Reaction & Review | Lupin the 3rd: The Fuma Conspiracy

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to "Lupin the Marathon", here on Reaction & Review. Tonight, guys, I'm gonna be covering the next film in this marathon that came out in 1987. That movie is "Lupin the 3rd: The Fuma Conspiracy".

Now, unlike the previous films I've covered for this marathon, I actually do know something about this movie. And by that, I mean I really only know two things about it. The first thing I know about this movie is that this one is centered around Goemon. Which is honestly rather interesting because I do like Goemon as a character, and I really want to see more of him doing something, other than than just being a badass samurai. Not that there's anything wrong with the latter, of course, but still, I am really curious to see what they do with Goemon here.

Now the second thing I know about this movie is that it's one of the shortest films I've covered so far in this marathon. See, this film's runtime is only 73 minutes long, and I'm not sure if that's gonna help the film at all or be a detriment to it. Because, usually, the other Lupin films that I've seen usually run at about 90 minutes, sometimes a little longer than that. But with this film having a much shorter runtime than those, I'm curious to know if this film is gonna benefit from that short runtime or not.

So really, guys, I don't know what to expect from this film, beyond the little information that I know about it. I'm hoping for it to be really good, but I won't know that for sure unless I shut up and I push play, and I'm gonna do that right now. So, without further ado, it's time to kick back, relax, and check out "Lupin the 3rd: The Fuma Conspiracy".

5 minutes later

Well, guys, I am gonna say this much. Even though the dub here is a little bit questionable so far, I am gonna say that the music is still really good. I know you guys can't hear it for obvious reasons, but this opening song here is really good. I really wish I had more to say about the story itself, but then again, we just started the movie. So, I'm hoping for the best here.

5 minutes later

OK, this is already starting to bother me a bit, and I was hoping I wouldn't have to comment on it until later, but I need to ask this. Why is Lupin's name being pronounced as "Rupin"? I'm asking this, because it seems like almost nobody in this movie can make up their minds on how Lupin's name is suppose to be pronounced. I'm hoping, maybe, that this issue will either get fixed later on, or I'm somehow gonna get use to to this very odd pronunciation of his name, but I'm not sure if either one of those things is gonna happen or not.

12 minutes later

So, let me see if I understand this. Goemon's fiance, who we all thought to be kidnapped by ninjas known as the Fuma clan, was actually kidnapped by backup from the police in order to catch Lupin. Um...I have a *lot* of questions about this. However, I feel like if I asked them now, they would hurt my head quite a bit. So instead, I'll save them for later once I eventually review this thing.

12 minutes later

You know what, guys, as much as I can complain that the story is sort of a mess and the dialogue is still rather questionable, I am gonna say that this car chase here, while chaotic, is honestly really cool to witness. So yeah, I can at least say that much so far.

18 minutes later

By the way, guys, I should've mentioned this earlier, but Goemon's name is also being mis-pronounced as "Gweimon" for some reason. Again, I'm gonna get more into this a little later, but I just wanted to let you guys know now because these pronunciations are really starting to bother me more and more as the movie progresses.

The Review

Well, guys, that was "Lupin the 3rd: The Fuma Conspiracy". Let me go ahead and shut the movie off here...OK. Wow, um...where to even start here? Well, I suppose I can answer this question first. Does this movie benefit from having a short runtime? For the most part, I'm willing to say yes. While the film itself is certainly flawed, I can at least say that it certainly made the best out of it's situation, what with it being a 73 minute runtime and everything.

So now, let's talk about the rest of the movie. I want to start off with something that I normally would save for later, but seeing as how it's still fresh in my mind, I have to start off with the acting here. And before I delve into the performances itself, I need to talk about how character names are mis-pronounced here. And the two names that are gonna stand out the most are Lupin and Goemon, because their names suffer the most identity crisis through the entire film. And I'm not kidding about that either, because it seems like, when the actors were given their lines, the director, or writer of this dub, forgot to tell the actors on how their characters names are supposed to be pronounced, because they constantly go back and forth a lot throughout this movie. With Lupin, he has it the worst. because just about every actor almost pronounces his name as "Rupin". Almost as if the actors were speaking broken English.

And Goemon almost has the same problem, too, because, like I said, his name is being pronounced as "Gweimon" for some odd reasoning. When I hear that kind of name, I immediately think of the Digimon known as Greymon, if Greymon's name was spoken from a child who has a lisp problem. Now, this wouldn't be too much of an issue if he was *only* pronounced as "Gweimon" throughout the entire movie. However, that's is *not* the case here, because there are a few characters, namely his girlfriend and sensei, who actually do call him "Goemon" a few times in this movie. And it's just so jarring to listen to, because if you're a fan of the "Lupin the 3rd" series and you're used to hearing how these names are actually pronounced, then you're gonna have a bit of a hard time with the pronunciation of these characters names in this movie. Now surprisingly, almost every other establishing character's name is pronounced perfectly fine. But with Lupin and Goemon, it's an identity crisis with these two, and I'm mostly gonna put the blame on the direction here, rather than the acting on that one.

But that's not to say that the acting here isn't flawed. Believe me, it is *heavily* flawed. Now, as you might've surmised, I did watch the English dub, and I'm gonna tell you that the dub here isn't really that great. The acting in this dub feels very uneven for just about all of the characters. The only one who has any sort of consistency is Zenigata's voice actor, but that's only because, most of the time, he just has to yell his lines. Everyone else, though, not so much. Fujiko sounds very one note here, and doesn't have a whole lot of range in her voice. Jigen, I honestly couldn't really gauge it very well enough to form a thought about it. The worst thing I could say about it is that it just didn't feel very natural to me, but that's really about it. Lupin sounds like he has the voice of an Asian guy who doesn't know if he's suppose to be speaking either English or Japanese. And Goemon's actor is easily the weakest actor of the entire cast because his performance in this thing sounds very wooden and, at times, felt like he was directionless on how he should be delivering his lines. Now again, I am gonna blame the latter for that on the direction of this dub. But still, that doesn't excuse the rest of his acting feeling very weak here.

So yeah, on a whole, the acting in this dub is just not really that good. It's not the worst dub I've come across, obviously, but in the case of the "Lupin the 3rd", it is probably the weakest dub of the entire series. At least, so far, anyway. But with that said, what about the actual writing itself? Well, honestly, the writing here is just OK. In terms of working in all of the tropes involving Lupin the 3rd, it does it's job well enough in working that all in with it's short runtime. As for the story itself, well, as I mentioned earlier, this one is supposed to be centered around Goemon, and I was really curious to see what they were going to do with him in this movie. Well, simply put, he was about to get married to his fiance, however, she gets kidnapped by a group of ninjas known as the Fuma clan. Well, actually, they were after a special kind of vase that Goemon's master has been holding. But since Goemon and the others were able to hold them off briefly, they ended up kidnapping his fiance instead. And so, basically, if he wants his fiance back, then he has to trade the vase for it, to which his master denies him, because according to him, it cannot be traded no matter what. Though that idea gets thrown out the window later on, when Lupin secretly unlocks the vault to the case and steals it to find out more about the vase's true nature of it's value. A slight spoiler here, the vase  actually contains a map of where the real treasure is located. And as for the treasure itself is something that I won't spoil here. Not that there's much left to spoil about it, but still.

So yeah, like I said, it's pretty much a standard Lupin adventure, even though the focus is more on Goemon here rather than the titled character. However, there are certain things about the writing that just doesn't make very much sense in context. The biggest example of this is when we're first introduced to Detective Zenigata, who retired from his position as a detective to become a monk. Why is this? Well, it was told through a brief flashback where Lupin "died" after a boat exploded, leaving the detective in shock. When exactly did this kind of thing happen, I don't know. I have no idea if this happened in a previous movie or any of the older series, because this movie didn't really provide any sort of context beyond that. So to anyone who might be watching this movie for the first time, and you've not seen anything related to "Lupin the 3rd" prior to this movie, then you're just gonna be left completely in the dark as to how exactly that all happened. Now, of course, when Zenigata gets the news that Lupin is actually alive again, he goes back to his old ways and is on the hunt for Lupin again. But still, that whole scene just felt really weird and off-putting to me.

While I'm on the subject, I may as well talk about the characters here. Aside from the already established ones, the only new one I wanted to mention is Goemon's fiance, who goes by the name of Murasaki. And to be perfectly honest with you guys, she's one of the most blandest characters I've seen so far in any Lupin movie to date. Now, to be fair, Murasaki does have something resembling a backstory in how she and Goemon first met and became infatuated with each other. But in terms of her personality, it is boring as shit. She has nothing much going for her, other than being used as kidnapping foil for our plot. Granted, she's not entirely a damsel in distress type of character, but I honestly couldn't remember much of anything she did in this movie, besides helping Goemon get to where the actual treasure is at. And as for our establishing characters, barring Detective Zenigata, well, really, there's not much to say here about them that's changed, and that unfortunately includes Goemon. Which is kinda sad, considering that this movie is centered around him, and I was hoping they'd do more with his character here. But alas, that doesn't really happen.

So yeah, guys, writing in this movie is definitely one of the weaker aspects here. Mind you, now, I'm in no way saying that it's bad or anything, but I seriously can't say that it's great either. It sorta leans on being below average. Which, even then, the movie is still very watchable, despite the flaws of the writing and all. In fact, almost everything else I'm gonna mention from this point forth are nothing but positives. The animation here is great. For 1987, this animation still holds up really well. The color palettes here are great, as is the animation itself. The two biggest standouts of the entire movie are the car chase sequence, which, in my opinion, is the biggest highlight of entire film, and also during a bit where any of the characters are covered with hallucination gas, as you get to experience some really creepy, yet really creative body horror as well. It's great stuff, and it's enough for me to recommend that you check out this movie, if just for the animation alone.

Sound-mix here is also mixed very well, and the music is fantastic, too. It has more of a Japanese feeling to it, which makes sense given where this movie is taking place in. But still, the score here is great, as is the rest of the music.

So, with all that said, guys, am I able to recommend "Lupin the 3rd: The Fuma Conspiracy"? Honestly...yes. Now granted, while this film is definitely on the weaker side of the series, it's still definitely worth watching, especially if you're a fan of the series. Now whether it's just a once-over or if it's worth watch multiple times is something I can't say for everyone else. For myself, I might still give this another watch, but I might watch the Japanese version of this thing the next go around, because, like I said, the dub here is definitely not that great, plus the pronunciation of certain names is what's stopping me from immediately rewatching it. Now who knows, maybe I'll watch it again with the dub if I'm *really* bored, but it's certainly not gonna happen anytime soon. But otherwise, guys, I can still recommend it enough for any fan who hasn't seen the film yet. For myself, it's definitely the weakest of the entire series so far, but even at it's weakest, I can still say that I had some fun with it. Now...I think I'm gonna go and watch something different. Seeing as how that scene I talked about earlier involving the body horror and all, I think I'm gonna go and rewatch my copy of "Wicked City". Why not? It's been a little while since I've last seen it so I think I'm gonna go and do that next.

Anyway, guys, with that, we come to the close of another Reaction & Review. Until next time, ladies and gentlemen, take care, and I will see you all later. Peace.

Reaction & Review | Lupin the 3rd: Dead or Alive

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to "Lupin the Marathon" here on Reaction & Review. Tonight, guys, I'm gonna be covering the next film in this marathon that came out in 1996. That movie is "Lupin the 3rd: Dead or Alive".

Now, I would love to tell you anything that I know about this movie, but sadly, I don't know very much about it, aside from it being another Lupin movie. The only thing that I've noticed, just judging from the cover art, is that the art-style looks vastly different, compared to the other Lupin movies that I've seen before. Which is interesting, even though it was still made by TMS. Now mind you, I'm not saying that it's a bad thing or anything, it's just something that I happened to notice is all.

So, setting aside that, I know nothing about the plot to this movie, nor have I seen any trailers or clips from it either. So, in other words, I'm going into this one 100% blind here. I'm hoping it's gonna be just as good as the other two Lupin films that I've seen prior to this one. But the only way I'm gonna find out for sure is if I shut up and I push play, and I'm gonna do that right now. So, without further ado, it's time to kick back, relax, and check out "Lupin the 3rd: Dead or Alive".

5 minutes later

OK, so...this warden, well, fake warden I should say, just did a prison break releasing four other guys. And the reason why I say the warden was fake was because it was actually Lupin in disguise. Mind you, there's no context as to why Lupin released these guys at all, but it does leave me rather curious. So, I'm hoping the movie will provide that context.

17 minutes later

So, that buoy that Jigen managed to pull off turned out to be a hidden plane...interesting. Not totally sure how capable that actually is, but I will say that it is creative.

8 minutes later

OK, this shot here that I'm seeing, for whatever reasoning, has Jigen's hair completely white, as if he grew really old. I don't know, *maybe* it was trying to reflect the lighting of the fire going on in the background, but still, it just seemed a little bit weird to me, you know?

6 minutes later

Guys, I know that this is probably a moot point to bring up, but the music in this movie is really good. I'm really digging the score here. But then again, it's "Lupin the 3rd", and it would be sort of a crime if the music in this series turned out to be horrible. Which, thankfully, it still hasn't.

11 minutes later

OK, so we finally got some sort of explanation as to why Lupin, at the beginning, busted those guys out of prison. The main reason being is he wanted information about "Drifting Island", the island that Lupin and the gang were on to look for some treasure. At *least* they explained that much. Granted, I don't know why they are talking to only *one* of the former prisoners, and not the whole lot that they busted out. But still, at least they explained why Lupin busted them out of prison. So, I'll take what I can get out of this.

20 minutes later

You know, guys, I am gonna say that while Zenigata seems to be a lot less over-the-top in this movie than the previous ones, I'm still kinda surprised, and not, by the fact that he didn't pick up on Lupin's strange silence earlier from when he apprehended him. I guess, maybe, perhaps that Zenigata is still one step behind Lupin's 4-D chess, you know what I mean?

1 minute later

O...K, well that got...surprisingly dark rather quickly. Never thought I'd see a beheading like that before, but, well, I got to see it. And yeah, that totally caught me off guard.

The Review

Well, guys, that was "Lupin the 3rd: Dead or Alive". Let me go ahead and shut the film off here...OK. So...where to start with this one? Well, I am gonna say that, so far anyway, this is the best Lupin film I've covered this marathon. Now again, it's not gonna compare to something like "The Castle of Cagliostro". But then again, that movie's on a whole different level of awesome. That aside, it is a really great movie on it's own standards. So, I'm not gonna complain on whether or not it's better than certain others, because all that matters to me is whether or not the film was entertaining. And it most certainly is.

So, let me go ahead and start this review off proper by first talking about the writing. More specifically, I actually want to talk about the movie's tone, first and foremost. Now, way back when I reviewed "The Secret of Harimao's Treasure", I mentioned my experience with "Lupin the 3rd" at the time. In which, I had only seen "The Castle of Cagliostro" and "Lupin the 3rd": Part's IV and V. And on the latter, I said that I enjoyed both series very much. However, the one thing that stopped both those series from being great was that, at least for me, the final arc's for both Part's IV and V tried way too hard on being dark in tone. Not that the series was ever dark beforehand, but I didn't really like how those arcs approached the way it set it's tone during those final arcs. Which is what kinda sullied it a little bit from two really enjoyable series. Now mind you, it's been quite a number of years since I last watched both those series when they last aired on Toonami, so perhaps maybe if I ever viewed those series again on DVD at some point, my opinion on those could ultimately change. But, as it stands, I still didn't like the tonal shift on when and how the series went dark on their last arcs.

Which now brings me to talking about this movie again. And the reason why I brought up all that to you guys is that this movie has, quite possibly, one of the better examples on how to properly balance it's tone. You see, while this movie has a somewhat darker approach to it's tone here, it doesn't completely overshadow the insane, goofy, over-the-top action that this series is mostly known for. It knows when to be serious and when it wants to have fun with itself. And mind you, the story here is kinda complex, but it really is easy to follow, as long as you're able to connect the dots in your head. And if you're somehow not able to, then another viewing of it doesn't hurt either, because while it was simple for me to follow the entire story, it is possible that others may not. So I'm not gonna insult anyone for not grasping the whole story of this movie on their first go around. That said, I will say that there is a twist near the end that, while I won't spoil what it is, it could leave you asking a bunch of questions about it until the movie answers it itself. So, you just have to take that for what it's worth. It really is something you're either gonna like or not. Myself, personally speaking, I'm kinda split on it. But it didn't really stop me from enjoying this movie as a whole. So, again, it's just something that you're gonna have to interpret for yourself, really.

All of our characters have tons of depth. The best one has to go to Ole, who is a new character in this movie that has a really strong arc. Where she starts off working for the enemy, to being rescued by Lupin, to her discovering about her missing boyfriend being discovered alive after 2 years. It's a really good arc, and it easily makes her the best character in the entire movie. And as for our establishing characters, most of them are very likable and have tons of personality. The only one of the bunch that has the least amount of screen time is Fujiko, who, when in comparison with the previous movie that I covered for this series, doesn't have a whole lot of screen time here. The same could also be said for Detective Zenigata. However, I will say that, when compared to the previous two movies that I covered in this marathon, he actually does manage to get the 1-Up on Lupin a couple of times here. Where in the previous movies, he was essentially just there for the sake of being a foil in catching Lupin. Here, it's the same shtick, but at least he's not just a worthless comic relief character like he was in "The Secret of Twilight Gemini" and "The Columbus Files". So, at least it's something of an improvement here.

But overall, guys, the writing here is really strong. It's probably some of the strongest I've seen since watching "The Castle of Cagliostro". Again, it's not as good writing as that film had it, but it's still really good as a standalone movie. And as for the acting, well, once again, I am watching the English dub here. And for the 3rd straight time in a row, it was dubbed by Funimation. So naturally, you have the talent pool of actors from that studio reprising the roles for our established characters. Sonny Strait, once again, nails it as Lupin and I'm starting to grow more used to him voicing the character. The only bit of acting that I thought was a bit weak was any time characters had to put on some rather goofy accents. And, of course, when I mean characters, I mean like background characters and such that have to put on accents, which is suppose to be whatever country the movie's taking place in. Now admittedly, I don't really know what country this movie is suppose to take place in, but I will say that the accents are kinda silly and somewhat stupid at the same time. Mind you, now, it's not even all that bad, it's just something that I felt like I needed to mention, just in case there's someone out there who's somehow real picky with accents. Don't really know who that would be, honestly, but there is that *slight*, slight chance. But anyway, the acting here is perfectly fine for the cast here.

Animation, I do want to talk about a bit. Now, first of all, I will say that the animation here is really good, but I do want to comment on something that I brought up at the start of this thing, which was the art-style. The art-style in this movie is very different compared to the other two movies I covered in this marathon. It seems to be, well...not so much realistic per se, but more so down to Earth. Meaning that this movie's animation doesn't seem to be going for as many over-the-top action scenes, though they still do exist in this movie. Especially the beginning of the film, where most of that was definitely there with the prison break scene. But for the most part, it seems to play itself out as a standard action movie. Which there's nothing wrong with that. At least, to me, there isn't. So, while the art-style may be different, just about all of the tropes involving "Lupin the 3rd" are still here. Which is great to see. So yeah, the art-style is great, as is the color palettes and the overall animation as a whole.

Sound-mix here is mixed fine. The music here is fantastic. In fact, honestly, listening to the score in this movie sorta reminds me of another anime series that had awesome music, which is "Cowboy Bebop". The score in this movie reminds me of that, and it works tremendously. It has the perfect vibe to it, and it never really goes away. It's gonna stick with you from the opening title screen, all the way to the end credits. But again, we are talking about "Lupin the 3rd" here, and it would be considered a crime if the music ended up sucking at all. But otherwise, guys, the music here is great.

And with all that said, can I recommend "Lupin the 3rd: Dead or Alive"? Oh yes, certainly, guys. This movie is really good. While the art-style has changed a bit here and the story is a little more complex than previous entries, it's still really entertaining. And once more, if you are a fan of the "Lupin the 3rd" series, and you haven't had a chance to see this one yet, by all means, check it out. It is definitely worth your time. And as for myself, I was pleasantly surprised by it. I wanted it to be really good, and part of me was thinking that it was gonna be just OK. But thankfully, it surpassed that level to a point where I really enjoyed it immensely. I, of course, will be adding it to the ever growing collection of "Lupin the 3rd" movies that I already own. I'm hoping the rest of the marathon is gonna be like that, but we'll just have to wait and see for now. In the meantime, I think I'm gonna go and watch another action movie. Perhaps maybe I'll pop in my copy of "Rambo III", since I rewatched the first two movies already. So, why not go for number 3? I might as well, seeing as how this movie got me in the mood to watch another action film.

And with that, guys, we come to the close of another Reaction & Review. Until next time, ladies and gentlemen, take care, and I will see you all later. Peace.

Reaction & Review | Lupin the 3rd: The Columbus Files

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to "Lupin the Marathon" here on Reaction & Review. Tonight, guys, we're continuing the marathon with the next entry that came out in 1999. That movie is "Lupin the 3rd: The Columbus Files".

Now I probably should've mentioned this beforehand last week, but I'm not reviewing these movies in any particular order. For example, I'm not reviewing them from earliest to latest. And there's two reasons as to why. The first reason is that almost all of these movies have no connection with each other. A majority of them are just standalone films. So, you can watch these in, pretty much, any order you want. The second reason being simply because I just find that to be a waste of time anyways. I'm gonna review them in the order that I want, regardless of what year they came out in.

So, now that I've gotten that little quibble out of the way, let's actually get into tonight's movie. And much like with last week's film, I don't know a thing about it. But then again, like I also mentioned at the start of this marathon, I'm going into almost all of these movies as blind as possible. Which is the nice thing about me doing this series, since I'm going into them with fresh eyes and all.

Now, I'm hoping for this thing to be just as good as "The Secret of Twilight Gemini" was, if not even better. But the only way I'm gonna find out for sure is if I shut up and I push play, and I'm gonna do that right now. So, without further ado, it's time to kick back, relax, and check out "Lupin the 3rd: The Columbus Files".

2 minutes later

You know, guys, out of all things I was expecting from this movie this early on, seeing Lupin in lingerie is definitely *not* one of them. OK granted, it's just a bodysuit of Fujiko, but still, that just comes off weirdly creepy, even for one of Lupin's disguises.

17 minutes later

Well, lesson learned. If the engine on your boat stops working, just karate chop it, like how Goemon did, and it'll be up and running again. I never would've known that, but hey, at least it's something to keep in mind the next time I ever step foot on a boat like that.

12 minutes later

OK, you know what? I am gonna give Lupin this much, at least he knows when to hold back when he needs to. Still though, what he attempted to do just a moment ago, just...what the fuck, man? I know that, before, you didn't want to believe that Fujiko's memories are gone, but still, you could've handled that situation a little bit better, you know?

2 minutes later

OK, I know Goemon's sword is capable of cutting down a lot of things, but I didn't know that he could cut down buildings just like that as well. Mind you, it was sorta cool, but still, it wasn't something I was exactly expecting is all.

9 minutes later

OK, well, I just learned something else about Lupin. Apparently, he also has a rocket based shoe on his foot. *Never* would've known that at all. But honestly, I would love to have something like that for myself. Just thought I'd share that with you guys.

19 minutes later

You know, guys, I'm both surprised and not at the same about Nazalloff's disguise. I probably should've picked up on it the first time he did his fucking laugh, but now that I'm seeing him unravel his disguise, I'm kinda surprised that he was able to hold off on it for this long before Lupin caught on to his act. Still though, it sorta caught be off guard a bit.

8 minutes later

So, this Columbus Egg has the power to control the weather. Which also means creating cyclones and typhoons that can destroy islands and other major cities around the world. Gotta say, that certainly is a reason to want to get a hold of that egg. Though it makes me wonder what else Fujiko knows about it from her hidden memories, since she wasn't captured and all. I'm really curious about that know, since Nazalloff was ordered to capture both her and Rosaria, but didn't. I gotta say though, I'm really intrigued to see how else this movies plays out.

The Review

Well, guys, that was "Lupin the 3rd: The Columbus Files". Let me go ahead and shut the movie off here...OK. Well...where to start with this one? Well, I can say that this movie, at least to me, is, indeed, very good. In fact, I would even say it's better than "The Secret of Twilight Gemini". Mainly because, there's more stuff going on in this film than the other one. Now mind you, the film does have a couple of problems, but for the most part, it is mostly minor stuff, which I'll cover in just a moment.

For now, though, let's go ahead and start off this review by first going over the writing. The writing in this movie is certainly really interesting. There's this treasure that's found within something called the Columbus Files, which is something that Fujiko has been looking into for a very long time. And in those files, there's something mentioning about an egg that is the main treasure that Christopher Columbus himself found while he was on his voyage, which is what Fujiko is after. Though shortly in the beginning, however, they are being chased down by a guy named Nazalloff, who also wants the same thing. Now it's around here is where Fujiko starts to play a big part of this movie because, shortly before the prologue ends, she ends up falling off a cliff before Lupin can save her. Which is where we find out a little later that she lost all her memories, which includes what she knows about the Columbus Files. Because right before she ended up giving it up to Nazalloff, she ends up burning the files, but says to Lupin that she has it all memorized in her mind. So now, it's pretty much all on her as Lupin and the gang try to defend her from Nazalloff while she tries to regain her memories.

So, storywise, there's a lot more going on here and it does leave you interested to see whether or not Fujiko can regain her memories. Not just because there's a treasure that only she knows the secrets about, but also because she's a beloved character of the series as well. While I'm on the subject, most of our characters here are rather likable and well developed. The only one that I would say is not very likable is Nazalloff, mostly because he's just a creepy scumbag who, not only has an annoying laugh, but also has a huge boner for Fujiko as well. Which I believe was the intention, because he's really fucking scummy. But as for other new characters, the only ones that I can mention are Rosaria and her father. More so Rosaria, because she's looking for her father, and, well, slight spoiler here, he's the main villain in all this, as he's looking to get control of the Columbus Egg for his own ambitions of controlling the world. There's also a couple of other things about it as well, which I'm not gonna mention in this review, but the core aspect about it is that the bad guy wants it to control the world. It's pretty basic stuff, really.

Which then brings me back to both Lupin and Fujiko. Now because Fujiko has lost her memories, we do get more of an interaction between the two characters. Now, beyond the one scene that I'm gonna mention in a second here, I will say that the chemistry between these two is great. The depth between the two is more explored here, with Fujiko losing her memories, and how Lupin sees her as someone who he wants to protect. It's great stuff. Now granted, I know some fans of the series won't like the fact that Fujiko seems more helpless here as a damsel rather than a sexy badass that she is, but I still feel like it works well enough here for it to be overlooked. That being said, however, there is one scene that I wanted to mention. See, there's a scene in this movie where Lupin is talking to Fujiko alone in a room, as he's trying to find a way to get her to remember her memories. And at one point, he even goes so far as to take his pants off and goes for a rather, well...predatory approach in trying to make love to her. Which, for some people, could be seen as a huge turnoff, because it's a rather unusual thing for Lupin to do, especially with Fujiko's current condition and all. Which, I will admit, is kinda fucked up. But I will say, in some defense of him, that he does end up holding back and goes back to comforting her in his own way. That said, I still believe he could've handled the situation a little bit more differently.

Now, beyond that one scene, the rest of the writing here is still really good. The action scenes are really cool, even if some of them are a little bit over-the-top, especially a couple involving Goemon, such as him cutting down a fucking building with one slice of his sword. But then again, "Lupin the 3rd" has always had a lot of over-the-top action scenes, so I suppose this is just par for the course with this series. Now as for the acting, well, it is dubbed over by Funimation's voice actors once again. And I will say that I'm actually getting more use to Sonny Strait voicing Lupin himself. He certainly has the range for the character, and the script he's working with is definitely giving him more to work with. Which is great, honestly. The only character's voice that I'm sorta split on is Goemon. I'm not sure what it is, but there's something about it that I'm not 100% sure on. Maybe it's because he tries to sound badass in his somewhat raspy voice, but something about that is not entirely clicking with me. It just feels kinda off here. Now, mind you, the acting from him isn't entirely bad, but it is something that you're either gonna get use to, or you're gonna end up not liking it. It really is gonna lean to either one of those things for you. For me, I'm still not totally sure how to really feel about it. Perhaps maybe I'll get use to it if that same voice is used for any of the other films I'll cover for this marathon, but who knows?

Anyway, setting aside my feelings on Goemon's dub acting, the rest of the acting is still really good, as is to be expected from Funimation's actors. So, nothing much else to say about it, really. Now as with the animation, it's really good, too. And in comparison to the previous film I covered, which was "The Secret of Twilight Gemini", it feels less cheap than how that movie did. That being said, it is still somewhat on the dated side of things, being as how this released during the late 90's. But then again, I actually do prefer this kind of animation over the clean, digital art that is used for a lot of anime nowadays. But that's neither here nor there. I can't guarantee that for everyone else, of course, but still. As with this movie though, the art-style is really good, as is the animation, along with the color palettes. So yeah, animation here is rather good for it's time.

Sound-mix here is mixed fine. And the music here is also really good, too. But then again, it is done by the great Yuji Ohno, who has done music for almost everything else involving "Lupin the 3rd". Mind you, it's not the best I've heard, but it is nowhere near the worst. And even by it's weakest, it's still really fucking good. So yeah, the music here is great.

Ultimately, guys, when all is said and done, am I able to recommend "Lupin the 3rd: The Columbus Files"? Yes, I most certainly can. It really is a solid entry in the Lupin series, and it's one that I'm most certainly gonna revisit again on my own time. And if you, yourself, are a fan of the series, and have not gotten a chance to check this one out yet, go ahead and find it somewhere. Whether it's online, or it's somewhere on DVD or Blu-ray, go ahead and check it out. You'll most certainly have a great time with it, regardless of the film's minor flaws. So now, with all that being said, I'm gonna go and watch something else. Probably a 007 movie. Don't know which one, yet, but I'll probably revisit something like "Goldeneye" or "Moonraker". Maybe the latter option, since it was the very first one I ever watched with my Dad. So, that's what I'm gonna go do next once I get done typing up this review.

Anyway, guys, with that, we come to the close of another Reaction & Review. Until next time, ladies and gentlemen, take care, and I will see you all later. Peace.

Reaction & Review | Lupin the 3rd: The Secret of Twilight Gemini

 

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to "Lupin the Marathon" here on Reaction & Review. Oh boy, guys, I am really excited about this marathon that I'm about to start here! And yes, I am doing another themed marathon right after finishing my previous "Tales of the Longbox" marathon. And this marathon is gonna be dedicated solely to movies centered on the "Lupin the 3rd". Now, I've always wanted to do this particular marathon ever since I covered "The Secret of Harimao's Treasure" several years ago. And I decided for myself that I wasn't gonna cover any more Lupin movies until I had enough for a marathon. Well thankfully, I bided my time long enough, and it's finally paid off now that I'm pulling the trigger on this marathon.

And it's perfect timing, too. Because, not only is this a brand new theme marathon that I'm doing, it's also the 250th episode of Reaction & Review. Which is awesome to hit that milestone. So, yeah, I totally picked the right moment to do this whole thing. And we're gonna kick this marathon off with one of the first movies I ever bought in preparation for this marathon. It came out in 1996. That movie is "Lupin the 3rd: The Secret of Twilight Gemini".

Now, you're gonna hear me say this a lot throughout most of this entire marathon. I don't know a thing about this movie. And I literally do mean that. I know almost jack all about it. Now, there will be a couple of exceptions to all this much later on, but for now, I just want to focus on tonight's movie. And the only thing I actually know about it is, well, it's a movie about Lupin the 3rd, and there's some sort of treasure involved that he and his friends go after.

Beyond that, I know nothing else about it. I'm going into most of these movies as blind as I can, because I really don't want to be spoiled by any of them. I'm hoping this one will start off on a high note for this marathon. But the only way I'll know that for sure is if I shut up and I push play, and I'm gonna do that right now. So, without further ado, it's time to kick back, relax, and check out "Lupin the 3rd: The Secret of Twilight Gemini".

14 minutes later

So, this cult-looking group here that we just saw a moment ago, well, I'm now getting a second look at them as they're all together. And for some reason, their attire almost looks identical to the Klu-Klux-Klan. No seriously, guys, their robes are nearly similar to the KKK. Only difference being that they're not being dressed by white dudes, they're all Moroccan. Just felt like I wanted point that out since it's the first thing that came to my mind by just looking at them.

4 minutes later

You know, guys, I think this might be one of the closest times Lupin has ever gotten to doing it with Fujiko. Unfortunately for him, though, and probably Fujiko as well, he ditches her at the last moment so that he could get away from the Russian lady and her forces. At least, I *think* she's Russian. I could be totally wrong there. I'm not the best with deciphering accents.

14 minutes later

OK, guys, you know what? I will say that this flashback sequence is sorta unique, in the way that it's being played out as a silent film, even though there is a narrator speaking through the whole thing. Granted, I'm not totally sure why they couldn't get any voiceovers to do this segment instead, seeing as how you have a speaking narrator and all, but honestly, I'm not gonna complain about it too much. It's just something I wanted to mention is all.

6 minutes later

OK, that has got to be one of the fakest mustaches I've seen in a long time. And considering that it's a Lupin disguise, I'm surprised Zenigata or any of the officials near him are not picking up on this act quicker. I'm just saying, guys, that disguise probably would've looked better, had he not gotten stuck with that incredibly fake mustache. But perhaps that's just me.

9 minutes later

So I just learned something new today. I learned that Goemon can apparently play the flute. I never would've known that. I honestly thought it was just a background piece at first, but then I saw him play it, and I learned that he could do something other than meditate. You really learn something new everyday, don't ya?

11 minutes later

Guys, I just wanted to say right now that the music in this movie is great. Granted, that's a not a huge surprise, considering "Lupin the 3rd" has always had great music. But it's still worth mentioning, because it never fails to sound awesome.

8 minutes later

So, instead of leaving Laura in the quicksand like she told him to do, he decides to jump in with her because he's kind of an idiot that way. Dude, I know it's a girl and all, but you could've found a different way to save her before she drowns in quicksand. Then again, I've thankfully never been anywhere near quicksand myself, so I probably wouldn't know what to do with a straight mind myself in that situation. Either way, it was still kind of stupid of him to do that.

The Review

Well, guys, that was "Lupin the 3rd: The Secret of Twilight Gemini". Let me go ahead and shut the movie off here...OK. Well, I can start off by saying that I'm definitely gonna be in for a fun couple of months here with this marathon. This movie was pretty good. Now mind you, it's certainly not as good as the other 2 films I've seen in this series, such as "The Castle of Cagliostro" and "The Secret of Harimao's Treasure". But on it's own standards, it's a really entertaining film. And that, to me, is what I care most about in movies is if they're entertaining. And this one definitely fits that mold really well.

So, let's go ahead and start this review off proper by first going into the writing. The writing here is pretty good for the most part. Essentially, there's this treasure in Morocco that can only be opened by a gem called the "Twilight". And as you can guess, it's pretty much a key to that treasure that Lupin gets from an old man who wants him to go find it. Now there is a particular reason as to why he chose Lupin to go find it, other than the fact that he, himself, can't do it anymore, as he's very sick. And from the moment that Lupin lands in Morocco, he has to contend with other groups such as the Geltic's, which is the group that Laura, a supporting character, is a part of. The Secret Society, which is the group that has the KKK robes on them. And, of course, you have Detective Zenigata, who, of course, is after Lupin himself to arrest him. Which, for those of you who have no knowledge of "Lupin the 3rd", he's pretty much the Wile E. Coyote of the series. Mind you, I'm not saying that as an insult. It's just more of an observation as I am typing this.

So, the story here is pretty basic for the most part. It's really not too hard to follow. Though admittedly, it is pretty predictable. Like, when you first hear about the story involving the origins of the "Twilight" key and how it relates to Laura, you can pretty much guess everything else about her. And also, I should mention that there's another character in this movie that's also a part of the Secret Society that is after Lupin, since he has the "Twilight" key and that they want it to restore the Geltic's to their former glory. One of the members, who doesn't wear any ropes, basically looks like a woman, but it's confirmed that he's really a guy. Yeah, it's one of those androgynous characters that sorta threw me off a bit. But yeah, he's only here to kill Lupin, while at the same, also tangles with Goemon, who apparently knows him and wants to kill him. Yeah, that's never really expanded upon in the film, so it's just something that apparently exists just for the sake of existing.

While I'm kind of on the subject here, most of our characters here are establishing characters that you see from the "Lupin the 3rd" TV series and movies. I haven't read any of the comic strips, so I can't say anything about that one. But I will say that the characters are mostly likable. Mind you, characters like Goemon and Jigen, for example, have very short screen time here. So they're not in the movie for very long. Fujiko, on the other hand, definitely has more screen time, and it's also here that I need to mention that this movie has quite a lot of nudity here. There are several scenes here where you get to see Fujiko's boobs hanging out. And it's quite honestly surprising to me, because, I don't think I've *ever* seen this much nudity in a "Lupin" anything ever. The closest to anything like that would be if Fujiko is a wearing a swimsuit. But other than that, most of that was rather tame in comparison to this film. Then again, the version I have on DVD does advertise itself as it being the "Uncut" feature. Which makes me believe that this movie was probably aired on TV and they had to censor the boobs and all. Mind you, that's mostly just a guess from me, but it is something that I wanted to bring up because it's just something I noticed as I was watching it.

But otherwise, guys, the writing here, despite it being kinda predictable, is still pretty good here enough to where you could overlook some of the flaws the movie has with it's story. Now as for the acting, I'm going by what I watched from the English dub. And the dub here is pretty good for the most part. It was dubbed by Funimation, and they usually do a pretty good job with their dubs. This one is no exception. The one I have to give the most credit for is Sonny Strait as Lupin. When I first heard it here in this movie, it sounded a little bit off to me. And the main reason why I say that is because I'm mostly use to hearing Tony Oliver voicing Lupin more. That said, though, Sonny does do a good enough job to where he can match the characteristics of how Lupin is portrayed here. And the rest of the acting is pretty solid, too. But again, the actors from Funimation usually do a really good job with their voice work, so it's not too much of a surprise from me, honestly.

Animation here is mostly really good. This movie, along with most of the other Lupin films that I'm gonna be covering for this marathon, was made by TMS. Most of the time, their animations look great, especially when it comes to "Lupin the 3rd". But admittedly, this one does feel a little bit on the cheap side. Not terrible, mind you, but when you compare it to everything else that they've made that has Lupin's name on it, this one does feel a little bit on the unpolished side of things. The scene I mentioned earlier involving the flashback hits the worst of these notes, because most of the time, the animation there feels like they were cutting some corners when it comes to any of the characters running. That said, I don't know if that was done intentionally for the flashback sequence, or if it was just a budget issue. Either way, though, the animation for this movie could've been a little better with some polish here and there. But otherwise, the animation here is still really good in most of the other areas here. The color palettes are great, too, as everything is very colorful here. So yeah, animation, minus a few mishaps here and there, is pretty solid.

Sound-mix here is mixed very well. The music here is also really good, too. While it's not as memorable as other songs from the previous two Lupin films that I've seen, it's still really good to listen to. Both in score and in soundtrack.

So ultimately, guys, when all is said and done, am I able to recommend "Lupin the 3rd: The Secret of Twilight Gemini"? Most certainly, yes. This movie, while certainly flawed in certain areas, is still very entertaining. And I would totally recommend it to anyone who is a fan of "Lupin the 3rd". Now as for first timers getting into the series, I would say go watch something like "The Castle of Cagliostro", as that, in my opinion, is a great starting point for any newcomers to the series. But as for everyone else who is a fan, if you haven't seen this film yet, go ahead and check it out. It's definitely worth your time, and is very entertaining to watch. I would say that this movie borders on being a popcorn flick, where it's just there to have fun and knows it. So yeah, again, I can totally recommend this film to you guys, especially if you're a fan of "Lupin the 3rd". Now, as for myself, well...seeing as how I mentioned "The Castle of Cagliostro" just a moment ago, I'm gonna go ahead and watch that movie next, because it's, so far anyway, the best Lupin movie I've ever seen. So, I'm gonna go and do that next once I get done with this review.

And with that, guys, we come to the close of another Reaction & Review. Until next time, ladies and gentlemen, take care, and I will see you all later. Peace.