Review of The New Lupin III (1977)
Parts only
This page describes the individual parts of The New Lupin III. The work as a whole is reviewed elsewhere.- Episode: “Albatross: Wings of Death” (1980)
- Episode: “Aloha, Lupin” (1980)
‣ “Albatross: Wings of Death” (1980
)
Miyazaki Hayao (director).
A wealthy, rotund German reconstructs a massive Dornier Do X, a low-tech version of the Dokuga from Conan, the Boy in Future (1978) and a high-tech version of the giant plane from “Japoteurs” (1942), intending to use it as a mobile trading post for selling miniature nukes.
Episode 145. Unexpected features of this sweet piece of self-indulgence include: A shot of an urban nuclear blast appropriate to Murakami Takashi, Fujiko’s gratuitous tits, Fujiko holding several pantiless conversations and kicking ass in the same state—lending faint credence to the myth of Nausicaä (1984) not wearing pants—and an Itano circus. Fujiko huddling scared in one scene rounds out a lapse of feminism. The villain is somewhat Totoro-like.
moving picture episode animation Japanese production fiction
‣ “Aloha, Lupin” (1980)
Miyazaki Hayao (director).
Explicitly set in 1981. A fake Lupin gang, aided by a gentle brown-haired mecha pilot who is the daughter of a great, aloof inventor, terrorizes Tokyo with giant jewellery-stealing robots to make the government feel poorly equipped.
Episode 155. The humanoid robots are closer to their Fleischer original in “The Mechanical Monsters” (1941) than are the robots of Castle in the Sky (1986). They have propellers (not around their necks), biomimetic wingtips, space for a pilot and very Ohmu-like gentle tentacles, as well as double-headed quadruped cousins with Castle’s exploding energy weapons. The tank scene of Flying Phantom Ship (1969) is repeated and greatly enhanced. There’s an anachronistic allusion to The Terminator (1984) in the dubbed Albatross: Wings of Death, and in this episode, Zenigata actually prefigures the T-1000’s motorcycle ride up the steps of Cyberdyne headquarters in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991). The original title, Saraba itoshiki Rupan yo, means “Farewell, Beloved Lupin”.
moving picture episode animation Japanese production mecha fiction