Genre: Action/Comedy

Studio/Creator: TMS/Maurice Leblanc

Distributor: Manga Entertainment

Running Time: 1 hour, 40 minutes

Age Rating: 10+

My Rating: 10/10

Summary: Master thief Lupin III and his pal Jigen are on the trail of a counterfeiter who swindled them. They soon find out the counterfeiter has actually kidnapped the lovely Lady Clarisse in order to marry her. Can Lupin save the day?

Review: This is one of Hayao Miyazaki’s earliest movies, made before he founded Studio Ghibli, which is why I was interested. You can certainly see his trademark style–the backdrops are pretty, even for back then. The castle was well-detailed and although the style was dated, I thought it looked very good.

As for the story, it was good too. Lupin was a charming “hero” and I laughed at how easily he foiled everyone’s plans. The story had a great James Bond-feel to it. I should probably point out this is one of Steven Spielburg’s favorite movies.

Sub/Dub: I only saw the Manga Entertainment dub. I liked it, but I wish they had Wendee Lee voicing Fujiko, like she does in the Lupin III TV series.

Music: It was nice, but not memorable.

Violence: (4/10) Some gunshots and such, but nothing over the top.

Language: (2/10) Heard a couple curse words at the beginning, but that was it.

Sexuality: (0/10)

Nudity: (0/10)

Religion: (0/10)

Related Media: There’s out-of-print movies from Manga Entertainment, and FUNimation also has more recently made movies. Geneon carried the TV series, but I am unaware if the license has been picked up. There’s also an out-of-print manga from Tokyopop.