Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Manic Mamo!, 28 May 2008
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)
Lupin III: The Secret of Mamo is a 1978 Japanese animated film directed by Soji Yoshikawa. It was the first animated movie based on the Lupin III character created by Monkey Punch.
The film opens with white lines traveling down and a trapdoor opening underneath a prisoner. The prisoner is hanged, and a coroner's report confirms the executed prisoner to be the real Lupin III. But Zenigata doesn't believe this, so he goes to the tomb to see for himself. Opening the coffin, he drives a stake into the body, which promptly explodes. Then who does he encounter but Arsène Lupin III! Lupin narrowly escapes by hang glider and Zenigata fires at him three times, hitting the camera the third time to trigger the opening credits...
Lupin III is fun to watch for its authentically retro vibe. The car chase features a Mini, the clothes are funky, the sideburns are long, and the attitude is far out. Breezy forays through highbrow pursuits such as fine art and literature are evocative of the cultured 1970s hipster. Fujiko gets to use all of her feminine assets, in an era where most anime temptresses are teases. The combination of retro appeal and zany antics makes Lupin III a pleasant diversion - in small doses.
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Lupin is back for the first time!, 21 Oct 2008
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)
The character of Lupin was first introduced to me by a certain Hayao Miyazaki in "The Castle of Cagliostro", which was his first feature length film. "Secret of Mamo" was made a year before, and there are certainly a lot of similarities between the two films. Certainly if you enjoyed Castle, this is worth checking out.
What's interesting about these films are the characters - each of which feels three dimensional and wholly worthy of their own film. Fujiko, Jigen and Goemon are all incredibly likable, and it's easy to understand how the Lupin series is so massive in Japan.
The animation quality isn't exactly superb, and the plot is a little involved and slowly paced for what some might consider a "kid's cartoon", but no more so than anything else of this nature. Certainly better to give your children this to watch over Pokemon or Power Rangers.
All in all, good stuff if you enjoy this kind of thing, if you've never heard of Lupin before then I would suggest you check out Castle of Cagliostro first!
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Solidly entertaining, 17 Jul 2008
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)
This was the first Lupin movie I saw, and I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised. This is an energetic, bizarre ride and you can't help but get caught up in just how fun it is.
The movie begins on a very dark note with the hanging of a man the authorities believe to be legendary gentleman thief Lupin the Third, who of course shows up right away and escapes capture by launching himself from a giant crossbow. And this opening segment embodies the spirit of the film, an odd mix of the utterly insane and the unexpectedly dark. Oddly this combination works very well and the writer is clearly fond of both the characters and the series. The story becomes more and more ludicrous as it goes on and you keep expecting your suspension of disbelief to give up under the strain but somehow you continue to buy into it all the way.
The animation is for the most part very good, with some spectacular action sequences and excellently drawn characters. This is an anime an comes with all the animation peculiarities that entails, but it's nothing too jarring if you haven't had much exposure to it beforehand.
The voice tracks in both Japanese and English are very well done and the English script is well translated, neither the voice track or the subs ever lose continuity.
All in all this is a highly entertaining animated effort from a series that has a lot to offer and will hopefully be seeing more Region 2 releases in the near future. It's not high art by any means, but it's a lot of fun and youcan do a lot worse for a tenner.
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