Worm_Death's Blog

Anime Relations: Lupin VIII

Of course, how could I forget this in our little layover between parts 2 and 3? I'll try to format this as normally as I can to my other blogs, but this is going to be a lot more from the production standpoint since all this series got through was production.


Just to clarify before I get into this, this is very assumption-based since I couldn't even find the subtitled Japanese version of it, just the raw. So, this is all that I guessed the plot was based on.
Lupin VIII and Jigen VI run a detective agency now. A girl comes in to ask for help. Presumably to help find her father. And shows them a music box that contains a map inside. She pays for it using her necklace, so they take the case. Investigation happens (?) It leads to them finding a cryogenic chamber with a man inside. He was working for some evil guy to track down a hidden treasure filled with diamonds. Goemon stops their giant robots just in time, and Zenigata arrests them.

That's about as good as I can do lol it's hard to know the details of everything. They have a good episodic format to work with here. While the pilot wasn't a very unique storyline, this is also the pilot I think for most shows, the later episodes always seem to be better.

For the general premise of the show, I really like the idea of the gang being in space. I'm a massive sci-fi fan so seeing my favorite characters in my favorite setting is perfect! I think this lends itself to a more universal setting as well. Since this was a collaboration between DiC and TMS, it would be an international show if it actually aired. While going to different countries could have been a good learning experience for kids, space is just fun. SCREW EDUCATION!!!!!!! /j. Anyway, I like the setting, and I think the whole detective agency is a perfect setup for plenty of things to do. I've always thought the best way to have an episodic format and keep it continually fresh is some kind of daily request or job. Getting continually new characters and challenges helps keep up the intrigue and can make each episode more memorable, in my opinion.


From what I can see, they're kept decently faithful. Lupin may be a good guy here, but he's still whacky and horny (as horny as PG will allow him). Apparently, Lupin VIII decided to become a detective to right the wrongs of his ancestors. So, good on him. It kept throwing me off. I've always known the gang are all supposed to be the same age as their Lupin III counterparts, but Lupin just looks like a kid to me. It's really hard for me not to see him as the same age.
I liked Jigen here, I think that if we got to see more of this, I would really like him. He gave me part 1 vibes. He's chill, layed-back, and just laughs at Lupin instead of trying to help him. I'm glad he's stayed really faithful.
Goemon as well, he's even doing the whole bashful thing. I do think his spacesuit being samurai armor, is a bit much. Like c'mon guys, I know Goemon's the JAPANESE one, but dang 😭.
I was pleasantly surprised to see Fujiko filling the same role as the original. She's seductive and uses that to infiltrate and get info. And still thinks Lupin's gross. Not that very mild sedcution is a inheritnly adult thing to see, I was just surprised Fujiko still gets to be somewhat of a femme fatale here. I haven't really watched many Western shows from the 80s so, I don't really know how common that was.
Zenigata! I think he's kept the most faithful, still retaining his job with the ICPO too. I do think his dynamic with Lupin is significantly weakened, since it's no longer about arresting him, it's just a "don't try anything funny, I'm watching you!" situation. Zenigata has a built-up grudge against the history their ancestors shared, and that's why he's not exactly Lupin's friend. But honestly, there's nothing wrong with the dynamic. Maybe not this specifically, but I've seen some fun dynamics like this. Cops/detectives not getting along even if they are fighting on the same side of the law. This I think could have been explored more if the series progressed.


I'm going to talk generally about the art before getting into my stupid screenshots. I was pretty pleasantly surprised to see how the characters looked. This is by far the closest interpretation of Monkey Punch's characters aside from Mankatsu. So that was awesome to see! I see the benefit in doing that since Monkey Punch was known in the West because he appealed more and drew greater influence from Western artists than any other mangaka at the time. He was recognized when he came to America. This makes it perfect since the designs are based on a more Western version. It's a shame we didn't get to see it at its full potential. There's a lot of fun art out there of the character designs that I would have loved to see fully realized. At the same time, to me, the characters all look like different Lupin properties. Lupin: manga, Jigen: part 1, Goemon: part 3, Zenigata: Cagliostro. Especially Goemon, it is like dead-on his design from part 3.
I had issues with Fujiko. She really looks like a generic woman character from 80s cartoons. I'll admit that I really do not like cartoons from this decade. I think the art style was really ugly since it tried to do this pseudo-realism thing. There wasn't enough stylization for my artistic ass. So, I just think Fujiko's design is really boring; I did not like her. I would have loved her to look more authentic to any of the prior versions.
Also, that girl character was freaking creepy, nasty ahh eyes. Unfortunately, I think the most stylization we would have received from the entire show were the main guys' designs, everyone else just seemed to be generic 80s cartoons.
Lastly, there's a sketch of the height of the characters, and it bothers me so much that Zenigata is literally the shortest of all of them, like???? No, he's the bear man, let him be all tall. Jigen is actually the tallest person in this regard as well. Which I think is weird. My headcanon is Zenigata>Goemon>Lupin>Jigen>Fujiko as far as tallest to shortest.

Apologies for the quality of these screenshots; the higher quality available on YouTube got taken down.



Here's what I'm talking about: Fujiko just looks so generic, and nothing stands out about her. I really just don't like it.



Jigen with his Jigeny smile eating his 4KIDS lollipop



5 generations later and they still gay for each other 🥺



The eyelash game is back, my god. This is truly dangerous Moemon territory



Space version of the Fiat, I suppose. It's nice they decided to keep that similar, I could have easily seen them just not considering that at all. They had a pretty fun little chase in it too! I know they would have had the potential to make some really fun chase scenes with his little car.



YOOO, they doing the thing from Beauty and the Deseaced!


Not Yuji Ohno, I don't care. JUST KIDDING!! The soundtrack is a lot more generic, but there were a couple of good tunes. During the car chase, and when Lupin is looking through the projector. Don't think you'd see me picking up a cassette of this, but yeah, it works for the show.
I have to say it was nice to even have it. Luckily all the music and sound effects were already in the pilot. I was worried I'd have to sit there for 22 minutes in pure silence while watching this, but I got lucky.


Lupin VIII was a fun idea. Again, I like the space theme and the slightly varied dynamics of the characters. I have to say, though, that I'm glad that this didn't follow through. Aside from the 70s Mamo dub, this was the Western audience's second-ever exposure to Lupin. We would be living in a very different world if that took off. Lupin VIII is a neat idea, but if that became the face of Lupin in the West, I think it would suck. The original is so much better, obviously. It'd be cool to see this humored again, even just as a short OVA, now that Lupin has an established voice over here. I haven't read it yet, but this really makes me want to check out the manga so I can find more stories in this setting. So I think, to a degree, we might not have gotten the show, but I think we got the best of both worlds. A manga to see the setting through, Lupin's image is still safe for the West, and DiC ended up making Inspector Gadget from the coattails of this show. And I used to be very obsessed with Inspector Gadget as a kid (that's how I got lost in Walmart pretending to be him), so I think it's cool that in a way, even as a very little kid, Lupin's been with me. He's been looking down on me waiting for the day I would discover him and know his name.

I want to thank Lupin Central and Lost Media Wiki for providing a lot of the information I could find about Lupin VIII. It was hard to find any info really, so it was great that they had a lot of it complied. I would definitely recommend checking out the Lupin Central article since it features a lot of better quality screenshots and lots of character sheets!

Anime Relations: Lupin III: Pilot Film

I've made the insane decision to completely rewatch every Lupin III entry and because I'm taking on such a massive feat again, I feel that I want to at least have some documentation of this. I'm so passionate about this series that for every episode/movie/special I want to share my thoughts. I'll be splitting it into categories: characters, story, art/animation, music, and any additional comments. So, I'm starting from the very beginning in 1969.

Honestly, when I first started watching Lupin I wasn't too invested (starting out in order is not the way to go) but the pilot film, albeit very simple, is fun. And I actually wish there was more stuff done in the style of it.


The thing I will forever compliment Lupin the most on is how consistently written the characters are, and they nail it right off the bat with this. Lupin is charming and devilish as ever, Jigen chill but loyal, Goemon stoic but still cocky, Fujiko a femme fatale, and Pops goofy and determined as ever. There's not much I can say since we don't get to spend a whole lot of time with them in this, simply that what we do see of them is good. The only thing of note as far as the main characters, Goemon is seen much more as an enemy, saying he dedicated his life to training to kill Lupin, it's not really explained why, but that's just what he does. In modern Lupin you can't exactly call Lupin and Goemon best buds, but I definitely like that he wasn't made out to be a complete antagonist. There's another inspector joining Zenigata in this, he didn't really seem to have any reason to be here aside from giving Lupin a way to escape, but I'll just mention him here anyway.


The pilot only served as just that, the pilot for what was to come. It was used to prove that adult-targeted animation was worth pursuing and so a lot was done just quickly convincing exects. The story basically introduces everyone to the characters and sees how they interact with each other. Lupin and Jigen fighting off cops sent in by Zenigata. Goemon eventually shows up to kill Lupin but is tricked, giving Lupin, Jigen, and Fujiko a chance to escape. For what it is, it's concise and to the point.


I honestly love it. I really wish we got to see more stuff drawn in this art style. I like art styles that like to mess with proportions and let the facial features slip around (not doing a great job at describing this). It reminds me of the manga's style which I love.

Lupin's always been great with expressions, but to me, it felt like they didn't have any limitations and went all out with the expressions. Now as far as the animation goes, this was 1969 and used to prove that adult animation was worth funding, so because of that, they were working with a super limited budget, aside from that, I'm really impressed! There are a lot of shortcuts for sure, but there are a lot of really smooth moments of animation. Little scenes like Jigen loading his gun, Lupin getting ready to jump on Fujiko's bed, and Goemon jumping on rocks. Some of those scenes look better than a lot of stuff from parts 1-3 so it's impressive stuff! My one complaint about the art style is Fujiko, they did her so dirty. She has the same copy-and-pasted expression the whole time for some reason. I would have been fine with it had they at least changed up her face a little bit.


Love it too! As much as I love Yuji Ohno, this was a cool change. It's a different type of jazz but it totally works. It's definitely a lot more dated, and totally sounds like something you would hear from the 60s, but I also love music from the 60s/70s, so it's a win-win situation for me. Nothing will ever replace the great music Yuji Ohno makes, but I wouldn't mind hearing some more like this again.


It's only 12 minutes, so there's no harm in checking it out every now and then. Like I've already said many times, the pilot had a different vibe to it that I wish we got more of. But as it stands, the Lupin III pilot will serve as an extremely important mark in the history of animation, so all my respect goes out to its creation!