Lupin III: A Woman Named MINE Fujiko
LUPIN the Third ～峰不二子という女～

So, the word is out (NSFW WARNING!) that after many rumors going back and forth, after twenty-seven years, Lupin III will be back on the air as a TV series, starting in April.

While this new series will have the whole Lupin crew, including Inspector Zenigata, all voiced by the seiyuu from the last Lupin III special, Lupin III: Blood Seal – Eternal Mermaid, the focus will be completely different. Instead of focusing on Lupin and his exploits, with the others backing him up, the focus will be on Fujiko.

Frankly, I can’t say that this thrills me.

I need to watch the entire first Lupin TV series, then the entire second Lupin TV series (I’ve seen select episodes from each), but to be honest, the only time that Fujiko has been a truly interesting character was in Lupin III: Castle of Cagliostro.   There, she was a brilliant woman who could kick arse with the best of them.  She didn’t have to bang the Count to try to achieve her goals, which is how she generally does things in every other Lupin III title. She also didn’t have to be a double-crossing wench either.  Instead, when Lupin gets involved, she’s smart enough to lay back, let Lupin do his thing, and even aid him until the path to her objective opened up.  In such a light, she deserved much respect.

Unfortunately, reports are that the new series will attempt to capture the ecchi nature of the original manga from Monkey Punch. That smacks to me of, “We’ll have Fujiko naked as often as possible, and in as many sexually suggestive situations as possible.”  This perception is enhanced by one of the two, official promotional art pieces that have been released, which shows a naked Fujiko with her butt facing you, looking behind her and pointing a weapon at you. (The link to that NSFW, official site for the series is HERE — if not, let me know and I might add the image to this post.)  If the goal here is to get late-night anime viewers to tune in to see a naked Fujiko, then I’d say this series is as doomed as the last TV series, Lupin III Part III, was.  It has to be about more than Fujiko getting naked, boinking the villain, and then trying to best Lupin.

Assuming the two promo art pieces are indicative of the character designs for the new series, I can’t say that thrills me either. It seems like the production team is trying too hard to be stylistic, which makes me think that they aren’t focused enough on the stories.  I hope I’m wrong.

I plan to give this new TV series a look-see, but I’m keeping my expectations low.