Ask John: Will First Series Lupin Help the Franchise in America?

Question:
Could green jacket Lupin finally help give the franchise a bigger boost in America? While the series has done reasonably, considering its age, it never really attracted a stable and/or consistent audience. I’ve argued that Lupin’s suffered primarily from the problem of having bi-polar representations, depending on the titles which were worked on and the staffers who worked on it. So sometimes he’s dark, sometimes he’s harmless, and sometimes he’s a bit of both.Instead of making it clear that there are different takes on the character, R1 companies have tried to lump all the different versions under the same umbrella. So casual American fans who expect another Cagliostro when they pick up Dead or Alive or Walther P-38 will naturally be turned off, and maybe vice versa.

Since green is an adaptation of the original manga, everyone who wants to find out more about Lupin, but doesn’t know where to start, will finally have their chance. Plus, green jacket’s coming at an opportune time, as shows like Madmen have created a demand for 60s kitsch, which green jacket clearly embodies, even if it was made in the early 70s. And the recent revival of heist films via Fast 5 and Drive give green jacket a chance at staking its own claim in that genre. So with that in mind, does green jacket finally have a chance of succeeding where the other Lupins failed, and stealing viewers hearts?

Answer:
To put it simply, no. Regrettably, at this point in time I don’t believe that there’s literally anything at all that could cause Lupin III to become a high profile, in-demand anime title in America. Even a hypothetical big budget Hollywood live-action Lupin III movie would do nothing more than make Americans aware that Lupin III anime exists. For a number of reasons, the forthcoming American release of the 1971 first Lupin III anime series is unlikely to win over any significant number of new Lupin fans, nor do I even have the impression that its distributor, Discotek, expects the title to be any sort of blockbuster.

Granted, the “green jacket” series is a sort of ideal introduction to Lupin III because, among other things, it introduces Goemon and depicts how Goeman joins the Lupin gang. However, the series’ first seven episodes provide little by way of conventional character introduction. In fact, because the Lupin gang doesn’t actually do much theivery in the early episodes of the first series, it’s actually a bit misleading about what the franchise quickly determined to be its standard routine. Furthermore, and probably more importantly, the animation quality of the first series’ first seven episodes, produced before Isao Takahata and Hayao Miyazaki took over directing, is noticably poor even by 1971 anime production standards. The entire ’71 series has a dated look with simplified, iconic character designs, minimalist backgrounds, and broad swaths of primary colors typical of 60’s and 70’s anime. Viewers with a fondness for vintage anime may appreciate that historic design style, but it’s absolutely anathema to viewers used to and preferential to contemporary anime. The theory that first series Lupin will provide a good introduction to the characters and narrative is also flawed because the first series itself is bipolar.

Nine of the first series’ 23 episodes directed by Masaaki Osumi are considered dark and hardboiled. While they were a bit dangerous and risque in 1971, contemporary viewers may find them fairly tame by today’s standards. The remaining 14 episodes directed by Takahata & Miyazaki are lighthearted and goofy, closer in style and tone to the majority of Lupin III anime. The very look of the show varies as well. The Osumi directed episodes have a square-jawed, masculine design aesthetic with a 60’s influence. Miyazaki’s episodes have a softer, more innocent design distinctive of Miyazaki’s own design aesthetic.

Americans fascinated by the throwback vibe of a popular TV program like Madmen are unlikely to be viewers eager to watch an actual 40 year-old foreign cartoon. While this summer’s Fast Five movie may have made the heist film relevant to contemporary American youth, those American teens are also unlikely to be interested in watching a dated, poorly animated anime series that they associate with their grandparents’ generation. The 1971 Lupin TV series is a historical treasure for America’s small pool of anime aficianados interested in the art of anime as much as being simply entertained by flashy modern shows. J.J. Abrams’ 2009 Star Trek film didn’t send a new generation of curious fans hurridly back to the original 1966 television series to discover its roots. A boutique distributor quietly releasing a 40 year old anime series is even less likely to generate any noticable swell of viewer or consumer fascination. America has gotten the best and most diverse that Lupin III has to offer in the charming and accessible Castle Cagliostro, the hardboiled Dead or Alive, and the Walther P-38 TV special that falls roughly in-between the two poles. America has also gotten the 1974 live-action Lupin movie. If none of that has inspired any significant mainstream interest in the Lupin franchise in America, I absolutely can’t envision the bipolar fourty-year old first television series suddenly breaking through where all previous incarnations have not.