like the others for some reason. Though I did like the ending shot of the gang especially since this was the final "Red Jacket" episode

4. Legend of the Gold of Babylon - ......... what the hell was I watching? From the odd animation to looney tunes style gags (Lupin reversing the TNT back to Zenigata) to the weird bike chase on a living face (WTF?) & the Statue of Liberty being alive to the ICPO having a beauty contest for a new officer (?) to the offensive drawings of African Americans (especially for 1985!) this was a mess. The stupidest moment IMO was Lupin giving a press conference at the airport about his plans, why would a man wanted worldwide do such a thing!?
The only positive I liked was the small romance between Goemon and one of the contestants but that never really went anywhere. I've never seen any Pink Jacket ep’s but if they are all like this I might just skip the whole series!

5. Jigen's Gravestone – really enjoyed this overall, I watched the Discotek dub and the new voices were all pretty good. Nice to see Jigen get a starring role, however I felt it would have been better for it to be a prequel like “Fujiko Mine” since Jigen barely appears in the 2nd part. The only downside was the random (and pointless) robot/nude Fujiko scenes that really didn’t need to be there but on the whole a really good episode (or OVA or whatever!)

6. Alcatraz Connection – overall a pretty good TV movie, I liked the San Francisco setting and the animation was really good (the cable car chase scene was very well done) Thought it was a bit odd to link it to the Kennedy assassination though. The only confusing thing I found was when Terry showed up at the end, since his hair had changed & I thought it was the Mayor and didn’t realize it was Terry until it was pointed out to me. The final song “Whats The Worry” was really nice to

Next up Green vs. Red 

[DrFurball]

3. Farewell My Beloved Lupin - not as good as the previous 2, while seeing Nausicaa (well a girl who looks like her) and the robot from Laputa (itself based on the Superman: The Mechanical Monsters short) I didn’t feel this was Myazaki's best work, something about it didn’t grab me like the others for some reason. Though I did like the ending shot of the gang especially since this was the final "Red Jacket" episode

Agreed.

I've never seen any Pink Jacket ep’s but if they are all like this I might just skip the whole series!

Babylon's pretty awful, but the Pink Jacket series is a lot of fun (though it does go through its ups and downs like all the Lupin series do). I recommend checking it out, especially the episodes based on manga chapters.

Last ones I watched were "Disorient Express" and "Payload". The former is a solid, fun episode, with some funny moments (Zenigata getting a pie to the face for opening a door is funnier than it should be).
The latter is honestly one of my favorites. It's a very faithful adaptation of a chapter of World's Most Wanted, with changes that are mostly for the better, like adding some more exposition at the start, a small subplot of rescuing Fujiko, and replacing a gratuitous sex scene with a much funnier scene of everyone checking each other for masks. If I have any complaints, they're minor, like the audience seeing the camera on Pops' hat long before he does, which kinda kills the joke of the reader and Zenigata both seeing it for the first time. No big deal, though, since it's not a major bit, anyway.

[SurrealBrain]

Return of Pycal. It wasn't awful, but it does get baffling at points. Also, I'm convinced this copy I bumped into is a bootleg, and the English subtitles being wonky, sometimes not popping up at all, does point to that.

Still, it wasn't an awful special, the animation was decent (though there were moments of conspicuous CGI) and it did have some nice little moments. Overall, I enjoyed it enough, but once they put out a legitimate release, I'm throwing this copy out.

[Rhys2753]

Return of Pycal. It wasn't awful, but it does get baffling at points. Also, I'm convinced this copy I bumped into is a bootleg, and the English subtitles being wonky, sometimes not popping up at all, does point to that.

Still, it wasn't an awful special, the animation was decent (though there were moments of conspicuous CGI) and it did have some nice little moments. Overall, I enjoyed it enough, but once they put out a legitimate release, I'm throwing this copy out.

Yeah that's a bootleg, Return of Pycal was never licensed in the US.

[SurrealBrain]

The Fuma Conspiracy. Happened to get lucky, though my copy used to belong to a library before they sold it for cheap. They had no idea what they had. It's the Discotek version.

It was a great film, with great animation, and Murasaki was a wonderful character. Wish she appeared in more. It was also nice to have a decent focus on Goemon, since we don't get that too often. Plus, it's always awesome seeing Lupin and the gang go on heists, and this film is home to one of the franchise's best car chase scenes.

The English dubbing was...amusing. Lup...I mean, Rupan sounds like a dork, Jigen sounds a bit stoned, Fujiko, I don't know what to make of, and Zenigata is perfect.

If there's one thing preventing me from fully reccomending it, it's the freaking price. It may be gold, but it's not so good to be worth over $100 for the Discotek version, and I might have gotten the older AnimEigo DVD had the library copy not been put up, and even the older release seems to go for $50-60, going by Amazon. No offense, Reed, but I don't think the extra features are worth $100.

So while it's an amazing film, if you're just getting started with the franchise, the price alone is reason enough for me to say "don't start with it" unless you can borrow a friend's copy, and once you decided you like the franchise, I say go for it, but AnimEigo's older release may be the better value due to being cheaper, though still by no means cheap.

[Red Dear]

So glad to hear someone talk good things about Fuma Conspiracy ! This movie/OVA's bad reputation is really unjustified.

But yeah, that price is indeed excessive.

[Reed]

So glad to hear someone talk good things about Fuma Conspiracy ! This movie/OVA's bad reputation is really unjustified.

But yeah, that price is indeed excessive.

I'm gonna generalize but I think people (myself included) get too hung up on the subpar English dub job or the Japanese recasting/score to give the movie a fair shake as a piece of entertainment and representation of the Lupin franchise. It's a fun story with solid animation, and way more entertaining overall than the next big Telecom piece that came around 8 years later, Die, Nostradamus!.

[VampireNaomi]

I love Fuma, and it's the title that turned me from a casual fan to a devoted one, and I don't think the voices are that bad (at least in Japanese, haven't checked out the dub). I actually rather like Fuma's Fujiko and Goemon. My biggest issue with the movie is the music that just feels like a bad fit.

[SurrealBrain]

Crisis in Tokyo is pure brilliance. Liked the characters, liked the dub, liked the story. Maria was adorable, in a way, and sadly, an example of a character that hasn't appeared in much since.

Though her powers might have broken the stories on more than one occasion, so much as I hate to say it, perhaps it's for the best.

But while here, the picture quality is...adequate, I can't wait for Discotek to put out a superior release. As for what I'll do with the Funimation DVD? I think I'll give it to a friend who's not as concerned with this stuff. But in the meantime, if you can't wait, this is still much preferable to nothing.

[Reed]

In hindsight, Crisis in Tokyo was pretty good. Would love to work on a BD or even a DVD reissue of that. Only time will tell what'll happen on that front, but I expect it's only a waiting game, honestly.