Digital 3D animation is the future, though of course that is not to say 2D digital, or more laborious techniques (such as stop-motion or painting-on-glass) will die out as long as artists have enough incentives and/or love for their art. As of now however, few anime studios or studio departments can elevate it into competing with American 3D productions, instead turning to often awkward and disharmonious blending of 2D and 3D (although some succeed, such as Ufotable).

This is why anime of Orange (Land of the Lustrous and Beastars) pleased me with their decent full 3D production, of course coupled with great sound direction and decent narratives. Some short works are even better in the animation department.

But they cannot compete with the object of the current review.

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[1. Starting with the visual production...]
I can confidently say it’s a wonder of animation (among Japanese), and its 3D animation comes very close to rivaling American productions. Highly animated sequences are smooth, dynamic and never cumbersome, whether it is e.g. hand-to-hand combat or dogfights or mere talking. It’s also successful in the special effects department.

Character designs have transited from 2D to 3D very well, with some aesthetic changes, such as Jigen wearing a beard closer to stubble or a slimmer model for Fujiko. I liked almost all (save for Goemon’s) for their rich facial expressions. However, I must point out that although animation is excellent, there are a couple of limitedly animated scenes that stuck out and I spotted an off-model. Outside animation, backgrounds were rich, varied and fitting each region portrayed (e.g. Paris) and there was outrageous detail behind vehicles and weapons. Also, I loved how clearly and correctly French and English letters were presented, I literally paused in order to read.

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[2. Proceeding with the audio production...] The OP is an arrangement of the primary theme of Lupin III, a highly iconic jazz theme used since 1977. The rest of the music is a jazz score fitting with the old-school feel of Lupin III movies, whereas the ED is a soothing soul/jazz/ambient (I’m not certain on the genre) vocal song, performed by Lyn Inaizumi.

Voice acting is solid and up to the standards of a good anime movie, be it reoccurring or new characters, but my favorite audio aspect is sound direction. Sound effects and lines matched perfectly with body and facial movements of characters or motions of objects. I rewatched certain scenes just because I enjoyed the sound effect in question; an example includes an anti-material rifle being fired.

Must warn you as a concluding note: most fan translations are rather bad with subtitles not matching the lines, so you might have to be patient to find tolerable ones.

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[3. And concluding with story and characters...] [a.] For the purpose of this section, I will first initiate readers to movies of the Lupin III franchise. Each installment is part heist adventure and part action-comedy, although certain also take a thriller approach. There are countless such “specials” and movies, with varying quality, yet no matter the work twists tend to be predictable and with quite some clichés.

And it’s perfectly fine so! The strength of Lupin III movies lies into freedom and simple entertainment. Outside a trilogy of movies connected to Mine Fujiko to Iu Onna, there are no restrictions in watch order whereas narratives are easily digestible, with fair amounts of kooky humor, frequent changes of scenery and action sequences.

The First’s narrative draws influence from Raiders of the Lost Ark. The story begins with a “cold open” in France during WW2, with Nazis attempting to take by force a clockwork mechanism holding a diary belonging to a French archaeologist. After the opening sequence the story switches to a time skip in the 60s. Lupin attempts a heist at a site where the mechanism is held, and he and the rest of the gang are gradually involved in a conspiracy of Nazi remnants. Anything else I note may spoil too much fun, so I’ll let it be, but will note that the narrative’s pacing is smooth, the story is not convulted yet compelling enough, however it is also a bit too extravagant concerning some “rule of cool” sci-fi elements.

[b.] The gang of four remains the same as other movie titles: Lupin is quirky, super quick on his toes, a womanizer, crafty and cunning.

Jigen is a cool-headed marksman and aloof friend/ally of Lupin, Goemon is a cool samurai (and even speaks like one) and Fujiko is the resident femme fatale of the show: equally quick on her toes as Lupin, uses her beauty and charm to escape of being cornered and frequently outsmarts our womanizer protagonist. And the reoccurring antagonist also appears: inspector Zenigata from Interpol. He is obsessed with chasing Lupin and gang around the world, to arrest and bring them into justice. Of note is an amusing moment involving him and romance. The main cast also includes Laetitia. She is a young French woman forced to cooperate with the Nazis due to certain circumstances, and dreams of studying archaeology in the US. Other than being adorable and sympathetic, she is also a huge bookworm and extremely knowledgeable on ancient civilizations, even being able to read cuneiform.

As for the rest of the cast, they include mooks and the Nazi leadership, a step above typical action movie villains, but remain the weakest link as despite a little depth they fall flat.

Hope you enjoyed my review!