Mine Fujiko, Nyaruko, Upotte.

また詰まらぬものを斬ってしまった。(I just cut something unworthy again). – Ishikawa Goemon

That is the famous word of the sword master, Ishikawa Goemon after he cut the enemy or object with his sword, Zantetsuken. And this season, I can see this spoof everywhere. Nyaruko-san used it. And then, Shigu from Upotte used it! またつまらぬものを撃ってしまった。(I just shot something unworthy again). Fuhahahaah! Lupin III joke is all over this season! Yay! Lupin is that influential!

Anyway, Mine Fujiko, the sexiest and most seductive woman alive in 2D. I very much enjoyed the 3 episodes of this new Lupin from Fujiko’s perspective. The 4th one is not that good though since it’s a bit of surprise that Detective Zenigata (Tottsan) is depicted as more shrewd, acute, cruel, and moreover, very sexist. Yes, his attitude toward women reflects what Japan’s society used to be forty years ago. But he still keeps his comical side intact. While Lupin, Jigen, and Goemon are pretty much fallen for Fujiko’s charm, Tottsan is the only one that doesn’t seem to get affected by it. Yes, their weak point is women. But Tottsan is not, but rather he constantly gropes Fujiko’s butt. Jukujo-molester! He surely got the audacity to grope!

I’ve been watching Lupin since childhood, but I’ve never seen Tottsan comes off this crude. It’s actually my first time. Probably the character setting’s based on the original manga rather than the old TV series. And when Fujiko complains about it, Tottsan simply says, “This is rather a Gekirei (激励 “encouragement”).” Oh yes, people wildly reacted to that and commented, “Gekirei, LOL.”  Oh yes, that’s how you cheered up girls back in the 70s? Many otakus commented, “I want to give an encouragement also.” I bet defendants at court who are charged with sexual harassment would defend, “It was only an encouragement. I just tried to cheer her up.” Oh yes, Funko from Upotte also gets a gekirei! Yes, gekirei is also everywhere!

Lupin and me

Of course, Lupin’s original seiyuu passed away a long time ago. Yamada Yasuo, who was also well known for doing dub for Clint Eastwood. And he pretty much looked like Lupin, and Monkey Punch has admitted that he had Yamada Yasuo in his mind when character-designing Lupin. Yamada could do a comic like Lupin, and a very cool gunman like Clint Eastwood. So now, Yamada’s replacement has taken over Lupin, but you know, it can’t match up Yamada’s art of seiyuu. It’s just so distinct, unique, and very defined. No one can replace him. It’s like Tora-san, no one can replace the legend Atsumi Kiyoshi.

I’ve watched Lupin since a little. In Japan, Lupin was rerunning all the time. So, every kid grows up with it. Lupin is a sort of national anime. Even if you never saw Lupin, you already know the characters and the plot. That’s why it can last so long. It’s like Anpanman, Doraemon, Sazae-san, Chibimaruko-chan, or Kureyonshin-chan. Yes, the template is so fixed, so it can be everlasting as long as people are not tired of it. Lupin is one of these animes. And every year Lupin always has a summer special or something like that. The vacation time anime for the nation to enjoy. It’s so imbued with the national psyche. Yes, the collective consciousnesses.

And these three Japanese, Jigen, Goemon, and Fujiko… Oh yes, Lupin is technically Japanese, since he’s a Japanese-French (probably Italian too). So, these four Japanese come together forming the greatest thief team ever and scavenge the world. Yes, a dream team that’s so appealing to the Japanese. Lupin is like an Ichiro in an international theft world.

Japan is an island nation. That’s why the Japanese are obsessed with the oversea cultures. National claustrophobia. It’s like, “We have to get out of this small space, and enjoy the world.” And Lupin III projects that national wish in 2D. Yes, Japan is a very strict hierarchical society. So, it’s very hard to do freely on your own. Not like America, a nation of free entrepreneurs. In Japan, a young entrepreneur would be put in jail by the God damned Prosecutors Office. Horiemon‘s arrest put that entrepreneurship into toilet. Yes, he was actually a Lupin in the business world. He was going to steal away all the conventional hierarchical business and put that old business practice to an end.

So it’s the Japanese mentality that see Lupin as an escape. Oh boy, anyone who grew up in Japan knows how hierarchical it was. It was so stifling. One of the reasons why I moved to America.

And yes, particularly the Japanese women have the lowest positions among the most industrialized countries, even behind China. Gender disparity? Tell me about it. It’s so shameful. That’s why Mine Fujiko is so awesome. She is definitely empowering.

The new OP is just amazing, with a narration! Kind of reminds me of Thermae Romae, but the monotone and the strings, very cool. And the ED is yojo Fujiko, i.e., Loli Fujiko! Some otaku even commented stupidly, “Fujiko was once a virgin, wasn’t she?” Oh yes, we only know jukujo Fujiko. So, yojo Fujiko was a surprise. Yes, today’s Lupin is empowered by the moe element! That makes Lupin so current. In fact, over the ED, someone went, “Loli Fujiko, peroperoperoperopero!” So, my kind of gekirei would be,

Fujiko-chan, peroperoperopero!

Author: Monsieur LaMoe

A refugee from Japan. Live in NAFTA. Get hooked on Moe. Moe is opium? Twitter: @MonsieurLamoe