udamore - 2016-11-22 18:19:27

I filmed a video review discussing the reasons why I feel this way - enjoy!

In case you prefer to read it yourself:

The serieskicks off with womanizer Lupin – this time donning a blue jacket- announcinghis marriage to the up and coming actress Rebecca Rosselini. Invited are hisold pals Goemon, Jigen and Fujiko, but also long time rival and Interpolofficer Zenigata. From here on out we meet a bunch of new characters andwitness expensive collectibles getting stolen. Well, or not.

Let me beupfront: Lupin III is among the best anime coming out in recent years. It hurtsme greatly that it didn’t get more attention when it aired, but you can stillfind it on Crunchyroll, because I recommend watching Lupin III L’avventuraItaliana without question.

If arecommendation is all you’re looking for in a review you can go and watch itnow – I wouldn’t even be mad if you did. Since there is little for me tocriticize about Lupin III I’m going to focus on what makes it so good anddisuss what the phrase well directed means in the process. Defining it is a loteasier than actually being a good director. So, stick with me if you want tofind out more.

You see, every piece of art should have a heartor a core. Something it wants to say – whatever that may be. It can be simplelessons like “friendship and family are important”. Don’t laugh, these themesstill make for the best narratives.  Acapable director pursues this core rigorously with every tool he has: animationor acting, framing, soundtrack, editing, script and all the many tiny steps inbetween. While the viewer might not yet be aware of it, the film knows exactlywhere it’s headed every step of the way. Every decision a director makes has tohave a purpose.

Shirobako compared being a director to beingthe captain on a ship, an image I agree with. What’s important to understand isthat there is no one proper way on how to achieve this. After all we’re talkingabout art and not rocket science here. It’s what makes it so much more fun. Adirector doesn’t have to spoon-feed his intentions either; this is important tokeep in mind as well.

It’s also where things begin to get a littletricky. I strongly believe that every person has the ability to tell a goodpiece of art from a not so good one with a little bit of experience andguidance. Sadly, people like to focus on tangible details and confuse best withmost: the number or absence of cuts, a flamboyant actor, or a creative world.These things can be important, but if they don’t say anything, it’s pointless.A waste of production values and talent. Recent anime examples would be Shelter,Kekkai Sensen and probably Flip Flappers, I fear.

Compared to these examples Lupin III seemsunderstated, almost boring, but it’s the economy of every decision that makesit excel.

A complaint you’re very likely to hear aboutLupin is that it’s following an episodic structure and is therefore lacking of a “real story”. Digibro even went as far as sayingthat every episode of Lupin is kind of the same, which I can’t exactly arguewith. Following this argument however you’d also have to believe that everyfilm is “kind of the same”.

It’s true that Lupin III follows a mostlyepisodic pattern, tied together by an overarching story into a neat littlepackage. I agree that the “main story” is not as strong as some of the singularepisodes as it dives into a complex idea of a secret governmental organizations utilizing dreams as a means to control people’s minds.What sounds like a lot to take in becomes fairly simple when we focus on howthis project is connected to our new characters in particular. The question ofwho the bad guy is and how this was even possible were never the point. Whatmatters in this storyline is finding out how our new characters, Rebecca, herbutler Robson and the MI6 agent Nyx are connected to it. What propels the storyis Rebecca’s drive to understand this science project to make peace with herpast and move on.

At first glance neither Lupin’s old gang northe new characters seem complex, but looking behind the goofiness, they haveindividual ideals, desires, needs and weaknesses, creating a complex psyche,but most importantly it makes them deeply human. It doesn’t matter whetherwe’ve known them for 40 years or just recently got introduced to them, whetherthey’re with us in almost every episode or just a single one. It’s theirhumanity that enables them to carry this show. All those qualities are bestshow-cased in all the tiny sidestories when they are confronted with differentsituations. 

In some of them our protagonists are meregateways into the story of someone else while others focus closely on them.There are a number of reasons as to why our protagonists would get involvedwith strangers, sometimes they are completely selfish for example to earn areward or to steal a painting. In other episodes it’s to help out an old friendand sometimes it’s as selfless as saving a kid from getting in trouble with amafia family. The important thing to understand about episodic narrative – andI feel stupid to even feel the need to explain this- is to readjust your focusand find out what this particular episode might want to tell you and thenreadjust it again for the next, because it’s very likely to explore an entirelydifferent concept.

In this fashion Lupin creates a cornucopia oftiny movies, each of them with more to them than other shows manage to deliverin 12 episodes. You might still be skeptical as to why you’d care about arandom side character who’ll only hang around for those 20 minutes just tonever be seen again. You might be under the impression that they need characterarcs and time to “really” get to know them. Nu-uuh. All it needs is a littlebit of empathy. As I explained the characters are properly fleshed out, theyhave defining features and just like their personailites their problems aredeeply human. At the same time those problems are universal enough for thecharacters and the viewer to relate to.

For this reason there will be episodes thatresonate more with you than others based on your very own experiences andinterests. That’s only natural and one of the most redeeming features ofepisodic storytelling.

The singular episodes also matter because theyestablish the different facets of the main cast, not simply by talking but byinteracting with their environment. This is one of the reasons why you don’thave to bother with the previous 3 installments – you could, of course, if youwanted to, but L’aventura Italiana gives you everything you need and more.

One of the main reasons I don’t expect anyoneto sit through more than 200 episodes of a series which aired between 1971 and1985 is the animation quality. There are shows from this time that live up tomodern standards, but I’d scare away the majority of anime fans if I statedsomething like this. After all, my goal is to motivate you to watch somethingamazing.

Despite part 4 being set in present day  Italy there are remnants of its 1960s origin,when the manga started publication. Lupin still favours the Walther P38, drivesthe classic 1957 Fiat Cinquecento and the entire show is -what seems to becomea relic of the past- mainly hand-animated. It chooses to rely on 3D animationto accentuate certain aspects. When it does it never feels like a cheap cop-outand is barely noticeable. The result of this is animation quality that’s justas stunning as the scripting: The character designs are faithful to the original.Depending on the scene they behave as silly or as seriously as it needs to beand it’s the amazing animation quality that makes chases on foot, motor cycleor in a car so immersive without ever loosing itself in the plethora ofpossibilities. Nothing ever happens out of sheer vanity.

This level of quality is not surprisingconsidering that the production was lead by chief director Kazuhide Tomonagaand Director Yuuichiro Yano. Tomonaga who has been working as an animator sincethe 1970’s is most famous for animating the battleships in the original SpaceBattleship Yamato and a crash scene in Galaxy Express 999, explaining thehighly detailed shots and sequences of machinery in Lupin III.

Yuuichiro Yano is an highly experiencedanimator as well having worked on Akira, Piano no mori and House of the 5Leaves and at some point even ventured into western animation as animationDirector for “Animaniacs” and Director of the 1997 “The new Batman/SupermanAdventures”.

I only remember 2 episodes of Lupin which hadnoticeably lesser quality than the previous ones. These aired before episodeswhich probably took a lot of time and personnel to create. While they were notas refined as others, they focused on creating atmosphere with other means like for example the choice of colour – rememberwhen colour actually meant something and wasn’t grim-dark or trippy colourfuljust for the sake of it?! Lupin III works as a reminder of those times! It’stopped with hand painted backgrounds bringing the Italian scenery to live withrich greens and the regional typical off-whites, beige and terracotta tones.

Like the animation the soundtrack got a 2015make-over as well. It features re-arranged versions of classic titles as wellas new ones composed by Yuuji Ohno and recorded by his Jazz ensemble Yuu andExplosion Band. Besides the fact that there is not one title on the soundtrackI don’t like to listen to, what it gets done so right is that it neveroverpowers the story. Instead of blackmailing the viewer into feeling a certainway by playing a sad song when you’re supposed to be sad, it tells the story init’s own way. There aren’t even a whole lot of different titles because it usesthe main themes and arranges them with a different choice of instruments,tonality and time, creating a completely new experience.

Since the Lupin III anime is 45 years old atthis point the voice cast has changed various times. Longest member of therecent cast has been Kanichi Kurita since 1995. In 2011 he was joined byKijoshi Kobayashi as Jigen, Daisuke Namikawa as Goemon, Miyuki Sawashiro asFujiko and Koichi Yamadera as Inspector Zenigata, so just some of Japan’s mostaccomplished, current voice actors.

Lupin III is a project created by people whoknow the strengths, weaknesses and resulting possibilities of their craft tothe utmost extend. All the pieces come together like clockwork, resulting inone of the most rewarding experiences modern anime has to offer.