Lupin the Third might be a long-runnng character in Japanese anime, but he's had so many movies over the years... it's almost impossible to have seen them all. The character became revitalized in 2012 with the adult spin-off prequel series "The Woman Called Fujiko Mine," and that stylistic approach (and the show's success) would carry forward in "Series 4" and "Series 5," the first proper television series for the cartoon in about 30 years. Granted, it tries to be less "adult" than that "Fujiko Mine" series, and doesn't quite have the same sketchy-visual aesthetic, but the designs are there. But thankfully, this wouldn't be the last of "The Woman Called..." series, or of Takeshi Koike's fantastic character designs (he's better known for directing the fantastic racing anime film "Redline"). A series of sequel films would slowly come out to carry on that style, starting with "Jigen's Gravestone," dubbed and released in America by Discotek Media. It's only 51 minutes long (represented as 2 regular-length episdoes), and like "The Woman Called...," it can be a bit violent and heavily sexualized. For fans who remember the wacky hijinks the band of thieves usually gets into, that might be a bit disappointing. But if you enjoyed "The Woman Called...," then "Jigen's Gravestone" is a real treat, as if it was a secret episode arc from that television series. But also, one of the best arcs. And with more consistently good animation, like a proper theatrical film. Essentially, it's pretty great.The story is fairly straight-forward. With Jigen and Lupin now in the early days of a partnership in crime, Jigen gets a shock when he receives a warning from famed underground sniper Okuzaki. Okuzaki is known for always sending a courtesy message to victims before their death, in the shape of a pre-made gravestone, and Jigen is his next target. For the first time, the cool-headed gunman Jigen is truly scared for his life, and Lupin tries to help him outsmart his way to survival. Oh, and there's also a subplot involving Fujiko with an underground sex-ring for wealthy patrons (her ordeal gives a completely new meaning to the word "screw"). The story is relatively simple, and given the short runtime, that's a good thing. Even better, that story is effective. The opening theme animation and music (as well as the great Bluray menu) recalls a "James Bond"-like sensibility: this is a pulpy action thriller, with a satisfying climax. Honestly, I don't remember having this much fun watching a Lupin film. The stakes feel real, and I was fascinated with how the crew would get out of this one. Takeshi Koike took the director's chair for this one, and it's a real shame he doesn't direct more often - he understands cool action movies better than anyone else in the industry.
Visually, the movie looks similar to "The Woman Called...," but not quite as ambitious, a sort of mix between that and the more recent "fourth series." That's not at all a bad thing: the movie looks great, and more grounded in a singular style. The animation wasn't all that consistent in "The Woman Called...," but in "Jigen's Gravestone," it looks sharp. I mentioned sex and violence? This arguably contains more of that than any other Lupin entry (perhaps slightly less sex than "The Woman Called...," but not by much), so this is definitely for adults only.To cap off the strong production values is some good soundtrack music (again, the "James-Bond-esque" style fits the tone of a gun-slinger's story). It might not be quite as memorable as "The Woman Called...," but it works well. And the sound effcts and audio mixing in particular deserve mention. The English dub is fairly good, mostly owing to a great performance for Jigen, although keep in mind it isn't the same cast as Funimation's for the series it most closely resembles.At the time of this writing, a 2nd film exists (based around Goemon) and a 3rd film is in production (based again around Fujiko). To date, no word exists on them being made available in North America. If they're even remotely as good as "Jigen's Gravestone" was, I hope we get them real soon. "The Castle of Cagliostro" might be the best film to show to a wider audience, but if you don't mind the short runtime or a gritter sensibiltiy, "Jigen's Gravestone" might be the best Lupin the Third film available.