A Romp With A Serious Message

Lupin III: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine at first is an uncomfortable watch. From the onset, it's not afraid to shove boobs and ass in your face. You'd gather from this that it might just be a fanservice series for Fujiko (let's face it, she's pretty hot), but as the series progresses you quickly learn your mistake. Every aspect of this show has been superbly crafted, save for perhaps a tighter narrative and audio direction.

Before I launch into the individual elements that make this show great, I'd just like to say that this is probably _not _ the best place to start with Lupin III. The experience of seeing the cast come together is something lost in translation without previous Lupin experience. I'd probably recommend watching the original 1971-2 series first, or a few of the movies like The Castle of Cagliostro to get a flavour for the characters.

Story: 9/10

Like most shows, this series is essentially a set of different adventures (or in this case, heists) which lead towards a thrilling finale. Most of these adventures are pretty interesting, and the show does a good job in showing how Lupin or Fujiko actually did the heist/stole the thing. Some of these episodes are also origin episodes for each character, which are excellent. However this show definitely feels like a show of two halves: the first half being relatively light-hearted and establishing characters, before switching to the second half which is much darker and shows the finale of these characters arcs. This unfortunately means the ending is a little rushed, which is a shame because it's such a trope-breaking ending. All in all, the story here is fantastic but not perfect.

Characters: 9/10

If you've seen any of the other Lupin series, then you'll know how good these characters are. Arsène Lupin III, the wisecracking thief; Jigen Daisuke, the master gunslinger; Fujiko Mine, the main focus of the series and master burglar/seductress; Goemon Ishikawa XIII, the measured samurai; Inspector Zenigata, Lupin's archrival. As well as these interesting and loveable characters, there are an array of vibrant and varied supporting characters. I can't say enough about the character development in this too. We see all the characters grow, and some in particular have very interesting character arcs that challenge the traditional portrayal. My only gripe is that we didn't really see an arc for Lupin - I would've like to have seen why he became a thief. But I can't complain because the characters here are near damn perfect.

Visuals: 9/10

The animation style here is unique. It uses a lot of line shading like in manga, and the character design is very angular. It took a little getting used to as it's so different from the original Lupin's art style, but I came to love it. The animation here shows flair and originality as well as subtlety when needed. This once again reaches the very high bar that Lupin series set for themselves.

Audio: 8/10

Like classic Lupin, the soundtrack has a lot of jazz influences. For someone like me who loves jazz, it's a dream. For the show, it's a perfect fit. It oozes sexiness and suaveness, providing the perfect background for the slick tone of thievery. The OP and ED are pretty unimaginative however. The OP grates after a while, as instead of music it is spoken word. A good idea, but not a very good showcase for the musical ingenuity of the Lupin team. The ED is servicable but nothing more.

Enjoyment: 9/10

This is obviously not a perfect show. But it's one of the best Lupin series, if not one of the finest examples of how Lupin is still great after all these years. I literally could not stop watching this show and ended up finishing it in two days. Given previous Lupin experience, you will lap up this show, but without it I think you will lose some of the impact. It's a diverse, raucous romp like the original Lupin; but at the same time offers measured mature content that challenged viewpoints and tropes.