Rupan sansei (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:

Speed! Thrills! Suspense! What can Arsène Lupin's grandson do? Can he save the world? Lupin III can do anything!

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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 III

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

This is "Lupin III" creator Monkey Punch's favourite "Lupin III" animated film.

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Goofs

After Lupin pockets the makeshift watch-bomb, all of the items on the table he was working on (except for a bottle of Jim Bean and a glass) disappear as he gets up.

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Quotes

Inspector Koichi Zenigata: Lupin! Lupin! Don't you know you're supposed to be dead?
Arsene Lupin III: So it seems, and that's what's been troubling me.

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Crazy Credits

The 2003 Geneon dub replaced the film's original ending song, 'Lupin Ondo', featuring singer Haruo Minami (who played the Egyptian Police Chief in the Japanese version), with a reprise of the Lupin III theme. This was apparently due to copyright issues surrounding the song. Discotek's 2013 release contains the Geneon dub with the Lupin III theme as the ending song, but all the other soundtracks on the DVD (including the Japanese audio) use 'Lupin Ondo.'

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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

Version of Rupan sansei: Pilot Film (1969)

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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

The first "Lupin III" movie

Lupin III is Japan's longest running anime series, spawning five movies, three television series, annual Television specials which continue to this day and even a live-action movie. One of the films, "Castle Of Cagliostro", in fact, is considered an animation classic by most critics on both sides of the Pacific. However, before "Cagliostro" there was "Mamo". Mamo is based more on the traditional Lupin as created by manga artist Monkey Punch-so those who are used to the kind anti-hero in COC might be in for a slight shock. This Lupin is more of a womanizer and a trickster than Miyazaki's version. The plot doesn't flow as well as COC's, and is kind of drawn out with a couple false endings. The visuals aren't as good as COC either, with some rough-looking animation in spots and action scenes that don't flow as well. Anyway, it's still a good movie, especially for fans of Monkey Punch's take on the character(as opposed to Miyazaki) just overlong. A word to the wise though-the DVD doesn't have the Japanese track, something which some anime fans might not like. The dub is OK voice wise, but the script has obviously been rewritten slightly-something which becomes blatantly obvious when you hear, over a radio, George Bush and Boris Yeltsin chatting, something really out of place in a 1978 film....