Anime Reviews (2020s): Lupin Zero - Complete Collection (2022)

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“Lupin Zero” is a wonderful yet short ONA series showcasing a younger Lupin and Jigen, with cool retro-like animation and character designs for the modern age and showing us an origin of a young man who would one day become a great thief. Recommended!

Click here to purchase this Blu-ray on Amazon

TITLE: Lupin Zero – Complete Collection

ANIME RELEASE DATE: 2022

DURATION: 6 Episodes (150 Minutes)

BLU-RAY INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition, English and Japanese DTS-HD MA 2.0, Subtitles: English subtitles

COMPANY: Sentai Filmworks

RATING: TV 14 V

Release Date: September 26, 2023

Original Creator: Monkey Punch

Original Concept: Maurice Leblanc

Director: Sako Daisuke

Series Composition by Okouchi Ichiro

Music by Otomo Yoshihide

Character Design by Taguchi Asami

Art Direction by Ozaki Hiroki, Shimizu Tetsuhiro

Anime Production: Telecom Animation Film

Featuring the following voice talent:

Takeuchi Shunsuke as Daisuke Jigen

Hatanaka Tasuku as Lupin III

Tōchi Hiroki as El Gaucho

Hayami Saori as Yōko

Yukinari Toa as Shinobu

Nara Tooru as Marion Hood

Furukawa Toshio as Lupin II

Yasuhara Yoshito as Lupin I

Kobayashi Yū as Albert d’Andrésy

Kaida Yuko as Phoolan

Miyamoto Yume as Marinal Zochile Npakakokka

The exploding megalopolis of 1968 Tokyo is a wonderland filled with constant innovations, tempting opportunities, and beautiful girls! Unfortunately for young Arsene Lupin (the Third), his father, Arsene Lupin II, insists that young Lupin stay on the right side of the law and avoid those temptations… even though Lupin III’s Granddad, Arsene Lupin I, the world’s greatest thief, has stuffed young Lupin’s head with the tricks of his nefarious trade! Then Lupin III encounters similarly trouble-prone schoolmate Daisuke Jigen, and when bad boy meets bad boy, what do you think they’re going to do? It’s the start of a beautiful friendship and the wildest crime spree of all time in LUPIN ZERO!

In Japan, Monkey Punch’s “Lupin the Third” has entertained generations of readers and viewers since 1967.

With numerous series (anime and manga), OVA and animated films, “Lupin the Third” has no doubt been a common character for anime fans. Even the original series is one many fans want to watch because of the involvement of Miyazaki Hayao. But it also helped that back in the ’90s, Monkey Punch was a common guest in the early anime convention scene in the United States.

And with Tokyo Movie Shinsha Co., Ltd. (TMS) releasing “Lupin the Third” OVA’s, in October 2022, the company’s animation studio, Telecom Animation Film Co., Ltd., would begin on an Original Net Animation (ONA) series titled “Lupin Zero”.

The series would be directed by Sako Daisuke (who has long worked on “Lupin the Third” key animation) and script by Okouchi Ichiro (best known for his original story “Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion”) and a storyline which features Lupin’s youth.

And now the ONA series is available on Blu-ray courtesy of Sentai Filmworks.

While the manga/anime have been long-watched by fans, it’s important for people to know that when Monkey Punch created “Lupin the Third”, it was and has always been an adult comedy. So, while there is a lot of humor, there is also nudity and violence. One can expect this in “Lupin Zero”, which are a total of six ONA episodes that follow a young Lupin and his friend/rival Jigen.

The series best establishes how Lupin and Jigen became friends, how he started wearing the green jacket but also establishing who his famous grandfather Arsene Lupin is and also his father and how Lupin the Third established himself as a great thief, showing great promise in his young age.

But also why Lupin has his own opinion of his grandfather and father.

Because there are only six episodes in this anime, there is no need for me to even write about them because it would spoil to much of the series.

But what I will talk about is how wonderful it was to see old school style of animation, made in today’s modern age. It’s a different type of anime style utilized because everything has gone digital with clean lines, but in the case of “Lupin Zero”, the character design is nostalgic and the ability to capture Lupin and Jigen during their younger years.

And I absolutely loved this ONA series because it’s a unique take of watching an anime series with Lupin as a youngster and how he became the way he is, partly thanks to the hard love that was shared from grandfather and father to Lupin. And of course, “Lupin Zero” is a title which refers to Lupin being just a young guy, but he won’t become a great thief like Lupin the First and Lupin the Second, without proving himself.

“Lupin Zero” looks vibrant and awesome in HD and while the soundtrack, would have been best in 5.1 but most anime releases are now stereo. You get your standard clean opening and ending themes and Japanese Promos.

Overall, “Lupin Zero” is a wonderful yet short ONA series showcasing a younger Lupin and Jigen, with cool retro-like animation and character designs for the modern age and showing us an origin of a young man who would one day become a great thief. Recommended!

Click here to purchase this Blu-ray on Amazon

Anime Reviews (2020s): Lupin Zero – Complete Collection (2022)

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