This is a list of television specials of the Japanese

media franchise A media franchise, also known as a multimedia franchise, is a collection of related media in which several derivative works have been produced from an original creative work of fiction, such as a film, a work of literature, a television program or ...

Lupin III , also written as ''Lupin the Third'', ''Lupin the 3rd'', or ''Lupin the IIIrd'', is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Monkey Punch. It follows the endeavors of master thief Arsène Lupin III, the grandson of Arsène ...

'', based on the

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

series by

Monkey Punch , known by the pen name , was a Japanese manga artist, best known for his series ''Lupin III''. Life and career Katō was born in Hamanaka, Hokkaido; he began drawing at a very young age, but did not draw manga until junior high school, when h ...

that debuted in 1967. In a tradition that began in 1989 with ''

Bye Bye, Lady Liberty is the first television special in the ''Lupin III'' franchise. Directed by veteran director Osamu Dezaki, it was broadcast by NTV on April 1, 1989. A number of ''Lupin III'' television specials have followed with a total of 28 airing as of N ...

'', every year since until 2013 featured a new 90 minute ''Lupin III''

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

television special that aired on

NTV NTV may refer to: Television * NTV (Bangladesh), a Bengali-language satellite television channel in Bangladesh * NTV (India), Telugu regional channel * NTV (Kenya) * NTV (Mongolia), a television channel based in Mongolia * NTV (Newport Television) ...

at 9:03 on Friday evening. Since then, they have been released irregularly. Each television special features its own plot, but the general theme centers on the adventures of

Arsène Lupin III is a fictional character created by Kazuhiko Kato aka Monkey Punch as the protagonist for his manga series ''Lupin III'', which debuted in ''Weekly Manga Action'' on August 10, 1967. According to his creator, Lupin is the grandson of Maurice Le ...

, the grandson of

Arsène Lupin Arsène Lupin (French pronunciation: ʁsɛn lypɛ̃ is a fictional gentleman thief and master of disguise created in 1905 by French writer Maurice Leblanc. The character was first introduced in a series of short stories serialized in the magazi ...

, the

gentleman thief A gentleman thief, gentleman burglar, lady thief, or phantom thief is a stock character in fiction. A gentleman or lady thief is characterised by impeccable manners, charm, courteousness, and the avoidance of physical force or intimidation to ...

Maurice Leblanc Maurice Marie Émile Leblanc (; ; 11 December 1864 – 6 November 1941) was a French novelist and writer of short stories, known primarily as the creator of the fictional gentleman thief and detective Arsène Lupin, often described as a French c ...

's series of novels. He is joined by

Daisuke Jigen is a fictional character created by Monkey Punch for his manga series ''Lupin III'', which debuted in ''Weekly Manga Action'' on August 10, 1967. Jigen is the marksman, aide-de-camp and best friend of Arsène Lupin III. Along with colleague Goe ...

, crack-shot and Lupin's closest ally;

Fujiko Mine is a fictional character created by Monkey Punch for his manga series ''Lupin III'', which debuted in ''Weekly Manga Action'' on August 10, 1967. She is a professional criminal who regularly uses her attractiveness to fool her targets. Unlike t ...

, the

femme fatale A ''femme fatale'' ( or ; ), sometimes called a maneater or vamp, is a stock character of a mysterious, beautiful, and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers, often leading them into compromising, deadly traps. She is an archetype of ...

and Lupin's love interest who works against Lupin more often than with him; and

Goemon Ishikawa XIII is a fictional character created by Monkey Punch for his manga series ''Lupin III'', which debuted in ''Weekly Manga Action'' on August 10, 1967. Goemon is a thirteenth generation descendant of the renegade samurai Ishikawa Goemon. He is famous ...

, a master swordsman and descendant of

Ishikawa Goemon was a legendary Japanese outlaw hero who stole gold and other valuables to give to the poor. He and his son were boiled alive in public after their failed assassination attempt on the Sengoku period warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi. His legend lives ...

, the legendary Japanese bandit. Lupin is often chased by Inspector

Koichi Zenigata , usually called and formerly Heiji Zenigata VII, is a fictional character created by Monkey Punch for his manga series ''Lupin III'', which debuted in ''Weekly Manga Action'' on August 10, 1967. He is named after the famous fictional Japanese ...

, the rather cynical detective who has made it his life mission to catch Lupin. The 2009 '' Lupin III vs. Detective Conan'' special is, as the title suggests, a crossover between ''Lupin III'' and ''

Detective Conan ''Case Closed'', also known as , is a Japanese detective fiction, detective manga series written and illustrated by Gosho Aoyama. It has been serialized in Shogakukan's Shōnen manga, ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' ...

'' and as such features characters from both series.

Manga Entertainment Manga Entertainment was a producer, licensee, and distributor of anime in the United States and the United Kingdom. Originally founded in the UK in 1987, the UK branch became Funimation UK and Ireland in 2021, also currently known as Crunchyro ...

released the first special on VHS in the United Kingdom and Australia in 1996 as ''Goodbye Lady Liberty'', using an English dub that they had created in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

with an American-British cast.

Funimation Crunchyroll, LLC, previously known as Funimation from 1994 to 2022, is an American entertainment company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony as a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex that specializes ...

purchased the North American distribution rights to specials five through twelve in 2002, in a package that also included the two theatrical films ''

Farewell to Nostradamus , sometimes also referred to as ''To Hell With Nostradamus,'' is a 1995 Japanese animated film. It is the fourth theatrical feature film in the ''Lupin III'' franchise, and the first time Lupin's voice is provided by Kanichi Kurita, following the d ...

'' and '' Dead or Alive''. They re-titled several of the animations for their release. North American distributor

Discotek Media Discotek Media is an American entertainment company based in Altamonte Springs, Florida, focused on distribution and licensing Japanese anime, films, and television series. Formed in 2005, Discotek primarily focuses on licensing retro titles fr ...

released '' Episode 0: The First Contact'' in 2010, the first and second television specials in 2014 (with the former including its UK dub), and the third and fourth in 2015, and the fifth, thirteenth and fifteenth specials in 2016 (with the fifth including its Funimation dub). They also released the ''Lupin III vs. Detective Conan'' special and its theatrical

film sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

on October 27, 2015. Discotek released the 22nd special in 2019, and the 21st and 26th in 2020.

Specials

Production notes

*While recording ''Orders to Assassinate Lupin'' in 1993, Lupin's voice actor,

Yasuo Yamada was a Japanese actor, voice actor and narrator. Career Yamada left the faculty of literature of Waseda University, and had performed in many stage, radio, and television productions. He appeared in performances of plays by Hisashi Inoue. His ...

, took a sudden illness, and his standing became unstable. By the last part of the recording, Yasuo recorded his voice while he was in a chair. Yamada went on to reprise the role one last time in ''Burn, Zantetsuken!'' The following year, however, his health continued to decline during the recording. He died of a brain hemorrhage in 1995, at the age of 62.

Kanichi Kurita is a Japanese actor, voice actor and comedian. His most famous role is as the titular character of the anime series ''Lupin the Third''. He inherited the role from Yasuo Yamada after the latter's death in 1995, and his first role as Lupin was i ...

took over the role of Lupin that same year. *2007's ''Elusiveness of the Fog'', as well as being one of the annual ''Lupin'' TV specials, also aired as a tribute to the 40th anniversary of the ''Lupin III'' manga. Just as the OVA '' Return of the Magician'' brought back an old villain in recognition of the 30th anniversary of the anime, the character of Mamou had previously appeared in both a story in the original ''Lupin III'' manga and the thirteenth episode of the first anime series. It should be noted he is treated in this special as if Lupin's gang had never met him before. *2011's ''Blood Seal - Eternal Mermaid'' brought new voice actors for Fujiko, Zenigata and Goemon for the first time in 16 years.

Miyuki Sawashiro is a Japanese actress, voice actress and narrator. She has played voice roles in a number of Japanese anime including ''Beelzebub'', Bishamon in ''Noragami'', Petit Charat/Puchiko in ''Di Gi Charat'', Mint in ''Galaxy Angel'', Sinon in '' Sword ...

took over Fujiko from

Eiko Masuyama is a Japanese actress and narrator. She works for Aoni Production. She is most known for originating the roles of Fujiko Mine (''Lupin III''), Honey Kisaragi (''Cutie Honey''), and Bakabon's Mama (''Tensai Bakabon''). Early life Eiko Masuyama w ...

Daisuke Namikawa is a Japanese actor and singer associated with Stay Luck. He began acting as a child and is sometimes mistaken with Daisuke Hirakawa, as their names only differ by one character when written in kanji. Despite his wide range of roles, he usual ...

took over Goemon from

Makio Inoue Makio may refer to: * Makio, grind used in Aggressive Inline Skating * ''MakiO'', the yearbook of Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, ...

, and

Kōichi Yamadera is a Japanese actor, voice actor, narrator and singer from Shiogama, Miyagi Prefecture. He graduated from Tohoku Gakuin University's economics school and is currently affiliated with Across Entertainment. Before that, he was affiliated with th ...

took over Zenigata from

Gorō Naya was a Japanese actor, voice actor, narrator and theatre director from Hakodate, Hokkaidō. He and his brother were two of seven children, and was a drop-out of the legal education division of Ritsumeikan University. He was connected to Theatre E ...

. They have continued to voice the characters in all other media since.

Reception

The ''Lupin III'' television specials released by

have received reviews varying from positive to mixed. The most well-received seems to be ''Island of Assassins'', with Chris Beveridge of Mania.com describing it as "the best non-TV Lupin experience ... since ''The Castle of Cagliostro''", ''Missed by a Dollar'' received an eight out of ten rating by

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

's Jeremy Mullin, who stated it starts off as seemingly a simple heist film, but turns out to have plenty of twists. The least well-received of Funimation's releases is ''Secret of the Twilight Gemini'', which received mixed reviews due to the animation and its

B movie A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double feature ...

-style plot. Mania.com gave 2002's ''Episode 0: The First Contact'' an A+ and hailed it as the best TV special made to date. In ''500 Essential Anime Movies''

Helen McCarthy Helen McCarthy (born 27 February 1951) is the British author of such anime reference books as ''500 Manga Heroes and Villains'', ''Anime!'', ''The Anime Movie Guide'' and ''Hayao Miyazaki: Master of Japanese Animation''. She is the co-author of ...

called ''Liberty'' her personal favourite of the Lupin TV specials. She describes it as "light, funny and entertaining" and "terrific entertainment".

References

;General * ;Specific

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Lupin Iii Television Specials Anime television films

Television Specials A television special (often TV special, or rarely television spectacular) is a standalone television show which may also temporarily interrupt episodic programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Some specials provide a full range of ent ...

Funimation Lupin the Third films Discotek Media Lists of television specials TMS Entertainment it:Lupin III (anime)#TV Special

Specials

Production notes

Reception

See also

References

External links