#lupin iii: return of pycal

[lupincaps]

[bestoflupiniiipoll]

Best of Lupin III Poll

[myscreencapalbums]

Lupin III: Ikiteita Majutsushi

[laurenfoxmakesthings]

Watched Return of Pycal and...it's okay, don't love it or hate it. I should love it, it's a Part 1 style "two parter" but with more mixed media effects. Nevertheless, I like it enough to not see the hate for it.

"But the effects--" the most grating ones were the CG models and they were far and few between compared to the live action video effects, the latter I liked because I like mixed media. It's not that far off from Mystery of Mamo's use of mixed media (a reason I loved that one).

"But the plot--" I was expecting weirder nonsense with how much it was hyped by its fans and haters!

Instead it's more like the usual Part 2/TV Special weirdness, but with Pycal's revenge/apparently world domination instead of an NPC girl. Pretty tame.

[kaleen-art]

Lupin Zero Sucks (Clickbait)

Spoilers. Duh.

Lupin Zero is a 2022-23 6 episode miniseries following the adventures of Lupin III and Daisuke Jigen as teenagers. I watched the full series recently. It’s very rare I watch a show and am both in awe and also disappointed. Here are my thoughts:

Chapter 1: Aesthetic

Lupin III Part 1 is my favorite Part. It’s where I think the characterizations are at their best and the A-Production episodes with the involvement of Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata are some of the best Lupin adventures to this day (not a big fan of Osumi’s “deep and emotional” episodes, will make another essay about this probably). Zero takes a lot of influence from Part 1 and I love it. The music is on point and matches with the very late 60s-early 70s stylings of the first series. The animation and expressiveness is also on point. The artstyle is always distinctive and it’s amazing how they were able to translate the artstyle of the original series into a digital era when I felt like previous attempts (see: digital Part 1 art, Return of Pycal (sorry Shmeepy)) failed. I hate the filter applied over the series though. Besides it just muddying up very nicely done backgrounds and artwork, it also makes the whole series feel like a TikTok “edit”. It’s gross. But at least everything else about the series’s aesthetic is strong enough that this is only a minor nitpick.

Chapter 2: Lupin and Jigen

The best part of Lupin Zero is definitely the relationship between Lupin and Jigen. Jigen is a stone-cold criminal with experience to his name at the start of the series and Lupin is (though he wouldn’t admit it) a rookie crook. Both have exactly what the other one needs. Lupin gives Jigen the love Jigen seemingly gets from nobody else, and Jigen provides Lupin with a partner in crime. Their dynamic as the show goes on, especially prominent in Episode 4 (The Best One) and Episode 5 (Had the great scene between them) is great and the highlight of Zero. The gay vibes are strong on this one and I’m pretty sure this is the part of the show the writers wanted to do the most. Like I said earlier, the show ties in with Part 1 very nicely and the Lupin-Jigen dynamic is no exception. I love Part 1 Jigen so it’s no wonder why Zero Jigen is also great. I like when he Has Fun and Smiles I wish they let him do that in Part 2 and the new stuff.

Chapter 3: Lupin and his legacy

I really like how they executed Lupin’s relationship with his family. Lupin (the Third) and Arsene Lupin both want him to become a thief, but Lupin the Third wants to forge his own path instead of adhering to his grandpa’s expectations. Meanwhile, Lupin II wants Lupin to follow the “straight and narrow”. I think this show not only speaks to the feelings of teenagers of every generation, but especially the generation growing up in the 50s and 60s who would become adults in the 70s. Speaking as a teenager who is in the Gen Z generation I understand how it is to feel the weight of the previous generations and their expectations for you, but I also know this was an especially prevalent issue amongst the youth of the mid 20th century, and I think Lupin in Zero really represents that. At the end of the show, he is able to forge his own path and later becomes the Lupin we know and love, resolving this generational conflict. This is another aspect done great in Zero.

Chapter 4: Lupin and Yoko

Fuck Yoko. She ruins the show. This isn’t a joke.

Yoko is… I think? Lupin’s love interest? “But isn’t that Jigen-” THAT’S WHAT I’M SAYING! The show felt the incessant need to add a female lead so they could have boobies on screen. The problem is it’s really gross in Zero. Yoko is an adult ass woman flirting with Lupin the 13 year old and it’s very groomy. In the first episode she even sings about forbidden love (with someone younger than her) to Lupin and Jigen. She contributes close to nothing to the show up until Episodes 5 and 6 (a two-parter). In those episodes, she has a plot with this guy named Gaucho who is like, the villain, and like… She loves him but she also loves Lupin, and it gets really convoluted and dumb. If it seems like I don’t care, it’s because I don’t. 

At the end of the show Gaucho dies and Yoko is in a life-or-death situation, so she decides to kill herself to die with Gaucho. She does this in front of two children, one of whom she is fully aware that he's in love with her. This is a character we are meant to feel sad about when she dies.

She's a total creep and throws me out of the show whenever she's on-screen. I feel like if she didn’t show any interest in Lupin besides an innocent friendship, and Lupin just fell in love with her anyway, that would be significantly better. As is, she gets way too flirtatious with someone literally less than half her age for me to give a fuck when she dies.

I think if they really needed her to be in the show (she does not need to be there) they should’ve removed her and Lupin’s “romance” entirely and instead tried to parallel Lupin and Jigen’s romance plot with her and Gaucho, showing how she and Gaucho are like a bad version of the two. That, in my opinion, would’ve worked a lot better.

Chapter 4: Too Much, Too Little

My biggest problem with Lupin Zero is it tries to cram too much into 6 episodes. If it had just stuck with Lupin and Jigen’s relationship blossoming + Lupin vs. his family, it would’ve been killer, but the stuff with Yoko as well as the final two episodes’ weird war-government plot just muddies up a great idea. It leaves me disappointed because I think Lupin Zero had so much potential but it was ruined by the writers forcing in ideas that detract from the themes already present instead of adding to them. 

Conclusion

Overall, is Lupin Zero worth a watch?

I mean it’s only 6 episodes, you might as well if you like Part 1 or Lupin x Jigen or anything of that sort.

But do I think it’s as great as people have said it is?

God, no. It’s messy and I think overall it’s a 6 or 7 out of 10. 7.5 on a good day.

Good but nothing remarkable. But if this kind of show is what Lupin III series…es went forward with? I wouldn’t be mad, not one bit.

Anyway don't forget to like and subscribe for more bad takes, ok bye see you when I remember I have a tumblr again

[killermediathread71]

Three animes for the price of one!!!!!!!!

Super Mario Bros.: The Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach! Is a neat little piece of history. I liked it. :) Lupin III: Alcatraz Connection Was pretty silly and Is just kinda alright but the last half where they start delving into JFK conspiracies was killing me and made it so much better. Lupin III: The Return of Pycal

Dog water OVA but the fact people have not talked about what happens in this shocks me cause this shit is so insane I can't believe this was actually made. Its now one of the big pillars of Lupin media that nearly made me go insane.

[vivalatoons]

A Year of Lupin

Part 2

Voyage to Danger

This was pretty fine. Animation was neat; story was good. It was another typical Lupin adventure. The gang got a hold a submarine to stop a weapon smuggling location. Wild, yes, but I adore this TV special for showing the characters care for each other. Also, I enjoy the music score and glad to hear the original sub cast are back.

Farewell to Nostradamus

Wow! This one was amazing! Animation, music, voice cast, story: above and beyond! I was entertained throughout the whole movie. I won't bother explaining the story because it's insane but still great. I also found Kanichi's performance as Lupin to be good. He still carried the spirit of Lupin that Yasuo did as Lupin. Farewell to Nostradamus is one of the greats from Lupin.

Island of Assassins

This was pretty violent and brutal for a Lupin project. Let's just say Lupin and the gang are on an island full of murderous assassins. The style in animation, and story is mature with twists & turns. I liked the approach this project did and remained speechless.

Tokyo Crisis

Oh my gosh, this was so fun. In a course of some days, Lupin and the gang need to get two ancient photos to find treasure. Meanwhile, Zenigata tries to solve it along with Mariya, a woman with special powers. Animation and story were good, but the highlight was the sub cast of this project. Overall, excellent watch.

Alcatraz Connection

You'd be surpised to learn about the connection of Alcatraz to the Kennedy brothers. The animation was the first of Lupin going digital which was off putting at first, but I got used to it. Overall, it was decent with solid music and voice acting.

Episode 0: The First Contact

I love this special. The origin story of how the Lupin gang met. Some parts of the animation were good, and music was fantastic.

Return of Pycal

This one is shorter than the others which thank goodness because it sucked. I know CG was new, but still it was not good. Also, for the return of an old character from Lupin was weak. I can only say the cool part was the montage of Monkey Punch's illustrations from the Lupin manga. Other than that, not good.

Part 1 / Part 3 / Part 4

[dragonheadskilax]

moscas

[pistachi0art]

The man behind the man behind the man behind- 😈

[hateboat]

raw power of me fuckin around with shading til something happens

[bestoflupiniiipoll]

Can you do return of pycal vs princess of the breeze?

Battle of mid 😂

Thank you Anon for the request!

[myscreencapalbums]

Lupin III: Ikiteita Majutsushi

[clio-just-clio]

We interrupt this Lupin OVA for live-action footage of a fish. Yes this is in the actual OVA

[therealfroggymagician]

Return of the magician 2: electric boogaloo 

What if like- Pycal is back again looking for the crystals or whatever but Lupin messes it up then they have to battle like this huge statue that is brought to life- it would be like a greek statue to fit the theme of the first movie. And Pycal and Lupin and the others have to battle the statue with song but they don’t realize this at first and Pycal and Fujiko are trapped inside like a void the statue creates and the two mutually agree to work together without any lies or hurting each other, Pycal cries for the first time and apologizes to Fujiko, thinking it’s going to be their last moments but then the gang saves them. Then more shenanigans but the final battle is a battle of the bands type beat with each character, and they sing like Tribute Tenacious D style going “AAAAAOOOO” or whatever and the statue crumbles to pieces and the crystals shatter into millions of shards. The shards fall into the ocean along with the pieces of statue.. Pycal falls to his knees and Lupin pats him on the back, the gang then takes him under their wings and Pycal like genuinely smiles, not like an evil smile but like a genuine omg I’ve found my people smile.

I just think that would be neat- so TMS if you’re reading this hire me /j

[practicedswordsman]

It is truly wonderful to see the three of you reunited, forgive me if I'm wrong but have we met before? If we haven't, hello, I'm Pycal *reaches out a hand*

Goemon takes a moment to look down at the offered hand and raises an eyebrow in question. “I distinctly remember your attempts to murder Lupin multiple times while I was in a fighting tournament. In conjunction, we made sure you fell into the ocean to suffer if not perish....multiple times.”