Welcome to our second episode review of Lupin ZERO, a spin-off series by TMS and Telecom Animation!

Lupin ZERO is an original net animation prequel spanning six episodes, and it stars a young Lupin III along with his buddy, Daisuke Jigen. The pair cross paths with many colourful characters as they go on adventures, come to terms with themselves, and attempt to decide upon their paths in life. The show also features some story elements taken from the original Lupin III manga series by Monkey Punch.

Be aware that there are SPOILERS ahead.

Please only read on if you either have seen the episodes already, or do not mind learning about important character interactions and pivotal plot points in advance.

“Episode 3—The Grandson of the First Vies for Succession”

Family issues. They affect the best of us.

A racist Uncle. A father-in-law with impossibly high expectations. The feral family cat, that scowls and growls as you dare to walk by. For a defiant young Lupin III, this is an all too familiar subject. His father, a weirdo that disguises himself as whomever he wishes, abandoning his son and gallivanting around the place without a care in the world. His psychopathic grandfather, at one time a great thief, now bedridden, twisted, and surrounded by beautiful topless women half his age. And who knows who or where his mother is—certainly not around to help when needed most, anyway.

Life just isn’t easy for young Lupin III. Even with all the money in the world behind them, thanks to his grandfathers earlier escapades—happiness does not lie within their family.

Young Lupin’s opinion of his family far removed than earlier animated works. Adult Lupin III’s take on his grandfather is usually always a positive one, and he speaks of his legacy with pride. In Part 1, adult Lupin III attempts to steal his grandfathers treasure back from a museum exhibit in France, and recover the lost Art of Thievery book filled with his teachings from an island of thieves. In Blood Seal of the Eternal Mermaid, he retraces his deceased grandfathers footsteps to explore a treasure said to grant eternal life, and discover the contents of Arsène’s lost journal.

Here, young Lupin wants nothing to do with him, and it is easy to see why.

The Grandson of the First Vies for Succession features a darkly comical take on Monkey Punch’s original Young Lupin III manga stories, told in a fashion that reminded me of the early Masaaki Ōsumi directed episodes of Part 1. Young Lupin’s doddering grandfather sadistically puts his grandsons’ thievery skills to the test in a battle for his legacy. Taken against his will, Lupin faces off with three others—a pig-headed descendant of Robin Hood, named Marion, a beautiful Eastern warrior named Phoolan, and a pompous young boy on a pogo-stick named Albert.

Wait… Albert? Surely not. But wait, it is him!

Why do we know this? Well, he gets shot. Albert always gets shot. Better to start early and get used to that, my friend, it becomes a regular occurrence by Part 6! What’s with that get-up? Digging the hair, man.

Anyway—with no concern for their safety, Lupin I kicks the four out into the mansion grounds as they race to infiltrate “The Hollow Needle”, a huge training facility filled with deadly tricks and traps, in a race for his fortune. As the unfortunate participants’ duke it out, back in the mansion, it appears Lupin I is having health issues, and is awaiting surgery from a group of suspicious looking gangst- er, I mean, totally legit medical professionals. Get well soon, gramps.

Things take a bit of a turn, as the combatants face-off in the final challenge leaves “poor old” misogynist and potential child murderer Marion Hood down for the count, after making the unfortunate discovery that the door to the treasure was booby trapped. Geez—whatever happened to simply robbing rich highway men and giving to the poor? Lupin I reveals that the game was all a ruse, and that the contracts the four signed actually agreed to the “winner” donating their heart to him, so that he could continue living. While young Lupin had the old coot sussed all along, the others did not, and Marion loses his life in favour of Arsène prolonging his.

Jesus, that’s dark!

The episode, sans some characters, is more or less a 1:1 retelling of chapter thirty-seven of the original manga, Lupin III vs Arsène Lupin, even down to the twist at the end. I am here for it. Personally, I have always been a fan of the idea that the Lupin family is filled with bat-shit larger than life characters. It is more interesting than his grandfather simply taking on the role of capable gentleman thief for him to idolize. Monkey Punch always put a fascinating spin on things in his original stories, for better and for worse, and here, it works.

As with previous episodes, the character of young Lupin is not too dissimilar to his adult self, leaping and yelling as he narrowly avoids “The Hollow Needle’s” many trials. While he does make it through, nearly ends up blasted by a group of deadly laser beams due to his carelessness. Adult Lupin III is usually the one doing the protecting—but this time, his life is saved by Phoolan (later revealed to be his father in disguise), at the last second. This served as a nice little moment that reminded me of young Lupin’s incompetence when compared to his older self, as slight as it is.

The episode ends with young Lupin and Jigen sitting together at school—both smoking, at this point, complaining about their family issues. Even at the age of thirteen, the pair sound like old men, and their bond is forming ever stronger. Seeing how the two go from this, to smoking in their broken down car at the end of Jigen’s Gravestone, or discussing their life values in Part 5, is the real triumph of this spin-off. While I adored seeing the maniac Lupin family members show up in this episode, I cannot wait to get back to the Lupin and Jigen team-up in next week’s episode.

8/10

A fun animated take on an original Young Lupin III manga chapter, the third episode of Lupin ZERO focuses on its larger than life characters and story, with plenty of twists that will keep you hooked.

“Episode 4—Claim the Whiskey Pipe!”

How do you think the much beloved anime character Daisuke Jigen enjoyed his first ever sip of bourbon?

Perhaps it was from sharing a glass with an elder, or whilst out on the streets, after scrapping with local youths, or hoodlums? Answers like these would have been my personal go-tos, if asked before watching this episode of Lupin ZERO. I could never have foreseen both he and a young Lupin III floating along a sea of the stuff, riding in an inflatable dingy, all while being pursued by the American army through the sewers beneath Tokyo.

What an origin story for future Jigen’s favourite drink!

Claim the Whiskey Pipe is a beautifully told comedy come adventure episode of Lupin ZERO, and I am finding it difficult to put into words just how much I adored this episode. My GOD. This is the stuff. Hit me again, bartender.

The story opens up with Lupin up to no good, running around the streets of Tokyo after blowing up a fireworks’ factory after some “help” from his buddy Jigen’s lighter. Things quickly take a turn, as Lupin is soon put to house arrest by family maid Mrs. K- I mean, Shinobu, for visiting his deranged grandfather in the last episode. Later, at school, Lupin has the swell idea of escaping his home, and running away to a secret base that he will build and hide within the school. Operating at 1000%, Lupin gets to work, and after a montage of successes and fails, he soon gets a well-deserved shouting at. Jigen, who is already getting Sick Of This Shit (tm), snaps at the young thief. This is after learning about his next plan; stealing booze from the U.S. army, who appear to be smuggling it in the country to sell on the black market.

Half-way in, and there is already a lot to love here. We start to see more of Jigen’s character develop, as he dips in and out of being the pissy mom figure he sometimes is in later series, to the grinning best friend, excited at the prospect of one of Lupin’s big ideas. Sure, he’s curious. Jigen has yet to taste whiskey—he comes from a poor background, and does not have the luxuries of our well-to-do thief. With that said, he does not want to see his new friend come to harm. After all, his pops raised him, in part, on the battlefield. He likely knows what going up against an army can come to.

Back on his house-boat (yes, Jigen lives on a house-boat, and yes, this is perfect), our hatted gun-man attempts to fix his damaged lighter, and fails. This scene gave me big One Chance for a Prison Break vibes from Part 1, for some reason. I think this was partly the music, but also the style of the episode. A tale wrapped around a strong dynamic between characters. In Prison Break, it is Zenigata contemplating his relationship to Lupin, and what ignoring his head and going with his heart means for him. Here, it is Jigen. Our boy is deep in thought, likely thinking about how his friend is always up to no good, but is wrestling with the idea of wanting to be by his side. Should he follow his heart and go on these adventures, playing along with Lupin’s games, or should he do what his head is telling him, and quit while ahead?

Back in Lupin’s secret base, plans have kicked into motion for stealing the whiskey. Our hero dreams of having a tap that runs endless amounts of the stuff—and if there’s one thing I have learnt from the now over fifty years of this series’ history, it is that Lupin does not give up. He sneaks into the sewer where the tap is hidden, goes toe to toe with the U.S. personnel guarding it, and is about to be gunned down by their leader. Even at the age of thirteen, Lupin is meddling with the armed forces. It seems that Lupin fans can never escape a military plot—but at least this is one of the best ones!

Bang. From the shadows, it’s Jigen. Of course, he chose to listen to his heart. The pair escape the sewer and batter the baddies by turning their own treasure against them—flooding the place with liquor. The escape sequence is goofy, but a lot of fun. Lupin tosses an endless amount of items from his secret hideout at the army goons, with help from his seemingly endless magic pockets. Jigen, tipsy as can be, readies the inflatable boat, and the pair paddle away, making their escape.

Back at the hideout, the two lay down to rest. Lupin is cold, and Jigen crouches down to light the fire. The lighter just works. The flame, a perfect metaphor for how he feels to be alongside his friend. His antics, his big ideas, and all the good times they share. It just works. It keeps the fire going inside him. Inside his… lighter… too… I guess? EITHER WAY, it’s beautiful, and I nearly cried… alright?!

Seriously, I could not have enjoyed this episode more. There are so many amazing little details in Lupin and Jigen’s relationship. It is all written in a way that is both heart-warming, and makes sense when you take into account their bond in adulthood. Seeing Lupin scratch away Jigen’s name from the whiskey pipe while the pair were at odds, only for the ending scene to focus on a handmade wooden sign on the wall of the hideout.

“For Lupin and Jigen only”, it reads. Chef’s kiss. This is the stuff.

10/10

Episode four of Lupin ZERO sports tonnes of nice little character details and some superb pacing. It proves you do not need big heists and bombastic car chases to make a fun Lupin adventure, and it currently sits as my favourite episode of the show yet.

Final thoughts

How good were these two episodes?!

Episode three is a great dark mystery, faithfully retold from the original manga, with plenty of action mixed in for good measure. Episode four is a heart-warming tale that builds upon two already well established characters in a way that is no doubt going to make many viewers happy, as it has me.

I am curious to see how ZERO wraps up. It appears that the final two episodes will have much higher stakes, with the army, Yakuza, and Lupin II all getting involved in a plot that could throw Tokyo into chaos. What awaits our heroes next? Will the format of ZERO work for a slightly longer, more serious adventure? I cannot wait to find out, and judge the series as a whole after it wraps up in a couple of weeks time!

Man, I wish it was longer… Like they say—you can’t have too much of a good thing!

Looking to keep up with all of our Lupin ZERO written reviews? Why not check out our new Lupin ZERO review hub to find links to the review of each episode, and our “final thoughts” article once it releases in early 2023!

Click the banner below for more information.