Lupin the Third manga warning

[BrianC]

I watched some of the anime of Lupin III and I enjoyed it quite a bit, but I recommend staying far away from the manga if you don't want stories chock full of raciness. I read through part of vol. 1 to see what it was like and I couldn't read through the first few pages. It's THAT bad. While I can recommend some of the anime without hesitation (especially Lupin III: Castle of Cagliostro, an excellent Miyazaki film), I think that the Lupin III manga is a good manga to stay far away from.

[Mithrandir]

Yeah. I really loved the movie, and then I flipped through the middle of the manga to see if I wanted it. I thought, yeah.. this is cool. So I bought it. One of my friends was with me at the time and he was like, "You're getting THAT?!?" I told him I loved the Miyazake anime and he was confused. Then later my wife was flipping through it and sorta tipped me off to the fact that it wasn't as innocent as I thought it might be. I haven't read it yet, but I'll let you know what I think when I do.

[Karrit]

I'm probably more open-minded about anime/manga than some. I've seen the Lupin mangas for sale at Waldenbooks, although I have not bought any.

As for the anime, I like it's humour. I haven't seen Castle of Cagliostro, although I want to. I have oen Lupin movie, Secrets of the Twilight Gemini. It has some questionable scenes, but I think Lupin behaves more like a gentlemen in it than in some of the series. He also has a love interest named Lara, a Moroccan princess. I find her character to be more refreshing than Fujiko, plus Lara seems to share a special bond with Lupin and brings out the best in him.

The story begins with Lupin visiting a boss in the 'Thief Underground' who is very old and feeble. He gives Lupin a diamond and asks him to go to Morocco to find the treasure of the Geltics. In truth, the don once faught alongside the Gelts and has a granddaughter, Lara. Lupin helps the Gelts find their treasure to reestablish their kingdom, but suprisingly doesn't take any of it.

The movie has some bad points (Fujiko doign what she does best, a villian who is a transvestite, and lots of nudity), it's one of the better Lupin titles I've seen.

Sonny Strait (DBZ's Krillin) does a fantastic Lupin, although I wish FUNimation would pronounce it 'Lu-pon' like it's supposed to be.

My friend kyle Hebert (Teen Gohan) also plays a little old man in the movie whose part of the Moroccan Police. The voice he gave him reminds me of Droopy. ^_^

[BrianC]

A little warning about Twilight Gemini. I heard that it has the most nudity out of all of the Lupin III anime. However, I heard that the Lupin III manga is racier than any of Lupin III anime, including that movie. I also heard that Twilight Gemini isn't as good as some of the other Lupin III anime. I don't know that for myself since I haven't seen it, though. There is, however, an edited version of Twilight Gemini available without the nudity if you are into edited anime.

Castle of Cagliostro is one of the cleaner Lupin III moves. No nudity except for one scene where it's implied, not shown (Lupin loses his boxers and puts an arm out to grab them, nothing is shown), very little cursing (in subtitles), and most of the violence is bloodless (only one scene with blood and it's an important scene that is very serious). I definatly recommend seeing Cagliostro, even if you aren't a Lupin III fan. It's a fun and enjoyable Miyazaki film.

[yog^sothoth]

I have volumes I and II and tomorrow I will go and get the third volume. Monkey Punches stuff that they are reprinting right now comes from the sixties before we really had things like politically correct or a healthy respect for women so it can really grate on the peoples of the 00's conscience, especially considering how many women Lupin gets intimate with and how many people he kills per episode, or die because of random things he does. In the end, it's entertaining to see the situations he gets into and if anyone loves James Bond or Golgo 13 but with a lot more humor and senseless acts of violence then this is for you.

I wouldn't reccomend it to kids though. But I will say it's a lot cleaner and maybe not near as racey as something like Grand Theft Auto: Vice City or any of the other super violent games out there.

One of the fun things about anime and manga is to see how different beliefs and morality can differ between cultures. What might be considered crude or silly here might be the greatest thing since American Pie here.

I will say that i'm glad i'm not the only one who got a little offended by the manga. It's good to see some people still have some morals out there!

[Karrit]

I've been exposed to many different anime titles, so I sort-of know what to expect. However, I don't agree with all titles and some characters. But there's other things I look for an anime (or try to). However, I do always caution Christians and younger people to be careful and decide what's appropriate for them and what is not. I hope that makes sense. ^_^

And being an adult, I do like some of the Lupins, but I haven't read the manga. I've read some of Chobits and I can say, although it has soem cute elements, it has a bit of questionable material not suitable for the people under 16.

[ShiroiHikari]

The only Lupin thing I've seen is the dub on Adult Swim. I thought it was really funny, but it's like more of a um....guy-oriented show and so I guess that's why I don't enjoy it as much. I might watch Castle of Cagliostro sometime though, because I have heard a lot about it. Anyone want to do an official review for me?