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:This page is about the full Lupin III . For more information on the character entitled "Lupin III", see Arsène Lupin III. is an anime and manga series originally created by manga artist under the pen name in 1967 as a part of Weekly Manga Action. It began as a parody of a series of novels by Maurice Leblanc featuring a French gentleman thief named Arsène Lupin. It became extremely popular and successful, being turned later into three animated TV series and many movies and TV specials which continue to this day. It is also the inspiration for other anime and manga series, perhaps most notably Cowboy Bebop.
Cast of characters
Manga series The original manga series was published by Futabasha on Weekly Manga Action from August 1967 to April 1972. Monkey Punch's main character was the grandson of Arsène Lupin, but Lupin III was far from being a gentleman like his grandfather. In this first manga series, Lupin is a lecherous sex maniac with an extreme lust for women that can never be satisfied; yet, he somehow remains a likeable character. This parody of the original Lupin character was inspired by MAD Magazine; in fact, the art style of the early manga has a very striking resemblance. Lupin Kozou (Brat Lupin) was a minor spinoff published in 1974 in a failed weekly manga called Shonen Action. In this version, Lupin and Fujiko eventually have a child. On the television show Hey! Spring of Trivia Monkey Punch admitted that he didn't even think of calling the child Lupin IV. The magazine folded quickly and Monkey Punch said he was happy to see it go. Television series Each Lupin series can be easily identified by the color of Lupin's jacket, which changes each series. The later movies and specials also use this color scheme, so it is possible to determine approximately where these specials fall in Lupin's career, though there are exceptions. Many stories in the anime were adapted from both the original and second manga series, although some had to be toned down for television, especially in Series 2, which was made with younger audiences in mind. Episodes 7 through 23 of Series 1 were directed by Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata (who both went on to form Studio Ghibli). Series 2 was notable for the fact that a new episode aired every week in Japan for three years. It was also the first anime series to be broadcast in stereo (albeit intermittently), beginning with episode 99. This is also the Lupin III series run from time to time on Adult Swim on Cartoon Network. Two Shin Lupin III episodes (145 "Albatross: Wings of Death" and 155 "Farewell, Beloved Lupin") are also famous for being directed by Hayao Miyazaki; they were released in America by Streamline on VHS under the title Greatest Capers. There was also a short-lived "Lupin in Space"-type series to be produced called Lupin VIII, featuring the descendants of Lupin, Goemon, Jigen and Zenigata in space. Meant to be a French-Japanese production along the lines of The Mysterious Cities of Gold, it folded when LeBlanc's estate refused to allow it based on the original Lupin copyright controversy. Production art can be found on the internet. When the second anime series was brought to America on the Adult Swim programming block, episode 3, "Hitler's Legacy" (English: "To Be Or Nazi Be"), was not aired due to the joking manner in which Hitler and Nazism were treated (including a scene with Lupin dressing up as Hitler). The episode was also removed from the broadcast order on the US DVD release, and was not made available until Volume 5. Movies TV Specials and OVAs The first anime work about Lupin the 3rd is the Pilot Film (13 minutes, 1969); it is an OVA (Original Anime Video). There are also 2 OVAs: The Fuma Conspiracy (74 minutes, 1997) and Return of the Magician (50 minutes, 2002). The TV Specials are released in the late summer on NTV (Nippon Television) in Japan, usually at the end of July, and have been an annual tradition since 1989, these are full-length, 90 minute features. There have been 18 specials released as of September 2006. Video games The anime has also spawned various games based on the show: There are also several Lupin the 3rd compilation discs for the Sega Saturn; these feature video clips and the pilot episode. Recurring themes Legal issues The name Lupin III caused a legal problem for the series. Monkey Punch did not seek permission to use the Lupin name from the estate of Maurice Leblanc. The estate agreed not to pursue any legal action, provided that the usage of the name remained within Japan. Therefore, when Lupin material was licensed for overseas usage, the name had to be changed. Streamline Pictures renamed Lupin "Wolf." Animeigo went with "Rupan III," which is how Lupin's name is actually pronounced in Japanese (in English it is usually pronounced LOO-pahn, not LOO-pin; the French pronunciation is luu-PEIHN). In France, he was named "Edgard de la Cambriole" (though "de la Cambriole" is likely to be a nickname or a nom de guerre, literally meaning "of Burglary"). The Lupin name passed into the public domain in the early 1990s, but Nippon Television had continued to offer licensing for the Lupin TV specials first under the name "Cliff Hanger" (based on the laserdisc game of the same name, which used footage from Lupin Vs. the Clone and The Castle of Cagliostro), and later under the name "Chase Tracer." Licensing and release information The second series began distribution in United States in 2003 by Pioneer. Universal City, CA based phuuz entertainment inc. was hired to adapt and translate the series, which resulted in a very tongue-in-cheek English dub, which included modern popular culture references to update the otherwise dated series (such as eBay and Shaquille O'Neal) and "spicier", more comedic dialogue, which received ambivalent feedback from cult fans. The first 74 episodes have been translated, and enjoyed a series of DVD volumes (currently up to 12) and multiple runs of the first 26 episodes on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim. Due to lacklustre popularity, however, the show's American future remains ambiguous. In the summer of 2004, however, Lupin III's popularity seems to be on the rise, perhaps due to additional exposure on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim line up. Geneon Animation (formerly Pioneer) has already obtained 52 more Lupin the 3rd: The Red Jacket Series episodes, bringing the count of US licensed episodes to 89. Geneon plans on releasing these episodes on DVD in the next few years, but there is little word, however, on whether Adult Swim plans on acquiring the rights for more episodes, even though Lupin III's ratings have been good compared to other shows that aired on the rather unfavorable 1:30 am time slot. Geneon also released Secret of Mamo movie to DVD. FUNimation has the rights to eight of the made-for-TV movies, starting with 1993's Orders to Assassinate Lupin (Voyage to Danger) and going to 2000's $1 Money Wars (Missed by a Dollar), as well as the feature films Farewell to Nostrodamus and Dead or Alive. As of March 2005, all of the planned films have been released in North America; two box sets with five movies each will be released in the near future. Manga Entertainment still holds the rights to The Castle of Cagliostro for the USA which is released without the Lupin III heading but does now use the Lupin name in both the subtitles and dub (some earlier version referred to Lupin as "Wolf"). A special edition with artwork and interviews was released on August 29th, 2006. The movie was previously also owned by Manga Entertainment in the UK, where it was released on VHS in 1996 along with Secret of Mamo and Goodbye Lady Liberty (the latter two being dubbed by the UK branch). Castle of Cagliostro was the only of these to get a DVD release. All three of the UK licences have now expired and Cagliostro has been rereleased by Optimum Releasing, with the earlier dub. Until 2006, Animeigo had the rights to the OVA The Fuma Conspiriacy and the movie The Legend of the Gold of Babylon, but both have since been bought by Discotek Media, along with Lupin III's sole live action entry, Strange Psychokinetic Strategy (released in February 2006). Due to legal reasons, Animeigo's releases were forced to be under the "Rupan III" moniker, even after the rights had cleared for other companies to use the proper Lupin name. When Discotek releases these films, it will be the first time they have been released in America under the original Lupin title. The owners of the rights of the pre-1993 and post-2000 TV movies, as well as the first and third Lupin TV series, are currently unknown. There are many online rumours as to who might have what, but as of October 2006 there have been no official announcements by any company. The manga is published in English by TOKYOPOP. The original set of stories that ran from 1967 to 1972 simply goes by Lupin III while the second set, which started in 1977, is known Lupin III - World's Most Wanted. Lupin the Third S and Lupin the Third Y, two series from the late 1990's, have not been released in United States, nor are there any announced plans to so. Official sites Fan sites | ||||||||||
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