Even though this was the first Lupin III TV series, it wasn't Lupin's anime debut. Two years earlier, a pilot film was produced to see how Lupin III whould look animated. The characters, and there designs,were abit more like Monkey Punch's Manga. However, when the series made it's TV debut, the characters made a slight change from the Manga counterpart. They all looked a bit more human and Monkey Punch's wacky style was nearly absent, which hurt the first series in the long run.

Unlike the series you see on Adult Swim (the secound one), this one was a bit more serious. Lupin III himself was still the humorous womanizer, but less light hearted and more willing to kill. The same thing can be said for Goemon(who actually starts out as Lupin's enemy),Fujiko and Jigen.Last,but not least,Zenigata was alot different in this TV series. He was still obessed with cathing Lupin, but alot smarter.He would actually do detective work on what Lupin will do next,unlike the secound series were he would just appear for no reason.

The stories were rather unique, just like Manga. Even though most of them would have Lupin and and the gang stealing something, the writers whould change the formula now and then. Sometimes, Lupin whould have to be a hero or he whould be in trouble himself. However, there was one major porblem with the series as a whole,the wacky nature of the manga wasn't there. I could understand using Monkey Punch's humor was defeinetly out of the question for TV in 1971. The manga had alot of adult humor which was simply too much to put on the anime. However, there is an absense of that wacky atmosphere that they chould have easily put on TV.The series was rather slowly paced for people who loved the Manga,which may have been why it lasted only one season. The writers failed to realize that Lupin III is a dark comedy, not a serious show with a bit of humor.

The animation in itself was rather well done for 1971. The action sequences were animated beautifully. However, the character designs whouldn't hold up during animation.They would go off model more then they should have and show some ugly results.Thankfully, it didn't happen all the time.

The music* refelected the atmosphere of Lupin III rather well. It was a refelection of the era and the atmsophere of the show. I personally didn't care for it too much for the music. The songs were rather boring and they were only a few of them,so the constant repeat of them whould probably get your nerves. Not enough to drive you away from the series though.

Overall,this Lupin III series is a classic which I highly reccomend to anyone of the secound series.

* Normally,I don't judge music in an animetd feature,but the Lupin III anime series' music is as importatnt as the animation itself. The songs are among the among the most exported out of Japan, so people do have there expectations.

The creators of the video game series Sly Cooper probably had this show in mind when they made their games. Like Sly, Lupin is a thief, so he's not exactly an honorable character. It's up to the viewer to determine whether that's a turnoff or not. This isn't one of those animes I watch on a regular basis. It's not really my thing. The visual look reminds me more of Speed Racer. However the flavor of the show is more like James Bond(the good kinds), and thus, Lupin III doesn't have Speed Racer's silliness and cheese. I like the whole suave appeal of the show and the retro atmosphere. All in all, an appealing show.

Lupin III is a classic, in the same way that the spaceship in 2001 or the first chord of 'Hard Day's Night' are classic. Or in the words of Van Morrison. "It aint' why - it just is." (though I'm not even sure what Van meant by 'it')

I remember about two minutes into the first episode I watched of Lupin, thinking "ah, so this is where they got Cowboy Bebop." The similarity is excuriatingly hard to miss, and I might say that CB lacks Lupin's natural humour, and effortless style.

Those who have seen 'The Castle of Calgiostro' will be familiar with the characters, though in the TV series they make quite a lot more sense and seem less thrown together. I love Jigen's attitude to his boss, Lupin, which is somehow obedient without being cowed or subservient. Fujiko's unattainable, star-crossed relationship with Lupin makes more sense in the series too.

Lupin is the world's master theif, bringing a distinctive sort of 007'ish anti-hero feel to the screen, especially in the early episodes, which were virtually produced in the 60's. He also has a vulnerable side, whether it be for pretty girls, Fujiko, or some unexpected sentimental distraction. Despite his genius as a thief he is prone to emotional disappointment, but shrugs this off with a panache which exudes class.

And that class is hardly surprising. Not only were the early episodes mostly directed by Miyazaki, but other Ghibli luminaries involved included the director of 'Grave of the Fireflies', and key animator in the 1971 series was Yoshifumi Kondo - who 24 years later Miyazaki allowed to direct maybe Ghibli's best movie, the superb 'Whisper of the Heart' (he died not long afterwards, and Miyazaki has expressed regret that he didn't give him his own movie earlier).

If you liked Cowboy Bebop, you have to catch Lupin. It's even better. If you just want to catch early classic anime, the only rival I can really think of for Lupin is Kimba (which is of course utterly different, but still...)

A word of warning: I'm not sure which seasons of Lupin evailable are bootlegs and which are legal. And I don't know how you would tell anyway. The three or four boxsets I have are all subtitled Japanese.

Lupin III is a classic creation, a classic series. Not my absolute favourite animated series ever, but easily deserving of its four stars.

One word of caution: this review is based on series 1 and 2, but especially 1. I haven't seen 3.