Night Hood was an animated series inspired by the Arsene Lupin novels by Maurice Le Blanc. Set in the 1930s, Lupin is aided by his assistant Grognard. Getting involved in his exploits are two reporters, Kelly Kincaid and Max Leblanc. Inspector Ganimard and Sgt. Folenfant seek to capture him. Lupin himself opposes the schemes of billionaire arms industrialist H.R. Karst, the devious May Hem and a tough as nails thug known only as Steel.
Calling Card: Lupin's left these so many times, Karst just has to leave a fake card at a crime he planned, and Ganimard and Folenfant are on Lupin's trail - or so they think... Several times Lupin complains that his habit of leaving a calling card just makes him easy to frame.
Concealing Canvas: In one episode, Lupin and Grognard are baffled as to where some hidden documents could be in the room, because there are no paintings for a safe to be hidden behind, and as Grognard points out, "All safes are behind paintings!". Turns out it was behind a tribal mask.
Gay Paree: Most of the buildings and clothes are Art Deco. Not that much of an Adaptation Decay, given that about a third of the books were written in that time.
Getting Crap Past the Radar: On episode seven, May Hem did an interesting way to calm down the enraged Karst who was once again foiled by Lupin. The scene ended with May Hem stroking the back of Karst's neck and a newspaper was thrown away. Does This Remind You of Anything??
Well, Karst does seem to spend most of his time making Lupin Wrongly Accused of a crime Karst himself had committed, or just inferring that he's more thief than gentleman, or making it personal in some other fashion. Thus, Lupin has to write a wrong to either clear his name, avenge his honour, or both.
Heroes Want Redheads: Lupin towards Kelly. The same can be said for Folenfant as well, though his chances there are even less than catching Lupin.
In one episode, he allows himself to be caught, but he doesn't have his monocle on. It turns out to be Grognard wearing a Lupin mask.
There's also this one episode when Lupin reveals himself to May Hem by removing his mask and putting on his monocle. Then, May Hem slaps him and his monocle falls out.
Hopeless Suitor: Folefant is this to Kelly. There's an interesting variation to this in that Kelly knows he has a crush on her, and is more than willing to exploit this by taking him out to lunch for a scoop... but nothing more.
Ink Suit Actor: The opening features a moving silhouette of Lupin played by a live actor, with scenes from the show playing on the silhouette.
Karma Houdini: Karst and all his allies. While Lupin does ruin their plans, he is never stopped from trying again or caught for everything he's behind.
Schizo Tech: The show is set post World War I and yet, there's the existence of surveillance cameras and automatic doors.
Shout Out: This version of Lupin has several Shout Outs to various anime series, least obvious is Lupin himself takes several visual and stylistic cues from Tuxedo Mask and there are even a few to Lupin III (the dynamic between Lupin and Grognard owes a lot to that between Lupin and Jigen).
Something about a Rose: Aside from symbolizing how Lupin really is, rose becomes a communication item for Lupin and Kelly whenever there's crucial info.
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