Lupin III: The First

Lupin III: The First (Japanese: ルパン三世 THE FIRST, Hepburn: Rupan Sansei Za Fāsuto) is a 2019 Japanese animated heist comedy film based on the 1967–69 manga series Lupin III by Monkey Punch, to whom the film is dedicated. Written and directed by Takashi Yamazaki, it was produced by TMS Entertainment and Marza Animation Planet, and is the first fully computer-animated film in the franchise. The film stars Kanichi Kurita as Lupin III, Kiyoshi Kobayashi as gunman Daisuke Jigen, Daisuke Namikawa as samurai Goemon Ishikawa XIII, Miyuki Sawashiro as Fujiko Mine, and Kōichi Yamadera as Interpol detective Zenigata. Set during the late 1960s of the Shōwa era, the film follows gentleman thief Arsène Lupin III and his crew to Paris and Brazil to find the whereabouts of the Bresson Diary, a treasure even Lupin's grandfather Arsène Lupin failed to catch. A battle for the mechanical diary is unleashed as a Nazi treasure-hunter group led by Lambert and Geralt are also in a race to steal it, with the prize that whoever deciphers its mystery will be the owners of an enormous fortune. Lupin III: The First was theatrically released in Japan on December 6, 2019, by Toho. GKIDS released the film in North America on October 18, 2020. The film earned critical acclaim, with praise directed towards its plot, vocal performances, faithfulness towards the source material, and, in particular, the animation. Many felt the series transitioned well into CGI, praising the level of detail and fluidity.

Plot In German-occupied France, archaeologist Professor Bresson entrusts his heavily trapped diary and an amulet containing the key to the book to his family. The diary is purported to be the guide to the "Eclipse," a treasure which a group of Nazis working for Ahnenerbe is seeking. Bresson is killed by the arriving Germans; his family escapes, but is chased down by Ahnenerbe professor Lambert, and ends up in a car crash which only the infant daughter survives. Lambert steals the amulet, but cannot find the diary, which was lost during the chase. In the 1960s, the diary resurfaces during a memorial exhibition in Bresson's honor. Lupin III tries to steal the book, as his grandfather had unsuccessfully attempted before him, only to be foiled first by a young woman disguised as a security guard, then by Fujiko; he is then arrested by Inspector Zenigata. En route to prison, Lupin is sprung by his friends Jigen and Goemon and sneaks into the home of the fake security guard, prospective archeology student Laetitia Lambert. He presents a medal identical to the one stolen by Lambert, which his grandfather left him. Laetitia contacts Lambert, her adoptive grandfather who ordered her to steal the book in the first place. Lambert tells her to bring Lupin and the amulet to him, in exchange for sending her to Boston University to study archeology. Fujiko delivers the diary to Ahnenerbe fugitives looking for the Eclipse, among them Lambert and their leader Geralt. However, Geralt discovers Fujiko's duplicity and has her detained. Laetitia leads Lupin to Lambert's hideout, a customized transport plane, where they retrieve the book and the counterpart to Lupin's amulet. Lupin opens the diary, and the two learn that the Eclipse is a power generator left behind by an advanced lost civilization and is hidden in the ruins of Teotihuacan. Knowing Laetitia led him into a trap, Lupin willingly surrenders to Geralt and Lambert. Fujiko uses Lupin as a diversion to escape on her own. Lupin sneaks back into the plane and eavesdrops on Geralt and Lambert, learning that they are seeking Adolf Hitler, who reportedly faked his death and escaped to South America during the fall of Berlin, and now intends to use the Eclipse to resurrect the Third Reich. When Laetitia, who also overheard the conversation, confronts the two men, Geralt throws her out of the plane. Snatching the diary and the amulets back, Lupin jumps after her, and he and Laetitia are rescued by Fujiko, Jigen and Goemon. Left stranded, Lupin goads Zenigata by radio to his location and steals his Interpol helicopter. Zenigata gets back on board, and after learning of the stakes, he teams up with Lupin's gang and Laetitia to thwart the villains. During a stopover, Lupin reveals to Laetitia that he deduced her to be Bresson's granddaughter and that Lambert adopted her only to get the diary and the Eclipse. He also discovers that his grandfather had actually helped Bresson find the Eclipse, but afterwards trapped the book to prevent the Eclipse from falling into the wrong hands. Geralt and Lambert find the Eclipse's hiding place, but cannot proceed past its traps without the diary, forcing them to return to where they left Lupin. Exploiting their absence, Lupin's team makes it past the obstacles, but are then forced to discover that their enemies' retreat was merely a ruse to clear the path to the Eclipse. Lambert and Geralt activate the Eclipse, which carries them and Laetitia back to the surface, but Lupin's team intercepts them before they can escape, scuttling Lambert's plane. Lambert uses the Eclipse to get the plane to fly again, and activates a micro black hole to finish off Lupin's team; believing them dead, and drunk with power, he claims the device for himself and incinerates the diary. When he prepares to use the Eclipse to destroy Berlin, Geralt fights him; when Laetitia takes control of the device, Geralt shoots at her, but Lambert takes the bullet for her and dies. Geralt then receives the news that Hitler has been located and takes the Eclipse and Laetitia to him. When Geralt arrives at the Ahnenerbe headquarters, he meets with Hitler and the two depart on the Eclipse to test its capabilities. Left behind, Laetitia discovers that Lupin's gang have beaten Geralt to the base with the help of Zenigata and Interpol, and Lupin has disguised himself as Hitler. On the Eclipse, Lupin reveals himself and Geralt attacks him, but Lupin tampers with the Eclipse controls to release a micro black hole inside the Eclipse. Geralt is sucked into the hole and perishes, while Lupin escapes with a gravity device he kept from the Teotihuacan ruins. After a good-bye to Laetitia - and gifting her with the gravity device and her enrollment into Boston - Lupin and his associates rush to escape Zenigata's attention.

Voice cast

Production

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