Aug 5

Aug 5 Manga Stories I'd Like to See Adapted

On August 10, 1967, a story called “The Gallant Entrance of Lupin III” appeared in the pages of Weekly Manga Action magazine, written and drawn by Kazuhito Kato, under the pen name of “Monkey Punch”.

It was a modernized parody of Maurice Leblanc's “Arséne Lupin” stories, starring the alleged grandson of the titular gentleman thief, Arséne Lupin.

It also featured modern parodies of Heji Zenigata and Kogoro Akechi, making the first Lupin the Third story a crossover fanfic of mystery literature, essentially.

It didn't take long for the series to form its own identity, and quickly it began getting adapted into animation. The resulting TV series, movies, and TV specials are something I'm sure you're all familiar with.

Now, it is currently August 2022, and thus the 55th anniversary of Lupin the Third as a franchise! And I'm gonna celebrate by spending FAR too long pondering the question, “What are some manga stories that were never adapted into anime that I wish had been?”

(Disclaimer: this isn't a comprehensive list of manga stories that weren't adapted, nor is it a list of my favorite chapters. These five were the first that came to mind)

Also, the Japanese titles of the stories will be listed first, and the English title (if one exists) second.

All right, let’s get this party started!

Buckle in, it’s a long one!

—

“Dr. Franken”/”Dead For Life”

New Adventures Chapter 11-12 (original series Chapter 92-93)

Lupin has to match wits with a mad scientist named “Dr. Franken”, an underworld boss that uses hypnotized corpses to do his bidding.

After losing his first battle against the doctor, Lupin tries to win him over with...wind-up toys. Lots of wind-up toys.

This was always a favorite of mine ever since I first read it as a teenager. Dr. Franken (or Dr. Frank N. Stein in the Tokyopop translation) is a really cool villain with a creepy but fascinating M.O.

Not to mention that Lupin attempting diplomacy; trying to making a friend out of Franken is a neat change of pace.

Despite the morbid subject matter, the story somehow manages to be quite funny in that classic Monkey Punch way.

I'll admit, this is an interesting one to start this article with, because I feel like Part II attempted to adapt the story twice, but didn't commit to going all the way with it: episodes 50 and 51 featured hypnotized corpses, and the character Hangman in episode 45 seems to be based, in part, on Franken.

And, of course, Dr. Franken himself (and his zombie dog!) have a short cameo in Part 5.

Not gonna lie, I let out an audible gasp at that point in the Part 5 episode.

For the hypothetical anime version: It'd probably be no problem to pad out the length with subplots for the rest of the gang and Zenigata. Maybe have some kind of treasure that Lupin and Franken are competing for?

I could totally see Lupin's wacky wind-ups fitting right in with a late Part II episode. I imagine Yuzo Aoki having fun with it.

—

“Eternal Lupin Empire”/”Hail to the King”

Original series Chapter 11

Lupin's badly injured and hospitalized after the train he's on is blown up by a man known only as “King”. Lupin the bandage mummy escapes another attempt on his life, and has to deal with King's machinations to take over Lupin's criminal empire. Not helped by King recruiting Fujiko and even Jigen to his side!

This would ABSOLUTELY be a Part I episode. Early Part I at that. We're set entirely in the criminal underworld this time, King being a smug, ambitious antagonist, and the injured Lupin having to battle his best friend, who's working for the bad guy.

This would be right up Masaaki Osumi's alley. A dark, dangerous atmosphere, backstabbing from every direction, with some slaptick levity to keep things from being TOO rough.

I dunno if this gag would’ve made it into the anime version, but it had me laughing out loud first time I read it.

And I feel like it's worth mentioning that King ALSO showed up in that aforementioned Part 5 episode, so we've seen him in animation before, for what it's worth.

I’m mixed on Part 5 as a whole, but MAN, I sure loved this episode.

I feel like stories about Lupin’s adventures in the criminal underworld were kinda phased out after Part I (barring some exceptions like “Voyage to Danger”, which, unsurprisingly, was directed by Osumi), and it’s something we could all use more of, eh?

Spoiler alert: Jigen doesn’t kill his best friend, and Lupin defeats King.

—

“Hold Up”/”Melon the Magician”

Shin Lupin Chapter 15

Source: Lupin III: World’s Most Wanted - Vol. 2

Lupin's targeting the recent discovery of some buried treasure, but the owner of the land has the only map showing its location...he's also got Inspector Zenigata and his sidekick Melon Cop as security detail.

Lupin clearly knows how to handle Zenigata, but the more ruthless Melon (described by Lupin as “more assassin than cop”) is a master of sleight-of-hand magic, and is proving to be more difficult to get past.

I wanted a few chapters of Monkey Punch's 1977-1981 manga “Shin Lupin the Third” (released in English as “Lupin III: World's Most Wanted”) on this list because I love it...however, the problem with it is that most of the chapters aren't full stories.

They're more like little vignettes in the adventures of Lupin III. Single scenes that end with some kind of punchline or dramatic reveal. Nothing wrong with quick, fun, done-in-one reads, of course. Until it comes time to adapt 'em into animation.

This one's a weird entry to this list. It's not included solely because of the story itself (though it's very good), but moreso for the character of Melon Cop (who we'll see again later in this article).

Ideally, this story would be combined with the chapter where Melon is first introduced, serving as the latter half of the episode...unfortunately for this article, his introduction was adapted as episode 28 of Part II, with Melon re-imagined as the super-cute granddaughter of Inspector Ganimard, Arséne Lupin's archenemy.

I dunno, man. Maybe it’s the glasses that do it for me.

But if we were able to have a different introduction to Melon (perhaps one that still establishes Lupin's hatred of the dude) as the first half of a Part III episode, we'd be able to do this chapter as the second half, with all the disguises and twists of Lupin's heist, plus his wacky magic battle against Melon.

“My stories always end with the characters just running. I’d just be drawing and drawing without thinking about it, and then I’d realize the page count’s getting tight. ‘Uh oh. Time for ‘em to run’!” - Monkey Punch

—

“The Three-Legged Man's Calling Card”

Lupin the Third T, Chapter 1

Source: Lupin III T, Vol. 1 (fan translation by Shikiganai Scans)

An elderly Lupin III sits on his porch one afternoon when an equally-aged Zenigata shows up to arrest him. Lupin talks him out of it and they instead reminisce while having tea...until the conversation turns to “that day”, where Fujiko was captured by a sinister pharmaceutical company, and the Lupin Gang goes to rescue her.

However, Zenigata was also there, serving as security for the company after Lupin sends a calling card referencing the Sphinx's Riddle.

What REALLY happened at M.D. Science on “that day”...?

The only non-Monkey Punch story on this list, Togekinoko's “Lupin the Third T” gets off to a strong start with this one-off story about an aged Lupin and Zenigata thinking back on their “final adventure”.

Despite the potential for being sentimental and bittersweet, the story manages to be a lot of fun, with Togekinoko's always stellar artwork, humor, and an ending twist that'd make Monkey Punch proud.

Admittedly, I haven’t read as much of Lupin T as I’d like, but I’ve really enjoyed everything that I **did** read. It’s great!

Due to the story's premise of Lupin and Zenigata looking back at their past, this would've been a perfect fit for Part 5.

That series focused a lot on the idea of these characters getting older and trying to figure out how they fit into current day, and what better way than to have the characters actually AS old men?

Also, Togekinoko's style has a more modern “anime” bent to it (especially compared to MP's more old-school cartooning style), which I think would help a bit in adaptating it, especially because it reads like an episode anyway (not that I'm knocking the artwork. Togekinoko is great, just a different kind of great than these other entries).

—

“Eye For an Eye, Tooth For a Tooth!”

Shin Lupin Chapter 16

An eccentric millionaire has his teeth replaced by diamond dentures. Lupin sends a note announcing his intention to steal the bejeweled choppers.

However, Fujko's already there, posing at the victim's secretary. Can Lupin get Fujiko out of the way, and with Jigen and Goemon's help, play tooth fairy for the man with the dazzling smile while avoiding Zenigata and Melon?

I swear, you can hear the “nyoom” of a passing car as Pops comes rushing in

As I said before, “Shin Lupin the Third” stories are tough for a project like this, due to the first few years of it being mostly little vignettes, while the last leg of it being mostly long, epic multi-parters, both being difficult to adapt into 22-minute TV episodes.

This one, however, is an exception, being a complete story. And, if there's something you should know about my tastes in Lupin the Third media, it's that I think the best entries tend to be heist stories and/or humorous in a cartoony way.

This chapter pulls off both, beautifully.

The story is ridiculous in a very Looney Tunes way (the final panel in particular having a very Chuck Jones or Friz Freleng bent to it). All five main characters have a role to play (even if it's just something as small as Goemon threatening a dentist with his Ryusei to keep him quiet), which is always nice to see.

While I'd hesitate to say it was “animated”, this story was a part of a 1998 Lupin the Third PlayStation title.

It wasn't really a game, though. It was more of a collection of motion comics, a handful of Shin Lupin chapters. What's interesting is that there's Engish text and VOICE ACTING on it (which means that Melon has had an official voice actor in both Japanese and English)!

...still technically doesn't count as an anime adaptation, so I'm gonna include it here (and besides...it's my list anyway, so there).

Source: Lupin the Third (PS1) (YouTube video uploaded by Oranges Love)

Let's be honest, there's only one place an episode like this would fit, and that's Part III.

That series adapted several Shin Lupin stories anyway. I could see Part II attempting it, but (and I hate to admit it, being the Part II fanboy that I am) I don't think that show's animation would've been able to do justice to the wacky slapstick contained in the manga version, whereas that was Part III's bread and butter.

Do you promise to pull the tooth, the whole tooth, and nothing but the tooth?

—

And there you have it!

Honestly, as much as I love Lupin manga (particularly Monkey Punch's work), I could've easily made this already-lengthy article much longer, but that'd take some fun out this next point:

What official Lupin the Third manga stories would YOU have liked to have seen animated? Let us know in the comments below, or on Twitter!