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| Maou 2773th Post
  
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|  "Re(2):New 2015 Lupin trailer" , posted Sat 25 Apr 03:49:  
Full site here! Airing this fall, or in Italy first in May, where "Cliff Hanger" is extra beloved and where the new series is set, in the microstate of San Marino. The art's nearly as good as the (otherwise forgettable) Fujiko series and that pachislot game I wish they'd use as a model. They of course have Cagliostro and Miyazaki on the mind, not only with Goemon's stupid hair from the first series but in the fact that Lupin's driving his simple Fiat-500 instead of the proper Mercedes-Benz SSK.
Favorite Lupins? The answer, for better or worse, hasn't changed much for me since last decade, and depends on what you want out of it. A surefire judge of quality is whether Zenigata is properly directed as a deadly rival, as per the Monkey Punch originals, or lazily by lesser directors as a buffoon.
Lupin vs. the Clone/Secret of Mamo
My favorite by far. Rough, gritty, funny, sexy, manic. No show or film has ever hewed as closely to the comic as this one, and nothing captures the mapcap joy of Lupin's mix of sex/intrigue/violence/comedy better. Everyone is brilliantly in-character.
Castle of Cagliostro
By any measure a masterpiece of a film, though a Lupin purist could argue that it's more of a Miyazaki film than a Lupin film because he's too gentlemanly in this one. Miyazaki, however, deserves credit because he understands Zenigata better than most, who is cool and dangerous here, and if you read it as "Lupin in his mellowed out older years," he's more plausible, too.
Dead or Alive
Monkey Punch's sole directorial role, lacks the sexiness but otherwise gritty and masterful, particularly strong portrayal of Zenigata. Best movie release in twenty years since Cagliostro.
Episode Zero: First Contact
One of the few TV specials to distinguish itself, understand its characters well, and produce something new that is credible and interesting.
Honorable mentions: Burn, Zantetsuken! has a brilliant opening that isn't matched for the rest of the special, and the Fuma Conspiracy OAV is great fun, though seriously compromised by the lack of Ohno's music and the proper voice actors.
人間はいつも私を驚かせてくれる。不思議なものだな、人間という存在は．．．
[this message was edited by Maou on Sat 25 Apr 04:22] |
| neo0r0chiaku
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| "Re(3):New 2015 Lupin trailer" , posted Sat 25 Apr 05:11
quote:
Full site here! Airing this fall, or in Italy first in May, where "Cliff Hanger" is extra beloved and where the new series is set, in the microstate of San Marino. The art's nearly as good as the (otherwise forgettable) Fujiko series and that pachislot game I wish they'd use as a model. They of course have Cagliostro and Miyazaki on the mind, not only with Goemon's stupid hair from the first series but in the fact that Lupin's driving his simple Fiat-500 instead of the proper Mercedes-Benz SSK.
Favorite Lupins? The answer, for better or worse, hasn't changed much for me since last decade, and depends on what you want out of it. A surefire judge of quality is whether Zenigata is properly directed as a deadly rival, as per the Monkey Punch originals, or lazily by lesser directors as a buffoon.
Lupin vs. the Clone/Secret of Mamo
My favorite by far. Rough, gritty, funny, sexy, manic. No show or film has ever hewed as closely to the comic as this one, and nothing captures the mapcap joy of Lupin's mix of sex/intrigue/violence/comedy better. Everyone is brilliantly in-character.
Castle of Cagliostro
By any measure a masterpiece of a film, though a Lupin purist could argue that it's more of a Miyazaki film than
-- Message too long, Autoquote has been Snipped --
Is it best to watch the series first before the movies? I was only able to watch some Lupin here and there while i was young. I can finally get my hands on the series but not sure where to start.
Long Live!
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| Spoon 2851th Post
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| "Re(7):New 2015 Lupin trailer" , posted Sun 26 Apr 13:34
quote:
That reminds me-- there's one Lupin anime that's not too well-known called "Green vs Red" that was created for ther series' 40th anniversary. It's considered to be the most contraversial in the Lupin series for a number of reasons, one of them being that, it says that all the Lupins we've seen thus far are actually different people and there's only one true Lupin at a given time.
Given that Lupin has subtle differences in his looks on every release up to date (they're done by different art directors after all) it's an interesting take on explaining why. There's a lot of meta-symbolizm in this anime, like how all of the members of the Lupin family have actually passed their baton to a younger imitator, similarly to their voice actors. The only exception is Jigen, who doesn't look a day old and keeps complaining
That is cool with respect to Lupin (in a sort of Zorro/Dread Pirate Roberts/etc. sort of way!), but it means that they had to find equally vivacious and skilled substitutes for Fujiko and Goemon each time, which is where it gets weird.
Was it actually stated that those are all "true" Lupins or that they are just copycats/pretenders? And is becoming the "true" Lupin something that they actually agree on, or just that character saying that that is what he would become if he became the most infamous?
In any case, the Golgo-esque Lupin in the top right of that picture is the best.
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| Maou 2779th Post
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| "Isn't it Lupantic?" , posted Mon 27 Apr 02:08
quote:
Was it actually stated that those are all "true" Lupins or that they are just copycats/pretenders?
Actually, the Green vs. Red theme was arguably done in a more subtle manner by a far better director: Miyazaki himself. Many years ago, I read an interesting piece of critical theory concerning the brief return of Miyazaki (green jacket, first series, Cagliostro) to direct two of the final episodes of the second series (red jacket), either by Risaku Kiridooshi or Shizuka Inoue, can't recall which. The piece suggested that Miyazaki's episodes subtly critiqued the direction of the second series itself: Lupin is never seen wearing the red jacket, and the series finale (Ep. 155: Farewell, Dear Lupin) features evil Lupin gang imposters terrorizing Tokyo, while Lupin is disguised as Zenigata the whole time to take them down---vaguely hinting that these imposters were what we watched for the entire red jacket series. Never explicit, but an interesting reading.
人間はいつも私を驚かせてくれる。不思議なものだな、人間という存在は．．．
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| Maou 2920th Post
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| "A most Lupantic Blue Jacket debut" , posted Wed 7 Oct 15:47:
In the finest Iggy-blogging/Polly-blogging tradition: MAOU-BLOGGING
I'm five days late! That's okay, because I bring good tidings: the Blue Jacket series is at least 95% delightful!
The Sounds!
The very first thing you'll notice is the percussive energy of Ohno Yuuji's score: in the outstanding opening (with an appropriately Italian flair for the San Marino setting), in the call-backs to classic tracks like the harp piece from the butterfly scene in Mamo/Lupin vs. the Clone, and everywhere else. Ohno is clearly acutely aware that he's composing for a big, brassy new TV series and not another slipshod, lifeless TV special. The energy from the music alone is incredible. Dear MOK-KOS, still not convinced? Okay! The infinitely classy end theme, "I Won't Love You if You Don't Say It Right," is sung by legendary enka artist Ishikawa Sayuri (!!!) as a bar singer within the show's diegesis (!!!!). This is THE classiest goddamn thing you have heard on TV since "Love Squall" when you were young/possibly not born. Go listen right the heck right now! I'll know if you don't.
The Sights!
Propelled by the superb music is a gorgeously animated cast, joyfully integrating the beautiful designs of the first TV series pre-Miyazaki/Takahata, AND the gangly men and sexy women of the comic and Mamo/Clone, AND Miyazaki's Cagliostro sensibility, right down to the opening's nod to Lupin and Jigen's iconic car wanderings in Cagliostro while "Treasure of the Flame" plays. Everything has weight and beauty, achieving the dream of the Fujiko TV series but gloriously absent of that show's wretched, pretentious, and out-of-character content.
The Style!
Truth be told, the first episode starts out a bit slow and Lupin seems like a sap, but it eventually gets frenetic and the overall atmosphere is the most authentic Lupin experience in years. Based on the music, art, and style alone, Blue Jacket creators Tomonaga Kazuhide, Yano Yuuichirou, and Takahashi Yuuya show the best understanding of Lupin's essence since Mamo/Clone, Miyazaki (excepting his Fujiko treatment), and Dead or Alive. Zenigata is sharp, the women are gorgeous and the men are bowlegged, there's positivism in the visuals (real cars, real guns, real cigarettes), and the often forgotten but all-important disguises emphasized in the second comic series are out in force. Little call-outs to the classics abound, like the typed episode title card and the old-time Monkey Punch- and Red Jacket-inspired commercial breaks, but without feeling like dull imitation.
The Time!
For watching, I know you have your ways of obtaining the files you want (you are Lupantic, after all), but you can also watch live from abroad via Keyhole TV, an experimental Japanese TV broadcasting portal originally supported by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. The show airs late Thursday night/early Friday morning at 1:29am Japan Time on NTV.
人間はいつも私を驚かせてくれる。不思議なものだな、人間という存在は．．．
[this message was edited by Maou on Wed 7 Oct 16:17] |
| Maese 787th Post
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| "Re(1):A most Lupantic Blue Jacket debut" , posted Wed 7 Oct 17:16
quote:
Maou's Lupantic blogging
Great minds think alike, it seems!
I just watched the 1st episode yesterday and was thinking about sharing my impressions on the Cafe, but our resident Demon Lord just beat me to it and there is little else a mere mortal could add.
For what's worth, his review pretty much nails it: the show looks, sounds and feels amazing. Nowadays you don't get to see anime like this anymore. It is an incredible feat to have such production values and art style on this time and age. Nobi would be able to give a more technical explanation, but this new Lupin series just seems to have been crafted on the golden era of late 80s/early90s. With this and the recent One Punch Man (even if they play in completely different leagues), it seems there is still hope for the Japanese animation industry after all.
Let me add just two things:
1-) The ending song is ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS and as classy as it gets. Since I got to watch the episode through questionable Lupanic means, due to "technical" reasons I had completely missed it, so special thanks to Maou for the discovery! I shall build you an altar and sacrifice a couple of blonde haired Italic virgins to thank you for this.
2-) While pretty different from the original, I must say the Italian OP also has its charm. At the very least, it is much in tune with the Italian atmosphere of the show. An it's pretty danceable too!
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| Maou 2922th Post
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| "Re(3):A most Lupantic Blue Jacket debut" , posted Thu 8 Oct 12:12:
Maou-blogging Round Two: DEAD OR ALIVE
Ishmael: Your movie assessment sounds right on the money. I remember seeing the ads for it and being utterly put off by it as a pointless endeavor. Animation takes the James Bond/Spy vs. Spy dynamic of the comic and gives it wings to go completely nuts. Why would I chain it to the ground again? Live action adaptations of animation bore me to tears.
IkariDC: You've been very bad for neglecting the Cafe for so long, but fear not: sensei will still give you a passing grade if you force yourself to re-watch the terrible Fujiko series as part of an analytical essay on why it is inferior in every way to Blue Jacket.
More seriously, the nudity of the Fujiko TV series isn't a problem at all since it's perfectly reflective of her style in the comics and Mamo/Clone, but there's so many more issues: the total キャラ崩壊/destruction of the characters' credibility that goes far beyond a "different take." As Ishmael has noted, what is Lupin III if not an opportunity to enjoy how distinct character personalities interact when placed in a virtually infinite collection of different scenarios? If you destroy these characters, what's left other than spy intrigue that has been done better in a different episode already? Putting aside the overwrought story and the pointlessness of Oscar, the degradation of Zenigata into a dirty cop is unwatchable, and Fujiko's routine slaughtering of police and security guards goes against a Lupin tenet so basic as to have been established even in the anything-goes original comic series: Lupin (and his gang) doesn't kill police. The positivism of the series is undermined in an otherwise enjoyable Cuban Missile Crisis episode where stupid fake names are used as obvious stand-ins for major countries. You don't realize how important it is that Lupin travels to the (real) countries of the world and drives a Benz or a Fiat and uses a Walther P-38 until you see how a poor director flubbing it takes you straight out of the action.
The art looks more like Lupin than anything in years, but these people are even worse imposters than the evil Lupin impersonators in "Farewell, Dear Lupin" mentioned in an earlier post. Adding insult to injury is the handling of the hideous child abuse subplot: it was bad enough that the creators rammed this garbage in there, but to back out in the end and say "actually, this never happened to Fujiko anyway" is beyond perplexing...what was the point of making me suffer through this, then? No spoiler markers because I am all about making sure as few people ever want to watch the Fujiko series as possible.
And the grim music sucks sucks sucks. Which brings us to...
Maese: I've always known you were a kind man from when we hang out, and now I know for sure that you have the most forgiving of hearts. I just can't dig the Italian opening's jarring sound and splicing of in-show footage and the promo trailer. It's all the more egregious given that the Japanese opening is the finest the show has ever had. Oh well, I guess there have been stupider adapations of iconic openings over the years.
Back to things that make me happy: next Blue Jacket episode in twelve hours. Get on it!
人間はいつも私を驚かせてくれる。不思議なものだな、人間という存在は．．．
[this message was edited by Maou on Thu 8 Oct 12:26] |
| IkariDC 792th Post
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| "Re(4):A most Lupantic Blue Jacket debut" , posted Thu 8 Oct 16:26
Yeah, shame on me for neglecting the Cafe for so long. But you know, a long time a go I decided I spent too much time "wasting" time on the internet so I when at home I focused all my free time to gaming and watching movies, etc. The only time I spend browsing the net is while commuting on trains, for the most part that would be reading twitter, which I tailored around my gaming needs. Reading/posting on a forum is too clunky an experience to do on the phone, I'm afraid...
I agree on everything stated on Kitamura's take, but I kind of enjoy his movies so I had to watch it. It's much much better than the previous White Jacket Lupin movie which made me cringe and stopped watching halfway, and that's something I rarely do!
I have to say I enjoyed 'The woman called Mine Fujiko' mainly for it's art direction and animation quality. It's a visual fest! I found the plot entertaining enough and the changes not too offending, I kind of bought the 'different take' excuse. The only thing I hated was once again, Yuji Ohno being absent.
I hope you can forgive me for having so low standards!
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| Maou 2923th Post
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| "Re(5):A most Lupantic Blue Jacket debut" , posted Fri 9 Oct 01:10:
quote:
I hope you can forgive me for having so low standards!
Psh, I'm no arbiter on Lupin or good taste, I just write rambly things! You should enjoy whatever seems good, don't mind me. Thinking about it now, while I found the music in Fujiko unpleasant, I doubt that Ohno's peppy style would have worked with the show's atmosphere, which also strove to be unpleasant. It's interesting to think about how much impact Ohno's scores have, to the point that even the very well-done Green Jacket series doesn't feel energentic enough when going back to it because Ohno's not there. It sure adds a lot to Blue Jacket, and I guess he's working with his full You and the Explosion Band, which might explain how the sound feels so full.
Oh no! No to White Jacket, no to the peculiar joys of Strange Psycho-kinetic Strategy? Just kidding (or am I?!). I should probably watch it one day.
Spoon: Good eye. Remember how the first episode of Green Jacket had this weird F-1 racing motif, based on an issue of the comic, which never appeared again?
人間はいつも私を驚かせてくれる。不思議なものだな、人間という存在は．．．
[this message was edited by Maou on Fri 9 Oct 01:12] |
| Maou 2932th Post
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| "Re(7):A most Lupantic Blue Jacket debut" , posted Sun 11 Oct 14:49
Maou-blogging 2.5: Fujiko's Unlucky Days
I'm late again. The very high quality animation, sound, and scriptwriting continue, and with a soccer episode that I'm sure drove the Italian audience wild...or maybe they're just fooling around with the early episodes until people realize that the show is actually airing at 1:30am.
One of the most clever things about giving Blue Jacket a specific setting in San Marino is that the world can feel more lived-in and the staging less rushed even with usual one-off episodes. There's time for the appealing touches that are usually only delivered by a full-length movie or a genius director like Miyazaki in his "Albatross: Wings of Death" cameo episode in Red Jacket: Lupin and Jigen are seen eating pasta and just hanging around, without having to rush from scene to scene in a setting that has only 22 minutes to be established and then never used again.
So while it's a drag that Fujiko, featured promisingly in all kinds of ways in the opening credits, has a very minimal presence thus far, and Zenigata is still mostly slinking around without causing too much trouble yet, you kind of know that they're all "in the area." Rather than resenting the new characters as irritating distractions like they were (or maybe still are, I've long since given up) in the TV specials, I find them interesting bits of color in a living breathing Lupantic Italy. Oh, and why not post these:
Episode 2 Preview: The Fake Fantasista
Episode 3 Preview: Survival Rate 0.2%
人間はいつも私を驚かせてくれる。不思議なものだな、人間という存在は．．．
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| Maou 2945th Post
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| "Re(9):A most Lupantic Tornado" , posted Sat 24 Oct 14:15:
Maou-blogging round 3: Ishmael Jigen edition
quote:
None of it was true but all of it was true; somehow the franchise has run for decades with that charming lack of concern.
Ishmael, you are a paragon of reason, as usual. Even if the Fujiko series' red herrings are particularly unpleasant, they do fit in the "finish story...now, ignore, reset!" spirit of the series. First Contact did it best, with the cast walking away from the reporter they "told" the whole show to, leaving her to doubt the veracity of the origin story. Still, I think there is some baseline characterizaton (even the first comic establishes Lupin's "no killing cops/women" code very early on) that the Fujiko series throws out, to its detriment. Speaking of Ishmael, er, Jigen:
With the Jigen-only Episode 4, Blue Jacket continues to excel with little diversions made convincing by the established setting in San Marino. And here, we have Jigen at his very best, right down to a renditition of "Tornado" that comes at just the right moment to elicit stand-up-and-cheer levels of excitement. During a brief appearance, Zenigata is played correctly as a master cop, identifying Jigen by the shells of his gun ("These .357 Magnum bullets speak to me...and they tell me that this was his work...") and simultaenously underlining Blue Jacket's commitment to real-life objects that the Fujiko series so greviously lacked. We're promised a Fujiko-centric episode next time that will be the test of whether the series is as sexy as its creators advertised. On that note:
Episode 4 preview: A Gun for This Hand of Mine (a nod to a book of the same name by female detective novelist Takamura Kaoru)
Episode 5 preview: The Magician's Left Hand
I feel bad rambling on about the show without an international version available. Or rather, I did see there's a chuckle-inducing fansub of Episode 2 by a well-meaning young 18 year-old, but it brings up nostalgia of the weaker side of the 1990s American fansub scene in all the wrong ways by being completely off. It's not Lupin Gang Anime level, to be sure. I'm sure someone will eventually screen it internationally, but I think the art and sound alone are enough for anyone to enjoy.
Note to Maese and others: Hulu Japan is now running delayed broadcasts so you don't have to stay up till the witching hour or get too Lupantic in your viewing methods.
人間はいつも私を驚かせてくれる。不思議なものだな、人間という存在は．．．
[this message was edited by Maou on Sat 24 Oct 15:05] |
| Maou 2980th Post
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| ""He stole something precious...your heart"" , posted Tue 17 Nov 17:26
Maou Blogging 4: "[Blue Jacket] stole something incredibly precious...your heart!" edition
Come along, dear Lupantics, for more ruminations on Blue Jacket, whether you want them or not! First, to get into the proper sneaking mood, put on "The Sound of Evil Footsteps" from the very first movie when Jigen's being trailed by the CIA somewhere in South America. You can listen to Ishikawa Sayuri's incomprehensibly perfect ending theme, "I Won't Love You If You Don't Say It Right" next. (The low-quality non-PR version on Youtube is at 125% speed and ruins the sound of her deep enka voice that turns out to be perfectly suited to noir-ish jazz.)
Seven episodes in, I continue to marvel at the production values and most of all at the freedom that having a continuous setting have added to the show. Lupin and Jigen just sit around and eat while plotting, the new characters have time to wander in and out of the story without being rushed and actually add something for once, and there's an overall sense of direction without it detracting from the daily heists. The best analogue is, ironically, the heavily Lupin-influenced Cowboy Bebop. There's a sense of Zenigata spending time wandering around in pursuit of these impossibly gifted screw-ups and inquiring among random people, and I love seeing how MI-6's Nix's weird facial expressions vary so wildly. Unexpectedly, the new female character, Rebecca, is a delight rather than a powerless annoyance.
Driven by these advantages and innovations, the show can relax into something that feels quite...Lupantic, with classic but often missing elements present: 1) Episodes six and seven are...very funny! I don't think I've had this consistent a sense of fun and (actually funny) humor since the third Pink Jacket TV series, really. 2) Zenigata is gloriously capable and noble in a way he hasn't been since Dead or Alive, kicking the shit out of low-level villainy purely incidentally while facing off with Lupin as a serious threat. I don't think I've ever seen Jigen and Zenigata with guns aimed at each other before. 3) Lupin and Jigen actually get away with major thefts the way they're supposed to! 4) Disguises and triple-crosses abound.
Goemon has been blessedly absent given that his range is fairly limited, though Fujiko still seems strangely underused despite being one of her most appealing iterations ever. The show airs at 1:30 at night, she's naked in the opening, she has a wonderful new voice actress in recent years, yet they don't seem bold enough to use her...does Miyazaki's asexual curse persist 43 years later? Unless they are clipping things out of the show to sell more DVD's per the degraded industry trend of the last decade, I don't get it. At least she and Lupin have an actual spark between them and work as a team at times rather than her being totally uninterested, a dynamic frequently forgotten in the past by the same types of lesser directors who cast Zenigata as a fool.
Now, who will talk about the artistic direction? Super Nobi Bros., I choose you!
Episode 6 preview: Until the Full Moon Passes
Episode 7 preview: Zapping Operation
Episode 8 preview: Welcome to the Haunted Hotel
quote:
The skinny pants highlighting bowlegged-skinny legs on the guys long ago stopped being a fashion trait and became more of a character trait
I still run bowleggedly on purpose when getting into lighthearted trouble, and Lupin is one of the main reasons I have a tie clip. Next time I'm in France I'm buying the red Lupin jacket I saw there a decade ago from H&M and foolishly failed to buy.
人間はいつも私を驚かせてくれる。不思議なものだな、人間という存在は．．．
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| Iggy 10094th Post
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| "He stole something precious, your thread" , posted Sat 9 Jan 08:28
Speaking of hijacking, I don't think anyone here watches the Monogatari series (BakeMG, NiseMG, OwariMG, etc)?
It's a cleverly overwritten series about people talking to themselves very fast for 20 minutes. I like it, and mostly use it to work on my oral Japanese skills (I mean, the "understanding someone talking" part), though the painful loli bits are difficult to go through.
The scenario is still very good, but the quality has lowered at each new season. Fortunately, the three-parter movie is made by Shaft's A team, and it shows (well, not really in the teaser, but that's the best there is on Youtube).
More importantly, this A team includes the Yoshinari brothers, whose body of work include the other aesthetically ambitious RPG based on the Valkyrie mythology, amongst other things.
I am quite eager to see the result.
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| Spoon 3201th Post
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| "Re(1):He stole something precious, your threa" , posted Tue 12 Jan 04:21
quote:
Speaking of hijacking, I don't think anyone here watches the Monogatari series (BakeMG, NiseMG, OwariMG, etc)?
It's a cleverly overwritten series about people talking to themselves very fast for 20 minutes. I like it, and mostly use it to work on my oral Japanese skills (I mean, the "understanding someone talking" part), though the painful loli bits are difficult to go through.
The scenario is still very good, but the quality has lowered at each new season. Fortunately, the three-parter movie is made by Shaft's A team, and it shows (well, not really in the teaser, but that's the best there is on Youtube).
More importantly, this A team includes the Yoshinari brothers, whose body of work include the other aesthetically ambitious RPG based on the Valkyrie mythology, amongst other things.
I am quite eager to see the result.
I watched some but not all of BakeMG. I was quite taken with how good it looked, but it seemed like the stories were all about cute girls going to a therapist, which isn't necessarily bad, but it didn't grab me at the time for whatever reason. It wasn't poorly written, it was sharply directed, and it was visually interesting, but I think I had too many things involving parsing long tracts of conversation to want to participate in another one at the time. Still, it was quite interesting to see just how visually interesting a show mostly about conversation could be!
I haven't followed up with any of the latter editions of it.
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| Iggy 10104th Post
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| "Re(3):He stole something precious, your threa" , posted Tue 12 Jan 08:59
quote:
To be fair, wasn't Kizumonogatari first teased years ago, when the series quality was higher?
I remember reading somewhere an anonymous animator complaining "having your series succeed is both a blessing and a curse, because then you can do another season, but you get less money to do it because the higher-ups consider your audience hooked and you don't need to make your series as pretty anymore". I always wondered whether he spoke of MG or Jojo.
The Kizu MG movie was probably put between brackets when other projects got the priority. Wasn't it when Madoka exploded and they made movies out of it to bank on the title before the well dried? I guess the business tactics is to put all your most skilled hands on movies, not because it makes more money, but because it's a much bigger add for your studio to get more contracts.
Maybe.
quote:
I've rather consistently watched the Monogatari series since the Shaft anime's inception, but I have a hard time keeping up with it. I am currently attempting to watch OwariMG which is about one of the newer characters, and as usual I have to struggle to remember everything that's happened up until this point.
This can help.
Or maybe make it more confusing.
The series did take the broken narrative of Haruhi and broke it into even tinier pieces, as the new web series should show.
quote:
I procrastinate viewing every new addition because I find the series to be quite exhausting, mentally.
I know what you mean, I think I dropped through NiseMG for that reason. If the characters are not interesting / if the Senjôgahara/lesser characters ratio is too low, I struggle to keep up.
But as an exercise, it does its job!
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| Maou 3035th Post
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| "Gainax stole something precious, your thread" , posted Tue 12 Jan 09:24:
おのれ、イギィーーーーッ It wasn't enough to break my will in the anti-anti-SaGa thread so thoroughly that I am now listening to Itoken's SaGa Frontier music at this very moment, you also countered my Fuurai No Shiren thread hijack attempt by adulterating the perfection of a Lupin thread with...other animation (that is not Kimagure Orange Road)?! Unpardonable! Or rather, it would be, if it hadn't brought up this: quote:
you just really need a chance to put your brain to rest and watch Squid Kid drawn in Powerpuff Girls style
This reminds me that it's thanks to Juan that I gave the heavily Powerpuff Girls-influenced Panty and Stocking a spin five years too late, followed by Re: Cutie Honey, and discovered to my delighted surprise that like Bayonetta, these Gainax productions by Imaishi Hiroyuki are astoundingly, heroically feminist while being sexy and funny at the same time. Go watch them immediately and I will absolve you of your Lupin-related sins.
NOW WHERE WAS I
Oh yeah, thanks for the Lupin special heads-up, Prof! They've all been so dismal post-2003 that I'd entirely written them off, but you can't go far wrong with Blue Jacket as your basis. Too bad the opening sequence isn't representative of the entire style, kind of a bait-and-switch. Reminds me of my (extremely limited) encounter with American comic books where the cover artist would be leagues better than the interior illustrators.
人間はいつも私を驚かせてくれる。不思議なものだな、人間という存在は．．．
[this message was edited by Maou on Tue 12 Jan 09:32] |
| Iggy 10105th Post
Star Platinum Carpet- S.P.W. Board Master
| "Re(1):Gainax stole something precious, your t" , posted Tue 12 Jan 20:40
quote:
Panty and Stocking a spin five years too late, followed by Re: Cutie Honey, and discovered to my delighted surprise
Oh, don't worry, I'm well aware of Re:Honey. I think I had her as an avatar for a while.
I wasn't that impressed by Panty and Stocking, though.
But if we're starting down this road, you'll have to watch Ikuhara Kunihiko's entire body of work, from Utena (a.k.a. the most important feminist work created in Japan, and the most important feminist work created in animated form worldwide) to Yurikuma Arashi (a.k.a. the invasion of lesbian cannibalistic bears from space) and I don't think I have enough slots in my hot line for the emotional support Penguin Drum will require.
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| Maou 3036th Post
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Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Penguin stole something precious, your thread" , posted Wed 13 Jan 01:00
quote:
Panty and Stocking a spin five years too late, followed by Re: Cutie Honey, and discovered to my delighted surprise Oh, don't worry, I'm well aware of Re:Honey. I think I had her as an avatar for a while.
I wasn't that impressed by Panty and Stocking, though.
Yahaha, that's right...though the weak live-action doesn't count. Panty and Stocking is an...acquired taste given how crass and raucous it is, but the final episode really cements the sexual liberation theme that runs throughout the show (which, remarkably, doesn't feel exploitative but empowering).
Ikuhara is a champion. Oh my god. P, penguindrummmmmmmmm! Our Buttermonster has a Japanese counterpart, I see.
人間はいつも私を驚かせてくれる。不思議なものだな、人間という存在は．．．
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| "Year of the Monkey" , posted Sun 19 Feb 17:24
You thought I forget this thread for exactly a year? Well, maybe I did, but I got back to the vitally important business and am here to tell you about it whether you need to hear it or not. There is no excuse for the light-fingered to miss Blue Jacket now that it's been on Hulu in most countries and also coming to North America via Discotek, the same delightful lunatics who release 40-episode classic television series in inexpensive sets and who are now doing the same for Season 2=Red Jacket in the meantime. This, combined with the new Goemon movie, will drown out the noise from the impossibly stupid live-action Zenigata series. Come with me to San Marino, it's time for:
Maou-blogging Part V: Better than SFV
The further the series goes, the more it benefits from the consistent setting we've all talked about. Oddly enough, it's made Blue Jacket a little like...Cowboy Bebop (which of course borrowed hugely from Lupin in other ways) in terms of having an overall story arc that appeared only occasionally. It feels like an eight-hour movie or a long book. Even the throw-aways are pretty good: episode 9 has Goemon in full assassin mode, per his original design, laying waste to significant numbers of dudes and departing from his usual dull dullard act from TV.
And there's enough space for the add-on Bond girl to actually be interesting and not an irritating distraction from the main cast dynamics: Rebecca gels well with the main case when she's around, and even brings out unexpectedly loving words from Fujiko when fighting over Lupin and some priceless wine in episode 9. This kind of pacing from the common setting even allows interactions among main characters who are seldom paired: when Lupin stays up all night trying to decode a baffling document, Jigen and Fujiko bet a pack of cigarettes whether he'll pull it off, with just the right level of distance. It's a ten-second scene, but there are so many like this that make things feel rich.
By episodes 11 and 12, there's a return to the overall story with the Italian Dream, and animation analysts like Nobi (and all of you!) will continue to enjoy the animators having such fun drawing MI-6 agent Nyx's face whenever he freaks out. I haven't seen such deliciously distorted facial expressions since Dilandau in Escaflowne. The animation itself actually warps through a totally different drawing style for this, and then with yet another new style in episode 12 in Lupin's trancelike state as he decodes a person's entire personality and converses with it in his mind---Lupin hasn't visited Dali-esque dreamscapes since the prison break in Lupin vs. the Clone/Mystery of Mamo.
Episode 9 preview: Assassins' Requiem
Episode 10 preview: The Lovestruck Pig
Episode 11 preview: The Italian Dream Part 1
Episode 12 preview: The Italian Dream Part 2
人間はいつも私を驚かせてくれる。不思議なものだな、人間という存在は．．．
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| "Re(3):Year of the Suzuki Seijun" , posted Thu 23 Feb 11:44
quote:
We interrupt Maou's Lupin critique to mention that the great Seijun Suzuki passed away. In addition to his off-kilter live action material he worked a great deal on Lupin, including directing the utterly baffling Legend of the Gold of Babylon.
What a terrible shame! As Ishmael noted, in addition to Suzuki's role as a general supervisor of iconic second Lupin TV series ("Red Jacket"), there is always the Legend of the Gold of Babylon. It may not be "any good" or "make any sense," but it absolutely has a unique artistic vision that is lacking in many of the useless TV specials. Suzuki also gives Goemon his best line of all time when he refrains from attacking an enemy tank with his iron-cutting sword because a charming woman is driving it: "Zantetsuken cannot cut flowers."
It's a strange twist of fate that Suzuki's odd stuff fell out of favor at Nikkatsu studio shortly before the studio became synonymous with the psychedalic-expressionist Roman Porno genre of pink films! And speaking of strange and wonderful, it's:
Monty Python’s Flying Circus
Maou-blogging Part 6: da Vinci Code
Impressively, the previous story elements of episodes 11-12 continue with the best take I've seen on the "Lupin gets caught" scenario that's been done as early as the 1970s. There are playful nods to how escape's been done before in a quick set of montages foiled by Zenigata before a seeming replay of the solitary confinement scenario, but this time so extreme that only Zenigata is watching over Lupin on a desert island and...cooking for him, adding to the strangely close relationship. I also don't think I've ever seen chiaroscuro used as an escape mechanism before. I also like the nods to classic Green Jacket villains Pycal and Mamou Kyousuke in the new commercial eyecatch.
There's a few duds, but the otherwise good one-shot episodes have high-quality disguisework and genuinely clever switch-outs, and episode 16 might be the funniest Red Jacket-style episode in years when Lupin attempts to take a day off and ends up babysitting dogs, pursuing sushi fruitlessly in Italy, and trying to find gas for his car. Plus we get to see Goemon attempt to drive. Is this another case of reverse-influence by Cowboy Bebop? I believe the legendarily funny Mushroom Samba episode also happened around this time in the season. This lunacy flows easily into an equally nutty, wonderful, Mamo-esque story episode: sure, the show is Italian themed, but never in my wildest dreams did I expect the joy of seeing a villain who is an evil Leonardo da Vinci clone with transplanted memories created by MI-6 who escapes via a fantastic da Vincian flying machine!
Episode 13 preview: Lupin’s Final Moments
Episode 14 preview: Don’t Move the Mona Lisa
Episode 15 preview: actually, skip this one
Episode 16 preview: Lupin's Day Off
Episode 17 preview: yeah, this one is also pretty dumb
Episode 18 preview: The First Supper
人間はいつも私を驚かせてくれる。不思議なものだな、人間という存在は．．．
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| "Arrivederci!" , posted Sat 25 Feb 16:19:
You, you all were watching Blue Jacket all along but just weren't saying anything! It is like a surprise birthday party at the end of the day where no one had said anything.  I am weeping tears of joy that the Cafe has been engaged with this rare gem!
Maou-blogging Final Round: Unexpectedly Late to the Party
I love how Nyx gets his own animation style when he's enraged, and it's the cool hyper-gritty yet impressionistic animation from the Fujiko TV series. Episode 19 reminds me of how versatile this series is in mixing the many faces of Lupin, having just careened from the hilarous Lupin's Day Off to a quality spy fake-out episode. I also never expected that I would one day have the joy of cheering for Leonardo da Vinci as he blew away the jackass boss of MI-6, but if any series can pull it off, it's Lupin.
And as everyone said, episode 20 is charming. It's a nice example of advanced Lupinology by directors who know the series well enough to mix it up: how creative to have the series' first low-speed chase in a fancy car, and what a classy vignette to surround it. Speaking of chases, among the many parts of the perfect opening credits, I love the tactile pull of the animation cell frames, especially the one of Zenigata chasing everyone where he's almost running in place against the projector.
Interestingly, the detour to Japan in episode 21 shows again what a good choice it was to have a consistent San Marino setting. The self-exoticizing old Japan jokes are funny, but the whole thing feels rushed and underdeveloped after the slow, rich pace of Italia.
Fortunately, things finish out with a most Renaissance flair. Stealing by the power of the mind is like my new martial art now. I'm sure all thieves at the Cafe thought of Lupin vs. the Clone/Mystery of Mamo when Lupin starts running through paintings, and it's so fitting for Italy. And I just know you caught the call-backs to the desert scene in Clone/Mamo and the Cagliostro clock tower.
Like with Bebop, it's almost frustrating not to see more of the main story arc and its particular characters since they're sketched so well, but in both cases, I guess it makes them a special treat. Still, forget Lupin vs. Conan, I'm ready for a Lupin vs. Nyx TV special.
Episode 19 preview: The Dragon Sleeps Quietly
Episode 20 preview: Your Signing Voice, One More Time
Episode 21 preview: From Japan with Love
Episode 22 preview: I'm Coming to Steal Lupin
Episode 23 preview: Anatomy of the World Part I
Episode 24 preview: Anatomy of the World Part II
人間はいつも私を驚かせてくれる。不思議なものだな、人間という存在は．．．
[this message was edited by Maou on Sun 26 Feb 06:14] |
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| "Lupin III - PART FIVE" , posted Sat 8 Jul 09:16
Sacré bleu, another new Lupin series has been announced, this time in France, and with the announcement in French! Nice to see Lupin and Jigen hanging around in front of what appears to be Mont Saint-Michel, and appropriate given the French origins of the character. Though apparently he was long known as "Edgar" there...ugh. Better than Cliff Hanger?
I expect the French MMC contingent to keep us updated until Japanese information is available. Like a James Bond outing, Lupin is entirely dependent on the director and his team, but if the beautiful geniuses who brought us Part IV are involved, this rare credit-less version of Ishikawa Sayuri's perfect end song, "I Won't Love You If You Don't Say It Right," will remind you of the profoundly excellent possibilities.
人間はいつも私を驚かせてくれる。不思議なものだな、人間という存在は．．．
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| "Fiats, and Lupin THE THEATER" , posted Fri 4 Aug 08:50
No, there's no real news on the new series since the Japanese site has pointedly avoided ever talking about Part V whereas the source, the French site, now points you to the empty English one. Solve this Lupantic mystery!
Actually, that's not quite true. There is some news. For one, thanks to this unknown poster, I WANT TO BELIEVE
Also, the two best Lupin movies, which also happen to be the first Lupin movies, are having rare screenings:
Japan: Lupin vs. the Clone, September 1~
US: Castle of Cagliostro, September 14-15
For even more fun, some of the rare Monkey Punch comic episodes not compiled in Futaba's usual collections are now republished.
Why, it's enough to make me want to go steal something!
人間はいつも私を驚かせてくれる。不思議なものだな、人間という存在は．．．
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