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The theatrical crossover between Lupin III and Case Closed following the Lupin III vs. Detective Conan TV special of four years previous. Released December 2013 in Japanese theaters, this is the first Lupin III-related theatrical anime film in 17 years, the first Lupin III theatrical movie that is a sequel to a TV special, and the first theatrical Detective Conan movie to be a crossover. And on top of all that, it was the highest-grossing movie in either franchise's history. Lupin still had its annual TV special for 2013.

Has a website.


This movie features examples of:

  • Animation Bump: As befits The Movie, the look is much slicker than the standard output of either franchise.
  • Badass Biker: Ai's skills, shown during the climax when she carries Fujiko, are pretty impressive, especially since she has the body of an elementary school student.
  • Bathtub Bonding: The Furo Scene with Ai and Fujiko establishes that the two women knew each other prior to Ai's shrinking. They're still comfortable enough to bathe together, although Ai refuses to share her "eternal youth drug" that Fujiko wants.
  • Big Bad Duumvirate: The main antagonists of the film are Emilio's musical promoter Luciano Carnevale (actually Italian Mafia dealer Salvatore Lucania), and an unnamed agent from the Republic of Gilanbar who goes by the pseudonym "Alan Smithee".
  • Brick Joke: Lupin masquerades as Magic Kaito in the initial heist... and when he tries to swipe a rare gem so as not to leave Japan empty-handed, Kaito not only swipes it first but leads Zenigata right to him. The final shot of the movie is a teaser for Lupin III vs. Magic Kaito(2020). Conan pops up claiming it's a joke, but he's been wrong about both those nuts before...
  • Butt-Monkey: Takagi gets captured and stripped by Lupin, left in Zenigata's towed-away car, punished by his superiors, and used as a chauffeur by the Detective Boys & Agasa.
  • The Cameo:
    • For Conan characters: Kaito from Magic Kaito appears for a few frames as himself to wonder who's impersonating him, and gets mentioned later—apparently the Lupin characters are able to tell Kid is still in high school, somehow. Probably similar to how Conan was able to peg him below 20 years old in their first meeting, though Lupin seems confident that his young appearance isn't just a mask. Hattori Heiji is shown to be in the group of people chasing Lupin and the Kid at the end.
    • For Lupin characters: Kyosuke Mamo from Lupin III: Part 1, Julia Douglas from Farewell to Nostradamus, Rosetta from Legend of the Gold of Babylon, Chico and Bolonco (that was one-episode Kid Detective) from Lupin III: Part II.
  • The Caper: A nested example. Fujiko was kidnapped as a hostage so as to force Lupin to very publicly steal a valuable gem as a test for stealing the "Cherry Sapphire"... which one of the villains thinks can be exchanged for some of Vespania's Unobtanium. Only the whole thing is rigged by Lupin and his gang; Fujiko pulled her Double Reverse Quadruple Agent schtick to get in with the buyers, Jigen played bodyguard to get in with the sellers, and Goemon pretended to be the eccentric owner of the "Cherry Sapphire" to get it — actually another piece of the Unobtanium, which is capable of scrambling electronics — into the meeting, upon which they took advantage of the chaos to reclaim all the stolen Unobtanium. The whole thing ends up sinking into the sea in the getaway, which is still a win as the goal was simply to prevent it from falling into warring hands.
  • Catchphrase: Jigen carries a list of slightly flanderized Conan quotes, lampshading their use (especially in less canon installments) and to get Shinichi to abandon his interest in their business by showing him how much research the Lupin gang has been able to do on him. (It doesn't work.)
  • Chekhov's Boomerang: The Vespanian ore Lupin stole in the TV special is the target of the caper, and a second piece is used to crash the hijacked plane and keep Lupin and Conan from getting blown away by air-to-air missiles.
  • Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Lupin runs all over Tokyo because Fujiko is being held captive, except she's actually working with the guy allegedly holding her captive, except she was planning to turn on him, too, except he betrayed her first. You know, her usual gimmick. Especially since she infiltrated the captor to help the gang with the real caper.
  • Continuity Nod:
    • The Lupin III vs. Detective Conan crossover TV special is actually heavily referenced and plot-integral. There are nods major enough to be Chekhov's Boomerangs, but also small ones, like Shinichi screwing with Jigen by calling him "Poppa", and his active terror of Fujiko after... whatever happened at the end of the TV special.
    • Sato saying Lupin was her "first love" in the Conan movie Jolly Roger in the Deep Azure to explain why she takes it personally that two crooks she and Takagi take down are wearing Lupin and Fujiko masks is mentioned again and expanded into a minor plot point with Ship Tease.
    • Sato's phone wallpaper is a photo taken in the Conan episode "Metropolitan Police Detective Love Story - Fake Wedding".
  • Crossover: Between Lupin III and Detective Conan (again).
  • Crossover Ship: In-universe when Lupin flirts copiously with Sato.
  • Death by Secret Identity: Conan is asked who he is, as often happens, and answers with his real name, because the person who asked is dying. Again.
  • Enemy Mine: At the end of the midpoint Conan's drawn Lupin into a trap and the two of them are reveling in their confrontation, but they both drop it completely the second the real villain shows up.
  • Fake-Out Fade-Out: "Ends" several times.
  • Friendly Enemy: Detective Conan and Thief Lupin (Conan and Lupin's partner Jigen may also count).
  • Furo Scene: Fujiko and Ai have a long conversation while taking a bath.
  • Greater-Scope Paragon: Queen Mira Julietta Vespaland and Count Keith Dan Stinger of the Kingdom of Vespania turn out to be the ones who commissioned Lupin to reclaim the stolen Vespanian ore.
  • Homage: Lupin and his gang's introductions in the opening are nearly shot-for-shot redos of their introductions from the original Lupin III pilot film.
  • Implausible Fencing Powers: Goemon, who slices Conan's skateboard in half at the start (remember that Conan's skateboarding prowess is always exaggerated in the movies), and continues on to do things like cutting a police car to pieces around the police officers driving it, an application of Toon Physics which is kind of startling if one's coming over from Case Closed. Agasa even gets a scene lampshading the former.
  • Inevitable Mutual Betrayal: It's a given that as soon as the heat dies down Lupin and Conan are on opposite sides of the law and will go back to acting like it, though they both talk a bigger game than their actions actually support.
  • Ironic Echo: The line "Betrayal is a woman's accessory" is a Mythology Gag to the first Lupin III: Part 1 episode. Fujiko tells Ai the line while they're in the bathtub together, and Ai repeats it back to Fujiko, to break her promise to tell Fujiko the secret of the APTX drug.
  • Latex Perfection: At Lupin levels (so, slightly more ridiculous than already impossible Conan levels). Not only does Lupin impersonate Takagi with the only flaw being his personality, he also puts perfect masks of his own face on everything in a considerable area during one escape scene, including a dog.
  • The Movie: This film was made on a much bigger budget than the previous crossover television special. The stakes are also raised, dealing with international criminals instead of a family assassination.
  • Mugging the Monster: Lupin takes it so for granted that Conan will put the badass in Badass in Distress when he's taken hostage that he specifically orchestrates an opening for him to take out his captor, and then is shocked when he doesn't do so.
  • Mythology Gag: The footage of the Lupin gang that plays as Conan introduces them to the audience is almost shot-for-shot recreations of scenes from the Lupin III <Pilot Film>.
    • Eishin Wakagomo, the owner of the Cherry Sapphire, looks identical to Momochi, Goemon's master from the first Lupin TV series. Fitting, since Wakagomo is actually Goemon in disguise.
  • No Honor Among Thieves: Fujiko's attempted betrayal is cut short by her getting betrayed first.
  • No MacGuffin, No Winner: Technically, Lupin fails to retrieve Vespania's Unobtanium, but that's okay: the Queen of Vespania just wanted to make sure it wouldn't be sold to a warlike nation and made into a weapon, so dumping it in the ocean is as good a way as any to prevent that.
  • Non-Serial Movie: Neither the Lupin III or Detective Conan series treat the crossover as part of their respective franchises.
  • Non-Standard Character Design: Of the Crossover-induced variety. The main characters actually look pretty nice next to each other thanks to Animation Bump, but the minor characters designed in the style of each franchise are easily distinguishable from each other, mostly because of eye and head shape.
  • Obfuscating Stupidity: Conan puts it on hard with Jigen...but, given Lupin's crew knows Conan is really Shinichi Kudo, it's not the most effective manipulation tactic. He's doing it almost entirely to troll him.
  • Out-of-Character Alert: Inspector Nakamori has a minor but actual breakdown when "Kid" (actually Lupin in disguise) pulls and shoots a real gun, which Kid does not do.
  • Phantom Thief: Of course. Notably, Lupin impersonate's Case Closed's resident phantom thief, the Kaitou Kid, at the beginning (his secret identity is in the audience), and he shows up to get his own back at the very end.
  • Recurring Riff: The most recognizable Lupin and Conan background tunes.
  • Rivals Team Up: Lupin and Conan hijack a plane, and it's as awesome as it should be.
  • Shared Universe: After the barest attempts at Canon Welding in the last crossover, it actually works like this this time. And it even makes sense because, well, Lupin is an international thief. And will probably avoid the fictional province of Beika unless he's forced there again.
  • Snooping Little Kid: The actually-kids Detective Boys...and Agasa. Determined to investigate the rash of phantom thievery, they actually figure out where Lupin and his allies are hiding! ...Of course, The Meddling Kids Are Useless trumps Those Meddling Kids when Ayumi, Genta, and Mitsuhiko just get captured.
  • Stealth Sequel: While there are a great number of continuity nods to the TV special that preceded it throughout the first half of the movie, it's not until the climax of the film, where the reasons behind the caper are revealed, that the film is shown to be an outright proper sequel to the TV special, dealing with the consequences of the Vespanian ore.
  • Talking with Signs: Jigen pulls out a hand-held sign during the narration introducing him, as well as a scene when Conan is talking on the phone.
  • Worthy Opponent: Shinichi takes it pretty personally when someone impersonates Kaitou Kid, his Worthy Opponent. Realising that it's Lupin and his gang... doesn't really make him any less offended, to be honest.
"You disguised as KID! How can I sit still?!"

 
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(Faux) Greatest Thief Showdown

A movie about Lupin getting into a master thief showdown with Kaito Kid in the anime movie stinger. Except it's not real and Conan's confused by the supposed trailer.

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5 (7 votes)

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Main / RealTrailerFakeMovie

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