I’ve had the Funimation Lupin III boxsets for well over a year now, I figured it’s time to sit down and watch them. Most of the first box I had seen before which is partly why I’d not got arround to it. The first in the set is the 1993’s “Orders to Assassinate Lupin” known as Voyage to Danger in this release.
I first saw this back in 2001 at the Liverpool anime convention whose name I’ve forgotten. It may have just been called Animecon. I enjoyed it back then, but watching it 7 years on, it’s severely lacking. It was supposed to be Masaaki Osumi‘s return to the character since the first series, but judging from the garbled English on his wikipedia page, the fact Masaharu Okuwaki is also credited and the final results, all did not go to plan. There’s a few scenes here and there that capture that first series magic, for instance the scene the screen shot above comes from, but overall it’s a disappointing film.
To get throught these reviews I’m going to judge them by arbitary criteria.
How much do the characters look like the animators might have seen a Monkey Punch drawing at some point in their lives?
Here’s the thing about a lot of modern Lupin III anime, it doesn’t look a lot like Lupin III. Or at least the guest characters tend not to. Oh and Fujiko often looks off too as various character designers ideas of sexy don’t coincide with Monkey Punch’s.
So how are things here?
Well, Jigen and Zenigata look good. Lupin looks OK. And despite director Osumi’s limited involvement, there are some very Monkey Punch-like poses here and there. Goemon’s design is a little soft. Fujiko’s figure is correct, but both her face and hair look off. Guest characters veer all over the place, tellingly there’s the rare character that looks like it’s been pulled straight out of the original Lupin III series that Osumi worked on, but in general the non-regulars look like they’ve walked in from a Detective Conan episode.
How ludicrous are the capers?
A Lupin film can have plot holes you can fly a plane through as long as there are capers. Fun capers. Ludicrous capers. Oh and crotch boxing gloves are good too. How caper-friendly am I? Well, I am the man who actually liked Oceans 12.
Well here they steal a submarine at one point. And then a nuclear generator by rolling it down a hill. And they use a giant hoover to steal the villain’s cash. But overall it feels a bit lacklustre compared to some of the stories that involve getting their hands on some specific great treasure. Not enough gallavanting around too.
Hold on. It can have an extra point for Lupin’s escape in the missile and the last 2 minutes of the film. I forgot about them.
How much is Goemon involved in the story, rather than just a third act deus ex machina?
OK this is a weird one. Goemon in the hands of bad writers is often like Superman in Justice League stories. His swordsmanship is established as so powerful he could effectively derail poorly written plots. Add his more moral nature compared to the other three leads and you can see why some writers don’t want to deal with him and find ways to sideline him. Or just have him absent until he saves the gang in the third act.
Here he’s pretty much involved from the get go, but then gets left babysitting Zenigata and the nuclear scientist for the second act. But that does involve some excitement and plot with evil Zenigata replacement, Keith. For a story that doesn’t focus solely on Goemon, he fairs well here. He doesn’t even have to be the deus ex machina, someone else gets that job.