A Flawed, But Beautiful, Tribute
English Publisher: Seven Seas Entertainment
Japanese Publisher: Futabasha Publishing
English Releases Date: December 21, 2021
Price: $23.99
Some manga series are lucky enough to reach a level where they receive an anime adaptation and possibly merchandise, and even few luckier will cement themselves as full blown media franchises. Then there is Lupin The Third, a series that not only has achieved those goals, but has become such a beloved of Japanese pop culture that it has managed to maintain its popularity for well over five decades.
As for my connection to this multimedia monolith, like many in the west it came in the form of its anime adaptations, in particular when the legendary Lupin the Third: Part Two was dubbed and released on Adult Swim’s Saturday night anime block. Watching the likes of Lupin, Jigen, Goemon, Fujiko, and the bumbling Inspector Zenigata was always a trip for my teenage sleep deprived mind as I stayed up into the early morning getting my anime fix. Otherwise, I hadn’t really experienced much else when it came to the franchise until the Blu-Ray release of the newest film, Lupin The Third: The First, that I found my love for the series renewed, leaving me to want to experience the anime once more.
It was actually a very nice surprise to find out that the legendary manga that started it all was getting a new release in English with Lupin The Third: Greatest Heights, the first translation of the series since 2002. Presented to readers by Seven Seas Entertainment and translated by Adrienne Beck, is twelve different chapters and eleven different stories throughout both of the original manga series, all in a beautiful hardcover package.
As for the stories themselves, this is where things get complicated for me, primarily for the content of the book itself and the purpose behind it. When this special edition was originally released in 2019 in Japan, the book was made as tribute to the series’ creator Monkey Punch, who died in April of that year. The Managing Editor of Futabasha Publishing, Ryuichi Endo, stated in a tribute within the book addressed to him how difficult the process was to select only twelve chapters of both manga series and one of his core desires for the book.
“Reading back over the masterpieces that were Lupin III and New Lupin III and re-experiencing each gem of a story, I found myself in a terrible quandary. How in the world was I supposed to choose only a handful of them?” he laments. “The first priority was to make sure that readers brand new to the Lupin III universe enjoy themselves. Lupin the Third is an iconic character, famous not only in Japan, but across the world. And yet, there are many young manga readers out there who have yet to experience your works, Sensei. To those readers, Greatest Heights would be a reintroduction to a Lupin the Third that they’d never known.”
With this context in mind, you can see that this book was a passion project for the original publishers, as it was meant to be presented as a fitting send off for a legendary mangaka as well as a gateway into the franchise he helped create. I have to admit reading this book for the first time is kind of exciting since you get to see the source of what evolved into such a storied franchise.
Seeing the first chapters of New Lupin III and Lupin III back to back was honestly really fun. From being reacquainted with the characters you love, only to be introduced to what was the original foundations of the series and seeing how different it was, makes for such a fun contrast and a great introduction to the series history. There are also some really fun self-contained chapters here that help readers with understanding what makes the series so unique. A personal highlight of mine was the chapter “1 Man, 180 Roles” where Lupin turns himself in to Zenigata in order to break a master lock picker. It helps highlight what makes Lupin such a fun character and the undying rivalry he has with everyone’s favorite bumbling inspector.
That said, it did make me think of the one key issue the book tries to tackle and how it's not as successful. This collection tows a fine line between two camps; the new readers that Endo talked about that are being introduced to these stories and characters for the first time, and the longtime fans who are familiar to the franchise.
The approach this book is trying to take is essentially the two first chapters, a key chapter highlighting each of the main cast, and finally some of the core heists that the series is known for. On the one hand, this approach is a pretty smart take, focusing on highlighting the core traits that makes these characters unique and in some cases establishing their origins within the story. The problem stems from the fact that a few of these chapters feel like they are a part of greater narratives and story arcs within their respective series.
One chapter is literally Goemon’s origin story and yet it establishes a greater narrative for a future heist involving his master that isn’t further established because the story ends with this single chapter. Some of these chapters do feel like you are dropped in the middle of a greater story arc and it causes a sense of missing context to what could be an interesting plot point.
Another issue, at least two-fold, comes in the form of the manga’s age. With a series as old as this, I can understand that pages of the original manga are older, but the scans that were used for this original release are really rough. Monkey Punch’s artwork is faded and the line work is so thin and some panels look so splotchy at points that it gets really difficult to follow each chapter's story. It's a shame too, because when the artwork is presented you really see why he was a master of his craft, with beautifully detailed backgrounds and incredibly detailed vehicles like cars and planes. I don’t know if the original source had a lot of wear and tear or if the print process caused this damage, but I would be lying if I said it was hard to read at times.
While Lupin's antics were funny back then, they can be a little shocking to modern readers.
The other issue can be the dated sexual content and the censorship presented to remove it. Lupin is a known womanizer within the franchise as a whole, at times being presented as forceful, but always getting his comeuppance with comedic slapstick. This is not the case for a couple of the chapters here, as sex is forced upon women, thankfully not by Lupin. One instance featuring a woman being forced into an unwanted sexual relationship, and the other being outright sexual assault of another woman in order to find a plot centric item by a villain. It is admittedly a touchy subject to outright feature rape and assault in a manga like this in this age.
While the solution they came up with helps with that discomfort, it also presents another problem for the manga. Both instances were censored in the english release by outright removing the male figures from the panels. While that approach is appreciated due to the uncomfortable nature of the scenes, it also makes the reading feel awkward in that the manga had to be drastically altered for the book to be released.
These issues also cause another problem with the idea of preserving Monkey Punch’s work. We have a book meant to be a tribute to highlight the long running franchise he helped create, but it also feels like it can be difficult to recommend this as an introduction to it. You end up missing some of the key focal points the editor Endo and his team were trying to present because of these issues with the release. You end with a final product that feels like a painting restored by beginners just so they can get it out on time for the next public showing.
With that said, it still provides a time capsule to a legendary franchise and gives longtime fans a chance to see where it all began. Even though I am not a diehard fan of the franchise, it was still cool to see a classic shootout for Jigen, Goemon slicing things up with his katana, and Fujiko dealing with the craziness put in front of her by Lupin. It felt like I was going back to those days when I originally watched the anime, the same way that Lupin the Third: The First made me feel. It also does help that this is the first real chance anyone will get to experience the original manga without paying up the nose for a rare copy of the TokyoPop release.
Is this the best way to first experience Lupin? Probably not. You do get a couple of great one off chapters here, and some fun character moments that highlight the cast, but it is hard to recommend this to those who want to see what the series has to offer. If you are looking for that, I would say check out any of the anime series, like the new Lupin The Third: Part Six or one of the many Lupin films. While I sung the praises of Lupin The Third: The First throughout, I can also recommend the legendary Castle of Cagliostro, which was the directorial debut of the legendary Hayao Miyazaki.
This book is great for long standing fans though, especially if you’ve never had the chance to read any of the original manga. Even with its faults, you should still be able to find something here that will help fill that Lupin loving space in your heart.