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Meanderings
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Saturday, 14 April 2012 20:53 |
Fujiko Mine, the devestatingly sexy lady thief who'll stop at nothing to make her steal, has her sights set on a religious cult's secret treasure when a new man waltzes into her life: Lupin the Third, a man who's no stranger himself to pulling off the odd incredible heist himself. But while they may have met their match in each other, the cult leader they were both trying to swindle turns out to be smarter than expected...
Lupin the Third has been around a while - the first TV outing was in 1971, before I was born, and I count at least 45 movies, OVAs, TV specials and series since then, of which The Woman Called Fujiko Mine is the latest. It's a distinguished lineage, to be sure - to which the movie The Secret of Mamo, a 1978 movie, has been my sole exposure. So you'll forgive me if I don't get too nostalgic about this one.
So. Old-school series, with naturally old-school visual style, but a sense of fun and edginess that I can fully get behind. Fujiko knows what she wants and doesn't care who she has to get out of her way to get there; Lupin seems to have decided that what he wants right now is Fujiko. This episode sets up the characters and their modus operandi, for those of us who weren't already familiar with them; gives us a glimpse of Lupin's 'nemesis' Inspector Zenigata; and gets Lupin and Fujiko interested in each other - all the while wrapping it all in a fun, full-of-nonsense adventure romp while they try to steal... something. That part really isn't important.
THE GOOD: Lots of fun, lots of energy, lots of chemistry between Fujiko and Lupin.
THE BAD: Old-school visual style will put some people off (you're missin out if you're one of them).
One of those shows where it being a keeper was never really in doubt, to be honest, and one of the highlights of the season.
Lupin the Third: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine is streamed by FUNimation (North America only).
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Backbites 
