Lupin III : The Classic Anime Aesthetic Is Transformed For 3D

Chances are, if you are a casual anime fan, you still probably know Lupin III. The character initially appeared in the late 1960s in a series of comic books by Kazuhiko Katō, who created Lupin under the penname Monkey Punch, and then in an extremely popular anime series that began in 1971 and was largely overseen by future Studio Ghibli founders Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata. The character, a swarthy gentleman thief who gets into comically oversized adventures, has since been adapted into countless animated films (including 1979’s hugely influential The Castle of Cagliostro, which served as Miyazaki’s debut feature), live-action films, animated series, and videogames. (There is, also, tons of merchandise.) The franchise’s aesthetic – a kind of globe-trotting, throw-back-y adventure, is equal parts The Adventures of Tinin and DuckTales, as the character finds himself in increasingly dangerous, highwire situations but always manages to pull himself out. One thing that he’s never done, though, is make the leap to 3D computer animation, which he finally does thanks to the wonderful, whiz-bang Lupin III: The First (in theaters October 18 and 21st and on digital this December).

Lupin III: The First is structured as a fairly straightforward, find-the-doodad mystery – taking place in the 1960s, Lupin (Kanichi Kurita) is attempting to steal a book that contains the key to some kind of limitless, potentially lethal power. But, of course, he isn’t the only one. Fellow criminal Fujiko Mine (Miyuki Sawashiro) is after the book, as is Laetitia (Suzu Hirose), an archeology student attempting to gain the book for her secretive, perhaps sinister adoptive grandfather. Hot on Lupin’s tail, as always, is Inspector Koichi Zenigata (Kōichi Yamadera), who Lupin dismissively refers to as “Pops.” There’s a whole lot of crisscrossing the globe and puzzle solving and inventively staged action sequences; the period setting adds a lovely amount of texture, and while the world might be at stake (the book leads to an otherworldly device called The Eclipse), it’s all fairly breezy and low impact.

And if you’ve never seen an anime before or don’t even know who the character is, don’t worry. You don’t need to. The characters are cleanly drawn, both artistically and in terms of who they are. Lupin’s confederate with the samurai sword? He’s silent and virtuous and when he unleashes that sword, things are going to go down. The storyline, too, is straightforward and easy to follow. There are twists, for sure, but it doesn’t get overly complicated or tripped up by its own mythology or internal logic (as many long running, increasingly labyrinthine anime projects oftentimes do). You know where everybody is headed, what they’re after, and who the bad guy is (spoiler alert: there are Nazis, which makes everything even more well-defined). Lupin III: The First could be your first or hundredth outing with the character; its ruthlessly efficient entertainment will not disappoint.