Is The Sandman still worth reading?

Neil Gaiman’s Sandman exists in a strange place in our culture. It’s often spoken of as a seminal work in the medium of comics, sometimes even by people who think that comics are nothing more than juvenile trash. I’m sure there are people who, it’s the only comic book they’ve read, and insist that it is not a comic book series but a “Graphic Novel”. It’s often cited as one of the titles from when “DC Comics grew up” alongside Watchmen (a story about how superheroes are worthless or power-crazed rapists) and Dark Knight Returns (Neo-Fascist Propaganda about how the strong-man should take power). But Sandman is much larger than these 2 works and is largely undiscussed; only ever mentioned as if it’s one story. But does it deserve its acclaim? The answer is “Yes”. There you go if that’s all you wanted, done, now go read Sandman. Why is it worth reading, a story to be worth reading has to be either a historical relic or have ideas or themes relevant to today. Otherwise it’s just escapist fluff, not worthy of any celebration or analysis. 

As well as its strange place in culture, Sandman manages to be in the DC Universe and also separate, which helps it be an evergreen title. Before we delve into themes and analysis I need to lay out characters and plot. Sandman has a shifting protagonist, although Dream or Morpheus is in almost every issue he is often in a support role in the story (or occasionally antagonist). Dream is the lord of all stories, master of all things that never were and never-will-be. One of the Endless, gods above all other pantheons that exist forever. A mysterious and stoic figure who bares a striking resemblance to series author Neil Gaiman. 

Dream’s closest companion is Matthew the Raven, before the series he appeared in Swamp Thing and Doom Patrol. He used to be a man but now he’s a raven. He mostly serves as the reader's point of view character, because being a former human living in the dreaming his perspective is closest to the readers (this also allows Morpheus to remain mysterious and brooding) .

Lucien the librarian is Morpheus’ most loyal follower. He organises the library and that’s about it. The library has every book ever written and every book ever thought of and never finished.

Death is the older sister of Dream. She talks to every living thing when they are born and when they die. Her existence gives purpose to life and loves all living things. She is also the one person who Morpheus will definitely listen to.

Dr Destiny only makes the characters breakdown because he is the main antagonist of the first story-arc. He first appeared as a JLA villain in the silver age and as an attempt to copy Marvel’s Dr Doom. He’s radically altered into a more horrifying character, a mentally unhinged man playing with powers greater than he can understand.

Desire and Despair, the twins of the Endless. Unlike Dream and Death they see no value in human life. They’re a pair of sadists who love to toy with humans. As the Budha said, the cause of suffering is Desire. Despite being twins they couldn’t look more different. Desire is based on the art of Patrick Nagel (best known for Duran Duran Album covers and 1980’s salon decor). Whilst Despair is a saggy boobed short sumo wrestler. Despair also lives inside of her brother-sister (Desire was too greedy to pick just one gender).

Cain and Abel the original double act from the Bible, Murderer and Victim. They live inside the Dreaming not too far away from their mother Eve. Cain and Abel were also the hosts of the DC Horror Anthology series “House of Mystery”.

Rose Walker, seemingly a normal girl with narcolepsy. Like Matthew she serves as a point of view character except her parts of the story happen more in the waking world. 

The Fiddler’s Green, a former location in the Dreaming, turned into a man. The Fiddler’s Green was a paradise, but during Morpheus' time in captivity he grew bored and decided to wander around the waking world.

The Corininthian a nightmare, with no eyes and 3 mouths. He loves to eat eyes.

Hippolyta Hall, former member of the JSA and wife of Hank Hall (a superhero called The Sandman). She for a time lived in the dreams of Jed Walker with her husband in recurring superhero adventures, pregnant but never giving birth. 

Barbie, named after the popular doll. She had a boyfriend Ken, and seemed to just be a shallow representation of 1950’s Americana. However, in her dreams she had a whole fantasy life and was a guardian of a dreamworld. When she was cut off from her dreamworld she became dissatisfied with her outerlife rejecting the trappings Ken put her in and becoming a performance artist. 

Lucifer the ruler of hell, recurring antagonist. Dream’s story mirrors his (more on that later).

Nuala, originally a gift from the faeries to Morpheus. She was literally objectified, but within the Dreaming she finds more agency and starts to be a person. She is “rescued” by her brother Cluracon, but her new found agency and desire to be herself is not welcome in Faerie.

Hob Gadling, a man who made a deal with Dream and Death that he’d never die.

William Shakespeare, the historical writer, you know who he is.

Delirium, the youngest of the Endless. She was once Delight, she is now Delirium. She wanders the universe as a lost child saying gibberish. She was very close to her brother Destruction but he left. 

Bast, an Egyptian god with the head of a Cat. She is in love with Dream.

Puck, a trickster faerie borrowed from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

The Aesir, Mostly Odin, Loki and Thor. Portrayed more like the Norse Mythology than the Marvel comics.

Orpheus, Son of Morpheus and Ophelia. The Mythical tragic hero from Orpheus and Eurydice, now he’s just a head.  

Mervyn Pumpkinhead, the Janitor of the Dreaming. He’s a Jack Kirby type, working class grumbler who does all the manual labour. Some of his dialogue feels like a commentary on the relationship between Stan Lee and Jack Kirby (Dream being Stan Lee getting all the credit while Kirby did all the drawing).

DC generally has one plot and it’s.

Sandman however is more defined by its zagging to superhero comics zigging. Dream is not a Superhero, he starts off imprisoned (something that rarely happens to heroes) and is then seeking to reclaim his power. Superheroes are generally reactive characters, they have to wait for a villain to start the conflict. The first 8 issues retroactively called “preludes and nocturnes” are separate from the main story and also have a “this won’t last” reading like Neil Gaiman felt at any moment DC would cancel the book. The first arc also has more mainstream DC characters appear within it. The guest stars could be editorial mandates or Gaiman’s excitement that he gets to play in the DC sandbox. (For those wanting to know the guest stars are; John Constantine, Mr Miracle, The Scarecrow, Dr Destiny, Martian Manhunter, Mad Hettie, Etrigan the Demon and probably someone I’m forgetting). 

After Preludes and Nocturnes it becomes a story about a god burdened by his responsibilities and whose actions turn into his downfall. Or was that what he wanted, Lucifer tricked him into letting him abdicate his throne in the story arc The Season of Mists. Did Morpheus see this and work his own way out, through all of his decisions? Would he really take the wrath of the Kindly Ones to leave his own throne.

Now full disclosure, I am talking exclusively about the 75 issue comic series. I have not seen the TV adaptation, and don’t really intend to. Honestly I’m kind of sick of this idea that a comic being adapted into another medium is an improvement. I genuinely regard that kind of thinking as an insult against the artform that is comics. It’s completely appropriate that a reflection on stories took place within a comic book, because comics are our oldest documented form of storytelling. Don’t believe me, what’s a cave painting if not a comic, sure it would take many centuries before we got to Little Nemo or Superman but it’s the genesis of the art form. Using pictures to tell stories. I’ve probably now unfairly dismissed the audio book, which I’m more likely to check out later. But I don’t think putting a comic on the same platform as Love Island elevates the comic book. If anything I think more people should be reading comics and less people should be using webcomics as a stepping stone to achieve their real dream. I genuinely find it kind of sad that even whilst Sandman was being made as a monthly series, Warner Bros have been trying to adapt it. So many attempts have been made that I think Gaiman actually went “sod it, I’ll let the writer of Batman V Superman have the rights, it can’t end up worse than Blade Trinity”.

Somebody once told me that Sandman is all about (in their words) “Family is shite”. Even more baffling, somebody else in the same room thought that this was a deep take on the material. When this take is as myopic as its phrasing is vulgar. To make matters worse Jed Walker at Morpheus funerals says “Family Sucks and Family Rocks”. 

Family is a theme within Sandman but only because family is a universal concept, all stories need some relatability so the audience can understand it. If I said my new story is about “Mutant Aardvarks that communicate entirely through smell and travel across the Horseshoe Nebula looking for Gormalthacks”. You’d have no idea what I was talking about, you’d have no relatability and it would only work as an avant-garde parody.

Sandman is about stories and that’s the closest to a catchy slogan summary as you can get for it. It’s a meditation on what stories are, why we have stories and more importantly whose stories get to be told.

Dream is an avatar for Neil Gaiman but he’s also a Cis white male. He embodies our stories because they’ve been dominant. I genuinely think his time in captivity serves 2 purposes, 1 it gives him a goal to strive for in the opening arc (regaining his realm). And 2 to critique the impact capitalism had on storytelling in the mid to late 20th century. Superheroes didn’t duplicate because of a romantic ideal that men in long underwear and capes were great. They came about because Superman became popular and every publisher wanted their own copy until they flooded the market (and then got bought up by DC). 

Joseph Campbell came up with the idea of the monomyth, that all stories were just one story. This has rightly been getting more and more criticism, partially for Campbell’s own views. In particular his view that women can’t be heroes and his tendency to just cherry pick cultures disregarding whatever didn’t fit his Nazi apologist world view.

Patriarchy and Capitalism have influenced our stories in more ways than we can imagine. But what is a culture other than a collection of stories we tell each other. Even within Jung’s theories of the collective unconsciousness and interpretations of dreams, men get more archetypes than women. 

Gaiman early on in the series falls into these ideas, Ophelia and Nada’s stories are both told from men’s perspectives. Ophelia the muse is thought of entirely as an object by both the men who own and abuse her to gain the boon of inspiration. Seeing their vile acts as purely a transactional arrangement. She is only saved when Morpheus intervenes, punishing her captor with too many ideas to handle (a classic monkey’s paw punishment). Nada’s story is also told from one man to another, and she is punished by Morpheus and condemned to hell for changing her mind. Something that is rightly pointed out as a crappy thing to do by his family. 

This was an easy mistake to make, considering he was working within a company that had gotten high praise for the rampant misogyny within Watchmen and the Killing Joke. Gaiman does try to confront this (and Rose Walker was the series protagonist before both Ophelia’s story and Nada’s). Nuala the faerie is given to Morpheus as a gift (given like a literal object) and then treated as a person given total freedom of his realm. Even rejecting her saving and forced return to Faerie when she is rescued by her brother. Morpheus gets Gary Stu qualities because a lot of the women in the series are in love with him. The story arc a Game of You directly challenges gender norms in fiction. A Game of You features Barbie as a main character and as a chosen one hero for a dreamworld. It also has Wanda a trans woman as an actual character not an object and not as the band Chemtrails (fronted by a trans woman called Ivy Lust) said “a serial killer or a victim”. 

The World’s End story arc is an homage to the Canterbury tales. Every story is told by a boy except one, and features very few girls. When they do have girls in the story it’s minor supporting roles or in the earlier exception that the narrator was a girl. This is even pointed out within the framing device at the end. Why is so much of modern storytelling so focused around straight white men, why are they the default? (oh yeah Patriarchy). 

Morpheus’ displacement as one of the Endless is caused by a woman (Hippolyta Hall) and she isn't an angry former lover. The final issue, the Tempest reveals that Morpheus’ greatest wish was to be able to walk away from his responsibility. Is this Neil Gaiman’s guilt that Cis white men have dominated so much of culture and a desire to hand the reins to a more diverse group to be leaders of culture. I’d have to find him and ask him but I think the answer is yes.  

Then again, who am I to say there is one reading of the text. Maybe somebody else would find greater importance in Destruction renouncing his title to be a bad painter and poet. I must give one answer because the only alternative would be to repost the 2000 plus pages of Sandman and that’s piracy. I have to editorialise a little to do some writing.

So does it hold up? Yes. in some ways it was ahead of its time, probably still is. The mere inclusion of trans people and people of colour is still a divisive issue. If you look on Youtube you’ll find many a man-baby complaining about something that was a cornerstone of Sandman. 

A bigger issue is that all these cultures are represented by one man’s view on them, however he’s more respectful and empathetic than others who have tried to do this like Joseph Campbell. Also The Sandman’s assistant editor was Rachel Pollack, a transwoman.

If anything, the biggest issue is that it’s known as “Neil Gaiman’s Sandman”. As if he was the only contributor, when Neil Gaiman could not have done a single issue without a team of artists. Sam Kieth, Mike Deirenberg, Jill Thompson, Shawn McManus, Brian Talbot (sorry all other artists, it’d take too long to name you all) probably all did more work on their issues than Gaiman who handed them a script. Sandman is not a work by one Auteur even if Gaiman’s voice in the series is the loudest. If anything it should be The Sandman by Neil Gaiman and an array of wonderful artists because every artist on the series had their own style, nobody felt like “default comic art style”. Each artist gave a unique feel to the issue they made and should be celebrated from Sam Kieth’s Dark and Grungey early issues to P Craig Russell’s storybook art on issue 50 to Marc Hempell’s Art deco illustrations on the Kindly Ones and Charles Vess’ classical art on the last issue.

 

If you want a quotation from me about the importance of Sandman it would have to be, “Watchmen and Dark Knight returns is when DC tried mature themes, Sandman is when DC grew up”.

The History of Lupin the 3rd

Lupin the 3rd is a strange franchise, the series has been running almost without hesitation for over 50 years, but outside of Japan and Italy it’s an obscure series. Not to mention it’s an anime and manga sequel to french novellas. The series started in both Seinen anime and Studio Ghibli and that’s only the start. I guess Monkey Punch and Lupin the 3rd are the Velvet Underground of Anime.

So, what possessed Kazuhiko Kato (pen name Monkey Punch which he will henceforth be referred to as) to create this character? The first idea that probably came to your head was he was a fan of Maurice Le Blanc’s Novellas. But no, he had only glanced through a Japanese Language version of one short story collection. He wasn’t approached by Le Blanc’s estate to do a sequel, Japanese copyright law is very relaxed when it comes to fan work. He was simply hired to do some pages and short stories for a new anthology called “Weekly Manga Action” aimed at mature readers. Assuming that such a series would only last 6 issues, he decided to go full tilt satirising how violent western media was in particular the James Bond novels.

Lupin in his early appearances is far from the Gentleman thief he would become. Actually, he wasn’t even a thief, he was an assassin and a total bastard. The original manga run would introduce the core supporting cast to the series, so now is as good a time as any to introduce them (in the order they first appeared in Lupin the 3rd).

Inspector Zenigata, originally Heiji Zenigata the 7th or as Lupin calls him “Pops”. Debuting in the very first Lupin the 3rd story “The Arrest of Lupin the 3rd”. Monkey Punch once described him as the Tom to Lupin’s Jerry. Zenigata comes from a long line of police officers, descendants of the original Heiji Zenigata who starred in Japanese pulp novels set in the Edo period. Later renamed to avoid confusion to Koichi Zenigata. He’s a straight laced by-the-book police officer for Interpol determined to catch Lupin. He’s also been driven mad from the years of chasing Lupin.

Fujiko Mine, you can’t have a James Bond parody without the Bond-girl. Of course she has a pun for a name, Fuji being the Japanese for mountain and Komine being breasts (So she’s basically called “Big Tits”). Fujiko is a rival thief to Lupin, his love interest and member of his gang. Her hobbies include; making Lupin jump through hoops for her affection, convincing Lupin to steal things as “presents” for her and stealing Lupin’s treasure. All while Lupin has been “pricked by the thorn of her indifference”. They have an entirely unhealthy relationship, and different reasons to steal. Lupin steals for the challenge and thrill while Fuji-Cakes is entirely materialistic. 

Daisuke Jigen, is Lupin’s bodyguard and the closest thing he has to a friend. Everything about Jigen is designed to contrast Lupin. Lupin is Romantic, Jigen is cynical, Lupin dresses in flashy colours, Jigen only wears Black and blue. Lupin is wild, goofy and impulsive, Jigen is stoic. A former (and now blacklisted) mafia bodyguard, he is also “the world’s best shot” with his Magnum. 

Goemon Ishikawa is the last of the main cast to appear. He is the 13th in a dynasty of samurais and starts off as an antagonist to Lupin the 3rd being Fujiko’s ex-boyfriend. Goemon’s master ordered him to kill Lupin in a duel to prove that he truly is “the most dangerous man alive” (his master believing this to be Lupin). Lupin was told by Fujiko that Goemon was a rapist and a sadist so out of chivalry he agreed to duel Goemon. In the Duel Lupin used every trick he could and won, since then Goemon to restore his honour must be the one to kill Lupin. So until they duel again Goemon has to keep him alive or he can never regain his honour. 

In 1966 Masaaki Osumo, sent around a 10 minute pitch pilot to every network in Japan. The pitch pilot had been unseen by the public until 2013, and serves as a good introduction to all the Lupin characters. The series went unproduced until 1971, in the meantime Osumo had made his controversial entry into the Moomin series, the one with random gun play (a version that Moomins creator Tove Jansonn ordered to be destroyed and has never been rerun). Osumo now proved he had sensibilities unsuitable for children’s television but still being an animation director, they had to make his series about a thief. The network would soon regret this because his full pilot “Is Lupin Burning..?” would feature Lupin winning a formula one race against criminals but also mercilessly machine gunning down the members of Scorpion without a 2nd thought. Between pilots Lupin’s jacket changed colour, in Monkey Punches manga Lupin wore a Red Jacket with a yellow tie and Black shirt but for the ongoing series his jacket became green. Two theories have been formed to explain this change; Osumo wore a green jacket and wanted to be Lupin or Japanese TV’s made anything red blurry. With the excessive levels of sex and violence Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata were added to the series as directors (but Osumo was fired for refusal to comply).  

Miyazaki tried to emphasise the gentleman in Gentleman Thief and Takahata wanted to emphasise the Arsene Lupin in Lupin the 3rd. Ironically Takahata’s episodes are less historically relevant to Lupin the 3rd’s history because he focused more on his legacy as the grandson of the Gentleman Burglar, this is because TMS would try and get their series internationally known, but French copyright would hinder them from doing this until Arsene Lupin became a public domain character. 

When Osumo was removed from the series, Takahata and Miyazaki created certain rules to make Lupin a sympathetic character: 

1. Lupin has to earn what he’s stolen, (so he either steals from criminals or is awarded a prize for doing a good deed or can’t keep what he’s stolen). 

2. Lupin is a thief not a murderer. 

3. Lupin doesn’t hurt or steal from nice people. 

4. Lupin will always save someone in trouble.

Despite the revamp, Lupin the 3rd would be cancelled after 23 episodes. But Toho (yes the Godzilla people) would make a live action feature film based on the Manga called “The Strange Psychokinetic Strategy”. The inspiration for the film seems to be trying to capitalise on Peter Sellar’s Pink Panther films, but edgier because it was the first film Toho ever made with a sex scene albeit heavily censored (the manga would use the same way to censor sex scenes and was homaged in the Woman called Fujiko Mine series much later). It also visually looks nothing like Lupin the 3rd, I know in the 1970’s converting manga pages to live action would only be feasible with the budget of Richard Donner’s Superman but Lupin is in a white suit and has traded his Walther P-38 for a Walther PK. 

How does a series return from the dead, well if I knew I’d be a TV necromancer. Maybe Monkey Punch’s return to the manga after a hiatus. But thankfully Lupin came back with a new outfit (Red Jacket, Purple tie, Blue Shirt, Grey Trousers) and produced some of the most beloved of his run. The Part 2 Television series lasted 177 episodes, it’s easily the most watchable Lupin as it’s almost all one part stories, but due to the 22 minute runtime you tend to only get one twist per episode. The Music also got a huge upgrade, from the often hilariously bad stuff of Part 1 (seriously there's a song that’s used towards the end of the episode that consists of a guy saying “This guy Lupin, He’s a cool guy, but ya know he like gets sad sometimes”). Now with Yuji Ohno as composer, Lupin is scored by bombastic cool jazz (sounds contradictory I know). Each character has their own little theme and these would continue to be used from the Japanese Percussion for Goemon, or the “Zenigata March” or Lupin’s two themes Superhero (which is similar to the shows opening theme) that in one episode Lupin sings a version of all with lyrics about how cool he is and a romantic theme (also used as the closing music). Perhaps due to the sheer scope of the 177 episodes it has more supernatural elements than any other, whereas part 1 had possibly cursed artefacts (like the Joker’s deck of cards) and villains who created technology to fake having super powers like (Pycal the magician). Part 2 features Vampires (one of whom is Jesus’ little brother), The Loch Ness Monster, Ancient Egyptian curses (although that could’ve just been a ruse by Lupin), Yeti’s, Mermaids and Dragons (those last 3 were all in the one episode). There were still plots with strange technology like the infamously bad Ice Robot episode or Lupin vs Superman. But Miyazaki’s rules still applied, one of my favourite examples of karmic justice happening to Lupin is when he steals wine from the President of the USA only to find out it tastes horrible. 

While Part 2 was being aired on Japanese TV Lupin the 3rd had his first two animated theatrical films, the first being Lupin vs The Clone (later redubbed The Mystery of Mamo or Secret of Mamo depending on the distributor, this film has Lupin in his original Manga colours (Red Jacket and the rest the same as Part 1). Possibly because of the Animerama trilogy this outing for Lupin got to  be his sexiest and most violent adventure yet. In total contrast to Mamo, Miyazaki returned to directing Lupin the 3rd and made The Castle of Cagliostro. Lupin returns to his Part 1 colours to tell a story about an older, more mature Lupin. Lupin is at his most heroic and least selfish as he tries to stop a counterfeiter with aspirations of ruling a country from marrying a 13 year old girl. Miyazaki would also direct the last episodes of Part 2, Flight of the Albatross and Farewell my beloved Lupin where a Lupin in disguise as Zenigata tries to stop a bunch of criminals from destroying a city.

This’ll sound like a tangent at first but it’s important. Dragon’s Lair was a popular arcade machine, and when anything’s popular you’re going to get copycats. Stern Electronics wanted to copy to make their version of Dragon’s Lair but they didn’t want to spend the money to get new animation. They first tried to get the licence for Thunderbirds but Gerry Anderson declined, so they went to TMS Entertainment and used footage from Secret of Mamo and Castle of Cagliostro. Of course they couldn’t use the name Arsene Lupin in 1983 it was still owned by Le Blanc’s estate, so Lupin the 3rd became “Cliff Hanger”. The name was inspired by both the trope of a Cliff Hanger and the footage from Mamo of Lupin’s clone being hung (this was used as the death animation). With the film rights going to Sylvester Stallone, TMS thought they had a way into the US animation market but realising that Adult animation in the US was even more of a novelty than it was in Japan they couldn’t rework the series to be Cliff Hanger, a new series had to be made. So a pilot was made called Lupin the 8th for Japan and Cliff Hanger for the rest of the world. A new futuristic Lupin, this descendent of the Lupin family is no longer a thief but a private detective. Working with descendents of the other Lupin gang members who all conveniently have the same names just +5 at the end. My biggest question for this spin off is why is Fujiko Mine the 5th, the annoying little sister of Lupin the 8th. But alas the series was deemed too violent for US kids (so TMS made Inspector Gadget instead) and not sexy and violent enough for the Lupin the 3rd crowd (so part 3 happened). 

What can I say about Part 3, well you know how your mother said “if you can’t say anything nice”. Well if you want to follow that advice skip this section. Hoo-boy, well the nicest thing I can say is Yuji Ohno did the score, and that only slightly contributes to the total sensory overload that is Part 3. I genuinely think it was made out of gags too silly or violent for Inspector Gadget, not to mention the use of sticks of dynamite and anvils.The Colour palette consists of the finest pastels contrasting against the brightest neon colours your retinas can recognise. All the characters are in clashing colours even if it doesn’t fit, Jigen’s Orange shirt is an abomination. Lupin is apparently a shapeshifter as he changes between 3 forms on the fly (named Romantic, Goofy and Serious Lupin) whilst wearing a Pink Jacket, Orange tie and Teal shirt. Zenigata is now a bumbling oaf whose emotionally unstable crying at everything. He didn’t escape the clashing colours either but his faded green overcoat with a dark blue suit and red shirt almost works. Goemon and Fujiko are also there and mostly wearing pink. Part 3 was initially successful but has since gone on to be reviled by humanity, also the plots are all like Part 2’s Ice Robot or Lupin trying to marry Fujiko.

Part 3 of course had a tie-in movie, The Legend of Gold Babylon. Thankfully the colours have been toned down, so now you notice how angular and badly proportioned the characters are. Especially with the sub-plot of Zenigata teaming up with the contestants from Interpol’s beauty pageant (who are all national stereotypes more befitting a carry on film). The main plot of the film is something about aliens being gods to the Babylonians and making a pyramid of gold… It's as bad as it sounds. In a moment of clarity the film has Jigen say “Gods or Aliens I have a hard time believing in either one”. To anyone interested in this film Lupin wears a pink jacket, blue tie, black shirt and trousers.

After the backlash to Part 3 the next theatrical film would attempt to course correct; copying the designs as closely as they could to The Castle of Cagliostro, The Fuma Conspiracy would try and be a spiritual successor to that film. The film is divisive to western and eastern fans, because the all the roles being recast (it’s the only piece of Lupin media that Kiyoshi Kobayashi wouldn’t voice Jigen in), but Western fans used to the cast changing every time aren’t bothered by this (in fact the only western dub of it is the Rupan dub).  

The next film would be Farewell to Nostradamus (although I prefer the alternate name “Die, Die Nostradamus). At this point Lupin the 3rd would have an annual TV special and a couple more theatrical movies. The most notable thing about the film Lupin the 3rd Dead or Alive is it was directed by Monkey Punch himself (because nobody else was available). So because the animated specials can easily blur into one another let me introduce Lupin the 3rd Plot bingo.

Vladimir Propp Russian folklorist came up with 31 narratemes after analysing old fables, he noticed than one of 31 things always happens in a story and any number beyond 1 of his narratemes could happen in a story… but I say Lupin the 3rd has his own set, by saying this I’m not diminishing the series, but let’s have some fun with this:

1. Zenigata will attempt to arrest the Lupin gang as an opening set piece. Often employing an army of Interpol cops to catch them. (Bonus if Lupin says this is part of his plan).

2. Zenigata has a meeting at Interpol headquarters, where his superiors will chastise him for having not caught Lupin. (Bonus if a new police officer is assigned to the Lupin case).

3. The Lupin gang will have a gourmet banquet (usually juxtaposed with Zenigata eating a Ramen cup or the gang letter in the story eating Ramen cups).

4. Fujiko appears with either a new beau or using an alias and working undercover in a profession eg. Babysitter or News reporter (often in league with the villain).

5. Lupin reveals that what they’ve stolen is either worthless or is actually needed to find a greater treasure and that treasure was either sought after or owned by “Alexander the Great, Napoleon or Hitler”, always one of those 3.

6. Jigen will refuse to partake in the heist if Fujiko is involved only to change his mind right when Lupin is in danger.

7. Goemon will slice something in half and then say the target is unworthy of the blade.

8. The Villain(s) will hire assassins to kill Lupin.

9. The Villain(s) hold Fujiko hostage.

10. Lupin fakes his death.

11. Lupin’s plan looks like it’s falling apart then he does his “Smug-git laugh” and it turns out this was his plan all along.

12. One of the Lupin gang will be in disguise (their favourite disguises are each other or Inspector Zenigata).

13. Fujiko betrays the Villain.

14. Lupin disarms a Nuclear device.

15. Lupin explains the Villain's grand scheme (Bonus if Lupin says “there’s just one thing I don’t get”).

16. Villain monologue.

17. Either Lupin or Goemon have a duel with the Villain.

18. Lupin failed to steal any treasure but Fujiko did (and she won’t share).

19. Zenigata arrests the Villain as Lupin taunts old Pops.

I think I’m contractually obligated to mention the OVA Green vs Red. A new young imposter Lupin appears after the real Lupin has disappeared for a few years. The new imposter Lupin is cockier and less moral than his older Red Jacketed inspiration. The young pick-pocket is trained by a mysterious mentor implied to be Lupin the First, and the OVA ends with the Green Jacketed doppelganger replacing the original. This OVA is rarely spoken of, because it seems intent on solving a discrepancy of the material but ends up creating a series of bigger problems. Sure Part 1 Lupin is more thief than gentleman, but Miyazaki had Green Jacket Lupin in Castle of Cagliostro, also Green Jacket is Part 1, Red Jacket is Part 2. Part 2 opens with the Lupin Gang reforming, it’s forgotten because it’s easier than trying to make it fit into the canon only causes more headaches, a noble failure.

What’s not a failure is the 2012 limited series the Woman called Fujiko Mine. Sure it’s a prequel but it doesn’t stand on the toes of Part 1. The series tells the first time Fujiko met Lupin, Jigen, Goemon and Inspector Zenigata. It’s also the first piece of Lupin media directed by a woman and she becomes the focal character instead of Lupin. Lupin and Goemon never meet to keep the canon straight but it does tell the first time Lupin and Jigen teamed up. The series manages to balance individual episodes (a couple of which being adaptations of Monkey Punch’s manga) with a series long overarching plot (which does dominate the later episodes). The overarching plot is about a weird Owl-cult obsessed with Fujiko. The regular Lupin characters are portrayed differently to their regular series counterparts, except Jigen, Jigen is Jigen no matter who's framing the story. Lupin is more unstable, bouncing from devious mastermind to comedic buffoon even quicker than normal; he's also a lot more possessive of Fujiko, often treating her more like another piece of his collection. Goemon is now a shy schoolboy with a crush and then there’s Zenigata. Now I would say this is “the Lupin the 3rd” franchise’s version of “The Long Halloween” but Miyazaki is never allowed to watch this to see what Sayo Yamato (the series director) did to his favourite character. Zenigata is a corrupt cop, a misogynist, violent and cruel. He sees nothing wrong with cheating on his wife with a cheap floozy like Fujiko because “she’d be a cheap thrill and a quick ride”. We also have a new character Oska as Zenigata’s junior cop who's deeply in love with him and has a burning hatred of Fujiko. He hates Fujiko so much that he’ll cross-dress to frame her. I'm sorry to say Japan is still a very homophobic country (enter with caution). But it’s nice to see Lupin get dark, gritty, full of noir and a series long mystery is exactly what each season of the show needs. The Woman called Fujiko Mine would get 3 more spin-off movies with the same art style; Daisuke Jigen’s Gravestone, The Blood Spray of Goemon Ichikawa and Fujiko Mine’s Lie.

 

Lupin the 3rd after the series aired on Netflix (jp) got a theatrical short. It consists entirely of the character’s unmasking each other. Monkey Punch would also return to Animation directing to do some OVA specials that retell the stories of Part 1, these include Is Lupin Burning and Return of the Magician. 

New Lupin series, new jacket colour, this time light blue. Part 4 is set in Italy because the Lupin the 3rd Franchise is popular in Italy. The problem with Part 4 is it doesn’t really update Lupin, he’s still doing the same old heists but with a new Fujiko, while the old one is still around. The new characters introduced are Rebecca (the aforementioned new Fujiko) Lupin’s wife and thinly veiled parody of Paris Hilton, narratively she does everything Fujiko does but more annoyingly and Paris Hiltony. The other new character is a clone of Leonardo Da Vinci who wants to take over the world.

Part 5 does what Part 4 needed to do, Lupin the 3rd is now tech savvy with all new gadgets. His enemies are technocrats, aspiring world conquerors and the dark web. It’s probably the most fan servicey Lupin series (not that way, one of the OVA’s has a literal sex scene between Lupin and Fujiko) with 4 main arcs and flashback episodes. The first one has Lupin taking down the online Crime Syndicate “Marco Polo”, using Social Media and VR. This story arc introduces the new character Ami Enu, as a riff on the trope of Lupin saving princesses who fall in love with him. She’s a skilled Hacker (more skilled than the just adept Lupin) and has a backstory so tragic it’s probably best not to discuss. The same Arc introduced Goro Yatagarasu, a cop partner for Zenigata, he exists mostly for narrative persons (the cops need exposition sometimes too). The 2nd Arc has Lupin take on his own Mycroft Holmes, Albert. A former rival now trying to rule his own country (France) from the shadows. The 3rd Arc has Lupin steal a country from the CIA and the last Arc has Lupin fight a version of Facebook that threatens all the world’s freedoms. All the main arcs have Lupin in his blue jacket while the flashbacks are their respective jacket colour for the era they’re pastiching/parodying. 

Part 6 or Green Jacket 2 has two main arcs with stand alone episodes sprinkled throughout. The two arcs this time have names “Lupin vs Holmes” and “Gentleman and Witch”. Sherlock Holmes the 3rd previously appeared in Part 2 but as a purely comedic character or as a disguise for Lupin. The version in Part 6 is the BBC series version played by Benedict Cumberbatch, but nicer. This arc actually subverts the usual Lupin the 3rd story structure, normally they spend their time setting up how bad his antagonist is, this time they spend that time showing how much nicer and better Sherlock Holmes is. This arc also reeks of back door pilot, for a new anime with Sherlock the Holmes solving mysteries with Lily Watson. They even do a Marvel style post credit scene to set up James Moriarty. The other arc has Lupin in a game of 4D Chess with his former mentor and possible mother.

Of course Lupin is still going so I expect to have to update this in a year with Part 7. Judging by the Geographical pattern (4 Italy, 5 France, 6 The UK), set mostly in the USA with Lupin’s antagonist being thinly veiled versions of The Big Bang Theory and Batman characters.

The most recent series is a prequel Lupin the Zero. It’s about Lupin as a boy and has him being friends with Jigen, so we’re now verging on a multiverse of Lupin the 3rd.  

Now onto what I’ll call the Love and Theft of Lupin the 3rd. The series is clearly very influential to other anime creators, the 3 leads in Cowboy Bebop are basically a more serious Lupin, a friendlier Jigen and a less busty Fujiko. It’s also one of the first Seinen animes to become popular, not to mention it was worked on by Miyazaki who would found Studio Ghibli (and is often called the Japanese Walt Disney). 

The stranger part of Lupin the 3rd’s legacy (which I’ve deliberately avoided talking about) is the amount it either parallels western media or gets plagiarised. The most famous example is Disney’s Basil the Great Mouse Detective which recreates the clock tower fight from Castle of Cagliostro nearly perfectly. The Dreamworks movie The Bad Guys, the director cited Miyazaki’s Castle of Cagliostro as an influence and recreated an entire chase scene from The Fuma Conspiracy. Lastly I think this one is purely coincidence but in 2012 both the woman called Fujiko Mine and Scott Snyder’s run on Batman had conspiracies revolving around an Owl Cult. 

But Who is Lupin the Third? This is one of the central mysteries of the series. Any backstory he gives has more holes in it than Swiss cheese. The main one that he is the Grandson of Arsene Lupin doesn’t really work as the original Arsene Lupin was an effeminate germaphobe (and more than hinted at as Gay). When this backstory is expanded on in Lupin the Third his grandfather is a sadist with a harem. Part 5 also makes it clear that the name Lupin the Third is a title and this does make sense as Arsene Lupin was a nom de plume (Maurice Le Blanc actually coined this phrase). Interpol’s file for Lupin the 3rd says “Place of Birth Unknown” and because of anime art style we can’t actually tell if he’s of European or Asian ancestry. 

Lupin’s motives and moral code are often left as a mystery to the audience as well, but the answer to that has been hiding in plain sight. He’s an Anarchist, I’m not giving him that title glibbly or as a strawman as when it gets applied to the Joker. I’m saying it earnestly, he is an Anarchist he steals from the rich and crime syndicates, he does it for the challenge not for his own wealth. He also values his freedom and the freedom of others over any item (in the Fuma Conspiracy he says “no object has more value than a person’s life”).  He’s the 20/21st Century version of the Dandy Highwayman, he is an archetypal Byronic hero. He lives outside of society, but tragically needs what he rebels against to live his lifestyle. He needs to be rich and engage with capitalism to engage in his decadent lifestyle of drinking, chasing women and driving fast cars. He embodies what he hates which is why he’s so destructive and has such a death-wish. 

So why has Lupin the 3rd failed to steal the west? One reason has to be the Le Blanc estate and his grandpa not being public domain until the 2000’s but anime wasn’t a big export before that. Sure, there were some but it was never referred to as anime in casual conversation, I remember in 2001 people calling it Japanimation. I think there are two main reasons, one is that it’s not overtly a genre. The most successful Seinen anime outside of Japan is either really Sci-Fi or has Ninjas and Samurai as the focus while Lupin the 3rd is more like an R Rated Duck Tales. The other would be the post Gamergate Anime fandom is more Right-wing leaning, and with  Lupin the 3rd you sympathise with the criminal not the cop. The other factor of these Right-wing fans is they claim “plot twists are bad writing” and Lupin the Third is nothing but plot twists. Some episodes are just giant games of Calvin-ball.