Lupin the Third: Mine Fujiko to Iu Onna

Lupin the Third: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine is one of the most fascinating takes on the Lupin franchise I’ve seen to date. It presents itself as a pseudo-origin story for how our main quartet first comes into contact with each other in this particular canon, setting Fujiko at the focal point of these meetings, and this is by far one of the most complex and detailed looks at Fujiko we’ve gotten. Whether it’s the particulars of the code of conduct she follows as a seductive thief or the immensely disturbing back story gradually revealed to us over the course of the series, one that ... rings as particularly relevant in today’s current socio-political climate, this is easily one of my favorite interpretations of Fujiko. It also manages to strike a strong balance between maintaining the core elements of the rest of the cast, while also recentering them around the central thematic focus of Fujiko’s individualism and willpower, and, without spoiling anything, the final episode’s recontextualization of all the clues gathered up to that point was simply enthralling, though the sheer amount of twists and turns does have the potential to be a bit too tumultuous for some.
As for its role as a Lupin series, admittedly it is a tad more hit and miss that I was hoping for. Perhaps a single cour is not enough to properly spin up enough creative episodic scenarios while also building up a more continuous plot for a big climactic ending, but I do wish we had gotten a bit more in terms of memorable heists, though I do suppose the striking visual presentation makes up for this to some degree. The extreme proportions of the characters complement the heightened nature of their personalities, the more radical linework used for shading ratchets up the tonal intensity, and the psychedelic and mentally unhinged moments in the plot are conveyed with an alluring beauty, fragility, and purposeful visual confusion. While I do wish its episodic moments were a bit stronger, the sheer boldness of this take on the Lupin formula is definitely one that will stick with me for a while.

At first I thought this series would be really boring because Fujiko’s never been a very interesting character before, but this show made me like the character a lot more than I expected.

The other Lupin characters are mostly great, especially Goemon. Zenigata, however…too much of his character is spent dealing with his adoptive son/sidekick Oscar, an incredibly obnoxious character.

The series is at its weakest when it tries to be philosophical. Lupin III is all about romance and adventure, and I feel like the overarching plot of the show misses the mark slightly. The Egyptian episode and the train episode are the highlights for me.

Amazing animation, terrible pretty much everything else. If you're getting into this to learn more about Fujiko Mine, I have to break it to you that the men get more meaningful story and emotional agency than her. The nonsensical ending acts like it is going to fix this and give Fujiko an arc or storyline only to rip it all away at the last second in one of the most jawdropping displays of "it was all a dream" BS I've ever seen. As my friend put it after we finished this pile of trash: the first anime ever to have negative character development. Only the ... fluid motion and stylized crosshatch shading kept me going thru this slog of a watch.