, also written as ''Lupin the Third'', ''Lupin the 3rd'', or ''Lupin the IIIrd'', is a Japanese

media franchise A media franchise, also known as a multimedia franchise, is a collection of related media in which several derivative works have been produced from an original creative work of fiction, such as a film, a work of literature, a television program, o ...

created by

Monkey Punch , known by the pen name , was a Japanese manga artist, best known for his series ''Lupin III''. Life and career Katō was born in Hamanaka, Hokkaido; he began drawing at a very young age, but did not draw manga until junior high school, when ...

. The series follows the endeavors of master thief

Lupin III , also written as ''Lupin the Third'', ''Lupin the 3rd'', or ''Lupin the IIIrd'', is a Japanese media franchise created by Monkey Punch. The series follows the endeavors of master thief Lupin III (character), Lupin III, grandson of gentleman t ...

, grandson of

gentleman thief A gentleman thief, gentleman burglar, lady thief, or phantom thief is a stock character in fiction. A gentleman or lady thief is characterised by impeccable manners, charm, courtesy, and the avoidance of physical force or intimidation to stea ...

Arsène Lupin Arsène Lupin () is a fictional gentleman thief and master of disguise created in 1905 by French writer Maurice Leblanc. The character was first introduced in a series of short stories serialized in the magazine '' Je sais tout''. The first ...

, joined by his criminal gang. The original ''Lupin III'' manga began in ''

Weekly Manga Action is a Japanese seinen manga magazine published by Futabasha. It is currently published twice a month, on the first and third Thursday. The magazine was originally formed as and began publishing weekly from July 7, 1967. It is considered the f ...

'' on August 10, 1967. Over fifty years after its creation, ''Lupin III'' remains popular, with a seventh anime series airing in 2021 and new ONAs released in 2023. Critical reception of the franchise has been largely positive across its various incarnations, with the appeal of the lead characters being noted as the primary factor of the series' success. The

voice acting Voice acting is the art of performing a character or providing information to an audience with one's voice. Performers are often called voice actors/actresses in addition to other names. Examples of voice work include animated, off-stage, off-sc ...

(in both Japanese and English versions) and soundtracks (especially those composed by

Yuji Ohno is a Japanese jazz musician. Ohno is known for his musical scoring of Japanese anime television series, particularly ''Lupin III'', and most famously the 1977 series '' Lupin III Part II'' and the feature film '' The Castle of Cagliostro''. E ...

) of the anime adaptations have also received similar compliments; however, several of the franchise's installments, most specifically the television specials, have been criticized for being formulaic. The manga has also been noted by fans and critics for its darker tone compared to the anime, with its explicit depictions of sex and violence, as well as its

dark Darkness is the condition resulting from a lack of illumination, or an absence of visible light. Human vision is unable to distinguish colors in conditions of very low luminance because the hue-sensitive photoreceptor cells on the retina are ...

, fourth wall-breaking sense of humor, contrasting with the mostly

family-friendly A family-friendly product or service is one that is considered to be suitable for all members of an average family. Family-friendly restaurants are ones that provide service to families that have young children. Frequently, family-friendly produc ...

animated versions. For several years, issues relating to the copyright of

Maurice Leblanc Maurice Marie Émile Leblanc (; ; 11 December 1864 – 6 November 1941) was a French novelist and writer of short stories, known primarily as the creator of the fictional gentleman thief and detective Arsène Lupin, often described as a French ...

's intellectual property meant that the Lupin name was removed from its releases outside Japan, usually changed to "Rupan" or "Wolf". However, the copyright has since expired, allowing foreign releases to use the Lupin name. Many different companies have owned the English-language distribution rights to various ''Lupin III'' properties at various times.

Tokyopop Tokyopop (styled TOKYOPOP; formerly known as Mixx Entertainment) is an American distributor, licensor and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa and Western manga-style works. The German publishing division produces German translations of licens ...

acquired the license to the original manga in 2002, and later the second series in 2004.

Seven Seas Entertainment Seven Seas Entertainment is an American publishing company located in Los Angeles, California. It was originally dedicated to the publication of original English-language manga, but now publishes licensed manga and light novels from Japan, as w ...

licensed manga collections in 2020.

Funimation Entertainment Crunchyroll, LLC is an American entertainment company based in Coppell, Texas. It currently operates the anime-focused eponymous over-the-top subscription video on-demand streaming service. The company was founded as Funimation in May 1 ...

dubbed and released several of the television specials and films from 2002 to 2006, and the fourth television series in 2013. Between 2003 and 2007,

Geneon (abbreviated as NBCUEJ) is a Japanese music, anime, and home entertainment production and distribution enterprise that is a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, owned by American telecommunications/media company Comcast headquartered in Akasaka, Tokyo ...

licensed and dubbed the first 79 episodes of the second television series, 26 of which were broadcast in the United States on

Adult Swim Adult Swim (stylized as

dult swim Dult is a village in Batala in Gurdaspur district of Punjab State, India. It is located from sub district headquarter, from district headquarter and from Sri Hargobindpur. The village is administrated by Sarpanch an elected representativ ...

and s is an American adult-oriented television programming block that airs on Cartoon Network which broadcasts during the evening, prime time, and Late-night television, late-night Dayparting, dayparts. T ...

in 2003 and 52 in Canada on

G4techTV G4techTV was a short-lived American cable and satellite channel resulting from a merger between Comcast-owned G4 and TechTV. The network officially launched on May 28, 2004. History On March 25, 2004, Comcast announced its plans to purcha ...

in 2007.

Discotek Media Discotek Media is an American entertainment company based in Altamonte Springs, Florida, focused on distribution and licensing Japanese anime, films, and television series. History Formed in 2005, Discotek primarily focuses on licensing retr ...

licensed the first six television series in the franchise and the first live-action film; they also own the rights to numerous other ''Lupin'' titles, including several previously released by other companies.

Premise

, the grandson of the fictional

, is considered the world's greatest thief, known for announcing his intentions to steal valuable objects by sending a calling card to their owners. His right-hand man and best friend is

Daisuke Jigen is a fictional character created by Monkey Punch for his manga series ''Lupin III'', which debuted in ''Weekly Manga Action'' on August 10, 1967. Jigen is the marksman, aide-de-camp and best friend of Arsène Lupin III. Along with colleague Goemo ...

, an expert

marksman A marksman is a person who is skilled in precision shooting. In modern military usage this typically refers to the use of projectile weapons such as an accurized telescopic sight, scoped long gun such as designated marksman rifle (or a sniper ri ...

who can accurately shoot a target in 0.3 seconds. Although Lupin and Jigen frequently work as a two-man team, they are often joined by

Goemon Ishikawa XIII is a fictional character created by Monkey Punch for his manga series ''Lupin III'', which debuted in ''Weekly Manga Action'' on August 10, 1967. Goemon is a thirteenth generation descendant of the renegade samurai Ishikawa Goemon. He is famous ...

, a master swordsman whose sword can cut anything, and

Fujiko Mine is a fictional character created by Monkey Punch for his manga series ''Lupin III'', which debuted in ''Weekly Manga Action'' on August 10, 1967. She is a professional criminal and spy who regularly uses her attractiveness to fool her targets. ...

, a

femme fatale A ( , ; ), sometimes called a maneater, Mata Hari, or vamp, is a stock character of a mysterious, beautiful, and Seduction, seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers, often leading them into compromising, deadly traps. She is an archetype ...

and Lupin's love interest. Although Fujiko usually works together with the others, she occasionally exploits Lupin's interest in her to steal the treasure for herself. Lupin and his gang are constantly chased by

Interpol The International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL (abbreviated as ICPO–INTERPOL), commonly known as Interpol ( , ; stylized in allcaps), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and crime cont ...

Inspector Zenigata , usually called and formerly Heiji Zenigata VII, is a fictional character created by Monkey Punch for his manga series ''Lupin III'', which debuted in ''Weekly Manga Action'' on August 10, 1967. He is named after the famous fictional Japanes ...

, who has made it his life's work to arrest them, pursuing Lupin across the globe.

Publication history

The series was created in 1965 by Japanese manga artist Kazuhiko Katō under the pen name

. His inspiration for the series was the fictional French gentleman thief

, created by

. Before creating the series he read 15 of Leblanc's stories. The aim of the ''Lupin III'' series was to produce a comedy adventure series that reflected the traits of Leblanc's character. Originally the intention was to keep the blood ties between the two fictional characters secret, however, he was convinced by others not to do so. Monkey Punch combined elements of Arsène Lupin with

James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...

to develop the character of Lupin III and made him a "carefree fellow". Lupin was given a red color jacket which Monkey Punch believed was a flashy, sexy color. As the series was to be published in a magazine targeted at adults, Fujiko Mine was created to add a female presence and to fulfill a "

Bond girl A Bond girl is a character who is a love interest, female companion or (occasionally) an adversary of James Bond in a novel, film, or video game. Bond girls occasionally have names that are double entendres or sexual puns, such as Plenty O' ...

" role. Her name was inspired by a picture of

Mount Fuji is an active stratovolcano located on the Japanese island of Honshu, with a summit elevation of . It is the highest mountain in Japan, the second-highest volcano on any Asian island (after Mount Kerinci on the Indonesian island of Sumatra), a ...

, Monkey Punch added the -ko female suffix to create her first name, and chose "Mine" for her family name because of its meaning as "summit". At the beginning of the series, many of the women Lupin encounters are all named Fujiko, but are treated as different characters from chapter to chapter. Creating a new female character each week was too difficult for Monkey Punch so she evolved into a single character who changes style frequently. Jigen was based on

James Coburn James Harrison Coburn III (August 31, 1928 – November 18, 2002) was an American film and television actor who was featured in more than 70 films, largely action roles, and made 100 television appearances during a 45-year career.AllmoviBi ...

, especially his role in ''

The Magnificent Seven ''The Magnificent Seven'' is a 1960 American Western film directed by John Sturges. The screenplay, credited to William Roberts, is a remake – in an Old West-style – of Akira Kurosawa's 1954 Japanese film '' Seven Samurai'' (itself init ...

'', and his name was chosen to reflect his unconventional personality. Goemon was created to give a Japanese element into an otherwise Western-influenced series. Despite Lupin and Goemon originally being enemies, Monkey Punch decided that they were on the same wavelength. While Lupin, Fujiko, Jigen and Goemon frequently operate together for their own goals, the author considered them not to be a true group as they have their own individual interests. In the manga they operated individually, but in the anime adaptations the group tend to work together. Inspector Zenigata was conceived as Lupin's archrival to create a "human

Tom and Jerry ''Tom and Jerry'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated media franchise and series of comedy short films created in 1940 by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Best known for its 161 theatrical short films by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the series ...

". When Monkey Punch began ''Lupin III'', he was already working on another series, ''Pinky Punky''. Monkey Punch enjoyed writing outlaw characters, and both ''Lupin III'' and ''Pinky Punky'' made use of outlaws as central characters. According to him, this made it easy for him to write two series without much pressure. Monkey Punch enjoyed puzzles and mysteries such as ''

Columbo ''Columbo'' is an American crime drama television series starring Peter Falk as Columbo (character), Lieutenant Columbo, a homicide detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. After two pilot episodes in 1968 and 1971, the show originall ...

'' and

Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English people, English author known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving ...

novels, and was also inspired by ''

The Three Musketeers ''The Three Musketeers'' () is a French historical adventure novel written and published in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas. It is the first of the author's three d'Artagnan Romances. As with some of his other works, he wrote it in col ...

'' and the movies of

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...

. He believed the characters of Lupin and Fujiko were similar to the characters of

D'Artagnan Charles de Batz de Castelmore (), also known as d'Artagnan and later Count d'Artagnan ( 1611 – 25 June 1673), was a French Musketeer who served Louis XIV as captain of the Musketeers of the Guard. He died at the siege of Maastricht in the Fr ...

and

Milady de Winter Milady de Winter, often referred to as simply Milady, is a fictional character in the novel ''The Three Musketeers'' (1844) by Alexandre Dumas, père, set in 1625 France. She is a spy for Cardinal Richelieu and is one of the dominant antagonists o ...

, and described them as "Not necessarily lovers, not necessarily husband and wife, but more just having fun as man and woman with each other". Another influence on the manga was '' Mad'' magazine. Monkey Punch said the appeal of drawing Lupin comes from the character being able to go anywhere without obstacles and being able to do whatever he wants, whenever he wants. However, this is contrasted by the appeal of Zenigata's strict personality. Originally the series was only expected to last three months, but due to its popularity, Monkey Punch continued to draw it. However, despite his happiness at its success, he expressed confusion over its popularity. Monkey Punch said that he believed the story could never end but that if it had to, both Zenigata and Lupin would have to end as equals. They would either both fail, both win, or both get very old.

Copyright issues

Monkey Punch did not ask permission to use the Arsène Lupin name and at the time Japan did not enforce trade copyrights. By the time Leblanc's estate launched legal action in Japan, the name was considered to have entered into common use. However, this was not the case in North America and Europe, and several foreign releases of ''Lupin III'' media dropped the ''Lupin III'' title and the character himself was renamed to "Rupan" or "Wolf". In France, the series was known as ''Edgar, Detective Cambrioleur'' (Edgar, Detective Burglar) with Lupin himself renamed "Edgar de la Cambriole" (Edgar of Burglary). Monkey Punch stated that using the same character design, behavior, and face would be illegal, but using a name alone is not illegal. In 2012, Leblanc's original Arsène Lupin entered the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...

in France due to 70 years passing since his death in 1941, and is in the public domain for any country that enforces the

rule of the shorter term The rule of the shorter term, also called the comparison of terms, is a provision in international copyright treaties. The provision allows that signatory countries can limit the duration of copyright they grant to foreign works under national tre ...

Media

Manga

Monkey Punch cropped 1 Shinji Mizushima Machiko Satonaka Tetsuo Saito Tetsuya Chiba and Monkey Punch 20090906

'' was written and illustrated by Monkey Punch. It was serialized by

Futabasha is a Japanese publishing company headquartered in , Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. Futabasha is known for its manga works, and its 1967 magazine Manga Action first conceived of the manga category, decades before the other major companies tested th ...

in ''

'' in 94 chapters from August 10, 1967. Additional chapters known as ''Lupin III New Adventures'' were released from August 12, 1971.

licensed the series for North America, and released all 14 volumes between December 10, 2002, and July 6, 2004. The Tokyopop edition is adapted from the

Chuokoron Shinsha is a Japanese publisher. It was established in 1886, under the name . In 1999, it was acquired by The Yomiuri Shimbun Holdings, and its name was subsequently changed to Chūōkōron-shinsha. Profile The company publishes a wide variety of mater ...

edition from 1989. While it hasn't been rescued since then, two anthology Lupin III manga published in Japan after Monkey Punch's death were published in English by

. Monkey Punch began publishing the second Lupin manga, ''Shin Lupin III'' in ''Weekly Manga Action'' on June 23, 1977, until 1981. Three chapters were published in the British magazine ''Manga Mania'' between May and July 1996. Tokyopop licensed the second series, and released the first nine volumes as ''Lupin III: World's Most Wanted'' between September 7, 2004, and July 10, 2007. Tokyopop later cancelled the series due to low sales. Like the first series, the Tokyopop release was based on the Chuokoron Shinsha edition from 1990. Since 1997 a number of manga series have been created by several artists and released in several Futabasha magazines. On August 27, 2004, Futabasha launched ''Lupin III Official Magazine'', a quarterly publication of ''Lupin III'' manga by various authors. Yutaka Abe and Jirō Maruden produced a three chapter adaptation of the ''Lupin III vs. Detective Conan'' TV special. From August 25, they also created a manga adaptation of ''Lupin III vs. Detective Conan: The Movie'' for

Shogakukan is a Japanese publisher of comics, magazines, light novels, dictionaries, literature, non-fiction, home media, and other media in Japan. Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but ...

s ''Shonen Super Sunday'' magazine. An

isekai is a sub-genre of fiction. It includes novels, light novels, films, manga, webtoons, anime, and video games that revolve around a person or people who are transported to and have to survive in another world such as a fantasy world, virtual wor ...

spin-off manga, '' Lupin the Third: Neighbor World Princess'', written by Yōsuke Saeki and illustrated by Keyaki Uchi-Uchi began serialization in

Akita Shoten is a Japanese publishing company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo. It was founded by Teio Akita in 1948. As of May 2023, the company's president is Shigeru Higuchi. The company is known for publishing the manga magazine '' Weekly Shōnen Champ ...

's ''

Weekly Shōnen Champion is a Japanese Shōnen manga, ''shōnen'' manga magazine published by Akita Shoten. History ''Shōnen Champion'' was first published on July 15, 1969. It has had numerous popular series by manga artists such as Osamu Tezuka, Go Nagai, Shinji Miz ...

'' on August 26, 2021.

Anime series

''Part I''

On October 24, 1971, YTV began airing the first ''Lupin III'' television series. The series was broadcast for 23 episodes, with the last one airing on March 26, 1972. The series was initially directed by

Masaaki Ōsumi is a Japanese director known for his work in animated television series and films. Career Ōsumi was born in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and graduated from School of Media Science at the Tokyo University of Technology. He got his start in the en ...

, who was then replaced by

Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese animator, filmmaker, and manga artist. He co-founded Studio Ghibli and serves as honorary chairman. Throughout his career, Miyazaki has attained international acclaim as a masterful storyteller and creator of Anime, Japanese ani ...

and

Isao Takahata was a Japanese director, screenwriter and producer. A co-founder of Studio Ghibli, he earned international critical acclaim for his work as a director of Japanese animated feature films. Born in Ujiyamada, Mie Prefecture, Takahata joined Toei ...

licensed and released the first series on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

in North America on June 26, 2012.

''Part II''

The second ''Lupin III'' television series began airing on

NTV NTV may refer to: Television * NTV (Bangladesh), a Bengali-language satellite television channel in Bangladesh * NTV (India), Telugu regional channel * NTV (Kenya) * NTV (Mongolia), a television channel based in Mongolia * NTV (Newport Televisio ...

on October 3, 1977. This series was broadcast for 155 episodes, with the last one airing on October 6, 1980. Episodes 145 and 155 received American distribution and an English dub from

Streamline Pictures Streamline Pictures was an American media company. Founded by screenwriter Carl Macek and animation historian Jerry Beck, it was one of the earliest distributors of English-dubbed Japanese animation. History Founding Founded in Los Angeles, ...

, who released the episodes to VHS individually in 1994 as ''Lupin III: Tales of the Wolf'' and together as ''Lupin III's Greatest Capers'' in 1995.

Pioneer Entertainment Geneon Entertainment (USA) Inc. (abbreviated as Geneon USA) was an American anime, multimedia production and distribution company that was owned by Geneon Entertainment. It was primarily involved in the production and distribution of anime from ...

began distributing the first 79 episodes of the series in North America with an English dub on January 28, 2003. The first 79 episodes were released on 15 DVDs and 26 episodes (the first 27, excluding the third episode) aired on

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

Adult Swim Adult Swim (stylized as

. Voice director

Richard Epcar Richard Epcar is an American voice actor, voice director, and writer who has voiced over 1,200 characters in animation, video games and anime. Some of his major roles include Raiden in the ''Mortal Kombat'' franchise, The Joker in several proje ...

stated in 2014 that the remainder of the series was not distributed by Pioneer because they lost the license. In 2015, Discotek Media announced they had licensed the series for North America and released all 155 episodes across four DVDs from 2017 to 2020. The Discotek release utilized the existing Pioneer dub for the first 79 episodes and the Streamline dub for episodes 145 and 155; a new English dub was not created for the remaining episodes.

''Lupin VIII''

In 1982, an animated television series called ''Lupin VIII'' was planned as a French-Japanese co-production, featuring the descendants of Lupin, Goemon, Jigen, and Zenigata, but was never completed. Created by

DiC Audiovisuel DIC Entertainment Corporation (; also known as DIC Audiovisuel, DIC Enterprises, DIC Animation City, DIC Entertainment, L.P., and DIC Productions, sometimes stylized as DİC) was a French American film and television production company that ...

, with

Rintaro is the pseudonym of , a well-known director of anime. He works frequently with the animation studio Madhouse (company), Madhouse (which he co-founded), though he is a freelance director not employed directly by any one studio. He began working ...

directing, and character designs by

Shingo Araki was a Japanese animation artist and character designer. Career He developed an interest for drawing at age five. He graduated in Aichi Prefecture. In 1955, at age sixteen, he debuted as a cartoonist in the "Machi" magazine. He then joined Mushi ...

, two scripts were written, and one episode was fully animated with a music and sound effects track, but the voice-overs were never recorded. The project was cancelled due to Leblanc's estate wanting a large amount of money for use of the Arsène Lupin name in France. ''Lupin VIIIs single episode was later included in the 2012 ''Lupin III Master File'' box set.

''Part III''

The third ''Lupin III'' television series, called ''Lupin the 3rd Part III'', began airing on YTV on March 3, 1984. This series was broadcast for 50 episodes and ended on November 6, 1985. In 2009, the Southern California-based United Television Broadcasting network began airing subtitled episodes from all three series on their UTB Hollywood channel.

''The Woman Called Fujiko Mine''

The fourth series, titled ''Lupin the Third: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine'', aired on NTV for 13 episodes between April 4, 2012 and June 27, 2012.

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of "simultaneous broadcast") is the broadcasting of programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultaneously) ...

the series on their website and

Nico Nico , known before 2012 as , is a Japanese video sharing service based in Tokyo, Japan. "Niconico" or "nikoniko" is the Japanese ideophone for smiling. As of 2021, Niconico is the 34th most-visited website in Japan, according to Alexa Internet. Th ...

with English subtitles, before releasing it on DVD and

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

on August 20, 2013 with an English-language dub.

Manga Entertainment Manga Entertainment was a producer, licensee, and distributor of anime in the United States and the United Kingdom. Originally founded in the UK in 1991, the UK branch became Funimation UK and Ireland in 2021, also currently known as Crunchyr ...

released a similar set in the United Kingdom on September 16, while Hanabee released the series in a two-part combo set in Australasia, the first on October 16 and the second on November 20.

''Part IV: The Italian Adventure''

The fifth series, ''Lupin the 3rd Part IV: The Italian Adventure'', was created by

Telecom Animation Film is a Japanese animation studio founded on May 19, 1975. The studio is a subsidiary of TMS Entertainment and is located in the parent company's headquarters building. Telecom Animation Film is a well-established studio known for its production ...

and is set in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and

San Marino San Marino, officially the Republic of San Marino, is a landlocked country in Southern Europe, completely surrounded by Italy. Located on the northeastern slopes of the Apennine Mountains, it is the larger of two European microstates, microsta ...

. It aired in Italy for 26 episodes on the

Italia 1 Italia 1 (Italian pronunciation ) is an Italian free-to-air television channel on the Mediaset network, owned by MFE - MediaForEurope. It is aimed at both a young adult and adult audience. Italia 1 was launched on 3 January 1982 and, was or ...

channel between August 30, 2015 and November 30, 2015, while in Japan it aired for 24 episodes on NTV between October 1, 2015 and March 17, 2016. The series has been licensed by

Anime Limited Anime Limited, also known as All the Anime, is a British anime distribution company based in Glasgow, Scotland. It releases anime for British, Irish, French and other European audiences. The company was established in 2012 by Andrew Partridge, ...

for the UK market and by Discotek for the US. It aired in the US on the

Toonami Toonami ( ) is an American late-night television programming block that broadcasts Japanese anime and American action animation. It was created by Sean Akins and Jason DeMarco and currently produced by Williams Street, a subsidiary of W ...

block of

Adult Swim Adult Swim (stylized as

starting in June 2017.

''Lupin the 3rd Part 5''

The sixth anime television series, ''Lupin the 3rd Part 5'', aired in 2018. It is set in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, the home of the main character's grandfather and namesake, and aired on NTV from April 4 to September 18, 2018. Like ''Part 4'', the English dub was aired by Toonami. This included 24 episodes + OVA.

''Part 6''

The seventh series, ''Lupin the 3rd Part 6'', premiered on October 10, 2021, coinciding with the 50th anniversary celebration of the anime.

Films

Live action

The first ''Lupin III'' theatrical feature was a live-action film released on August 3, 1974. included all of the main cast members with the exception of Goemon Ishikawa XIII. In contrast to the dark theme of the first animated television series, the live-action film was very heavy on

slapstick Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such as ...

humor and physics-defying stunts. A DVD was released in North America in 2006 by Discotek Media. A second live-action film, titled simply ''

'' and directed by

Ryuhei Kitamura is a Japanese film director, producer, and screenwriter. Kitamura relocated to Sydney, Australia at age 17 and attended a school for visual arts for two years. In 1997, Kitamura directed and produced the short film ''Down to Hell'', which receiv ...

, was released on August 30, 2014. The cast features

Shun Oguri is a Japanese people, Japanese actor and Voice acting in Japan, voice actor, son of stage director Tetsuya Oguri, and the youngest of 3 siblings, including older brother Ryo, who is also an actor. He started in small roles as extra in the works ...

as Lupin,

Meisa Kuroki Satsuki Shimabukuro (Japanese: 島袋さつき, ''Shimabukuro Satsuki'', Born on 28 May 1988 in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan), better known by her stage name Meisa Kuroki (Japanese: 黒木メイサ, ''Kuroki Meisa''), is a Japanese actress, mod ...

as Fujiko,

Tetsuji Tamayama is a Japanese TV and film actor. He joined modeling competitions and was active in ''Checkmate'' and other fashion magazines. In 2001, Tamayama debuted in '' Hyakujuu Sentai Gaoranger'' as GaoSilver. He continued to star in more movies and TV dr ...

as Jigen,

Gō Ayano is a Japanese actor. Career Ayano was featured in several roles beginning in 2003. In 2009, he appeared in Takashi Miike's ''Crows Zero 2''. His role in the film was described by Mark Schilling of ''The Japan Times'' as "a tall, pale-faced, deli ...

as Goemon, and

Tadanobu Asano better known by his stage name is a Japanese actor, director, and musician, who has had an extensive career working in both Japanese and international cinema. He has been nominated for five Japan Academy Film Prizes, twice for Best Actor and ...

as Zenigata.

Tomoyasu Hotei , also known simply as Hotei ( ), is a Japanese musician, singer-songwriter, composer, record producer and actor. With a career spanning more than 40 years, Hotei claims record sales of over 40 million copies and has collaborated with artists fr ...

provided the theme song for the movie. A sequel was announced to be in development. A third live-action film, , was released internationally on

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

on October 13, 2023. The movie is about the character Jigen, portrayed by

, who reprises the role from the 2014 live-action adaptation. The film was produced by

TMS Entertainment , formerly known as the is a Japanese animation studio owned by Sega Corporation. TMS is one of the oldest and most renowned animation studios in Japan, known for its numerous anime franchises such as '' Detective Conan'', '' Lupin the Third ...

in co-production with

Amazon MGM Studios Amazon MGM Studios is an American film and television production and distribution company owned by Amazon, and headquartered at the Culver Studios complex in Culver City, California. Launched on November 16, 2010, it took its current name on O ...

Animated

Adapting the manga into animation was first suggested by animator

Gisaburō Sugii is a Japanese anime director and Nihonga artist. He is best known for his work as director of the '' Touch'' series, the movie adaptation of the '' Arashi no Yoru ni'' children's book series, and the movie '' Night on the Galactic Railroad''. ...

to Yutaka Fujioka, the founder of TMS Entertainment. This led to the creation of '' Lupin the Third: Pilot Film'', consisting of introductions to the manga series' five lead characters, intended to generate interest in the project and secure funding. The ''Pilot Film'' was created by Sugii,

Yasuo Otsuka Yasuo is a masculine Japanese given name. Written forms Yasuo can be written using many different combinations of kanji characters. Here are some examples: *安雄, "tranquil, male" *安男, "tranquil, man" *安夫, "tranquil, husband" *安生 ...

Tsutomu Shibayama is a Japanese anime director of film and television. He started as a manga artist under the name Hajime Sanjō and later became known for directing many ''Doraemon'' TV episodes and Movie series(1984–2005). He was born in Asakusa, Taitō, ...

and Osamu Kobayashi, with supervision by

. Completed in 1969, the project was left unsold and the ''Pilot Film'' was adapted for television when

Yomiuri Television JOIX-DTV (channel 10), branded as , is the Kansai region flagship station of the Nippon News Network and the Nippon Television Network System, owned by the , itself a subsidiary of Yomiuri Chukyo FS Broadcasting Holdings. FYCS is partially con ...

agreed to broadcast and provide funding for a televised animated adaptation of the manga in 1971. Since then, several animated films based on ''Lupin III'' have been created by TMS Entertainment. On September 8, 2023 The ''Lupin III'' franchise also crossed over with ''

City Hunter is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tsukasa Hojo. It was serialized in Shueisha's manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from 1985 to 1991, with its chapters collected in 35 volumes. The manga was adapte ...

'' in '' City Hunter The Movie: Angel Dust'', as a crossover. Kanichi Kurita and Akio Ōtsuka reprising their roles from as Lupin III and Daisuke Jigen. Director

Takeshi Koike (born January 26, 1968) is a Japanese animator, illustrator and film director. Something of a protégé of Yoshiaki Kawajiri, he was also influenced by Yoshinori Kanada, Frank Miller, Mike Mignola, and Katsuhito Ishii. He went straight from ...

returned to the franchise with the first traditionally-animated feature-length solo ''Lupin the 3rd'' film in nearly 30 years, '' Lupin the IIIrd the Movie: The Immortal Bloodline'', scheduled to be released in 2025. A trailer announced a June 27 premiere release in Japan.

Original video animations

Several

original video animation , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and special episodes of a series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the ...

s (OVAs) based on ''Lupin III'' have been produced. '' Return of Pycal'' was released on April 3, 2002, as part of the 30th anniversary of the first television series and features the return of one of the original villains of the series, the magician Pycal. '' Green vs. Red'' was released on April 2, 2008, as part of the 40th anniversary of the manga series. The ''Lupin III Master File'' box set released in 2012 included a new short animation titled where the veteran cast of Kanichi Kurita as Lupin, Kiyoshi Kobayashi as Jigen, Makio Inoue as Goemon, Eiko Masuyama as Fujiko, and Goro Naya as Zenigata reunited for the last time, after the later three were replaced for the previous year's TV special. A parody

flash Flash, flashes, or FLASH may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional aliases * The Flash, several DC Comics superheroes with super speed: ** Flash (Jay Garrick) ** Barry Allen ** Wally West, the first Kid Flash and third adult Flash ...

anime titled was produced by animator Frogman and his studio DLE Inc. in collaboration with TMS. The ten shorts were released on Blu-ray Disc and DVD on December 19, 2012. A memorial episode titled was created to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the manga. It was directed by Jun Kawagoe, with Monkey Punch as general director and character designs by Hisao Horikoshi and Satoshi Hirayama. Its title is a reference to the debut episode of the first anime and as such this episode follows its story, but also features other enemies such as Kyosuke Mamo, Sandayu Momochi, Pycal, and Stoneman. It was included in the first DVD/Blu-ray set of the ''Part V'' anime on July 25, 2018. An English dub of the episode aired on Toonami on December 14, 2019.

Original net animations

On October 24, 2022, TMS Entertainment announced a six-episode ONA prequel series titled ''Lupin Zero''. The series is animated by

and directed by Daisuke Sakō, with

Ichirō Ōkouchi is a Japanese screenwriter and novelist. He is a graduate of the School of Human Sciences in Waseda University. Ōkouchi is best known for collaborating with director Gorō Taniguchi for composing the story and script of the Sunrise original p ...

overseeing series scripts, Asami Taguchi designing the characters, and Yoshihide Otomo composing the music. The series is centered around Lupin III's days as a youth and features stories from the manga along with new ones. The series premiered on December 16, 2022. The opening theme is "Afro 'Lupin '68'", while the ending theme is performed by

Tavito Nanao is a Japanese singer-songwriter who debuted in 1998. He has worked with a great number of musicians, including Takkyu Ishino, Salyu and Yakenohara. Nanao has reached a wider audience since 2007, after his album '' 911 Fantasia'', a 3CD musical ...

Sentai Filmworks Sentai Filmworks, LLC (or simply Sentai) is an American entertainment company. Located in Houston, the company specializes in the dubbing and distribution of Japanese animation and Asian cinema. Its post-production arm is Sentai Studios. The ...

released the series on Blu-ray in North America on September 26, 2023. On September 22, 2022, TMS Entertainment announced a CGI crossover anime with '' Cat's Eye'', ''

Lupin the 3rd vs. Cat's Eye is a 2023 Japanese original net animation (ONA) film directed by Kōbun Shizuno and Hiroyuki Seshita from a screenplay by Shuji Kuzuhara which serves as a crossover between the ''Lupin the Third'' franchise, itself based on the manga of the same ...

''. The anime is directed by

Kōbun Shizuno (born September 2, 1972) is a Japanese anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation ...

and Hiroyuki Seshita, with Keisuke Ide serving as assistant director, Shūji Kuzuhara writing the scripts,

and Kazuo Otani composing the music, and Haruhisa Nakata and Junko Yamanaka designing the characters. The anime premiered on

as a worldwide exclusive on January 27, 2023. On May 1, 2025 an ONA by director by

, , was announced as a prequel to his upcoming ''Lupin the IIIrd: The Movie - Immortal Bloodline'' and scheduled to be released on June 20.

Television specials

Between 1989 and 2013, a new animated television special by TMS Entertainment aired on NTV every year. The tradition started with ''

Bye Bye, Lady Liberty is the first television special in the ''Lupin III'' franchise. Directed by veteran director Osamu Dezaki, it was broadcast by Nippon Television on April 1, 1989. A number of ''Lupin III'' television specials have followed with a total of 28 ...

'' on April 4, 1989. 2007's ''Elusiveness of the Fog'' was broadcast on July 27 as part of the 40th anniversary celebration of the original manga, featuring the return of a villain from the original television series, Kyousuke Mamo. A crossover special titled ''

Lupin the 3rd vs. Detective Conan is a Japanese animated crossover television special between the Lupin III and Detective Conan characters. It was broadcast on Nippon Television and Yomuri TV on March 27, 2009. Discotek Media released the television film on DVD in Nor ...

'', featuring characters from both ''Lupin III'' and ''

Detective Conan ''Case Closed'', also known as , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Gosho Aoyama. It has been serialized in Shogakukan's manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' since January 1994; its chapters are collected in 107 ...

'', aired on March 27, 2009, attracting a record audience share of 19.5. The 2011 special ''Blood Seal - Eternal Mermaid'' brought new voice actors for Fujiko, Zenigata and Goemon, the first change in 16 years. ''Princess of the Breeze - The Hidden City in the Sky'', the last of the yearly consecutive specials, features

Yui Ishikawa is a Japanese actress who was previously represented by Sunaoka Office but now works for mitt management. Prior to becoming a voice actress, she worked mainly on stage. Her specialities are classical ballet, jazz dance, and tap dance. Before she ...

as its heroine Yutika. On January 8, 2016, a special tie-in with the ''Part IV'' TV series aired. Two new television specials aired in 2019.

Stage musicals

Multiple stage adaptations have been produced. ''I'm Lupin'' was performed by Troupe Something at the Sunshine Theater from November 5 to November 8, 1998. The musical was intended to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the manga series, although the anniversary was actually the year before. The all-female acting troupe

Takarazuka Revue The is a Japanese all-female musical theatre troupe based in Takarazuka, Hyōgo, Takarazuka, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. Women play all roles in lavish, Broadway theatre, Broadway-style productions of musicals and stories adapted from films, nov ...

began a stage musical adaptation of the manga series, titled ''Lupin III: Go After the Queen's Necklace!'', at the

Takarazuka Grand Theater The is a theater located in Takarazuka, Hyōgo, Japan. It is the home theater of the Takarazuka Revue, an all-female theater troupe established in 1913. The Grand Theater opened in 1924 and was rebuilt in 1993; the two iterations of the structur ...

from January 1 to February 2, 2015. It moved to the

Tokyo Takarazuka Theater is another home for Takarazuka Revue, Takarazuka Creative Arts in Yurakucho, Chiyoda ward, Tokyo. It served as the second round performing theater for the Revue's performing cycle. The original theater was built in 1934. It was taken over by the ...

from February 20 to March 22 of the same year. A kabuki play, , was performed at the

Shinbashi Enbujō The is a theatre in the Ginza neighborhood of Tokyo, Japan. It is a major kabuki venue, though other types of performances take place there as well. History The theatre was originally built in 1925 to provide a venue for the ''Azuma Odori'' geis ...

theater from December 5 to December 25, 2023.

Television series

A live action television series adaptation of the ''Inspector Zenigata'' spin-off manga aired in Japan in 2017. The project is a collaboration between

, Wowow and

Hulu Japan Hulu, known outside Japan as Hulu Japan, is a Japanese Subscription business model, subscription Streaming media, streaming service owned and operated by HJ Holdings, a subsidiary of Nippon Television, Nippon Television Network Corporation. Laun ...

and stars

Ryohei Suzuki is a Japanese actor who is represented by the talent agency Horipro. Early life and studies Suzuki became interested in learning English after a visit to an uncle, who was living in Los Angeles when he was in Elementary school. He and his br ...

Atsuko Maeda is a Japanese actress and singer. She is a former member of the idol girl group AKB48, and was one of the most prominent members in the group at the time, regarded as the group's "absolute ace", "immovable center", and the "Face of AKB." After ...

and Takahiro Miura.

Video games

The first Lupin video game was a

stealth game A stealth game is a type of video game in which the player primarily uses ''stealth'' to avoid or overcome opponents. Games in the video game genre, genre typically allow the player to remain undetected by hiding, sneaking, or using disguises. S ...

released to arcades in Japan by

Taito is a Japanese company that specializes in video games, Toy, toys, arcade cabinets, and game centers, based in Shinjuku, Tokyo. The company was founded by Michael Kogan in 1953 as the importing vodka, Vending machine, vending machines, and Juk ...

in 1980 as ''Lupin III''. A

Laserdisc video game An interactive film is a video game or other interactive media that has characteristics of a cinematic film. In the video game industry, the term refers to a movie game, a video game that presents its gameplay in a cinematic, scripted manner, o ...

entitled '' Cliff Hanger'' was released to arcades in North America in 1983 by

Stern The stern is the back or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite the bow, the foremost part of a ship. O ...

. While it used footage from ''

The Mystery of Mamo ''Lupin III: The Mystery of Mamo'', also known as ''Lupin III: The Secret of Mamo'', is a 1978 Japanese adult animated science fiction action adventure comedy film. It is the first animated feature film based on the 1967–69 manga series ''Lupin ...

'' and ''

The Castle of Cagliostro is a 1979 Japanese animated action adventure comedy film co-written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. It is the second animated feature film based on the 1967–69 manga series ''Lupin III'' by Monkey Punch. The film was Miyazaki's feature d ...

'' to provide a gaming experience similar to ''

Dragon's Lair ''Dragon's Lair'' is a video game franchise created by Rick Dyer. The series is notable for its film-quality animation by ex-Disney animator Don Bluth, and complex decades-long history of being ported to many platforms. It has also been adapte ...

'', it changes the characters' names and has an original plot. Since then Lupin video games have been released for a number of platforms including

Family Computer The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on 15 July 1983 as the and was later released as the redesigned NES in several test markets in the U ...

Super Famicom The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, commonly shortened to Super Nintendo, Super NES or SNES, is a Fourth generation of video game consoles, 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan, 1991 in No ...

Sony PlayStation is a Video game, video gaming brand owned and produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), a division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. Its flagship products consists of a series of Home video game console, home video game consoles produce ...

Sony PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 November, in Australia on 30 November, ...

Sega Saturn The is a home video game console developed by Sega and released on November 22, 1994, in Japan, May 11, 1995, in North America, and July 8, 1995, in Europe. Part of the fifth generation of video game consoles, it is the successor to the succes ...

Nintendo DS The is a foldable handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens worki ...

and

Sega Naomi Sega is a video game developer, publisher, and hardware development company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, with multiple offices around the world. The company's involvement in the arcade game industry began as a Japan-based distributor of coin- ...

. A range of

Pachinko is a mechanical game originating in Japan that is used as an arcade game, and much more frequently for gambling. Pachinko fills a niche in Gambling in Japan, Japanese gambling comparable to that of the slot machine in the West as a form of l ...

and slot machines have been produced by Heiwa since 1998.

Soundtracks

Columbia Music Entertainment , often pronounced ''Korombia'', operating internationally as , is a Japanese record label founded in 1910 as Nipponophone Co., Ltd. It affiliated itself with the Columbia Graphophone Company of the United Kingdom and adopted the standard UK C ...

and VAP have both released numerous ''Lupin III'' music CDs in Japan. These include over 50 soundtrack albums by and

for the TV series, movies, and specials, as well as 15 collections of

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

arrangements by the Yuji Ohno trio, the Lupintic Five, and the Lupintic Sixteen.

Geneon Entertainment (abbreviated as NBCUEJ) is a Japanese music, anime, and home entertainment production and distribution enterprise that is a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, owned by American telecommunications/media company Comcast headquartered in Akasaka, Min ...

has released two of the music CDs in the United States. ''Lupin the 3rd: Sideburn Club Mix'' is a collection of thirteen remixed themes from the first television series, which was released in conjunction with the first DVD volume on January 28, 2003. ''Lupin the 3rd Original Soundtrack'', released on April 8, 2003, is a collection of fifteen themes from the second television series performed by Yuji Ohno with his jazz group You & the Explosion Band. To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the series, a live concert was held on September 8, 2007, performed by Yuji Ohno and the Lupintic Sixteen; a concert DVD was released in Japan on December 21, 2007. ''Play the Lupin clips x parts'', a compilation of Lupin animation clips set to music from the series, as well as the opening and ending credits from a number of ''Lupin III'' productions, was released on DVD and

Blu-ray Disc Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of ...

in Japan on May 22, 2009. Music from the series has been covered by a range of artists, including

Double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

, Ego-Wrappin' and

The Ventures The Ventures are an American instrumental rock band formed in Tacoma, Washington, in 1958, by Don Wilson (musician), Don Wilson and Bob Bogle. The band, which was a quartet for most of its existence, helped to popularize the electric guitar acro ...

Reception

The ''Lupin III'' franchise has experienced lasting popularity in Japan; the manga was listed in 38th place on Japan's

Agency for Cultural Affairs The is a special body of the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). It was set up in 1968 to promote Japanese arts and culture. The agency's budget for FY 2018 rose to ¥107.7 billion. Overview The age ...

' 2007 list of the top 50 manga series. In 2000, satellite TV channel

Animax , stylized as ANIMAX in all caps, is a Japanese animation satellite television network, dedicated to broadcasting anime programming. Launched on July 1, 1998, Animax is the first 24-hour network in the world dedicated to anime.The Anime Biz' - ...

together with ''

Brutus Marcus Junius Brutus (; ; 85 BC – 23 October 42 BC) was a Roman politician, orator, and the most famous of the assassins of Julius Caesar. After being adopted by a relative, he used the name Quintus Servilius Caepio Brutus, which was reta ...

'', a men's lifestyle magazine, and Tsutaya, Japan's largest video rental chain, conducted a poll among 200,000 fans on the top anime series, with ''Lupin III'' coming in second.

TV Asahi JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as , and better known as , is a Japanese television station serving the Kanto region as the flagship station of the All-Nippon News Network. It is owned-and-operated by the a subsidiary of , itself controlled by ...

conducted two polls in 2005 on the Top 100 Anime, ''Lupin III'' came in fifth in the nationwide survey conducted with multiple age-groups and in twelfth in the online poll. ''The Castle of Cagliostro'' was in fifth place on Agency for Cultural Affairs' list of the best anime, while the original television series was in 50th place on the same list. In 2001, the magazine ''

Animage is a Japanese anime and entertainment magazine published by Tokuma Shoten since July 1978. Notable works serialized in the magazine include Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese animator, filmmaker, and manga artist. He co-founded Studio Ghibli a ...

'' elected the original ''Lupin III'' TV series the ninth best anime production of all time. In 2012, 38.7% of people polled by

Tokyo Polytechnic University is a private university in Honchō, Tokyo, Honchō, Nakano, Tokyo. Its nickname is ''Shadai'' (写大). It was formerly known as Tokyo College of Photography (, ''Tōkyō Shashin Daigaku''). The university was founded as Konishi Professional Sc ...

named ''Lupin III'' as part of

Cool Japan refers to the aspects of Japanese culture that non-Japanese people perceive as " cool". After the success of " Cool Britannia," the Japanese government started using the phrase. The Cool Japan strategy is part of Japan's overall brand strategy, ...

. In '' Manga: The Complete Guide'', Jason Thompson referred to Monkey Punch's original manga as "a crazy, groovy 1960s world of dynamite and backstabbing, hippies and gangsters", and considered it "a fascinating homage to ''Mad'' magazine and a four star example of comics as pure comedy." He rated the series four out of four stars. Allen Divers of ''

Anime News Network Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and ot ...

'' (ANN) praised the strong writing and action; however, he felt that the art was too primitive. ''

Otaku USA ''Otaku USA'' is a bimonthly magazine published by Sovereign Media, which covers various elements of the "otaku" lifestyle (such as anime, manga, video games, cosplay and Japanese popular music) from an American perspective. The issues were acc ...

''s Daryl Surat was also put off by the art, saying he couldn't tell most characters apart and had a hard time figuring out what he was looking at. In ''The Rough Guide to Manga'', Jason S. Yadao highlighted the example of how Lupin wearing a hat looks exactly like Zenigata. However, he considered it a successful plot device in once chapter that while it may take several attempts to understand, eventually pays off. He included the series in his list of 50 essential manga. Many of the first volumes of the English edition of the ''Lupin III'' manga released by

made it onto ICv2's list of top 50 graphic novels, as well as later volumes from the series. In ''Anime Classics Zettai!'', Brian Clamp and Julie Davis compare the first two anime adaptions. They note that the first series is of a serious style, closer to the original manga with a dark tone and that it focuses on disputes between Lupin and other criminals. In contrast they sum up the second series as a ''caper comedy'' with a more comedic tone and style. Both Chris Beveridge of Mania.com and Mike Crandol of ANN disliked the dub of the second television series because

used many modern references and updated dialogue for a series that was released in the late 1970s, although the series itself received a positive overall review from both reviewers. Rob Lineberger of DVD Verdict wrote, "''Lupin the Third'' is ''

'' meets ''

Charlie's Angels ''Charlie's Angels'' is an American crime drama television series created by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts for ABC. It originally aired from September 22, 1976, to June 24, 1981, airing for five seasons consisting of 115 episodes. It was produ ...

'' with ''

Scooby-Doo ''Scooby-Doo'' is an American media franchise owned by Warner Bros., Warner Bros. Entertainment and created in 1969 by writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears through their animated series, ''Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!'', for Hanna-Barbera (which wa ...

'' sensibilities." Monkey Punch believes that the voice work of

Yasuo Yamada was a Japanese actor, voice actor and narrator. His most famous role was Arsène Lupin III from the ''Lupin III'' series, starting in 1971 and ending in 1995. He was also the official Japanese dubbing voice actor of Clint Eastwood and Jean-Paul ...

was a large reason for the popularity of the anime series. Chris Beveridge of Mania.com gave ''

'' an "A+", although he disliked Manga Entertainment's use of PG-13 level language in the English dub. While the film was not initially a box-office success, it gained popularity through numerous re-releases and was even voted as "the best anime in history" by the readers of ''

''. The film was the best-selling anime DVD in May 2001, and the third best selling in June. Some fans maintain that it is not a "true" Lupin title, due to Miyazaki's altering of the titular character into a family-friendly hero, rather than his original ruthless criminal self. While admitting that ''Cagliostro'' is the most well-known, ANN's Mike Crandol cited ''

The Fuma Conspiracy is a 1987 Japanese animated action adventure comedy film. It is the fourth animated feature film based on the 1967–69 manga series ''Lupin III'' by Monkey Punch. Although classified as an original video animation by Tokyo Movie Shinsha, it ...

'' as the best Lupin animation. The ''Lupin III'' television specials released by

Funimation Funimation was an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming service. Launched in 2016, the service was one of the leading distributors of anime ...

have received reviews varying from positive to mixed. The most well-received seems to be ''Island of Assassins'', with Chris Beveridge of Mania.com describing it as "the best non-TV Lupin experience ... since ''The Castle of Cagliostro''", ''Missed by a Dollar'' received an eight out of ten rating by

IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...

's Jeremy Mullin, who stated it starts off as seemingly a simple heist film, but turns out to have plenty of twists. The least well-received of Funimation's releases is ''Secret of the Twilight Gemini'', which received mixed reviews due to the animation and its

B movie A B movie, or B film, is a type of cheap, low-budget commercial motion picture. Originally, during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood, this term specifically referred to films meant to be shown as the lesser-known second ...

-style plot. Mania.com gave 2002's ''Episode 0: First Contact'' an A+ and hailed it as the best TV special made to date. In ''500 Essential Anime Movies''

Helen McCarthy Helen McCarthy (born 27 February 1951) is the British author of such anime reference books as ''500 Manga Heroes and Villains'', ''Anime!'', ''The Anime Movie Guide'' and ''Hayao Miyazaki: Master of Japanese Animation''. She is the co-author o ...

called ''Liberty'' her personal favourite of the Lupin TV specials. She describes it as "light, funny and entertaining" and "terrific entertainment". Critical reception of the 2014 live-action film was generally negative among Japanese and Western film critics, especially following the film's showing at

LA EigaFest LA EigaFest, is an annual film festival held in Los Angeles, California hosted by the Japan Film Society. It showcases the latest Japanese films to the American audience. The festival also hosts a Shorts Competition (the Golden Zipangu Awards) an ...

. Areas frequently targeted for criticism were

's direction, the film's supporting characters, screenplay, cinematography and editing (especially in the action scenes), costume design and soundtrack. The film was also criticized for having most of its dialogue performed in English (resulting in poor delivery and intonation of numerous lines by its Asian cast members), and for overall squandering its potential as an adaptation of Monkey Punch's manga.

and

were, however, frequently seen as well-cast in their respective roles. Audience opinions were mixed, with some viewing the film as “an enjoyable time to be had to the whole family”, while others viewed it as part of a “terrible live-action adaptation trend that has been going on through the years”. Writing for ''The Fandom Post'', Beveridge praised the ''Lupin Zero'' original net animation as a "thoroughly enjoyable experience" that has the hallmarks of the original manga with actual violence and blood and "lightly pervy" moments. Giving the series an "A" rating, he also praised the relationship between Lupin and Jigen. Gunawan of ''Anime News Network'' described the relationship between the two characters as reminiscent of classic

buddy cop Buddy cop is a film and television genre with plots involving two people of very different and conflicting personalities who are forced to work together to solve a crime and/or defeat criminals, sometimes learning from each other in the process. ...

films, and also gave the six-episode series an "A" rating. They praised the "simple and engaging" story and action scenes, but noted some viewers might not enjoy the retro art style, although they personally did.

Legacy

Cowboy Bebop is a 1998 Japanese neo-noir space Western anime television series that aired on TV Tokyo and Wowow from 1998 to 1999. It was created and animated by Sunrise (company), Sunrise, led by a production team of director Shinichirō Watanabe, ...

'' and ''

Samurai Champloo is a 2004 Japanese historical adventure anime television series. The debut television production of studio Manglobe, the 26-episode series aired from May 2004 to March 2005. It was first partially broadcast on Fuji TV, then had a complete a ...

'' director

Shinichirō Watanabe is a Japanese anime television and film director, best known for directing the critically acclaimed and commercially successful anime series ''Cowboy Bebop'', '' Samurai Champloo'', '' Space Dandy'', '' Terror in Resonance'', and '' Carole & T ...

revealed during an interview with ''

Newtype is a monthly magazine originating from Japan covering anime and, to a lesser extent, manga, voice actors, science fiction, , and video games. It was launched by publishing company Kadokawa Shoten on March 8, 1985, and has since been released in ...

Japan'' that he was heavily influenced by the work of director

on the first Lupin television series. Animator Akihiro Kanayama has cited the animation of the anime adaption as an inspiration. Numerous anime series have made reference to the series including ''

Magical Princess Minky Momo is a Japanese magical girl anime franchise by Ashi Productions. The original series ran between 1982 and 1983 on TV Tokyo and inspired three OVAs between 1985 and 1987. A second television series, titled , ran on NTV between 1991 and ...

'', '' Cat's Eye'', ''

Gunbuster ''Gunbuster'', known in Japan as , is a Japanese original video animation (OVA) series produced by Bandai Visual, Victor Entertainment, and Gainax and released from October 1988 to July 1989. It was the directorial debut of Hideaki Anno, b ...

'', ''

Urusei Yatsura is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi. It was serialized in Shogakukan's ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' from September 1978 to February 1987. Its 366 individual chapters were collected in 34 ''tankōbon'' volum ...

'', ''Cowboy Bebop'', ''

Here is Greenwood is a nine-volume Japanese manga written and illustrated by Yukie Nasu, revolving around the activities of four boys in Greenwood Dormitory at a fictional prestigious Japanese all-boys private school named Ryokuto Academy. The manga was seri ...

'' and ''

FLCL is an anime created and directed by Kazuya Tsurumaki, written by Yōji Enokido, and produced by the FLCL Production Committee, which consisted of Gainax, Production I.G, and King Records. The series tells the adventures of the ...

''.

Video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

designer

Hideo Kojima is a Japanese video game designer. Regarded as one of the pioneering auteurs of video games, he developed a strong passion for film and literature during his childhood and adolescence, which in turn has had a significant influence on his game ...

compared the personality of Lupin with

Solid Snake , real name David, is a fictional character and one of the protagonists of Konami's ''Metal Gear'' series, created by Hideo Kojima. He is depicted as a former United States Army Special Forces, Green Beret and highly skilled special operations so ...

in ''

Metal Gear Solid is a franchise of stealth games created by Hideo Kojima. Developed and published by Konami, the first game, ''Metal Gear'', was released in 1987 for MSX home computers. The player often takes control of a special forces operative (usually S ...

'', stating that in "''MGS'', Snake became this sharp-tongued, Lupin III-like guy who flirted with women and told lots of jokes". Kojima would also partially base his character EVA on Fujiko Mine. On March 30, 1984, the series was the last animated work to be featured on the cover of the Japanese ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...

'' magazine before the implementation of a policy limiting the cover to live action images. In 2006,

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer and record producer. One of the most prominent figures in hip-hop, he is known for his varying musical style and polarizing cultural and political commentary. After ...

's " Touch the Sky" featured rapper

Lupe Fiasco Wasalu Muhammad Jaco (born February 16, 1982), better known by his stage name Lupe Fiasco ( ), is an American rapper, record producer and Music education, music educator. Born and raised in Chicago, he gained mainstream recognition for his gue ...

referencing Lupin III. In 2008, the ''Lupin III''-themed attraction "Lupin III: Labyrinth Trap", which has visitors track down treasure in a maze-like layout, opened at the

Tokyo Dome City Attractions is an amusement park located next to the Tokyo Dome in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan, and forms a part of the Tokyo Dome City entertainment complex. It opened in 1958, and was formerly known as until April 2003. It was one of the most popular amusem ...

amusement park. In 2009, Japanese-Canadian rock band

Monkey Majik Monkey Majik (stylised as MONKEY MAJIK) is a Japanese pop rock band formed in 2000 in Sendai, Japan. The band consists of Canadian brothers, Maynard Plant and Blaise Plant, each acting as lead vocalists and guitarists, and two Japanese members: ...

created an animated music video in which its members meet the ''Lupin III'' cast. The video, which is set to the band's version of the anime's theme song, promoted the ''Lupin the Third Dance & Drive official covers & remixes'' CD. A campaign titled "Lupin Steal Japan" was launched that same year by NTV, TMS Entertainment,

Namco Bandai Games is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game video game publisher, publisher, and the video game branch of the wider Bandai Namco Holdings group. Founded in 2006 as it is the successor to Namco's home and arcade video game ...

, and Heiwa — a manufacturer of

pachinko is a mechanical game originating in Japan that is used as an arcade game, and much more frequently for gambling. Pachinko fills a niche in Gambling in Japan, Japanese gambling comparable to that of the slot machine in the West as a form of l ...

machines. The project's website took suggestions on real-life objects for Lupin to steal. One such example is the

Moyai statue In Japan, a is a type of stone statue created in the Japanese village of Niijima, Tokyo, Niijima. The statues, which were created to promote awareness of Niijima, are themed and modeled after the moai of Easter Island. The statues may be found ...

Shibuya is a Special wards of Tokyo, special ward in Tokyo, Japan. A major commercial center, Shibuya houses one of the busiest railway stations in the world, Shibuya Station. As of January 1, 2024, Shibuya Ward has an estimated population of 230,60 ...

, which was taken elsewhere for cleaning on December 7, but was replaced by the calling card of the master thief that read "Thanks for the Moyai". In celebration of the anime's 40th anniversary, the "This is the World of Lupin III" event was held at the Matsuya store in

Ginza Ginza ( ; ) is a district of Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo, located south of Yaesu and Kyōbashi, Tokyo, Kyōbashi, west of Tsukiji, east of Yūrakuchō and Uchisaiwaichō, and north of Shinbashi. It is a popular upscale shopping area of Tokyo ...

. From August 10 to August 22, 2011, over 300 items related to ''Lupin III'' were exhibited, including original manuscripts by Monkey Punch and animation

cel A cel, short for '' celluloid'', is a transparent sheet on which objects are drawn or painted for traditional, hand-drawn animation. Actual celluloid (consisting of cellulose nitrate and camphor) was used during the first half of the 20th cent ...

s from the feature films. The following year a similar exhibit was held at the

Kitakyushu is a Cities of Japan, city located in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. As of June 1, 2019, Kitakyushu has an estimated population of 940,978, making it the second-largest city in both Fukuoka Prefecture and the island of Kyushu after the city of Fuk ...

museum from November 3 to December 28, and another at the Kawasaki City Museum from October until November 10, 2013. The exhibit then moved to

Aomori , officially Aomori City (, ), is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Aomori Prefecture, in the Tōhoku region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 264,945 in 136,781 households, and a population density of 321 people per squa ...

's Sunroad shopping centre from December 21, 2013, until January 21, 2014. In 2012, the

Hokkaido Railway Company The is one of the constituent companies of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group), and is often referred to by its official abbreviation: . It operates intercity and local rail services in Hokkaido, Japan. The company introduced Kitaca, a smart ...

unveiled ''Lupin III''–themed trains on their Hanasaki Line between Kushiro and Nemuro station, in honor of Monkey Punch, who is a native of Hokkaido. The train was originally to run until March 2015, but was then extended until March 2017. From April 1, 2014, to March 31, 2015, the city of

Sakura The cherry blossom, or sakura, is the flower of trees in ''Prunus'' subgenus '' Cerasus''. ''Sakura'' usually refers to flowers of ornamental cherry trees, such as cultivars of ''Prunus serrulata'', not trees grown for their fruit (although ...

Chiba prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Chiba Prefecture has a population of 6,278,060 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Chiba Prefecture borders Ibaraki Prefecture to the north, Saitama ...

began accepting applications for Lupin III motorcycle and minicar license plates. Monkey Punch was a resident of the city (until his death in 2019) and the plates were commissioned for the 60th anniversary of being awarded city status. The plates were limited to 3,000 across four categories, with 2,500 plates reserved for

50 cc The 50 cc class was the ultra-lightweight class in Grand Prix motorcycle racing, and formed part of the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) World Championships from 1962 until 1983; when the class was replaced by 80 cc. History a ...

vehicles. In 2017, one of the fish in the American television series ''

FishCenter Live ''FishCenter Live'' (also shortened to ''FishCenter'' or ''FC Live'' or just ''FCL'') is a discontinued American talk show created by Mike Lazzo and hosted by Dave Bonawits, Andrew Choe, Matt Harrigan, Christina Loranger, and Max Simonet. It ...

'' was named Lupin the Third.

References

External links

''Lupin the Third'' Network
—requires

Adobe Flash Adobe Flash (formerly Macromedia Flash and FutureSplash) is a mostly discontinuedAlthough it is discontinued by Adobe Inc., for the Chinese market it is developed by Zhongcheng and for the international enterprise market it is developed by Ha ...

plugin * {{Weekly Shōnen Champion Action anime and manga Anime and manga about crime Anime and manga based on novels Anime and manga controversies Comedy anime and manga Comic franchises Comics involved in plagiarism controversies Mass media franchises introduced in 1967

Premise

Publication history

Copyright issues

Media

Manga

Anime series

''Part I''

''Part II''

''Lupin VIII''

''Part III''

''The Woman Called Fujiko Mine''

''Part IV: The Italian Adventure''

''Lupin the 3rd Part 5''

''Part 6''

Films

Live action

Animated

Original video animations

Original net animations

Television specials

Stage musicals

Television series

Video games

Soundtracks

Reception

Legacy

See also

References

External links