Lupin III: Fuuma Ichizoku no Inbou

[THIS WAS WRITTEN RIGHT AFTER WATCHING IT AND ON MY SOCIAL MEDIA ACC. KEEPING THIS HERE FOR AN ARCHIVE]
Woah. I can definitely see why ppl suck this movies dick a lot this shit is smooth. Like I could not to tell u what this ones plot was in any meaningful or comprehensive way but I can tell u there isn’t a single bad looking scene in the entire run time of this movie. Every fucking shot is flawlessly animated. The character designs r all wonderful EVEN FUJIKO LOOKS AMAZING AND BETTER THEN MOST OTHER DESIGNS OF HERS zenigata got a buzz cut bald look ... that looks a little funny but it fits him p well tbh. Every single visual element is simply Jaw Dropping. MUSIC ON THE OTHER HAND IS A BIT MORE ON THE STRANGE SIDE bc Tms put their whole fucking pussy in the visuals tryna make cagliostro 2 they literally didn’t have enough money to hire yuji ohno (or get the usual jp cast) so there’s someone else handling the ost this time and NGL I THOUGHT ID NOTICE AND HATE IT BUT I CAME AROUND TO REALLY LIKING THE OST it fits and feels lupin-y! Cant complain at all really!!
Another note to touch on is the voice cast. I was ready to be cringing at the shitty old dub line delivery and poor casting but I’m gonna be honest I was shocked by this shit too bc like everyone did a p decent job. Lupins va actually was kinda good and I really liked fujikos voice too; everyone else was kinda off, zenigatas line deliveries were always kinda stilted sounding but like he had the right idea at least. Was jarring hearing them all call him “rupan” too since this was before arsene lupin became public domain.
Storywise, shit was generic at best and hard to follow at worst. The fact this one had more of a focus in goemon was cool tho I love goemon centric stories. Regardless I feel like w this movie, u don’t really come in looking for plot I think it’s all just visual neuron stimulation
Overall this one was super good and super fun to watch even if the story backseat for the animators to go fucking insane. A solid ass hour and 30 mins of pure eye candy. I give it a nice B+/A

Underrated gem among the Lupin III series. Don't pass it up.

Bad stuff first: Plot-wise, this is a pretty average Lupin movie, it's got the standard cast of forgettable side-characters, a very straightforward quest for treasure, and a generic villain with generic evil motives. There's a bit of awkward pacing too, with really fun action sequences being separated by sequences of characters literally just walking around a cave. If you've seen Castle of Cagliostro, then this will come off as a weaker retelling of the same ideas.

Audio here is below average, unfortunately. The soundtrack doesn't have any memorable tunes, and a lot of it feels kind ... of inappropriately silly, rather than cool. The typical voice cast isn't here either, but that didn't bother me, personally.

Fortunately, this movie more than makes up for what it lacks by being the best looking entry in the series. This movie is made up entirely of jaw dropping car chases, intense fight choreography, and solid character acting. There were no corners cut here, you get to see every building fall apart in full detail, and it's incredible. I especially loved the chase scene in the middle of the movie. There's a lot of really good visual gags too; for example, when Zenigata's cars are run over by a train, you see his officers all crammed into one car chasing after Lupin.

This movie's setting is also good. A lot of Lupin movies take place in "Somewhere - Europe", rather than any specific locations, but the town in this movie has a lot of memorable set-pieces, and you can things about the setting while watching (it's got a lot of trains, for example). It's not quite as distinct as Cagliostro, but it's still good. Would've been better if less of it took place in a cave though.

The Fuma Conspiracy a somewhat decent tale brought down by it's flaws.

Goemon is getting married when ninjas swoop in! The Lupin gang has to stop these evil ninjas, save Goemon's bride, and try for some treasure, for good measure.

This 80's OVA has the unfortunate distinction of being the only Lupin anime without the usual Japanese voice cast. This is especially bad, because the voices used don't fit the characters at all, and are distractingly out of place. The English dub is not good either.

On top of the unfortunate voice choices, the characterization is pretty weak here in general. The dialogue is not as clever as ... usual, and the characters don't gel together as well as they usually do. Inspector Zenigata is very bland in this one too.

Another problem with this OVA is the poor soundtrack. They don't use Yuji Ohno or any classic Lupin themes, and they don't even attempt a jazzy style.

There are some good things though, the animation for example is very fluid, and the art style is nice. There are some fun car chases, and a couple enjoyable action sequences. Any time Lupin and Jigen are in a car, it's decent Lupin fun. Plus Fujiko has some cool motorcycle action.

Overall, this Lupin OVA is really off it's game. It lacks the usual Lupin stylishness and is pretty generic all around. Definitely on the lower end of the Lupin spectrum, but it's a passable if generic action adventure on it's own.