Lupin 2010 Special Confirmed: "The Last Job"

[Geist_MD]

So, I watched the trailer again, since it is A. Megabriefquick, and B. Says so little, in or out of Japanese.

I've been kind of refraining for making any big prediction, but would someone slap me if I was less than enthused? First Contact gets the copout, and Cagliostro is never specifically stated as their last, or second to last, or any-sort-of-job, although heavily implied in and out of interviews.

To play at Devil's Advocate, this isn't going to be a special special. Zenigata won't die, this won't be their last, and there will be a beta girl.

See the beta girl in The Elusive Fog? How about Stolen Lupin? Spoilers: She's in this special too, and her name is Mary Sue.

[Fujikogirl23]

So, I watched the trailer again, since it is A. Megabriefquick, and B. Says so little, in or out of Japanese.

I've been kind of refraining for making any big prediction, but would someone slap me if I was less than enthused? First Contact gets the copout, and Cagliostro is never specifically stated as their last, or second to last, or any-sort-of-job, although heavily implied in and out of interviews.

To play at Devil's Advocate, this isn't going to be a special special. Zenigata won't die, this won't be their last, and there will be a beta girl.

See the beta girl in The Elusive Fog? How about Stolen Lupin? Spoilers: She's in this special too, and her name is Mary Sue.

In that case, we both should get slapped. XD I'm sorry, but I gotta agree with everything Geist just said. It's like I mentioned earlier. It would be silly for them to end Lupin in less than 7 years from it's 50th Anniversary (hard to believe it won't be that long) and the title is always there to get the viewer hooked into wanting to watch these specials (remember LvC?). Don't get me wrong, I'm glad we got another special and all...I just want one that's pretty entertaining and doesn't follow the James Bond route. And....Why aren't there anymore LuxFuj moments these days?! T-T I'm sick and tired of just seeing Lupin fall in love with a girl that's very bland, boring, and nobody for one will ever see (nor care about) ever again. Not to mention how they make Fujiko do the same thing in every special. Yes, she teases Lupin, but I missed when they would both be in a life and death situation or something and they show their love for each other for one temporary moment. I wouldn't mind if it was almost like that Notradamus movie where Lupin kisses her for one second. Too bad that Panchiko game trailer wasn't the real one. I would have seen Lupin and Fujiko shoot a bullet together!

Sorry for the little tangent, but I do miss those moments and they should have Goemon doing more than just showing up for like 5 seconds in a special. It's kinda disappointing.

[Ishikawa Goemon]

Sorry for the little tangent, but I do miss those moments and they should have Goemon doing more than just showing up for like 5 seconds in a special. It's kinda disappointing.

I completely agree (to both statements, although there was little I could offer regarding Lupin and Fujiko that hadn't already been said) but everyone could have guessed at my opinion. Something more than a token action scene to compensate for him taking an hour on a mule to get where he needs to be would be nice. At least, I figure, give him a more difficult opponent; offering a challenge and then watching him struggle, but also ultimately succeeding proves his strength and endurance so much more than having him take out a cardboard villain in five seconds without breaking a sweat. Heaven forbid, though, if his sword breaks and he is written off that way.

I want to feel sympathy for him (outside of RPing) and to really care about his battles as I did in Return the Treasures, or in Red Jacket's The Last Mastery, for example, where I was anxiously waiting for the closure he needed as I pitied the grief and anger that made him impatient to avenge Jinen-Sensei.

[Fujiko Lover]

Well, my soundtrack arrived today (the speed of air mail between Japan and California never ceases to amaze me).  I haven't had time to listen to the whole thing yet, and probably won't till tomorrow, but I thought I'd post about the packaging.  It does not come in a jewel case, which disappointed me -- it's in cheapish cardboard packaging, and the CD and liner notes are in a little pocket.  The CD is then inside one of those little soft white cloth/plastic sleeve things.

Also, all the art is as "second series" as I've ever seen any recent merchandise get (he even has his pink tie in one of the pics!).  Very retro, but I like it:

(click to show/hide)

Anyway, I'll post my thoughts on the actual music tomorrow, for those who care.

[Hokori]

I want to feel sympathy for him (outside of RPing) and to really care about his battles as I did in Return the Treasures

LOL, I looooove the Goemon going on in this movie. XD


CRAZY RANTING, sorry:

(click to show/hide)

I've always thrown around ideas to friends on what they should do in Lupin--first off, seriously, we need a Jigen, Fujiko or Goemon special. I know the show's called Lupin the Third, but come on! I always wanted a story focusing on Jigen's 'curse' with women, perhaps a theory on why it started... I always had a story that he was in the mob as implied by other specials. One day while he's about to have a shoot-out with an enemy mobster, a pregnant woman runs out from the alley trying to get to work and Jigen shoots and kills her... He thinks the women dying around him is a curse because he killed two innocent dames...

I'm sorry, throwing ideas again, it's totally pointless but I want a little background, dammit! That's what was so fun about First Contact! Stuff about their pasts! XD

And then the Lupin girls. Seriously, how long have they been in American settings and still haven't ran into some sexy Latinas or black girls? I want my ethnicities, dammit! I love random white girls as much as the next (geez, are they white? They have non-Japanese names most of the time...)...

As a crazy racial mix myself, I feel cheated. I wanna see Lupin getting it on with a rainbow of my peeps from all over the world!

Of course, how about they insert a MALE ORIGINAL?

I always had a young teenaged fisherman who got involved with the gang because he fished their treasure out of the lake and was chased after (but he was poor and refused to give it up).

OR OR OR How about a female character who is already involved with a guy? Like, I had a character who was really young and poor and had a boyfriend on disability and a baby.

ALSO, I would love another differently styled movie. Island of Assassins was really cool, and I would give my left ear to see a movie in the Mankatsu/Monkey Majik style. That would be crazy awesome.

[JoYi]

+1 to the group of people that think the recent specials lack variety in original characters/concepts

I finally got around to "watching" the trailer (as in, I clicked play, watched the first four seconds and realized I'd rather check out the new Girl's Generation MV). I'm still curious about how the storyline will play out with this special, but I'm not anticipating anything smash-bang-wow.

@Hokori - I'm sure the writers have played around with the idea of writing character back stories for specials, but I think the overall fact is that by actually cementing anything, plenty of details suddenly become non-canon. Episode Zero is a perfect example of them trying, but ultimately choosing to leave it open ended to avoid all the contradictions by not confirming anything.

Sometimes I feel as though we're asking for far too much though haha. Lupin III is a series about a womanizing thief and his motley crew that steal stuff. Even if you do throw in a plot twist, the plot structure has little room for change. You have your five main characters, and additional characters can only be expected to last for the duration of the special - leaving little time for character depth. Lupin and the franchise are an iconic image, and you can't really expect anything new or shocking unless they decide to do a complete overhaul. Honestly at this point in the franchise, I'm more inclined to believe that they'd choose to retire the series rather than bother with a reinvention. Even if I don't think the new specials are all that great I'm still happy they're still making them.

Anyways... back to the new TVSP. Three days. Yay.

[Psycho_Kenshin]

In that case, we both should get slapped. XD I'm sorry, but I gotta agree with everything Geist just said. It's like I mentioned earlier. It would be silly for them to end Lupin in less than 7 years from it's 50th Anniversary (hard to believe it won't be that long) and the title is always there to get the viewer hooked into wanting to watch these specials (remember LvC?). Don't get me wrong, I'm glad we got another special and all...I just want one that's pretty entertaining and doesn't follow the James Bond route. And....Why aren't there anymore LuxFuj moments these days?! T-T I'm sick and tired of just seeing Lupin fall in love with a girl that's very bland, boring, and nobody for one will ever see (nor care about) ever again. Not to mention how they make Fujiko do the same thing in every special. Yes, she teases Lupin, but I missed when they would both be in a life and death situation or something and they show their love for each other for one temporary moment. I wouldn't mind if it was almost like that Notradamus movie where Lupin kisses her for one second. Too bad that Panchiko game trailer wasn't the real one. I would have seen Lupin and Fujiko shoot a bullet together!

I'm with you on that, I'm all about the LupinXFujiko moments. I wouldn't be surprised if they have some kind of entertaining interaction in this special at least.

And definitely, they can't end Lupin just yet, lets see a 50th anniversary movie... in theaters! Wooo.

[Fujiko Lover]

Well, I listened to the soundtrack in its entirety today.  For those who care, my thoughts (I've spoilerized my opinions of each individual track since they're a little long):

(click to show/hide)

Track 1, "Lupin the Third '10," is about what you'd expect of the Lupin theme at this point.  It has a very "big band/swing" feel to it, and the main part is played on piano, which sounds a little odd at first since I'm so used to hearing it with horns -- but since Yuji Ohno plays the piano, it's cool to hear him take center stage on his most recognizable piece of music.

Track 2 is "Love Squall".  Like most of the Lupin soundtrack music of the past few years, it sounds like it should be on a Lupin "Jazz" album, and not a soundtrack, which is ostensibly a collection of background music.  I like "Love Squall", but this version is nothing we haven't heard before -- it's a pretty standard, medium-paced "lounge-style" rendition.

Track 3 is the "Samba Temperado", and this is only the third different version of this tune ever recorded (the first two being on the 1980 OST and the "Stolen Lupin" soundtrack -- and the latter was just re-released in 2008 on the "Green vs. Red" album, too).  It's catchy, but it sounds basically just like the previous two.  I don't dislike it, but I feel like it could've been switched for something else.  I've been waiting forever for a new version of "Red Roses for the Killer" -- this would've been a good place for it!

Track 4 is "Manhattan Joke".  I really like this song, but like "Samba Temperado", this version does not seem different enough from previous ones to justify its existence.

Track 5 is "Zantetsuken", and it's definitely a stand-out on this album!  Goemon's is the character theme that's gotten the least amount of coverage over the years.  Usually he's represented by a flurry of bamboo flutes, and that's it.  The actual melody of his theme doesn't get used that often.  But it's all here on this CD, complete with some nifty electric guitar work in the middle that evokes (but doesn't copy) the riff from the original 1979 version!  This entire track seems far more inspired than anything else on this album.

Track 6.  "Treasure of the Flame".  Where does one begin?  I love the song; with vocals, I think it's the single most beautiful piece of music Yuji Ohno's ever composed.  Without vocals, I still like it -- but not like this.  This is a jazzy, "big band" version of the song.  He's done it this way before, and I've never thought it worked.  In my opinion, this song was meant to be played slowly.

Track 7 is a slow, lounge-ish version of the "Love Theme".  It works well in this format, but once again I need to wonder why it's here when it's been done the exact same way so many times before!  It doesn't sound bad, but it just sounds... unnecessary!

Track 8 is a "swing" version of Zenigata's march (with some electric guitar), and I really like it.  If you're going to re-do old tunes, this is the way to do it.  It bears similarities to other versions of the theme, but it's different enough to be fun and interesting!

Track 9, "Tornado", starts out slow and somber, in much the same way the tune is played in nearly every TV special in which it appears.  But then it gets going into a fun, faster-paced version which turns out to be a great update of the original.  It manages to retain the Latin flavor of the 1979 recording, which is something that the previous effort, on "Jazz the 10th", opted not to do.

Lastly, track 10 is an original vocal composition called "Smiling Sun" and is performed by someone named Nakano 良恵 (Google couldn't translate her last [or is it first?] name).  It's a very catchy, jazzy song (as catchy as something can be when you don't understand the language, anyway).  It's nothing outstanding, but it's enjoyable.

Whenever I write one of these, I feel like I'm coming across as too negative, but I only critique because I love!  I enjoy the music -- it's something that can be put on in the background while doing other things.  But with the exceptions of "Zantetsuken", "Tornado", and "Zenigata's March", that's really all it is.  Other than those three, none of the tracks jump out and grab me and tell me to add them to my playlists for repeated listening!

I think my main problem is that starting with, I think, the 2005 special, Yuji Ohno started treating these "soundtracks" as additional "Jazz" albums.  I like the Jazz series, but only as something to have on in the background, like I said.  The soundtracks used to be "in your face" while the Jazz stuff was more subdued.  Now (with a few exceptions as noted) it's all subdued, even the fast-paced stuff.  I miss stuff like "Red Roses for the Killer", "Dangerous Zone", etc.  Even the slower music back then had the same quality I'm talking about -- "To Oasis" and "Sphinx" are very slow-paced, but they sound so much richer and more exciting than a lot of the slow stuff we get now.

And what's frustrating is, as I've mentioned before, Yuji Ohno is still plenty capable of that kind of material -- all three recent video game soundtracks have been great, and represent what I wish the TV soundtracks still sounded like!  Why he's decided to perform every TV soundtrack like a Jazz album is beyond me, but it's not a decision I agree with.  I thought he was getting back to the good stuff with the "Sweet Lost Night" album, which featured lots of bass and "wah-wah" disco guitar, but I guess that was just a fluke.

All that said, as I mentioned, I did enjoy three tracks on this CD quite a bit, and there were a few others that were pleasant enough.  I doubt most of this material will get replayed that often though, which is unfortunate.

[Psycho_Kenshin]

Thanks for the review, Fujiko Lover. I'll agree, it does seem a bit odd that he does very similar versions of songs over and over. That way, they're all certainly good, but paying for them all would be cause for some complaint I'd say.

I do enjoy laid back Jazzy music being used on Lupin soundtracks, and also the high energy stuff, maybe 50/50 would be a good ratio.

[Sabutaatti]

Next pic made me smile today - one of the sponsors in the Last Job.

(click to show/hide)

of course you can't tell whos that pixelated character...

[Lazymez]

Next pic made me smile today - one of the sponsors in the Last Job.

(click to show/hide)

of course you can't tell whos that pixelated character...

..iPhone, pfft

Bwahah, that statement goes for me too, but this does pretty good second place:

(click to show/hide)

Screw subs, I'll go find myself a RAW. Just like last year.

EDIT: There was a short action clip on youtube but TMS was fast to cut it down. But it's still on veoh and daily motion for those who are interested fast.
At least there is more than 5 seconds worth of Goemon this year...

[Lupin the Third]

http://www.lupinthethird.net/forums/index.php?topic=1225.0

New Last Job anime discussion thread.

This thread is now locked.