Lupin III vs. Detective Conan: The Movie

A fun romp of a movie that starts has Lupin having fun with extravagant robberies, Fujiko in trouble, and Conan and his gang solving mysteries. This movie had me sit up and take notice three minutes in when it did a mock opening sequence for both Lupin and Conan. It is almost word for word from each show, first with Conan narrating an updated Green Jacket style opening and then Lupin doing the same for Conan's standard opening. It's very clever and will grab any fan of either series happy. STORY: This movie is a direct sequel to the popular Lupin vs. Conan special from2012. In case you didn't see it, don't worry, this movie has a summary clip in the closing credits. The series will also make you do a double take a few times as it gives tongue in cheek references to Conan characters and more Lupin references (like the Fujiko series and the Gold of Babylon movie) than Green vs. Red. CHARACTER: Zenigata is given more lines and more personality in this special, but it seems forced. Still, the differences detracted slightly from the movie. Zenigata also has a very pointed line (I really don't know how to word that without giving it away) that seems like it's there for different types of fans. I'm interested to see how they'll translate it when the movie is dubbed. The more I think about it, maybe Zenigata's personality is changed due to the fact that he has a competent partner (a Conan character) in the movie? As for other characters! Conan and Jigen play off the relationship they had in the first special, and it works out hilariously well. Because Conan can arguably be meant for a younger audience, Jigen and Goemon are less gritty and Fujiko isn't as sexualized. I got a kick out of the Conan kids and how they all worked with the Lupin gang. I thought that with such a large cast it might feel forced, but it didn't at all. The only issue was the "flavor of the week" characters, whose problems I found myself glossing over heavily. The movie does not make you care about them at all, which I think is the problem: the first special was about Lupin and Conan while this one was about Lupin, Conan, and a third party. ART: You have to understand that these are two different styles of animation. However, the Lupin franchise has done a great job over the years mixing in other styles with their own. A problem with mixing styles that are so different is that they don't play well together. For example, every time the Conan characters have a scene where they're shown from the side (profile), I couldn't get over the elongated face, almost like an animal's muzzle, and sharply upturned nose. It's easy to move into that world of animation while watching Conan, but when it mixes with the old, long legged Lupin characters grates on the senses. Lupin's characters are long limbed and gritty detailed. Putting these two in the same scenes together doesn't work fantastically. For instance, one of Conan's characters has big, blue eyes. She's talking to Zenigata who does his bow legged walk out of the room. Then the Conan characters are shown from the side and look almost inhuman. So you're left with a dissonance in which you have to force yourself to believe this is the same anime universe. SOUND: The usual Lupin and Conan cast sounds great! Only problem (to me) is that in an effort to merge the two, they limit the amount of jazz that Lupin fans might be used to hearing. ENJOYMENT: Very enjoyable! Lupin and his gang over the years have gotten more family friendly and this definitely falls in that vein. I'd describe it as fluffier than many Disney movies. But hey, you want gritty? Go watch the Fujiko series and Jigen movie...