Lupin the 3rd: The Mystery of Mamo (1978)

While attempting to win the affections of a beautiful rival, a master thief risks death to learn the secret intentions of a wealthy and seemingly immortal, but certainly ruthless, recluse.

Directors:

Sôji Yoshikawa, Yasuo Ôtsuka (as Yasuo Otsuka)

Writers:

Monkey Punch (comic), Atsushi Yamatoya (scripts)

Stars:

Yasuo Yamada, Eiko Masuyama, Kiyoshi Kobayashi

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Yasuo Yamada	...	Arsène Lupin III (voice)
Eiko Masuyama	...	Fujiko Mine (voice)
Kiyoshi Kobayashi	...	Daisuke Jigen (voice)
Makio Inoue	...	Goemon Ishikawa XIII (voice)
Gorô Naya	...	Inspector Heiji Zenigata VII (voice)
Tôru Ôhira	...	Stuckey (voice)
Kôsei Tomita	...	Commissioner (voice)
Hidekatsu Shibata	...	Special Agent Gordon (voice)
Shôzô Îzuka	...	Flinch (voice)
Ichirô Murakoshi	...	Scientist (voice)
Shunsuke Shima	...	Dietman (voice)
Yûji Mikimoto	...	Police Officer (voice) (as Masaru Miyashita)
Kô Nishimura	...	Mamo (voice)
Haruo Minami	...	Chief Police Officer of Egypt (Special Guest) (voice)
Fujio Akatsuka	...	President (Special Guest) (voice)

Storyline

In Transylvania, Lupin III, the notorious international thief, is hung and no one is more suprised to learn of that than Lupin III himself, who was alive and well and nowhere near that area at that time. The answer to that mystery, begins to surface when Lupin gets a seemingly ordinary pebble from an Egyptian pyramid for his would-be girlfriend, Fujiko, the mercenary thief, who is in the employ of a mysterious figure known only as Mamo. Intrigued by this bizarre request, Lupin decides to get involved and finds himself in an international chase that has a greater scope and danger than he has ever faced.

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Plot Keywords:

nudity | female nudity | faked death | based on manga | anime | 

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Taglines:

The executed Lupin still lives!

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Genres:

Animation | Action | Adventure | Comedy | Fantasy | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Official Sites:

Geneon Entertainment [United States]

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese English

Release Date:

16 December 1978 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Lupin the 3rd: The Movie - The Secret of Mamo

Box Office

Budget:

JPY 500,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

TMS Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

18,000 reference photos were used for background and mechanical items.

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Goofs

When Lupin arrives at Mamo's temple, a sign bears the name 'Haward Lockewood.' This is a misspelling of Mamo's alter-ego, 'Howard Lockewood.' This error was not rectified in the Toho dub, the Manga dub, nor the Geneon dub. The Toho and Manga dubs increase the obviousness of the error by changing Mamo's alias to 'Foward Fughes'. However, the error was somewhat rectified in the Streamline dub, where the first name is pronounced in a manner similar to 'Hayward.'

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Quotes

Mamo: [shows off the people he's cloned] This is the work of 10,000 years. A masterwork, if I say so myself. The leading lights of science, philosophy, art. All under one roof, and all are perfectly real!
Arsene Lupin III: Hm! So, sort of a Noah's Ark?
Mamo: Let's just say that if you've never given any thought about the world, starting now would either be a particularly good idea, or a pathetically pointless one, if you catch my drift, Mr. Lupin.
Arsene Lupin III: Uh?
Mamo: Because the time is nigh, Mr. Lupin, but sadly the guest list is... quite ...
[...]

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Crazy Credits

In the closing credits, in a corner of the screen Lupin and Zenigata run from the missile barrage; this scene is intercut with previous scenes from the film.

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Alternate Versions

Half of the characters' names in the Japan Airlines' 1979 dub were changed. This includes: Dan Dunn-Jigen, Samurai-Goemon, Margo-Fujiko, Detective Scott-Inspector Zenigata, and Mr. Gissenger-Stuckey.

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Connections

References 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

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Soundtracks

Super Hero
(1978)
Music by Yûji Ôno
Lyrics by Yôko Narahashi
Performed by Tommy Snyder
Published by Teichiku Records
(Heard only in the first English dub)

User Reviews

A memorable, and pretty enjoyable Lupin movie.

The Secret of Mamo is a crazy, memorable, and pretty enjoyable Lupin movie.

The first theatrical Lupin movie, this has some very solid animation for 1978, and some very interesting direction. Very colorful and lively. The soundtrack by Yuji Ohno is a blast too, and of course the original voice cast delivers.

The story in this one is pretty crazy, and by the end it's pretty much pure nonsense. Lupin is up against a psychotic diminutive man with a god complex, and it leads to some very strange things. Including a cameo from Hitler, naturally.

This movie has a fairly brisk pace for the most part, bad things just keep happening to the Lupin gang. One minute they're on the run from a freakishly large truck, the next they're being bombarded by bombs.

Where this movie gets really weird is the characterization. Lupin is less cool and laid back in this one, in general he's pretty irritable and annoyed, even with his loyal gang. I have to admit, this makes Lupin less likable to me in this one.

Fujiko has a pretty big part in this one, she's quite entertaining, although she does make some questionable decisions. Jigen makes out well in this, and Goemon is pretty cool like usual. Zenigata is great in this, tirelessly hunting Lupin down. But again, seeming a bit out of his usual anime character when he actually wants to kill Lupin.

The movie in general is closer to the tone of the manga, with it's insanity and less likable characters.

So, pretty much, this is a very memorable movie, it goes above and beyond into the realm of insanity, and it's quite entertaining. The classic dynamic that the characters usually have in the anime is somewhat skewed here though, and the story itself is not entirely satisfying.

None the less, this is a wild ride that I recommend checking out.