This is a list of television specials of the 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 ...

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 ...

'', based on the

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

series 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 ...

that debuted in 1967. Beginning in 1989 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 ...

'', every year until 2013 featured a 90 minute ''Lupin III''

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 produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

television special that aired on NTV at 9:03 on Friday evening. Since then, they have been released irregularly, with the 27th and latest being November 2019's ''Prison of the Past''. Each television special features its own unique story, with plots generally centering on the adventures 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 ...

, and his criminal gang:

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 ...

, crack-shot and Lupin's closest ally;

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. ...

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 love interest who works against Lupin more often than with him; and

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 and descendant of legendary Japanese bandit

Ishikawa Goemon was the leader of a group of bandits during the Azuchi-Momoyama period in Japan. Over time, and especially during the Edo period (1603-1867), his life and deeds became a center of attention, and he became known as a legendary Japanese outlaw h ...

. Lupin is often chased by ICPO Inspector

Koichi 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 ...

, a dogged detective who has made it his life mission to catch Lupin. The 2009 '' Lupin III vs. Detective Conan'' special is, as the title suggests, a crossover between ''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 ...

'' and as such features characters from both series.

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 the first special on home video in the United Kingdom and Australia in 1996 as ''Goodbye Lady Liberty'', using an English dub that they created in London with an American-British cast.

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 ...

purchased the North American releasing rights to specials five through twelve in 2002, in a package that also included the two theatrical films ''

Farewell to Nostradamus is a 1995 Japanese animated science fiction action adventure comedy film. It is the fifth animated feature film based on the 1967–69 manga series ''Lupin III'' by Monkey Punch and the first time Lupin's voice is provided by Kanichi Kurita, fo ...

'' and ''

Dead or Alive A wanted poster (or wanted sign) is a poster distributed to let the public know of a person whom authorities wish to apprehend. They generally include a picture of the person, either a photograph when one is available or of a facial composite ...

''. They re-titled several of the animations for their release.

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 ...

has released all 27 ''Lupin III'' specials in North America as of 2024, including those previously licensed by Funimation. They began with '' Episode 0: The First Contact'' in March 2010, and completed all 27 with ''Italian Game'' in September 2024. They also released the ''Lupin III vs. Detective Conan'' special and its theatrical

film sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music, or video game that continuity (fiction), continues the story of, or expanded universe, expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a ...

on October 27, 2015.

Specials

Production notes

*While recording ''Voyage to Danger'' in 1993, Lupin's voice actor,

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 ...

, took a sudden illness, and his standing became unstable. By the last part of the recording, Yasuo recorded his voice while he was in a chair. Yamada went on to reprise the role one last time in ''Dragon of Doom'' the following year. However, his health continued to decline during its recording. He died of a brain hemorrhage in 1995, at the age of 62.

Kanichi Kurita is a Japanese Impressionist (entertainment), Impressionist, comedian and Voice acting in Japan, voice actor. A veteran Impressionist, he is known in Japan as "One of the Four Heavenly Kings of Impressionists". His most famous role as a voice ac ...

took over the role of Lupin that same year. *2007's ''The Elusiveness of the Fog'' aired as a tribute to the 40th anniversary of the ''Lupin III'' manga. Just as the OVA '' Return of Pycal'' brought back an old villain in recognition of the 30th anniversary of the anime, the character of Mamou had previously appeared in both a story in the original ''Lupin III'' manga and the thirteenth episode of the first anime series. He is treated in this special as if Lupin's gang had never met him before. *2011's ''Blood Seal of the Eternal Mermaid'' brought new voice actors for Fujiko, Zenigata and Goemon for the first time in 16 years.

Miyuki Sawashiro is a Japanese actress, voice actress and narrator. She has played voice roles in a number of Japanese anime/games including ''Beelzebub'', Bishamon in '' Noragami'', Petit Charat/Puchiko in '' Di Gi Charat'', Mint in '' Galaxy Angel'', Sinon in ...

took over Fujiko from

Eiko Masuyama was a Japanese actress and narrator. She worked for Aoni Production. She was most known for originating the roles of Fujiko Mine (''Lupin III''), Honey Kisaragi (''Cutie Honey''), and Bakabon's Mama ('' Tensai Bakabon''). Early life Eiko Masu ...

Daisuke Namikawa is a Japanese actor and singer associated with Stay Luck. He began acting as a child and is sometimes mistaken with Daisuke Hirakawa, as their names only differ by one character when written in kanji. Despite his wide range of roles, he usua ...

took over Goemon from

Makio Inoue was a Japanese actor and voice actor. He is most noted for his two longstanding roles, as the title character in Captain Harlock from 1978 through the 1980s and 1990s, and Goemon Ishikawa XIII of ''Lupin III'' from 1977 to 2011. Career Inou ...

, and

Kōichi Yamadera is a Japanese actor, narrator and singer from Shiogama, Miyagi Prefecture. He graduated from Tohoku Gakuin University's economics school and is currently affiliated with Across Entertainment. Before that, he was affiliated with the Tokyo Acto ...

took over Zenigata from

Gorō Naya was a Japanese actor, voice actor, narrator and theatre director from Hakodate, Hokkaidō. He was part of Theatre Echo all his career, and was the older brother of actor and voice actor Rokurō Naya. Biography Gorō Naya was born on 17 Novemb ...

. They have continued to voice the characters in all other media since. *2016's ''Italian Game'' is a spinoff of '' Lupin the 3rd Part IV: The Italian Adventure''. In addition to around 40 minutes of original content, it reuses scenes from three episodes of that series — "The Wedding of Lupin the Third", "0.2% Chance of Survival", and "Nonstop Rendezvous".

Reception

The ''Lupin III'' television specials released by

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: The 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".

Notes

References

;General * ;Specific

External links