Overview

Lupin the IIIrd: Jigen’s Gravestone (Lupin the IIIrd: Jigen Daisuke no Bohyou / LUPIN THE IIIRD 次元大介の墓標) is the second in a trilogy of Lupin the IIIrd movies (chronologically, that is). The first movie is Fujiko’s Lie, and the third is Goemon’s Blood Spray.

After watching The Castle of Cagliostro, Jigen was my favorite of Lupin’s group, but that could have just been because he was the most prominent in that movie. However, Jigen’s Gravestone reaffirmed that I do like Jigen more than Fujiko, who’s currently my #2.

Jigen’s just a cool guy. I don’t really see how anyone couldn’t like him.

In my review of Fujiko’s Lie I mentioned that the movie had more mature content than I expected; the same is true for Jigen’s Gravestone. This time around, I was expecting the same amount of violence, but less sexual content.

Instead, what I got was more of both.

I think the more violent tone of this movie, including the multiple assassinations, fit well into Jigen’s character. He’s gritty, and the movie dedicated to him depicted that much better than I think Fujiko’s Lie depicted Fujiko’s sexuality.

But then this movie also had that whole part with a naked, lubed up Fujiko in a glass box being attacked by a sexually suggestive death machine in a gimp suit. And despite how that sounds, I think Fujiko’s nudity in this movie felt less out of place than it did in her movie.

It still didn’t do her character any favors though. It basically just reaffirmed that Fujiko is only there for fan service even though she’s actually an interesting character in her own right.

Yael Okuzaki

One of the biggest differences between Fujiko’s Lie and Jigen’s Gravestone is the antagonist. The antagonists from both movies are genetically altered assassins created by some unknown organization. However, they’re both very different, and those differences have huge effects on the movies.

Binkam had a few supernatural powers which didn’t make much sense even after they were explained. Yael Okuzaki doesn’t have any supernatural powers, although that’s not necessarily clear from the start.

Instead, he uses some sci-fi technology, but I think that’s a better choice than using the supernatural to explain things. Yael’s right eye is connected to a device which allows him to tap into all of the security cameras around the city so he can follow his prey’s every move.

Yael also uses actual weapons to perform his assassinations rather than a magical power, which is good. While he typically uses a sniper rifle, he also carries a small handgun just in case.

But, that doesn’t necessarily mean he does things the normal way — there’s still some excitement and unpredictability built in. Yael is an expert in the robotic and various other engineering fields, so he has a whole host of other weapons at his disposal, including death machines and a car with a built in Gatling gun.

Interestingly, it doesn’t seem like he actually uses his robot monstrosities in his line of work — those are more of a hobby for him. But he does manufacture his other weapons, ammunition, and technology on his own.

Oh, and Yael rolls a die to determine how many bullets to use when killing his target.

Jigen’s Quickdraw

Where Fujiko had to use her sexuality, and hand to hand combat skills, to overcome the main antagonist in her respective movie, Jigen uses his gun-slinging skills.

If there was one thing that made this movie stand out compared to Fujiko’s Lie, it was the gun-slinging animation. Fujiko’s Lie also had some good animation, but it didn’t stand out nearly as much as it did in Jigen’s Gravestone. The duels between Jigen and Yael were definitely the highlights of the movie, as they should be.

Jigen’s final duel also felt like it actually had a purpose, unlike Fujiko’s final fight. Fujiko didn’t really need to kill Binkam — she had already poisoned his mind and made him question his loyalty to his employer. But for Jigen, the fight against Yael wasn’t about defeating a bad guy, it was about proving his own skills against a powerful rival.

Also, watching Jigen’s duels against Yael made me realize something about Lupin’s crew — they’re definitely the inspiration for Luffy’s crew in One Piece. Oda may have said as much in the past, but if he hasn’t, that’s definitely the case.

Lupin was created by Monkey Punch, and Luffy’s first name is Monkey. Also the two characters are fairly similar in that they just do whatever they want. Then we have Fujiko and Nami who are basically the same person even in appearance. And while Jigen wants to be the greatest gun-slinger, Zoro wants to be the greatest swordsman.

Am I going to find out in the next movie that Goemon is a chef who wants to find the All-Blue?

It’s interesting to see how the characters from this series have influenced those from more recent series over the decades.

Conclusion

Despite the fact that I liked Jigen’s Gravestone more overall than Fujiko’s Lie, I think it’s also an 8/10. The story wasn’t quite as strong, but I think basically every thing else was slightly better.

I’m interested to see what the final movie in the trilogy is like. Jigen played a pretty large role in both The Castle of Cagliostro and Fujiko’s Lie. Fujiko played a decently-sized role in Cagliostro and Jigen’s Gravestone. But what about Goemon?

He wasn’t present in either Fujiko’s Lie or Jigen’s Gravestone, and he was barely in Cagliostro at all. All I know about him is that he’s a samurai.

Anyway, if you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button ❤ down below. Also follow me over on Twitter @DoubleSama so you don’t miss out on any future content. And come join our Discord server if you’re interested in discussing anime with other members of the community.

Finally, I’d like to thank HeavyROMAN for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

Overview

Lupin the IIIrd: Fujiko’s Lie (Lupin the IIIrd: Mine Fujiko no Uso / LUPIN THE IIIRD 峰不二子の嘘) is one movie in a trilogy of Lupin the IIIrd movies, also including Jigen’s Gravestone and Goemon’s Blood Spray. I’ll be reviewing those two movies over the next two weeks to complete the set.

Oh, and this review is going to contain spoilers.

The only previous exposure I’ve had to the Lupin franchise was The Castle of Cagliostro. That movie came out in 1979, and this movie came out in 2019, so there’s 40 years of content between them I simply haven’t seen. And with that in mind, I wasn’t expecting Fujiko’s Lie to be what it was.

For starters, it was more graphic than I was expecting — something I’ll discuss later on. But what really set it apart from the Lupin I knew, was the sci-fi aspect of the plot. As far as I remember, The Castle of Cagliostro didn’t have any sci-fi elements, so seeing that in this movie felt a bit out of place.

However, later on in the movie it seems to appear that Lupin & co. run into supernatural beings on the regular, so I guess it’s not actually out of place. Maybe that’s a newer development for the series, but either way I’m not going to hold that against it.

Anyway, the main plot of the movie is that Fujiko is attempting to steal 500 million dollars from a sickly child. And that sickly child got the money from his father, who stole it from the company he worked for. And that company sends a supernatural assassin after them to get the money back.

Also Lupin and Jigen are around just trying to save the day and get the money for themselves.

Binkam

I was going to do a characters section here, but I think we’re better off just discussing Binkam (or Bincam as the version I watch spelled it) here. I’ll be talking about Fujiko specifically in the next section, Lupin and Jigen don’t really need to be discussed, and Jean (or Gene?) is just the kid who has the money.

Binkam is why this movie was strange to me. He’s humanoid, but until it was stated later in the movie that he’s a genetically modified human, I thought he was supposed to be an alien. He doesn’t look human, and he has a strange ability which allows him to control people who breathe in the dust storms he creates.

I also considered the fact that he was supposed to be some sort of mummy considering he refers to his dust storm as a curse. But, no, he’s just a weird guy who was turned into a weapon to be used by the company.

But what I still don’t really understand about Binkam is the explanation of his powers. From what we see, he has two main abilities: he can whip up dust storms, and he can control people who breathe in that dust. The second ability appears to be connected to his eyes.

However, the explanation we’re given doesn’t make sense for either of these abilities. Apparently, he’s resistant to a type of poisonous plant which he eats the fruit of. Then, he sweats out the poison of this fruit, it’s carried by the dust storm into the body of his enemy, and the poison makes that person more easily persuaded.

The problem is that this doesn’t explain how he controls sandstorms or what his eyes have to do with his ability to control others.

Fujiko’s Nudity

I liked how Fujiko was depicted as a ruthless woman who uses sex appeal to get what she wants and isn’t afraid to steal from a sickly child. She’s a pretty cool character, and this movie made me like her a lot more than The Castle of Cagliostro did.

But, I have to mention the nudity in this movie. Fujiko is cool, we’ve established that. We also know that she seduces men to get what she wants. However, I felt that the nudity in the movie almost took away from her character because of how it was used.

I’m not someone who has an issue with nudity in anime as a whole, but I think it needs to be natural while also not detracting from the everything else going on. Unless, of course, it’s in an ecchi series, in which case you can throw those rules out the window.

The first bit of nudity was fine as far as I’m concerned. Fujiko is taking a bath with Jean (Gene?) so, yeah, not surprising that she’s naked. But, at the time, I did get the feeling that nudity was added as a sort of fan service — like Asuna being uncensored for two frames in the Ordinal Scale movie.

Later on in the movie there’s another scene with nudity, and it’s this one which I have a bit of an issue with. She’s having her final battle against Binkam, and he cuts her clothes to expose one of her breasts. She then remains exposed for the rest of the fight, and it’s pretty prominent.

I get that she’s fighting so she’s not really concerned about being exposed in the moment, but at the same time it felt like it was focused on too much. It was almost like they were saying Fujiko defeated Binkam because of her body, not because she’s a master of manipulation or a skilled fighter.

It just felt out of place. If she had exposed herself to him in order to shock him, and then used that time to launch a surprise attack, I think that might have been a better way to go about that scene. But that also feels pretty cliché.

Conclusion

Overall, I think Lupin the IIIrd: Fujiko’s Lie is a solid 8/10. It’s definitely a movie I would watch again, especially since at only 56 minutes, it’s not much of a commitment. I’m also looking forward to the next two movies in the trilogy — the reviews of those should be up on the next two Fridays.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button ❤ down below. Also follow me over on Twitter @DoubleSama so you don’t miss out on any new content. And come join our Discord server if you’re interested in discussing anime with other members of the community.

Finally, I’d like to thank HeavyROMAN for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month and for suggesting I watch this trilogy of movies. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

Overview

Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro is the first part of the Lupin III series I’ve seen. Before watching this movie I hadn’t seen any of the series, and I basically went in blind. I knew of Lupin III, but I didn’t know about Lupin III, if that makes any sense.

However, that didn’t really seem to matter, which I was a bit surprised by. I know that movies for series are typically fairly standalone, but at the same time I felt like I would have needed to know the characters before starting.

But, as stated, that wasn’t the case. There was really only one character who seemed to be recurring, and who I was a bit perplexed by, but I’ll get to that in the next section. For the most part, it was extremely easy to get a grasp on who each of the characters were right from each of their introductions.

As for the plot itself, we have a pair of thieves, Lupin and Jigen, who set their sights on uncovering the producer of large amounts of counterfeit currency which has made its way all across the globe. But, this search leads them to a small European country where they find a girl from Lupin’s past.

This girl is being forced into a marriage she doesn’t agree with, and the target of the heist changes. Instead of uncovering the counterfeiter, Lupin plans to steal the girl away from the situation she’s in. So, basically Lupin is a knight going to rescue a princess rather than a thief in this movie.

I thought the story was pretty decent, but at the same time I would have rather it been an actual heist movie. The whole thing about rescuing a princess from the tallest tower in a castle is a bit cliché, even when executed well.

And, before anyone mentions that this movie is from 1979 and therefore can’t be cliché because the story hadn’t been overused yet, no. You’re wrong. Fairy tale stories like this have been around for much longer.

Speaking of the fact that this movie is from 1979, that might make it the oldest anime I’ve watched. I don’t feel like checking that claim right now, but I believe it’s correct. However, at no point during the movie did I think, “this feels old.” When people say something is timeless, this is what they mean.

Yes, it has an art style which is very different from what we’re used to seeing today, but honestly I like anime that look different. I always think different art styles are off-putting at first, but once I actually watch the series or movie I find myself understanding why the particular art style works so well.

A great example of this is In This Corner of the World, which is another anime movie.

Characters

Alright, so what about the characters? Lupin III is our titular protagonist, and world-renowned thief. I’m not actually sure where he’s from because it’s never stated, but he’s extremely familiar with one particular, Japanese Interpol officer, so perhaps he’s from Japan.

But, while Lupin is a master thief who travels the world in search of riches to steal, he doesn’t seem to care all that much about the money. Sure, money is nice, but the main driving force for Lupin seems to be the thrill of the heist, which is something I liked about him.

As long as he has a good time, he doesn’t seem to really care if he comes out of his adventure with a profit.

Jigen is Lupin’s right hand man, and has more of a mobster look going on. He’s also the firearms specialist of the team, though Lupin does also carry a handgun. While he’s definitely the more serious of the two, he still goes along with Lupin’s plans that won’t result in any financial gain.

I assume that this pair always works together in the series based on their chemistry. From the start there’s just a feeling that these two are best friends who have been through ups and downs together, and that’s not the easiest thing to pull off.

I’ve seen a fair amount of anime in my day, and I love character driven series. But, seeing characters who have real chemistry with each other is a pretty rare occurrence, so it’s always impressive when I come across some like Lupin and Jigen.

The princess of the movie is Clarisse d’ Cagliostro. She’s the last member of one side of the Cagliostro family, and is set to marry Lazare d’ Cagliostro of the other side of the family. The reason for this is that there’s a legend about a treasure being revealed when both sides of the family are reunited.

However, to reveal the treasure all that’s really needed are the two rings of each side of the Cagliostro family, so I don’t really see the big deal. Couldn’t Lazare have just stolen Clarisse’s ring? Or, couldn’t Clarisse have just given up her ring to avoid the marriage? Why the marriage had to happen didn’t really make sense.

And, even at the end I don’t know what the treasure was. The rings unlock something in the clock tower which causes it to collapse and the lake to drain, revealing what appear to be ancient Roman ruins. I guess that’s the treasure, but it’s not exactly a tangible treasure.

Anyway, I was going over the characters, so let’s get back to that. There’s not really much else to say about Clarisse considering her position in her family is her defining trait.

As for recurring characters, there seem to be three others in this movie aside from Lupin and Jigen. These are Fujiko, Zenigata, and Goemon.

Fujiko doesn’t get introduced right away, but from her first encounter with Lupin it’s clear they’re very familiar with each other. Later on it’s revealed that sometimes they’re allies, sometimes enemies, and sometimes lovers. So I guess you could say they have a fairly complex relationship. She’s also a professional spy.

Zenigata is the Japanese Interpol officer I mentioned earlier on. It seems clear to me that he’s the main “antagonist” in the Lupin III series, and is the one constantly chasing after Lupin around the globe. However, even he seems to have a level of respect for the thief.

Goemon is the one character who didn’t really make much sense to me. He’s a ronin samurai who appears to be one of Lupin and Jigen’s allies, but he just felt out of place. He wasn’t with them in the beginning, so they called him in to help with the heist, but he doesn’t really bring anything to the table.

I don’t know if his character is always used like this, but it felt like he was added into the movie just because he’s a recurring character in the series and so couldn’t be left out. I honestly think that he added nothing to the Lupin/Jigen duo other than being just another body.

Conclusion

In the end I gave Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro a 6/10, which is basically my rating for anime which I liked, but don’t think are all too special and probably wouldn’t rewatch. It was a decent movie, and I’d recommend it if you have an hour and a half to spare, but I think it’s a bit hyped up.

Have you seen this movie? If so, what are your thoughts on it? Let me know down in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, the be sure to click the like button ❤ down below. Also, give me a follow over on Twitter @DoubleSama so you don’t miss out on all my latest content. My schedule will be changing starting in May, so Twitter will become even more important for staying up to date.

Finally, I’d like to thank HeavyROMAN for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month and recommending Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro. To learn more about becoming a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.