Lupin III: The Mystery of Mamo

Psycho_Sanji★ 7

The Secret of Mamo is a crazy, memorable, and pretty enjoyable Lupin movie. The first theatrical Lupin movie, this has some very solid animation for 1978, and some very interesting direction. Very colorful and lively. The soundtrack by Yuji Ohno is a blast too, and of course the original voice cast delivers. The story in this one is pretty crazy, and by the end it's pretty much pure nonsense. Lupin is up against a psychotic diminutive man with a god complex, and it leads to some very strange things. Including a cameo from Hitler, naturally. This movie has a fairly brisk pace for the most part, bad thingsjust keep happening to the Lupin gang. One minute they're on the run from a freakishly large truck, the next they're being bombarded by bombs. Where this movie gets really weird is the characterization. Lupin is less cool and laid back in this one, in general he's pretty pissed off and annoyed, even with his loyal gang. I have to admit, this makes Lupin less likable to me in this one. Fujiko has a pretty big part in this one, she's quite entertaining, although she does make some questionable decisions. Jigen makes out well in this, and Goemon is pretty cool like usual. Zenigata is great in this, tirelessly hunting Lupin down. But again, seeming a bit out of his usual anime character when he actually wants to kill Lupin. The movie in general is closer to the tone of the manga, with it's insanity and less likable characters. So, pretty much, this is a very memorable movie, it goes above and beyond into the realm of insanity, and it's quite entertaining. The classic dynamic that the characters usually have in the anime is somewhat skewed here though, and the story itself is not entirely satisfying. None the less, this is a wild ride that I recommend checking out.

Inuyoujo★ 9

I really like this one because it shines more of a positive light on Fujiko! In this one, it starts off with Fujiko seemingly same-old-same-old. IT turns out the lady thief is helping a madman because she believes him and his power, and wants to share it with Lupin. She says and shows her affection for her rival, and it's not weird or sleazy on her part. I feel like her character was very earnest with her intentions, and it all went wrong because of the madman. "But, why would she even trust a madmen?!" Well, who hasn't trusted people they shouldn't have trusted, around here?All the characters are guilty of trusting characters we see as clearly untrustworthy. I'm so into the way Fujiko and Lupin were in this one. It lost points with me for using magic on Fujiko right after they were saying it wasn't magic! I'm not a big fan of the art style as I'm not into long anatomy. The sound quality is better in this one than a lot of other's in the time period. The sound effects are together, and the lip syncing is normal. I would recommend this to Lupin fans, anime fans, and anime new-comers!