Lupin The 3rd CG Film Coming to American Theatres!

[Randall]

And the next animated film for Lupin III will reportedly have him hunted by Sherlock Holmes, wanted for the murder of Dr. Watson!

Of course, that might end up being Herlock Sholmes, but regardless it sounds like it should be interesting.

[Ben]

Is this another CG outing? I’m in for keeping up with those, but there’s way too much of the original films and series to get into at this point! That last CG was great though — reminds me I still need to catch the dub version!

[Randall]

It will be hand-drawn, for television.

[Daniel]

Here's the announcement:

Sentai announced today that it acquired LUPIN THE 3rd PART 6, the next thrilling adventure in the saga of globetrotting thief, Lupin III. The latest installment commemorates the 50th anniversary of this incredibly influential franchise. Sentai will distribute the series to audiences in North America, Australia, New Zealand, Scandinavia, and all Nordic Countries.

Gentleman thief Lupin III is back and ready for his next caper— unless legendary sleuth, Sherlock Holmes, has anything to say about it! When Holmes’ longtime partner, Dr. Watson, is murdered, none other than Lupin tops the suspects list. With Holmes fast closing in, Lupin must prove his innocence and bring a shadowy organization called The Raven to heel if he wants to live to steal another day.

Produced by TMS Entertainment (Dr. Stone) and based on the original work of Monkey Punch, LUPIN THE 3rd PART 6 is directed by Eiji Suganuma (Mashiroiro Symphony: The Color of Lovers) with music from longtime series music composer Yuji Ohno and series composition by Takahiro Okura (LUPIN THE 3rd PART 5). Hirotaka Marufuji provides the series’ character design (LUPIN THE 3rd: Goodbye Partner).

The escapades of Lupin III have thrilled audiences for decades, with entries in the franchise spanning everything from manga and anime series to feature films and live action adaptations. To celebrate this beloved franchise’s 50th anniversary, TMS Entertainment is making 2021 the “Year of Lupin,” bringing audiences a brand-new Lupin adventure along with exciting events, new theatrical and home video releases, and more.

Sentai will stream LUPIN THE 3rd PART 6 in association with select digital outlets with a home video release to follow.

[droosan]

Just a couple of weeks ago, Diskotek Media released the entire 50-episode Lupin the Third - Part III TV series -- originally broadcast in 1984, and never before available in english -- as a 4-disc Blu-ray set.
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This series amped-up the 'silliness' a bit beyond what had been seen in the two 1970s Lupin the Third TV shows .. including gags like Inspector Zenigata using giant sheets of flypaper to trap Lupin. It also pushed the characters' designs more toward Monkey Punch's distinctive manga style than the earlier shows.

Also -- though it preserves the 'globetrotting' nature of the sprawling Part II series -- a fair chunk of Part III's episodes are set in New York City .. where much of the action in the 1985 theatrical film Lupin the Third: Legend of the Gold of Babylon was also located. Watching this series over the past week has helped to re-frame LotGoB (in my mind) as being essentially a 'finale' for the Part III show, since it shares the 'pushed' character designs, and likewise contains a fair bit of silliness .. such as the moped chase early in the film, and -- well, its entire climax.

As with most Diskotek Media releases, extras are spartan ('clean' versions of the main & end titles .. and, that's pretty much it). All episodes are in japanese dialogue with available english subtitles. The HD video quality is quite nice .. no word on whether Diskotek's previous Lupin the Third Part I and Part II sets (available on DVD only) may also get Blu-ray sets eventually; I wouldn't expect so, though.

[Ben]

You never know Droo! The most unexpected stuff is being rediscovered by these boutique labels…! If this sells they’ll know there’s a market.

[Daniel]

"Lupin the Third - Part 6" is coming to Toonami next Saturday:

[EricJ]

So....Toonami still exists on the All-Adult Swim channel?

Granted, apart from More Lupin, they haven't added any new anime to it since, except for Assassination Classroom. (Aka "To Sir, With Tentacles ")

[droosan]

You never know Droo! The most unexpected stuff is being rediscovered by these boutique labels…! If this sells they’ll know there’s a market.

I'm happy to be proved 'wrong' on this; Diskotek will be releasing the complete first Lupin the Third anime TV series (the 'green jacket' episodes) on Blu-ray, at the end of May!
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This 1971 series is a bit 'rougher around the edges' than the later shows .. but it's where it all began for these characters, and there's plenty of great action & laughs to be had.

At 23 episodes, Part I is also the shortest of Lupin's TV series. Diskotek opted to release the mammoth 155-episode Lupin the Third 'Part II' TV series (which aired continuously from 1977-1981) across four boxed sets, on DVD, a few years back. No word yet on when Part II may come to BD (nor whether it might be a single BD set, or likewise split across multiple sets) .. but with Part I -- and Parts III-VI accounted for on the format, it now seems certain it's gonna happen!

[Randall]

Yes, I would think so. I've decided to upgrade my first series set to Blu, as I was just early into enjoying the DVD (already sold it on eBay), and have lots of episodes still to watch. I might opt to listen to the new English dub when watching the new first series Blu-ray set.

The 1978 Lupin III film Mystery of Mamo is also coming to Blu finally, so I'll be glad to pick that up as well.

[EricJ]

Diskotek opted to release the mammoth 155-episode Lupin the Third 'Part II' TV series (which aired continuously from 1977-1981) across four boxed sets, on DVD, a few years back. No word yet on when Part II may come to BD (nor whether it might be a single BD set, or likewise split across multiple sets) .. but with Part I -- and Parts III-VI accounted for on the format, it now seems certain it's gonna happen!

Discotek's already released Sgt. Frog, Samurai Pizza Cats and Kodocha on "SD on BD" format, so they're pretty well used to the idea for long-run series.
No announcement yet (or whether it includes Pioneer's snarky made-for-Toonami dub), but it's pretty much when-not-if.

And yes, Lupin Pt. 1's a little unpolished--he didn't even have his jazzy theme yet--but has a higher percentage of Miyazaki-directed episodes, for those just coming in off of Castle of Cagliostro.

[droosan]

OTOH, Diskotek's HD release of the massive Galaxy Express 999 TV series -- 113 episodes, in all -- was split into three separate BD sets. It could go either way.

The 1978 Lupin III film Mystery of Mamo is also coming to Blu finally, so I'll be glad to pick that up as well.

Mystery of Mamo is a fun flick .. very remniscent of contemporary Roger Moore-era 'James Bond' films.

[Ben]

How do you guys find the time to *watch* all this stuff!!??!???

[droosan]

As Jeff Goldblum once said: "life .. finds a way."

For my own part: I work on a 'production-by-production' basis; whenever a project is completed, I'm let go .. and -- while I'm between jobs -- a lot of DVDs tend to get watched.

(un)fortunately .. I've had considerably more 'free time' of that nature, during the past couple of years, in particular!

[EricJ]

How do you guys find the time to *watch* all this stuff!!??!???

I've watched them instead of the, quote-fingers, "cartoons" we've had stateside since the mid-90's.
Crunchyroll's streaming channel is its own network.
(Although, of course, I'd been in it since the college campus-club days of VHS, when we didn't even have subtitles, let alone good dubs. )

It also helps that Galaxy Express 999, most of whose episodes are two-part cliffhangers, is bingeably addictive, in its naive Starblazers-era Leiji Matsumoto way.
Imagine a sci-fi retelling of Pinocchio & the Blue Fairy, with a campy tendency to take itself seriously despite a similarly goofy fairytale acceptance of fantasy implausibility: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtQnlTehlP0
(Although, for those who don't have the time, the two-hour movie condenses most of the entire series arc.)

As for Sgt. Frog, the reason why will quickly become apparent in the subtitled version. Thanks to Discotek's sub-only release, our long national nightmare of Funimation's horrible Adult Swim-wannabe dub is finally over.