, first released in
North America as ''Rupan III: The Fuma Conspiracy'', is a 1987 Japanese
OVA
, abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA s ...
action film
Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include l ...
based on
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 ...
's ''
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 Arsèn ...
'' manga. Due to budgetary reasons, it utilized a different voice cast from previous entries, with
Toshio Furukawa
is a Japanese actor, voice actor and narrator affiliated with Aoni Production. He is married to fellow voice actor Shino Kakinuma.
Career
He became famous for his roles in his career as Kagege (''Keroro Gunso''), Kai Shiden ('' Mobile Suit ...
as
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 ...
,
Banjō Ginga
, sometimes credited as his real name , is a Japanese actor, voice actor and narrator who was born in Kofu, Yamanashi. Ginga is affiliated with Aoni Production. He is married to voice actress Gara Takashima.
Known for his deep baritone voice ...
as
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 ...
,
Mami Koyama
is a Japanese actress, voice actress and narrator affiliated with Aoni Production. Her best-known voice roles include Ophiuchus Shaina in ''Saint Seiya'', Arale Norimaki in ''Dr. Slump'', Minky Momo in ''Magical Princess Minky Momo'', Lunch in ' ...
as
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 ...
,
Kaneto Shiozawa
Toshikazu Shiozawa ( ja, 塩沢 敏一, Shiozawa Toshikazu, January 28, 1954 – May 10, 2000), better known by the stage name Kaneto Shiozawa ( ja, 塩沢 兼人, Shiozawa Kaneto), was a Japanese actor, voice actor and narrator from Tokyo. At the ...
as
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 famo ...
, and
Seizō Katō
was a Japanese actor, voice actor and narrator who worked for Haikyo (Tokyo Actor's Consumer's Cooperative Society).
Kato was born in Tokyo. He was noted for his role as Megatron and Galvatron from the 1st Transformers series until '' Transfo ...
as
Inspector Kouichi Zenigata. It was the first ''Lupin III'' animation since the 1969 ''
Pilot Film'' to not feature
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 ...
as Lupin and the only one not to feature
Kiyoshi Kobayashi
Kiyoshi, (きよし or キヨシ), is a Japanese given name, also spelled Kyoshi.
Possible meanings
*'' Kyōshi'', a form of Japanese poetry
*Kyōshi, a Japanese honorific
Possible writings
*清, "cleanse"
*淳, "pure"
*潔, "undefiled"
*清志, ...
as Jigen until ''
Part 6''.
Plot
Arsène Lupin III and his gang are attending the wedding of Goemon Ishikawa XIII and his fiancée Murasaki Suminawa. During the ceremony, the Suminawa family heirloom, a valuable antique urn, is entrusted to Goemon. Before the ceremony is completed, several
ninja
A or was a covert agent or mercenary in feudal Japan. The functions of a ninja included reconnaissance, espionage, infiltration, deception, ambush, bodyguarding and their fighting skills in martial arts, including ninjutsu.Kawakami, pp. 2 ...
attack and attempt to steal the urn. Lupin and his colleagues fight off the ninja, but during the confusion, another group of ninja kidnap Murasaki and leave a ransom note proposing to trade Murasaki for the antique urn.
Meanwhile, Inspector Koichi Zenigata has retired to a
Buddhist
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
temple following the apparent death of his long-time quarry, Lupin. Kazami, a colleague from the police force, tries to persuade him to return to work. Zenigata has "no interest in a world without Lupin", but when shown a photograph of Lupin taken at the disrupted wedding, Zenigata comes out of retirement and resumes his lifelong pursuit of Lupin.
At the Suminawa household, Clan Elder Suminawa explains to Goemon that the urn holds the secret location of the Suminawa family treasure. The Fuma Clan ninja, who attacked during the wedding, have been trying to steal the urn for centuries. He refuses to trade the family urn for his granddaughter Murasaki, so Lupin steals it. Lupin and Daisuke Jigen discover that the urn contains a hidden drawing revealing the location of the treasure: a cave deep in the mountains. Lupin, Jigen, and Goemon follow the ransom note instructions and exchange the urn for Murasaki, but the ninja start shooting after Lupin attempts to double-cross them. Zenigata and his officers arrive in time to see Lupin his friends escape on a train. Wanting the treasure for themselves, Lupin and Jigen head on their own to the treasure, with Zenigata and the police in hot pursuit, while Goemon and Murasaki travel their own way, all trying to beat the Fuma Clan to the treasure.
Following a lead, Fujiko Mine tracks down the Fuma Clan headquarters, but they discover and capture her. Among the ranks of the Fuma Clan, Fujiko spots Inspector Kazami, who has secretly been working for the clan's Boss. The Fumas have also discovered the map on the urn, and now that the urn is useless, Kazami puts the urn over Fujiko's head to mock her. The Boss, Kazami, and the ninja leave for the treasure cave. Handcuffed to a thick post, Fujiko manages to escape, and in the process, bashes the urn on her head and notices a golden key among the urn shards. She takes the key and keeps it secret.
After initially discovering the urn is missing, Suminawa travels to the cave and destroys a key lock outside of it, before waiting inside. Later, the Fuma Clan arrive and Suminawa confronts The Boss, but he disarms Suminawa and has him thrown over the cliff. When Murasaki and Goemon arrive, they begin negotiating the trap-laden caves beneath the mountain to find the ancient treasure. Murasaki discovers a secret passage, but the Boss and the Fuma Clan ninjas follow them stealthily.
After reuniting with Lupin, Jigen, and Fujiko, Goemon enters a hall lined with samurai armor, but his entrance has triggered the hall to fill with a hallucinogenic gas. The gas causes him to attack everyone, and in the scuffle he inadvertently injures Murasaki. After surviving the gas, Lupin and company enter a large cavern, where they find an old castle furnished from top to bottom with items of solid gold. They are ambushed by the Fuma Clan, with Lupin, Jigen, and Fujiko dealing with the ninjas, while Goemon faces off against The Boss. During the escapade, Kazami captures Murasaki and holds her hostage at knife point. Not wanting to cause the death of Goemon, Murasaki throws herself off the castle roof, taking the treacherous Kazami with her, though Lupin and Jigen manage to rescue her before she falls to her death. At the same time, Goemon is able to defeat the Boss in battle.
At the cave entrance, Zenigata and his officers rescue Suminawa from the river at the base of the cliff. He explains that the cave is rigged to collapse unless the golden fail-safe key, the one Fujiko found, is inserted into the slot in the entrance, but since he destroyed it, it ensures the treasure's destruction and the Fuma Clan's demise. Zenigata tells him Lupin and company, as well as Murasaki, are in there, so the two rush into the cave, arriving at the castle just in time to tell everyone about the collapse. The Boss stays behind as everything is destroyed around him, dying in the rubble. Zenigata and Suminawa exit via the main tunnel, but Lupin's group exits through a distant tunnel, escaping from Zenigata and his officers once again. Fujiko managed to saved a gold roof tile for herself, and rides off on her motorcycle. Goemon bids farewell to his fiancée, declaring that he must undergo training to address his weaknesses; only then will he return to marry Murasaki. She calls out to him, declaring that she won't wait for him. Goemon looks back at Murasaki for a moment, then continues on his journey.
Cast
Production
Due to budget concerns,
TMS decided not to employ the regular voice cast for the OVA, instead going for a slightly less-expensive yet still well-known
Aoni Production
is a Japanese talent agency representing a fair number of voice actors and other Japanese entertainers.
Voice actors currently affiliated with Aoni
All names are in Western order (given name followed by family/last name).
* Mai Aizawa
*Ken ...
cast.
When the news was broken to Yasuo Yamada, it was not made clear who was responsible for the dismissal, leaving him with the impression that ''Lupin IIIs creator
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 ...
had lobbied the producers for a new voice actor. In reality, Monkey Punch was happy with Yamada's portrayal, but felt that he had no business in telling the production company what to do. Monkey Punch tried to reassure Yamada (with whom he had developed a friendship during the years of ''Lupin'' TV series) that he had nothing to do with it, and the regulars were reinstated with the first television special, ''
Bye-Bye Liberty - Close Call!''. However, the relationship between Yamada and Monkey Punch was permanently strained by the casting substitution.
Due to the same budget constraints, the usual composer,
Yuji Ohno
is a Japanese jazz musician. Ohno is known for his musical scoring of Japanese anime television series, particularly ''Lupin III'', and most famously the 1977 series '' Lupin III Part II'' and the feature film ''The Castle of Cagliostro''.
Ea ...
, was replaced with Kiyoshi Miyaura.
The budget focused on the animation. In the background, the characters have a very distinct style, which is not usual in anime, but more common in Western cartoons. Before working on this movie, Telecom Animation Film had done projects in the West, such as ''
The Real Ghostbusters
''The Real Ghostbusters'' is an American animated television series, a spin-off/sequel of the 1984 comedy film ''Ghostbusters''. The series ran from September 13, 1986, to October 5, 1991, and was produced by Columbia Pictures Television and DI ...
'' and ''
DuckTales
''DuckTales'' is an American animated television series produced by Disney Television Animation. The original cartoon series premiered on syndication and on Disney Channel on September 18, 1987 and ran for a total of 100 episodes over four sea ...
''. Two of their employees were
Hayao Miyazaki
is a Japanese animator, director, producer, screenwriter, author, and manga artist. A co-founder of Studio Ghibli, he has attained international acclaim as a masterful storyteller and creator of Japanese animated feature films, and is widel ...
and
Yasuo Ōtsuka
was a Japanese animator who worked with Toei Animation, Nippon Animation, TMS Entertainment, and Studio Ghibli. He was considered to be one of Japan's foremost animators, and he was an important mentor to both Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata.
...
, who is the supervisor of this film. Lupin's cars are based on the vehicles owned by Hayao Miyazaki, a Citroen 2CV, and Yasuo Ōtsuka, a Fiat 500. By using their own cars as models, they were able to keep the animation consistent throughout production.
The story is located in Japan, so the production staff could easily research the locations and props. For example, the treasure cave mountain is based on a real location in the Gifu Prefecture: Mt Shakujo, as well as the local spa's rotemburo, an outdoor soaking pool, used in the police chase.
Release details
Although classed as an OVA by TMS, ''The Fuma Conspiracy'' was first given a theatrical release on December 26, 1987. The home release followed on April 5, 1988.
Due to this, some media consider it to be a theatrical movie.
In the United States,
AnimEigo
AnimEigo is an American entertainment company that licenses and distributes anime, samurai films and Japanese cinema. Founded in 1988 by Robert Woodhead and Roe R. Adams III, the company was one of the first in North America dedicated to lic ...
released it in early 2003 under the title ''Rupan III: The Fuma Conspiracy'', and referred to the title character as "Rupan" in the English dub and subtitle scripts.
Licensor
Toho
is a Japanese film, theatre production and distribution company. It has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. Outside of Japan, it is best known as the producer ...
demanded the change out of fear that the estate of
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 ...
, creator of the original Arsene Lupin, would sue for the unauthorized use of the name. In October 2007, a 20th anniversary edition was released by
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 ...
under the title ''Lupin the 3rd: The Fuma Conspiracy''. It is now out of print.
Critical reception
While ''The Fuma Conspiracy'' is one of the more highly regarded ''Lupin III'' movies in America, it was not well received in Japan. The replacement of the usual voice actors and the usual composer alienated the fans.
However, the animation values are exceptionally high, as seen in the police chase through the market. For example, the license plates are legible and the sideswipe scratches are visible, too.
Mike Crandol, writing for
Anime News Network, called ''The Fuma Conspiracy'' "quite possibly the best-animated installment of the series", far superior to the later TV specials.
He praised the chase scenes as the film's highlights and the fact that the characters "express their personality through their movements", something he said is uncommon in anime. However, Crandol stated the "touch-and-go plot" makes it a poor introduction to ''Lupin III'' for new viewers and felt that the film was too "rushed". On the voice actor change, he noted that Toshio Furukawa makes Lupin sound like a "novice scamp than the experienced thief from other adventures."
''
Otaku USAs Daryl Surat also called this the best Lupin animation and praised the chase sequences.
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fuma Conspiracy, The
Fuma Conspiracy
1987 anime OVAs
Films set in 1987
Films set in Gifu Prefecture
Discotek Media
TMS Entertainment