The Lupin III FAQ Text Version (3.0 beta)
Arsene Lupin III
Text Version 3.0
TXT compiled by Arsene Lupin III (Talesof...@Juno.com)
HTML compiled by Luis Cruz (cr...@ccs.neu.edu)
HTML version: http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/cruzl/lupin/faq/
Posted to: rec.arts.anime, rec.arts.anime.misc, alt.fan.lupin, and
others....
**PART ONE**
Questions answered here:
-Who and/or what is "Lupin the Third?"
-Who/what is Lupin based off of?
-What Lupin anime can I get?
-OK, So what's with the "Rupan" business, and why is everyone calling
him "Wolf,"
and not "Lupin" in the dubs?
--But wait! Isn't that plagiarism?
--But if you have the rights to the film, who cares about the name,
right?
--Why is it "Rupan" and not Lupin? His name is Lupin, not Rupan...
-What about manga? There IS Lupin manga, right?
--Where can I get the manga?
-Has anyone written articles about Lupin the Third?
--Who is Michael House?
-Are there any Lupin games?
Q: Who and/or what is Lupin the Third?
A: Who:
Arsene Lupin the Third (pronounced Are-sen Loo-pan) is the descendant of
the
fictional thief "Arsene Lupin," who was created by the French author
Maurice
LeBlanc in the early 20th century.
In Japanese, his name is pronounced "Rupan Sansei".
What:
Arsene Lupin III, who normally just goes by his last name (pronounced
"Lupan"),
was created by a Japanese comic book artist by the peculiar English pen
name of
Monkey Punch. Lupin the Third was created in the late 60’s, appearing as
a comic
book (manga) character. Since, he has gained worldwide recognition,
especially
in Japan and Italy, where his films and TV series are most prominent.
Q: Who/what is Lupin based off of?
A: The original short stories of the Lupin family were entitled "Arsene
Lupin:
Gentleman Thief," written in the early 1900's by the French author,
Maurice
LeBlanc. Some of these stories have been translated into English, and
have
been printed by Penguin Books. Arsene Lupin was the underworld's
version of
Sherlock Holmes. All of his exploits are related to a reporter, who then
repeats them in his newspaper articles. Usually, Arsene would alert his
wealthy victim by attaching a note, and a list, to the door of the
mansion.
(This is why Lupin the Third uses the "Lupin Will Be Here"
advance-warning card
in the anime- it's family tradition).
The target could either turn over all of the expensive works of art
given in
the list, or risk having Arsene take EVERYTHING in the mansion.
Usually, the
police would be notified, the inept Inspector Ganimard would fail to
stop Arsene,
and Arsene would use some ingenious trick to get inside the mansion and
steal
the goods. In fact, in one story, Sherlock Holmes (renamed to Herlock
Solmes)
is brought in to stop the crime, and fails. All Sherlock can do is
figure
out how it was done after the fact.
Q: What Lupin anime can I get?
A: That depends on where you are.
In America, you can see the following pretty easily:
Dubbed into English by Streamline Pictures:
-Lupin III: The Mystery of Mamo (DVD and VHS)
-The Castle of Cagliostro (Dub available on Japanese import LD, and on
old, used
VHS)
-Lupin III: Tales of the Wolf 1 & 2 (VHS)
-Lupin III’s Greatest Capers (Same as above, but with both on one tape,
and
w/captions)
Translated by AnimEigo:
-Rupan III: The Fuma Conspiracy (Dubbed and Subtitled on VHS, Subtitled
only
on LD)
-Rupan III: The Legend of the Gold of Babylon (Subtitled only on both
VHS and
LD)
Translated by Manga Video:
-Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro (Dubbed and Subtitled on VHS, and
bilingual
DVD)
In Italy, you can get a hold of the Italian versions of:
-Lupin III Series 1 Episodes 1-26 (all)
-Lupin III Series 2 Episodes 1-155 (with some episodes missing)
-Lupin III Series 3 Episodes 1-50 (I don’t know the details here)
-Lupin III Movies/Specials: Various ones are available, such as
Cagliostro Castle
and Napoleon’s Dictionary, and a few others. There are several edits on
some of
them, though.
In the UK, you can see:
-The Secret of Mamo (Lupin III: The Mystery of Mamo re-dubbed by Manga
UK,
with Lupin renamed back to "Wolf")
-The Castle of Cagliostro
-The Fuma Conspiracy
-Goodbye, Lady Liberty (In Japanese with English subtitles; if you get
an
NTSC-PAL format converter, you could import it and watch it yourself,
instead of
getting a D- or F-grade fan-sub copy. I also hear this has been dubbed
into UK-
style English, as well. Lupin is called Wolf again in the English
version.)
These titles were released by 2 different companies; one of these is
Western
Connection, the other I do not currently recall.
As for merchandise, good luck on that import jazz. In Japan, they have
hats,
shirts, figures, CDs, you name it.
Q: OK, so what’s with the "Rupan" business? And why is everyone calling
him
"Wolf" instead of "Lupin" in the dubs?
A: OK. This is a little complicated:
Arsene Lupin was created by a French author, Maurice LeBlanc. Arsene
Lupin III
is the supposed grandson of this character. However, Lupin III was not
created by
LeBlanc, but by a Japanese fellow (Monkey Punch) who tinkered with the
Lupin
"Gentleman thief" concept.
Q: But wait! Isn’t that plagiarism?
A: Well, yeah, it is. But, Japan, in the late
60’s, did not enforce international trademarks or copyrights. So, when
Monkey
Punch created Lupin III, nobody complained... except the descendants of
Maurice LeBlanc, miles across the seas. Eventually, they settled their
differences
with each other, so the name "Lupin the Third" is used freely by the
rights-
holders in Japan.
La-dee-dah. Happy ending, right? Not so. Some of these Lupin movies are
pretty darn good (Castle Cagliostro and Plot of the Fuma Clan in
particular), and
some of the American anime companies (such as Streamline Pictures and
AnimEigo) started looking into distributing these titles Stateside.
Well, the issue
there is that the rights holders to the Japanese films have no right to
license out
the name "Lupin III", only the LeBlanc estate.
Q: But if you have the rights to the film, who cares about the name,
right?
A: Right. That’s how Streamline dealt with the issue for Castle
Cagliostro (1991
subtitled theatrically, then dubbed in English on video in 1992). The
name Lupin
is mentioned only once in the dub, when Lupin’s calling card is shown.
Otherwise, he’s called "The Wolf" (or Jigen’s title for him, "Boss").
The name "Wolf" is used because the terms "lupus", "lupine", and "lupin"
have a Latin and French connection to "wolf." Even in the original
Japanese
version, Lupin was often called a "wolf," such as in the TV series
episode titles,
One Wolf Calls Another and A Wolf Kills a Pig. So, the change is not all
that
inaccurate, despite the missing syllable.
It should be noted, however, that Streamline decided to elaborate on his
name without permission from the LeBlanc estate. When they released the
two
Hayao Miyazaki-directed episodes of the 2nd Lupin series (Albatross,
Wings of
Death and Farewell, Beloved Lupin) on video (as Tales of the Wolf in
1993 and
later as Lupin III’s Greatest Capers), they began to use a mix of both
"Wolf" and
"Lupin." This is likely because of the appearances of the name in
writing on-
screen. Interestingly enough, when the name "Lupin" appears real
big-like during
the opening theme, it is partially edited out with a still-frame of
Lupin diving onto
his shoulder and shooting his gun against a blue background, as if to
cover up the
name (even though the title of the video is still Lupin III: Tales of
the Wolf).
To top it off, when they dubbed their second (and final) Lupin movie,
The
Mystery of Mamo (1995), they called him Lupin completely, except for a
written
reference in the introduction. This plagiarism might have inspired Toho
to do
what they did with AnimEigo.
AnimEigo took a different approach. Toho requested, on behalf of the
LeBlanc estate, that they not use the name "Lupin" in their translations
of Lupin
films. So, AnimEigo announced that they would use the Japanese
spelling/pronunciation of "Lupin" in Japanese: "Rupan."
Q: Why is it Rupan? His name is Lupin, not Rupan.
A: That’s true, but it’s a French name, and so "Lupin" is technically
pronounced
"Loo-pan". And, there’s no L sound in Japanese: L’s in non-Japanese
words are
replaced by R’s when converted.
So, when you buy an AnimEigo Lupin title, expect to hear the difference.
Regarding what Manga video plans to do, we have no idea at this time,
but
given previously discovered tidbits, it’s entirely possible that they
may use
"Lupin."
Q: What about manga? There is Lupin manga, right?
A: The original manga first came out on August 10th, 1967 and appeared
in Manga
Action Weekly magazine. It detailed the exploits of Jigen, Lupin,
Goemon, and
Fujiko, using an art style heavily influenced by Mad Magazine. Lupin
could
undergo all kinds of nasty punishments, and survive them. The
interactions
between the four main characters was rather confrontational. Lupin
wanted to
have sex with Fujiko, and Fujiko as often as not was Lupin's rival
instead of
assistant.
The first manga series ended in April of 1972; a new manga series called
"Shin Rupan Sansei" (The New Lupin the Third) began on 23 June 1977 with
Lupin meeting his gang after five years. With time, the artstyle
settled down
a little, but the stories remained as wild as ever. The earlier stories
have
been compiled into two sets of large hardback volumes with a very
confusing
numbering system. The second set of volumes uses the same volume
numbers
as the first set. Unless you look carefully for the kanji for "new
stories"
on the spine, you can't tell which set is which.
But, Lupin III was far from being a Gentleman Thief, like his French
grandfather was, and the manga had a very strong sexual undertone. This
was
watered down a bit in the TV series, and almost lost completely in the
TV
movies.
Since January 1997, a third manga series has been written. This time
the
authors are Shusay and Takaguchi, and the art style resembles the TV
anime.
The first series Lupin TV episodes have been collected in a color comic
format by Comic Souris. The first volume is a 3-book set of Castle
Cagliostro.
The artwork isn't always the greatest, but the manga are a nice addition
to one's
collection. Also collected, in a separate printing, is "The Mystery of
Mamo",
which is a complete waste of paper and ink.
Q: Where can I get the manga?
A: If you live in a highly populated area, you might be able to scrounge
some
up at your local inport retailer. Otherwise, just go to www.Ebay.com and
Search for "Lupin." Occaisionally, someone's auctioning some of them....
Q: Has anyone written magazine articles about Lupin the Third?
A: There are several articles about Hayao Miyazaki that mention Lupin
and the
Castle Cagliostro film. There was, however, in the September 1994 (Vol.
1, No. 7)
issue of Toon Magazine, there was a 40-page(?) article on Lupin, written
by
Michael House. The article contains a complete history, and synopses for
the
first and second TV series.
Q: Who is Michael House?
A: He translated and scripted for AnimEigo and wrote the Lupin article,
and he
created a translated script for "Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro"
that can
be found online fairly easily. Lupin Gang Anime used this script to make
their
internal-use-only copy of the film. House went on to work for Studio
Gainax in
Tokyo.
Q: Are there any Lupin games?
A: Yes, but they're all Japanese (except Cliff Hanger):
Arcade, "Lupin III"
Company: Taito
Date Released: 1980
Price (in yen): N/A
Ordering Information: N/A
Genre: Platform game
This is a pre-Nintendo era arcade game where you must avoid the
security guards and dog to steal all the money bags. The money
bags
are along the top of the screen; you can only carry two at a
time.
Carrying the bags slows you down a bit, and the guards speed up
as
you grab a money bag, you must take it to the deposit zone at
the
bottom center of the screen.
Arcade, ???, "Cliff Hanger"
Company: Stern Electronics
Date Released: 1983
Price/Ordering: N/A
Genre: LaserDisc timing game
This was a Dragon's Lair clone that used footage from The Castle
of
Cagliostro and The Mystery of Mamo; only 550 machines were made
making the laser disc from the game a rare collectible. Using
the joystick
and two action buttons (one for your hands and one for your
feet), you
made various choices of what Cliff (Lupin) should do as the
action unfolds
before you. Jumper settings inside the machine allowed on-screen
hints to
appear. The best site for more information is Cliff Hanger at
The Dragon's
Lair Project. In one episode of Macross, someone in the
background is
playing the car chase scene from the game.
(The D.L.P. site is at: http://www.dragons-lair-project.com)
Gameboy, "SD Lupin III Kinko Yaburi Daisakusen" (Big Scheme to
Steal the Gold)
Company: Banpresto
Date Released: 1989
Price (in yen): ????
Ordering Information: ????
Genre: Puzzle game
Famicom, "Lupin III: Pandora's Inheritance"
Company: Namcot (now Namco)
Date Released: 1987
Price: ?
You may choose to play as Lupin, Jigen, or Goemon; once your
character
is eliminated, you may choose from the other two. Special items
such as
armor and balloons are obtained by breaking open the white
briefcases
along the way. (Easily the best Lupin title I've played....)
-FAQ available at "Tales of the Wolf" web page
http://talesofthewolf.homepage.com/faq/Famicom.txt
-NES Emulator ROM also at "Tales of the Wolf":
http://talesofthewolf.homepage.com/faq/Lupinthe3rd.nes
Super Famicom (Super NES), "Lupin the Third"
Company: Epoch
Date Released: 1994
Price (in yen): 9800 (about $100, at the time)
Ordering Information:
Genre: Platform/puzzle game
A quiet night at the hideout is interrupted by a large man
breaking down
the door; a lady follows the man in and informs Lupin that
Fujiko has been
kidnapped. If Lupin wants to see her again, he has to find the
fountain of
youth. Lupin must battle through a skyscraper to find Fujiko and
then an
ancient castle to find the fountain of youth. To help him on his
mission,
Lupin arms himself with his trusty Walther P-38 and an array of
gadgets.
-Read the FAQ at gamefaqs.com.
http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/snes/faq/lupin_iii.txt
Sony Playstation, "Lupin III: Chateau de Cagliostro"
Company: Asmik Ace
Date Released: 1997, Re-released May 28th, 1998
Price (in yen): 6800, reduced to 2800
Ordering information: SLPS 00535~00537 (now SLPS 91060~91062)
Genre: Puzzle
(According to newsgroup scuttlebut, this is a 3D exploration
game.
You control Lupin trying to enter Cagliostro Castle after the
events of the
movie. It's basically more of an infopedia for the film than a
real game.)
Saturn, "Lupin the Third Master File"
Company: Mizuki
Release date: March 29th, 1996
Price (in yen): 5800
Ordering Information: ????
Genre: ????
Saturn, "The Lupin the Third Chronicles", N/A
Company: Spike
Date Released: 8 Aug 1997
Price (in yen): 5800
Ordering Information: ????
Genre: Seems to be collection of Lupin film scenes and the like.
Saturn, "Lupin III: Sage of the Pyramid"
Company: Asmik Ace/Tohokushinsha
Date Released: August 6th, 1998
Price (in yen): 5800
Ordering Information: T-2004G
Genre: Action game
Looks like a lot of fun, if you like Tomb Raider games....
Talesof...@Juno.com
http://go.to/lupin
Lupin FAQ: HTML version (by Luis Cruz)
http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/cruzl/lupin/faq
--
Lupin III: Tales of the Wolf
http://go.to/lupin
MST3K Anime home:
http://go.to/mst3000
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.