"2DAniCritic" Review:

Lupin the Third - Episode 0 - First Contact

Review Score: 2.79 / 5.00        

"Lupin the Third - Episode 0 - First Contact" is the origin story of Lupin and his gang, and is widely credited as one of the best specials. That might not be too far off, since the films tend to be better than the specials overall, and many of the specials are quite generic to say the least. This one, by its story, is just pure fun, and for that alone it stands out.

How did Lupin, Jigen, Goemon and Fujiko first meet? How did Zenigata get assigned the Lupin case? These questions are answered here, where everyone meets each other for the first time, on their quests to steal a uncuttable scroll holder that holds the secrets to making diamond metal. The film isn't all that good: being a 2002 television special, it looks poor in animation quality, worse than most other specials and films from Lupin. The music is the same as its always been in the series. The sub doesn't make much sense, since the film is strangely set in New York, and everyone speaks perfect Japanese. And as you find out by the end, the story technically isn't "canon" either.

So why watch it? Because it's just so much darn fun! Lupin wants to steal the treasure, Jigen is hired to protect it, Goemon wants to save it as the rightful owner, and Fujiko tricks everyone in the way only she can. Lupin uses every trick up his sleeve, making for a slew of goofy scenes with his traps and gadgets. Zenigata is a bumbling fool that Lupin loves to trick, but is a badass all the same, giving him some credit. If anything, the only unrealistic character issue is that Jigen shoots a lot, missing most of the time, but that is usually when shooting a Lupin, where you could argue he didn't really want to hit him anyway. But it makes Lupin himself looks like the better shot, so why is he here at all? Nonetheless, it's darn fun. It's rare to leave a Lupin film with the feeling this leaves you with, so it succeeds. Did I mention it's fun?

Even so, I'd still recommend "A Woman Names Fujiko Mine" over this as an origin story, and "Castle of Cagliostro" and "Mystery of Mamo" are still better Lupin films to seek out.