''Lupin the 3rd Part V: Misadventures in France'', also known simply as , is a Japanese

anime is hand-drawn and 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 Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...

television series produced at

Telecom Animation Film is a Japanese animation studio founded on May 19, 1975 and currently affiliated with TMS Entertainment , formerly known as the , also known as or , is a Japanese animation studio established on October 22, 1946. TMS is one of the oldest a ...

, directed by Yūichirō Yano, and written by Ichirō Ōkouchi. Part of the ''Lupin III'' franchise, it is the sixth anime television adaptation of the ''Lupin III'' manga series created 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 ...

. The series aired from April 4 to September 18, 2018 on

Nippon TV JOAX-DTV (channel 4), branded as , is the flagship station of the Nippon News Network and the Nippon Television Network System, owned-and-operated by the which is a subsidiary of the certified broadcasting holding company , itself a listed su ...

. It was simulcast with English subtitles by Crunchyroll, and later dubbed into English and premiered on

Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as dult swim'' and often abbreviated as s'') is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programmed by its in-house ...

Toonami Toonami ( ) is an American late night television programming block that primarily broadcasts Japanese animation and occasionally American action animation. It was created by Sean Akins and Jason DeMarco and produced by Williams Street, a divis ...

programming block on June 16, 2019.

Plot

The series is set in modern-day France and follows the thief

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 ...

. In the first story arc of the series, he infiltrates a data center to steal digital currency from "Marco Polo", a site on the dark web, which sells illegal items such as drugs and weapons. The rest of the regular ensemble cast of ''

Lupin the Third , 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 ...

'' characters, the marksman

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 ...

, the swordsman

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 ...

, the con artist

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 ...

and 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 Japane ...

, are joined by the new character Ami Enan, a teenage hacker. In the second arc, Lupin gains possession of a black notebook containing extremely sensitive information about high-level political figures, which makes him a target for the ruthless director of the DGES as well as for Albert d'Andrésy, a fiendishly cunning criminal and ex-partner of Lupin hiding under the façade of an honest government official. In the third story arc, Lupin intends to steal the Bloody Teardrop, a national treasure of the

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainlan ...

n kingdom of Padar, which is currently worn by its royal princess Dolma, who has befriended Ami. When a revolution threatens Dolma's life, Ami reunites with Lupin to rescue her. The fourth and final story arc sees a last reunion between Lupin and Ami against the Shake Hands Corporation, a shady IT conglomerate whose aim is world domination via an exclusive monopoly on cyber-trafficking and internet use, and which has been pulling the strings behind the scenes of some of Lupin's exploits in the series. Recurring subthemes in the series include the use of contemporary high technology (particularly the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

, facial recognition programs and surveillance drones), and the question of trust between Lupin and the rest of his gang.

Production

''Lupin the 3rd Part V: Misadventures in France'' was produced at

, and was directed by Yūichirō Yano, reprising his role from 2015's '' Part IV''. It was written by Ichirō Ōkouchi alongside Gō Zappa, Daisuke Sakō,

Kazushige Nojima is a Japanese video game writer. He is best known for writing several installments of Square Enix's ''Final Fantasy'' franchise—namely ''Final Fantasy VII'' and its spin-offs '' Advent Children'' and '' Crisis Core'', ''Final Fantasy VIII'', an ...

, Takahiro Okura, Yuniko Ayana,

Keiichi Sigsawa is a Japanese light novel author. In 2000, his work '' Kino's Journey'' was a finalist for the 6th Dengeki Novel Prize, and was subsequently serialized in '' Dengeki hp'' magazine in March of the same year, marking his debut. ''Kino's Journey' ...

and Shatner Nishida, and featured character designs by Hisao Yokobori. The series was announced at

Japan Expo Japan Expo is a convention on Japanese popular culture - the largest of its kind in the world - taking place in Paris, France, although it has branched out into a partnership festival - Kultima - and expanded to include some European and US pop c ...

in Paris in 2017, and aired for 24 episodes from April 4, 2018 to September 18, 2018 on

's AnichU programming block and other

NNS NNS can stand for: * New neoclassical synthesis (economics) * NASCAR Nationwide Series (previous name of the NASCAR Xfinity Series) * Nashville Number System (music) * National Numeracy Strategy (UK education) * Near Net Shape * Nearest neighbor se ...

networks. It is also streamed by Hulu in Japan, and simulcast by Crunchyroll in Japanese with English subtitles. It will be released on home video in the United Kingdom and Ireland by

Anime Limited Anime Limited, also known as All the Anime is a British anime distribution company based in Glasgow, Scotland. It releases anime for British, Irish, French and other European audiences. The company was established in 2012 by Andrew Partridge, b ...

. It also aired on

programming block in the United States starting on June 16, 2019. In June 2021,

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 ...

announced their North American license to the series. They release the series in a Blu-ray box set on October 26, 2021. The first Japanese DVD/Blu-ray set containing the first five episodes of the anime was released on July 25, 2018. It includes a memorial episode titled "Is Lupin Still Burning?" to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the manga. The episode was directed by Jun Kawagoe, with Monkey Punch as general director and character designs by Hisao Horikoshi and Satoshi Hirayama. Its title is a reference to the debut episode of the first ''Lupin the Third'' anime series and follows its story, but features other enemies such as Kyosuke Mamo, Sandayu Momochi, Pycal, and Stoneman. An English dub of the original video animation premiered on Adult Swim on the Toonami block on December 15, 2019, a week after the conclusion of ''Part Vs run.

Reception

Anime News Network's Rose Bridges and Jacob Chapman each included ''Lupin the 3rd Part V'' on their list of The Best Anime of 2018. Bridges wrote that while less "newbie-friendly" than ''Part IV'', it surpasses its predecessor by being more focused and "freewheeling," constantly keeping viewers on their toes.

Notes

References

External links

* * * {{Toonami Adult Swim 2018 anime television series debuts Discotek Media Part 5 Mass surveillance in fiction Nippon TV original programming Television series set in 2018 Television series set in 2019 Television shows set in France Television shows written by Ichirō Ōkouchi TMS Entertainment Toonami Works about computer hacking