Lupin the 3rd: The World’s Most Wanted (1971)
Review by Dindrane
Film:
DVD:

Based on the comic by Monkey Punch
Art Direction by Noboru Tatsuike
Directed by Kyosuke Mikuriya, Yasuyoshi Mikamoto, and Shigetsugu Yoshida

Features:

• Line Art Gallery
  
• Previews
  
• English and Japanese audio
  
• English subtitles
  

Dindrane's Anime Warnings:

• unapologetic femme fatale
• architecture abuse
• thou shalt steal as much as you can
• Nessie

Rating: 13+

Anamorphic: N/A

My Advice: Buy it, especially if you love comedy and adventure together.

Twenty-five years ago, Lupin the 3rd premiered on Japanese TV, creating one of the best-loved and campiest titles ever. Lupin is the world’s most-wanted (but not necessarily most-competent) thief. Accompanying Lupin are his friends: Goemon, samurai swordsman; level-headed Jigen, marksman; and Fujiko, Lupin’s lady-love and rival. Following Lupin and crew is Inspector Zenigata from Interpol, who has vowed to capture this wily thief if it takes him an eternity. With overtones of Pink Panther, this series is half adventure and half comedy and fun for most ages.

Astute viewers and long-time Lupin fans will note that episode three, “Hitler’s Legacy,” is not included, and instead of episodes one through six, we have one through seven, minus three. The producers felt, perhaps rightly, that the general public would be too horrified by even a mention of Hitler, thus killing this series. There seems to be some intent on the part of the producers to release this episode separately once the franchise has proven itself. My feeling is that while the horrors of Nazism cannot be overstated, the episode should have been included for the sake of completeness and artistic legitimacy, though given how frantic and knee-jerk people can be simply upon seeing the words “Hitler” or “Nazi,” I can certainly understand Pioneer’s position, and, as I said, they seem to be planning to release the missing episode in the future.

Especially given the age of the original film stock, the audio and video are quite solid. Although this title is essentially mono, only the pickiest of fanboys will care, as it simply matters very little for this series. All conversation is crisp and clear, and the backgrounds, while a nice accent, never overpower the main sound you want to hear. The Japanese and English casts know what they are doing, and listening to either language track is fun. Think about how good this sounds for a mid-1970s release. My only real quibble is that for some reason, no matter where the characters are, the currency figures are given in American dollars. I realize that most of my fellow countrymen are not very hip to the difference between a kruggerand and a deutschmark, but still. Otherwise, the English translation is mainly comparable to the Japanese, with the exception of a few updates to make sense to today’s viewers.

The video is also problem-free; the source material seems to have been in good shape, so the transfer worked out better than you might expect. While this older style of animation might not appeal to all contemporary viewers, it looks fine, with bright colors. Nightjar’s menus also look nice, and blend quite well with the look of the series as a whole. For non-bilingual viewers, the Japanese titles have also be translated during the previews. Pioneer has additionally shown themselves to be flexible and responsive to fan feedback, because they have added the episode titles as soft subtitles in the title slate. There were a few places where copyright issues forced Pioneer to remove certain trademarked images (and music) from this release, but if I hadn’t told you that, you could not have guessed this from what you will see on your screen. The excisions were done quite well and do not affect your viewing experience.

The extras list is confined to a single concept art gallery, but the selection of images here is nice enough. It would have been good to have had a bit more for this important of a disc, such as interviews with the creators, or even long-time fans, but at least we have something. A title this old probably has very little documentation or extra reels still about, after all.

Overall, this series is just plain fun. Even if you have never particularly enjoyed any of the other Lupin incarnations over the years, give this one a shot, as each Lupin is different. If you enjoy old movies such as To Catch a Thief or anything else in the “thief as hero” genre, then you will probably enjoy this title. It is good comedy and light-hearted enough to let you recover from the Vampire Hunter D angst. Samurai fans will love Goemon, and even feminists will have to appreciate Fujiko’s self-awareness and willingness to take matters into her own hands. I particularly like how the heroes can defeat the police without making Zenigata look like a complete idiot. Basically, there’s something here for every anime fan, especially fans of good comedy and adventure.