Jigen's Gravestone and Goemon's Bloodspray to leave Netflix in Japan
The spin-off films Lupin IIIRD: Jigen’s Gravestone and Lupin IIIRD: Goemon’s Bloodspray will be exiting the Netflix streaming service in Japan on February 27th, 2023.
Both films were made available on the service shortly after their original releases, in 2014 and 2017 respectively.
While each can be purchased on physical media in Japan, the lack of availability of both films on digital platforms serves as a blow for those hoping to see the announcement of a fourth film in the series, which was rumoured during an interview with Yû Kiyozono and Kōji Nozaki back in July 2020. While no further details were shared at the time - fans had been hoping to see a follow up to 2019’s Lupin IIIRD: Fujiko’s Lie, which ends on a minor cliff-hanger. Hearing the pair speak up about the possibility during said interview gave people a spark of hope - but we are now three years on, and not a word about it has been said.
At the time, we praised both films for their continuation of A Woman Called Fujiko Mine’s storyline, with their darker tone, and interesting depiction of an already familiar cast of characters. Despite some questionable content (we’re looking at you, weird drill robot), both films serve as a good watch, and it’s disappointing to see them fall by the wayside.
This does not signify the end of the franchise, though, and I’ll remain hopeful. In North America, both films can still be purchased on DVD and Blu-ray courtesy of Discotek Media, and in select territories (including Japan), all three films can be streamed online via Amazon Prime Video.
