“Year of Lupin” celebration unveiled for North America!
TMS Entertainment USA have announced “The Year of Lupin”, a celebration to mark the 50th anniversary of the original Lupin III animated TV show.
The momentous occasion will be kicking off immediately - with the original theatrical Lupin III film, The Mystery of Mamo, being made available on Amazon Prime Video in North America today.
The release features 1080p HD video quality and the mid-2000’s Geneon / Pioneer English language dub. This stars Tony Oliver as Lupin, Richard Epcar as Jigen, Lex Lang as Goemon, Michelle Ruff as Fujiko and Dan Lorge as Inspector Zenigata. At time of writing, the film costs $2.99 to rent and $9.99 to purchase.
Plenty more is on the way, with TMS Entertainment USA revealing a small part of what is to come in their press release for the event. Check the excerpt below for more details:
“This year marks the 50th year since the gentleman thief Lupin III debuted in an animated format back in 1971 with LUPIN THE 3rd: PART 1. Since then, the LUPIN THE 3rd franchise has followed adventures of Lupin and his friends through six television series, over ten theatrical releases and 27 feature-length TV specials. In addition to the release of Mystery of Mamo, TMS Entertainment also have announced various events and releases of Lupin specials to make 2021 the Year of Lupin. Following event are set to launch in the months of February and March with more to be announced throughout the year:
Top 50 Episodes Countdown: specially curated episodes of LUPIN THE 3rd by the series producer-will be made available on TMS Entertainment’s YouTube channel.
Digital releases of fan favorites and criminally underrated LUPIN THE 3rd TV specials and OVAs will be announced throughout the year starting with LUPIN THE 3rd PART 4, LUPIN THE 3rd: Italian Game and LUPIN THE 3rd: Dragon of Doom slated for release on Amazon’s Prime Video platform later this month.
Following the recent release of the critically acclaimed LUPIN THE 3rd: Castle of Cagliostro on 4K UHD, March 30 will see the release of LUPIN the Third: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine and LUPIN THE 3rd: Missed by a Dollar on Blu-ray.
TMS Entertainment has also released a short trailer commemorating the 50th anniversary of Lupin’s first animated appearance.”
This is no doubt very exciting news for Lupin fans living in North America.
In addition to this, we are already aware that TMS Entertainment in Japan have something special in store to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Part I TV series.
While no further news has been revealed in regards to this, considering the amount of hype currently being drummed up by their North American arm, we can only assume whatever this will be is likely to also receive a more global release.
The franchise is currently running on a bit of a high at the moment in North America - fresh off the success of Lupin III: The First, which recently released on home video complete with an English language dub. Discotek Media have already announced a heap of TV specials, along with the much anticipated box set of the 1985 pink jacket series, Part III.
Could even more be on the way? Stay tuned for all the latest details as they become available - and may 2021 now officially be known as the “Year of Lupin”!
