Manga/Anime Memorandum

random thoughts on manga and anime

MAMORU OSHII book review [nonfiction] Part 09: LUPIN THE THIRD FILES

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There are several Mamoru Oshii book lists on the Internet, but they do not provide detailed descriptions of the contents. My collection of Mamoru Oshii books is not yet complete, but I would like to write a short summary for each of those books.

I apologize in advance for any grammatical errors or incorrect information.

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title: ルパン三世 FILES ルパン三世25周年全記録

(LUPIN III FILES, Lupin the Third 25th anniversary, complete history)

release date: 04/29/1996

publisher: Kinema Junposha

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[contents]

screen captures of DEAD OR ALIVE

interview with Monkey Punch

interview with Yasuo Otsuka

interview with Mamoru Oshii

series analysis by Takuya Mori

interview with Hiroshi Kshiwabara, Osamu Dezaki, Satoshi Kato

analysis by Shinsuke Nakajima

"Lupin and me" by Seijun Suzuki

"Lupin and me" by Gisaburo Sugii

merchandise list

"Lupin and me" by Shunya Ito

analysis of Masaaki Osumi by Minoru Takahashi

"Lupin and me" by Makoto Naito

character analysis

character design sheets

analysis by Yasushi Watanabe

screen captures

staff list

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[review]

This is an extra issue of "Kinema Junpo" magazine featuring "Lupin III". It includes so many interesting interviews, but I focus on the interview with Mamoru Oshii here. Oshii talks about the details of his Lupin III project. The interview title is "Lupin was supposed to 'steal a fiction' in the hidden Oshii version". Oshii has often talked about it in other media, but this book explains it in the most detail.

*In 1984, Hayao Miyazaki was asked to direct a new Lupin film, but he did not want. Therefore, he introduced Oshii to the producers.
*Oshii and Miyazaki had a common thought, "We don't have a good idea about Lupin's new target."
*Miyazaki and Oshii both thought that Lupin was already outdated. Oshii believes that Miyazaki may have put that feeling into "The Castle of Cagliostro".
*Oshii's conclusion was that Lupin should steal an atomic bomb. He also tried to redefine the identity of Lupin.
*Oshii also had another idea about the target: the "angel fossil. Nazi Germany had obtained an angel fossil in Africa, but it had passed through Israel to Japan. However, it turns out that the whole story of the angel fossil was a lie. The angel fossil was just a made-up story to hide the plutonium.
*Lupin mistakenly activates an atomic bomb, but he find out that even that bomb is a fake.
*At the end, the audience realizes that Lupin himself is also a fake. In the end. The man called Lupin III never existed from the beginning.
*The story takes place in a huge Gaudi-style tower. The tower was built in Tokyo by a mysterious architect, who committed suicide when the tower was completed. Lupin gangs climb the tower in the third act. That idea was reused in Patlabor the Movie. The idea of destroying Tokyo was reused in Patlabor 2.
* "Lupin never existed". Oshii believes that the ending would satisfy Miyazaki's intentions, and in fact Miyazaki seemed to like Oshii's idea. However, the producers of Yomiuri TV and Toho strongly opposed the idea. Oshii was removed from the project. Oshii and Miyazaki held a consolation meeting at Miyazaki's studio.
*The idea of angel fossil was reused in Angel's Egg. (As some of you may already know, the same idea was reused in "Seraphim".)