Line #28 Manga/LupinIII


1	[[quoteright:230:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/230px-lupin_manga_1_7069.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:230:Volume one of the first manga series.]]
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4	In 1967, Creator/MonkeyPunch was tasked to create an adult-oriented {{manga}} character. For inspiration, he drew from ''Film/JamesBond'', ''[[Magazine/{{MAD}} MAD Magazine]]'', and ''Literature/ArseneLupin''. It later became a multimedia [[Franchise/LupinIII franchise]].
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6	Lupin III (Japanese: ルパン三世) was first printed as a serial Manga, published in the magazine ''Weekly Manga Action'' (which began in July), on August 10, 1967. It lasted for 94 issues, ending in May 22, 1969. Monkey Punch recontinued the story two years later,[[note]]for under a year; 1971-1972[[/note]] with the title of ''Lupin III: The New Adventures''. Those two sets of stories were later collected together into the first 14 manga volume series. Later stories of Lupin are also released in ''Weekly Manga Action'', until the fifth series, which was printed in the ''Lupin III Official Magazine''. The ''Lupin III Official Magazine'' is a quarterly magazine that is published by the same people who make ''Weekly Manga Action'', and it includes information on upcoming and recent Lupin III information and merchandise.
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8	* ''Lupin III'' ~ Licensed in America by Creator/TokyoPop. 14 volumes.
9	* ''Lupin III – World's Most Wanted'' ~ Also written by Monkey Punch, beginning in June 23, 1977. Released in Japan in 21 volumes, and planned to be released in 17 in English, but only nine were released.
10	* ''Lupin III S'' ~ This story was written by Satosumi Takaguchi and illustrated by Shusay, [[note]]both were supervised by Monkey Punch[[/note]] in January 1997. 1 volume. No English release.
11	* ''Lupin III Y'' ~ Written by Monkey Punch and illustrated by Masatsuki Yamakami, this serial began in 1998, and halted in 2003. It restarted in the Summer 2009 ''Lupin III Official Magazine'' release as ''Shin Lupin III''; but those chapters were not collected into volumes. 20 volumes. No English release.
12	* ''Lupin III M'' ~ Written by Monkey Punch and illustrated by Yukio Miyama. It began in 2004, serialized by ''Lupin III Official Magazine''. 8 volumes of it and 7 volumes of ''Lupin III M Neo'' have been published. No English release.
13	* ''Lupin III H'' ~ Written by Monkey Punch and illustrated by Naoya Hayakawa. Nine volumes, no English release.
14	* ''Lupin III B'' ~ Written by Monkey Punch and illustrated by Tamio Baba. 1 volume, no English release.
15	* Spin offs: ''Captain Zenigata'' was first released on September 12, 2011. ''M.F.C'' (Mine Fujiko Company) was published as two volumes on September 28, 2009. ''Goemon Ishikawa XIII'' by Kazuo Hoshi was released on September 27, 2014.
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17	In addition to the above, some of the ''Lupin'' anime has been [[RecursiveAdaptation re-adapted]] back into color manga.
18	* Anime/LupinIIIPart1 episodes have been serialized in by Comic Souris.
19	* ''Anime/TheCastleOfCagliostro'' has seen several color manga sets released; among these are a three volume set from Comic Souris and a four volume set from Action Comics.
20	* ''Anime/TheMysteryOfMamo'' was also re-adapted into a color manga set.
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23	!!Tropes of the Lupin the Third Manga:
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25	* AbsurdlySharpBlade: Goemon wields a katana called Nagareboshi ("Falling Star") in the manga. Exactly ''why'' the sword has such incredible cutting power varies, due to BroadStrokes continuity. If the sword is unable to cut something, it becomes a plot point. It is said to be made of a rare steel alloy produced from [[ThunderboltIron meteoric iron]] that is almost indestructible, though apparently the metal can cut itself.
26	* AdaptationalJerkass: Bordering on AdaptationalVillainy: The flashbacks to Lupin's childhood depict his grandfather - [[Literature/ArseneLupin Lupin the First]] - as the kind of ruthless bastard who'd [[spoiler: set teenage thieves - including his grandson - to duel to the death for rights as his heir... ''after'' tricking them into a contract that signs up the loser(s) as [[WalkingTransplant his next heart donor]]]].
27	* AmusingInjuries: All over the place in fine ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' tradition. When the bullets and bombs start flying, you never know if the result will be {{Gorn}} or just a bunch of [[AshFace ash-faces]].
28	* AndTheAdventureContinues: A lot of ''Lupin III'' stuff ends like this. The very final chapter of the original manga ends with Lupin destroying his hideout and mentioning that he's hard at work on his next adventure.
29	* {{Animesque}}: The InvertedTrope! The original manga was heavily influenced by ''Magazine/{{MAD}}'', and the art style definitely shows. The subsequent anime adaptations... not so much. They're not significantly more western-like than most other anime products, but [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools still good!]]
30	* ArtEvolution: The original series is actually a fascinating look at how Monkey Punch's style changed over the years. In the beginning, [[https://i.gyazo.com/5cbd2c81800994ba0549705794819840.png characters were drawn with a more abstract]] style, with the ''Magazine/{{MAD}}'' influence obvious. By the time of the hiatus, [[https://i.gyazo.com/f383ae703626051f915b5c60c1863d40.png his characters were somewhat more realistic]], while still retaining their cartoonishness. After the hiatus, [[https://i.gyazo.com/8c0e0741c6d357eb9ddabd8314cfb239.png he began to exaggerate more]], which the character designs becoming [[https://i.gyazo.com/786c35a4c5215f72637debe342c005e1.png more refined into the second series]].
31	* AsideGlance: Lupin does this often, for the manga.
32	* BarbieDollAnatomy: Averted; genitalia is instead drawn as the male and female gender symbols.
33	* BookEnds: The first and final chapters of the second series both feature everyone gathering on an explosive island [[spoiler:built by Zenigata. Sadly, Lupin and the gang aren't as lucky as they were in the beginning.]]
34	* BerserkButton: Framing Lupin for a crime he ''didn't'' commit really, really pisses him off.
35	* BreakingTheFourthWall: The manga, especially, has a Semipermeable Fourth Wall. Some of the Manga stories have turned Monkey Punch and/or the audience into a main character for the story. One chapter consisted of Lupin showing off his hideout, and explaining everything he had in it.
36	* CerebusRollercoaster: The first series has stories like Lupin giving Monkey Punch a tour of his hideout or being talked into robbing a safe while completely drunk...in the same volume as stories about a artist getting revenge on the man who kidnapped him as a child, or a young man and his sister learning the hard way what Lupin's lifestyle can do to someone.
37	** World's Most Wanted is HotterAndSexier and DenserAndWackier, with more supernatural and sci-fi elements, but there's still the occasional "serious" story, like the TearJerker NoDialogueEpisode, or Jigen's duel in the desert.
38	* CharacterizationMarchesOn: an enforced example of this trope. When the first manga started, Fujiko Mine was an arbitrary name given to the GirlOfTheWeek. She could be an ActionGirl one week, and a DamselInDistress the next. When Monkey Punch decided to make her a consistent character, the idea that she worked with Lupin one week, and against him the next, retroactively gave her ChronicBackstabbingDisorder. This trait has been kept across the franchise.
39	** Applies to some of the other characters as well. The first chapter had Lupin acting like a modern version of his grandfather, with his cocky, womanizing personality appearing in Chapter 2. An early chapter featured Lupin killing some police officers as part of a heist, and one had him murdering the ManipulativeBastard and his accomplice for playing him, despite the accomplice being a woman. Later on in the series, Lupin proudly mentions that he doesn't "kill kids, women or cops".
40	** Early on, Jigen's an occasional sidekick to Lupin, but has no qualms with turning on him if needed. This is a stark contrast to later in the manga, where he's loyal to a fault. He's also shown to be just as interested in women as Lupin is at times, before his "women can't be trusted" belief sets in.
41	** Goemon, at one point in the original series, is showing off with his sword to impress a girl, and even tries to seduce a woman as part of a heist. By the second series, he's apparently commited to abstinence, and despite being visibly aroused, turns down sex with a cute girl before going for a cold swim.
42	** Zenigata's somewhat of a DirtyCop for most of the original series, breaking laws and lying in his pursuit of Lupin. Later on, he's shown as being more uptight and moral, even shedding ManlyTears when forced by his chief to rape a woman in an attempt to frame Lupin.
43	* ChasedOffIntoTheSunset: Frequently, to the point where Monkey Punch lampshaded it [[http://altjapan.typepad.com/my_weblog/2007/06/enemies_of_soci.html an interview with]] Creator/GoNagai, admitting that he often tells himself "time for 'em to run!" when realizing he was running out of pages for the story.
44	* ContractOnTheHitman: Lupin once paid a hitman to take a contract out on ''himself'', literally. [[spoiler: Turns out the hitman has split personality issues. One personality was hired to kill the other, and neither knew about each other.]]
45	* CostumeCopycat: One ''M'' chapter involves a new female thief who poses as Fujiko in order to get her to take the fall for a jewelry heist. The situation backfires when Lupin springs Fujiko from jail and helps her turn the tables on the new girl.
46	* CrossOver: Lupin and his gang appeared in ''[[Manga/{{Kochikame}} Super Kochikame]]'', a special manga volume for Kochi's 30th anniversary in 2006. The Lupin segment was co-authored by Osami Akimoto and Monkey Punch.
47	* CryingWolf: Exploited by Lupin in a manga chapter and the Anime/LupinIIIPart1 episode ([[Recap/LupinIIIS1E4 One Chance to Breakout]]) based on that chapter, in which Lupin intentionally causes this effect. While he's in prison, he keeps claiming that he isn't really Lupin, until everyone gets sick of it and stops listening. On the day of his execution, he switches places with a guard, who gets dragged off protesting that he isn't Lupin – and, of course, no one believes him.
48	* DarkerAndEdgier: The manga series establishes itself as a series with sex, violent death, and occasional {{Gorn}}. This can come as quite a shock to those who start reading the comics after being intrigued by the LighterAndSofter [[Anime/LupinIII Yearly specials]].
49	* DearNegativeReader: This trope is parodied in a chapter of the original manga. A sex scene is interrupted by a (fake) fan's letter (complaining about [[CensoredForComedy the "bleeps" censoring the dialogue]]), followed by the author telling them to "Bleep off".
50	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: As mentioned above, the original manga is a lot more violent and sexual than any of the {{Animated Adaptation}}s (save for ''[[Anime/{{Lupin III The Woman Called Fujiko Mine}} The Woman Called Fujiko Mine]]''), and the protagonists were way more violent and devious to boot.
51	* {{Fanservice}}: Hoo boy.
52	* FirstEpisodeTwist: Averted by way of ArtEvolution. Both people new to the franchise and fans who saw the anime first might be led to believe that the womanizing thief who beds the two sisters in search of some microfilm is Lupin, since, aside from the hair, he looks just like him (the hair could be part of the disguise)...then he's killed by a nerdy-looking guy with black hair and long sideburns, who turns out to be Lupin. It's not until the second chapter that Lupin starts to look more like he traditionally does.
53	* GagCensor: Infamously so, with the use of the Mars (♂) and Venus (♀) symbols.
54	* GroinAttack: An early chapter in the second series has Lupin "teaching" a young woman to defend herself from attack by slapping her hands together on top of the... male sex symbol. (The manga's replacement for genitalia)
55	** The "San Francisco" story arc has Lupin throwing a knife through the penis of a would-be rapist.
56	* TheHeroDies: The second manga series ends with [[spoiler:Zenigata trapping Lupin, Jigen, Goemon, and Fujiko on an island, then detonating it as he escapes via boat]].
57	* HoistByHisOwnPetard: We have a literal example of the phrase, as Lupin hires an assassin to kill a Yakuza boss ([[spoiler: who is a split personality of the assassin ]]) and the boss has set bombs all over his house.
58	* IdenticalStranger: One of the chapters from the ''M'' series revolves around a bespectacled civilian worker who happens to look almost exactly like Fujiko.
59	* InfernalRetaliation: One of the story elements consistent across the franchise is Lupin's encounter with Goemon. Lupin claims he knows of a weapon more powerful than the katana. Goemon, who believes that KatanasAreJustBetter, brags that he will cut anything with his sword. Thats when Lupin throws special rocket fuel onto the samurai that bursts into flames when Goemon slashes it, because it comes into contact with the air. Not content to let Lupin get away with this, Goemon tosses a rope at Lupin, which carries the flames over to light him on fire as well. As it's ''Lupin'', they recover.
60	* InverseLawOfSharpnessAndAccuracy: Averted; the manga has characters hitting pretty much everyone.
61	* LaterInstallmentWeirdness: While the original series certainly incorporated some fantastical elements at times, it's noting on the PostScriptSeason volumes, which include curing Lupin's vampirism with farts, a MadScientist who hypnotizes corpses, and an invisible sea captain.
62	** Monkey Punch seems to like this trope, since the same happens with later volumes of the second series. We get stories about a hundred Lupin clones, a FreakyFridayFlip, the gang being turned to babies, and even an AlienInvasion of a small island.
63	* LongRunner: There's a lot of stop-and-go with the manga, but the ''Lupin III Official Magazine'' isn't going to stop any decade soon, even if it stops including new Lupin III serials.
64	* MagicFromTechnology: The villain Pycal, who was impervious to bullets and fire, could walk on air, and shoot fire from his fingertips. Lupin found a way to replicate these tricks: ([[spoiler:he walked on air via carefully placed glass panes, shot fire from his fingertips with a small, hidden flamethrower and was impervious thanks to a hard liquid chemical that shielded his body when covered by the liquid.]]) It was never explicitly confirmed that Pycal really wasn't using magic, however, the animated versions of the character are explicit about it.
65	* MarsNeedsWomen: Partway through the "Yap Land" story in World's Most Wanted, the gang has to deal with a group of small space aliens who are trying to mate with Fujiko, and she has to keep fending off their advances, [[CrossesTheLineTwice even launching one into a wall with the waistband of her panties at one point.]]
66	* MediumAwareness: This trope is used due to the franchise's Semipermeable Fourth Wall nature. It is usually Lupin interacting with whatever element of the work is on our side of the FourthWall, but any of the cast can do it for a [[RuleOfFunny gag]].
67	** Monkey Punch turned part of a panel over to show how upset he was when Zenigata had a LeaningOnTheFourthWall line, claiming the current case was as simple as a comic book.
68	** In ''"Impression Impossible"'', Lupin has paid someone to roll a panel aside and declare that Lupin III is handsome.
69	* MetallicarSyndrome: Despite being an internationally-wanted criminal, Lupin often drives the very rare Mercedes-Benz SSK. Probably a JustifiedTrope though, as his desire to show off is at least as powerful a motive as the money from his more spectacular capers.
70	* NamedWeapon: Goemon has a legendary sword named ''Nagareboshi'', which translates to "falling star". The metal came from [[ThunderboltIron the heavens]].
71	* NoDialogueEpisode: Chapter 89 of the original manga series went entirely without dialogue until the final page (possibly as a homage to cartoons like ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'', which the author admits to being a fan of). The sequel series also did it, but in a [[TearJerker much more serious way]].
72	* NoFourthWall: One of the ways the manga differs from subsequent adaptations is the shameless lack of a fourth wall. From Lupin's quip in chapter 6 that "This manga is very thrilling!" to some stories involving the author as a character (one was just a chapter of Lupin criticizing and abusing the author, the other has Lupin giving the manga-ka a tour of his hideout), to a chapter starring the reader herself.
73	* NoMrBondIExpectYouToDine: Late in the run of the original manga series, Lupin encounters a scientist whose secrets he intends to steal. So, he invites him to dinner to discuss it.
74	* OldCopYoungCop: Akechi Kogoro is the old cop to Zenigata Koichi's much younger cop. In some adaptations, Zenigata is paired with an older or younger counterpart to serve as a relationship character.
75	* PetTheDog: Despite being more edgy than his anime counterpart, every now and then Lupin will show a softer side, like letting a teenage girl tag along with him for a few days [[spoiler:because she's terminally ill and wants to have some fun before she dies.]] Or doing long-distance surgery on Fujiko to save her life, saving a woman from being raped, or reuniting a man with his kidnapped child.
76	* ParodyEpisode: ''Frequently.'' The original manga stories simply used the Arsene Lupin III character as a vehicle to drive a story, through whatever tale Monkey Punch wanted to tell, such as one chapter being a parody of ''Series/MissionImpossible''.
77	* RecruitingTheCriminal: Lupin was hired by the Japanese government to rescue a captured spy and recover the intel said spy was after in return for amnesty for all his crimes up to that point. Here, the reason was simply that Lupin's Impossible Thief talents made him the perfect man for the job; if anyone could covertly steal a prisoner and information from under the nose of somebody who'd already caught a spy and was thus on alert, it would be him.
78	* RoguesGallery:
79	** If you look at the series from a law-enforcement perspective, then Lupin, Jigen, Goemon and Fujiko are a recurring Rogues Gallery for Inspector Zenigata. Well, they are criminals, so...
80	** On Lupin's end, he has his own list of recurring adversaries across the franchise. These include Zenigata (of course), Rebecca Rossellini, Agent Nyx, Creator/LeonardoDaVinci (really), Mr. X, Kyosuke Mamo, and Pycal.
81	* SoundEffectBleep: A sex scene near the end of the original manga series had various words bleeped out. [[NoFourthWall The scene was interrupted by a fan letter]] saying, "What the bleep is up with all the bleeps?", with a similarly censored reply.
82	* SpinOffspring: Lupin III Jr., a short-lived manga by Monkey Punch about Lupin's illegitimate son. (And yes, the kid is actually named "Lupin III Jr.", not "Lupin IV")
83	* SdrawkcabAlias: The GrandFinale of the original Lupin III manga series featured the MusicalAssassin Ataginez. [[spoiler: Of course, it's Inspector Zenigata in disguise.]]
84	* TheSyndicate: One of the many, ''many'' things setting OG Lupin apart from his anime predecessors. No OddlySmallOrganization here - the "Lupin clan" can field dozens of {{Mooks}} if the story calls for it (one story says it has almost ''2000'' henchmen).
85	** A recurring antagonist/[[TheRival Rival]] in the series is the [[YouDirtyRat Rat clan]], for the most part [[EvilVersusEvil equally ruthless]].
86	* ThematicSeries: In the original Japanese - and ''especially'' the initial magazine run - most chapters were numbered as part of a miniseries. The majority of these were ''not'' [[StoryArc story arcs]] proper, but standalones that just happen to share a common theme or antagonist (''e.g.'' [[EveryoneWentToSchoolTogether Lupin in college]]).
87	* WholeEpisodeFlashback:
88	** Volumes 4 & 5 for one of the ''Manga/LupinIII'' manga has a few stories starring a teenage Lupin.
89	** There's also a story arc about Lupin attending college.
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Context Manga / LupinIII