is a 2019 Japanese animated heist comedy film based on the 1967–69 manga series Lupin III by Monkey Punch, to whom the film is dedicated. Written and directed by Takashi Yamazaki, it was produced by TMS Entertainment and Marza Animation Planet, and is the first fully computer-animated film in the franchise. The film stars Kanichi Kurita as Lupin III, Kiyoshi Kobayashi as gunman Daisuke Jigen, Daisuke Namikawa as samurai Goemon Ishikawa XIII, Miyuki Sawashiro as Fujiko Mine, and Kōichi Yamadera as Interpol detective Zenigata.
Set during the late 1960s of the Shōwa era, the film follows gentleman thief Arsène Lupin III and his crew to Paris and Brazil to find the whereabouts of the Bresson Diary, a treasure even Lupin's grandfather Arsène Lupin failed to catch. A battle for the mechanical diary is unleashed as a Nazi treasure-hunter group led by Lambert and Geralt are also in a race to steal it, with the prize that whoever deciphers its mystery will be the owners of an enormous fortune.
Lupin III: The First was theatrically released in Japan on December 6, 2019, by Toho. GKIDS released the film in North America on October 18, 2020. The film earned critical acclaim, with praise directed towards its plot, vocal performances, faithfulness towards the source material, and, in particular, the animation. Many felt the series transitioned well into CGI, praising the level of detail and fluidity.
Plot In German-occupied France, archaeologist Professor Bresson entrusts his heavily trapped diary and an amulet containing the key to the book to his family. The diary is purported to be the guide to the "Eclipse," a treasure which a group of Nazis working for Ahnenerbe is seeking. Bresson is killed by the arriving Germans; his family escapes, but is chased down by Ahnenerbe professor Lambert, and ends up in a car crash which only the infant daughter survives. Lambert steals the amulet, but cannot find the diary, which was lost during the chase.
In the 1960s, the diary resurfaces during a memorial exhibition in Bresson's honor. Lupin III tries to steal the book, as his grandfather had unsuccessfully attempted before him, only to be foiled first by a young woman disguised as a security guard, then by Fujiko; he is then arrested by Inspector Zenigata. En route to prison, Lupin is sprung by his friends Jigen and Goemon and sneaks into the home of the fake security guard, prospective archeology student Laetitia Lambert. He presents a medal identical to the one stolen by Lambert, which his grandfather left him. Laetitia contacts Lambert, her adoptive grandfather who ordered her to steal the book in the first place. Lambert tells her to bring Lupin and the amulet to him, in exchange for sending her to Boston University to study archeology.
Fujiko delivers the diary to Ahnenerbe fugitives looking for the Eclipse, among them Lambert and their leader Geralt. However, Geralt discovers Fujiko's duplicity and has her detained. Laetitia leads Lupin to Lambert's hideout, a customized transport plane, where they retrieve the book and the counterpart to Lupin's amulet. Lupin opens the diary, and the two learn that the Eclipse is a power generator left behind by an advanced lost civilization and is hidden in the ruins of Teotihuacan. Knowing Laetitia led him into a trap, Lupin willingly surrenders to Geralt and Lambert. Fujiko uses Lupin as a diversion to escape on her own. Lupin sneaks back into the plane and eavesdrops on Geralt and Lambert, learning that they are seeking Adolf Hitler, who reportedly faked his death and escaped to South America during the fall of Berlin, and now intends to use the Eclipse to resurrect the Third Reich.
When Laetitia, who also overheard the conversation, confronts the two men, Geralt throws her out of the plane. Snatching the diary and the amulets back, Lupin jumps after her, and he and Laetitia are rescued by Fujiko, Jigen and Goemon. Left stranded, Lupin goads Zenigata by radio to his location and steals his Interpol helicopter. Zenigata gets back on board, and after learning of the stakes, he teams up with Lupin's gang and Laetitia to thwart the villains. During a stopover, Lupin reveals to Laetitia that he deduced her to be Bresson's granddaughter and that Lambert adopted her only to get the diary and the Eclipse. He also discovers that his grandfather had actually helped Bresson find the Eclipse, but afterwards trapped the book to prevent the Eclipse from falling into the wrong hands.
Geralt and Lambert find the Eclipse's hiding place, but cannot proceed past its traps without the diary, forcing them to return to where they left Lupin. Exploiting their absence, Lupin's team makes it past the obstacles, but are then forced to discover that their enemies' retreat was merely a ruse to clear the path to the Eclipse. Lambert and Geralt activate the Eclipse, which carries them and Laetitia back to the surface, but Lupin's team intercepts them before they can escape, scuttling Lambert's plane. Lambert uses the Eclipse to get the plane to fly again, and activates a micro black hole to finish off Lupin's team; believing them dead, and drunk with power, he claims the device for himself and incinerates the diary. When he prepares to use the Eclipse to destroy Berlin, Geralt fights him; when Laetitia takes control of the device, Geralt shoots at her, but Lambert takes the bullet for her and dies. Geralt then receives the news that Hitler has been located and takes the Eclipse and Laetitia to him.
When Geralt arrives at the Ahnenerbe headquarters, he meets with Hitler and the two depart on the Eclipse to test its capabilities. Left behind, Laetitia discovers that Lupin's gang have beaten Geralt to the base with the help of Zenigata and Interpol, and Lupin has disguised himself as Hitler. On the Eclipse, Lupin reveals himself and Geralt attacks him, but Lupin tampers with the Eclipse controls to release a micro black hole inside the Eclipse. Geralt is sucked into the hole and perishes, while Lupin escapes with a gravity device he kept from the Teotihuacan ruins. After a good-bye to Laetitia – and gifting her with the gravity device and her enrollment into Boston – Lupin and his associates rush to escape Zenigata's attention.
Voice cast Character Japanese English Lupin III Kanichi Kurita Tony Oliver Daisuke Jigen Kiyoshi Kobayashi Richard Epcar Goemon Ishikawa Daisuke Namikawa Lex Lang Fujiko Mine Miyuki Sawashiro Michelle Ruff Inspector Zenigata Kōichi Yamadera Doug ErholtzLaetitia Suzu Hirose Laurie HymesGerard Tatsuya Fujiwara Paul GuyetLambert Kōtarō Yoshida David BrimmerBressonKazuaki ItoMarc ThompsonAdolf HitlerMitsuru TakakuwaRiver Kanoff
Production
Development "This work was completed over a long period of time, supported by the words of Monkey Punch Sensei: '3DCG Lupin is my dream.' To express "Lupin" that everyone knows in 3DCG was a very happy and exciting job. Especially with regard to unique movements and facial expressions, I think that the production team's high technical ability and deep love for Lupin have made it attractive compared to overseas masterpieces. It would be great if not only fans but also people who have not touched the work so far can feel that "I like Lupin more" after watching the movie. I sincerely hope that this work "THE FIRST" will serve as a bridge to bring more Japanese stories to the world."
— Producer Takeshi Ito (Marza Animation Planet)The film was teased by Kiyoshi Kobayashi after the passing of Monkey Punch. Sega Sammy Holdings, the parent company of both TMS Entertainment and Marza Animation Planet also made a tweet later. On June 10, 2019, a Twitter account under the name @lupin_3rd_movie was created showing a poster of a 3D model of Lupin wearing Arsène Lupin's sword-scarred hat. With the tagline, "40 years from the immortal masterpiece The Castle of Cagliostro," it was revealed that Lupin III would debut as a 3D character for the first time. It had been twenty-three years since a Lupin feature film released in cinemas ever since Lupin III: Dead or Alive in 1996.
Bringing the eponymous thief into the 3D format was one of Monkey Punch's most cherished goals. The film is dedicated to the memory of Monkey Punch, the creator of Lupin III, who died on April 11, 2019, before the movie was released. When Monkey Punch saw the preliminary results of the movie he stated, "I've been looking forward to a 3DCG Lupin III for a long time. I've taken a look at the characters and story: it looks like this Lupin will come packed with new sensations, and I'm getting excited just thinking about how the film will turn out."
Marza Animation Planet and TMS Entertainment were the animation studios producing the film. On June 10, 2019, the teaser for the movie was released with Lupin sporting the taglines "Well, let's get started" and "It's showtime!" The teaser features a montage of the history of Lupin's adaptations from traditional hand drawn animation to finally the 3D footage. The animation team decided Lupin will wear the red jacket (second anime (1977-1980)). Later on October 1, 2019, the official trailer and poster was released. On November 22, 2019 Toho released the opening title sequence of the film.
Takashi Yamazaki, one of Japan's leading film animation directors who previously worked for such projects as Dragon Quest: Your Story, wrote the script and directed the movie. Initially, the director was only writing the screenplay for the movie as a consultant for Marza. The studio was looking for a director and Yamazaki's interest in the film and the creativity warranted nomination for director. Yamazaki was entrusted the Lupin the Third franchise. The director noted: "I am really happy to be added to the end of this lineage in a new format called 3DCG." The film was intended to be a segue or a hook from 2D adaptations of the past to the 3D movie.
Marza Animation made over twelve screenplays and three story reels for the film. The storyboards were detailed with voice actor's voices acting as a reference point. At Marza each script was transferred to a storyboard reel that was critiqued. The weak parts were edited out. Despite the harsh criticism that was mentally grueling moments for the director, the screenplay process by Marza was intended to have a beneficial effect at the end, when the team finally were able to edit out and create a more efficient script.
Yamazaki in an interviews says the animators were really conscious of the way they drew Lupin. The intended effect was for the viewers and Monkey Punch himself to say they recognize Lupin. The intention was even though it's CG, Lupin will look like 2D Lupin. Previous animators who worked on Lupin were on the sets to verify all the characters were Lupin-like. The film was initially set to be shot Hollywood-style with the characters in a globetrotting adventure. However, the undertaking of such a task in Japan as opposed to Hollywood was noted to be a formidable task. Therefore, the film team went into the route of CGI that can also create an action film.
The creative team of the Lupin franchise from previous works resumed for this production. For the first time since the stories were serialized as a cartoon in 1967 and in animated television in 1971, the eponymous thief was animated into a 3D figure amidst CGI background. Naoaki Kitajima, producer for the movie stated the movie is a testament to the creative potential of the Japanese people. The animators from Toms Entertainment and Marza Animation Planet intended the movie to serve as a cultural bridge between the different nations of the world, with a story that will be understood by any audience. The script was noted by a review that "bounce from setpiece to setpiece" with comedy used as the primary vehicle of movement throughout the script.