This review is spoiler free. 600https://i.ur.com/pE9VM0P.jpg Lupin III is a big franchise. Because its been around for so long and produced so many works people may find it inaccessible. I have seen people ask where exactly theyre supposed to start it and Ill admit my answers havent always been the greatest. Depending on the person asking and what their preferences are determines my advice because there is no proper watch order for it. However it appears that TMS has finally given me a solution. Enter Lupin Zero an ONA that began in December 2022 and ran for six episodes chronicling the teenage years of Arsene Lupin III and Daisuke Jigen. When I first read about this I was not excited because in the original manga I really disliked Monkey Punchs chapters on young Lupin. I just wasnt sure if revisiting that concept would be a good move because it seemed like TMS abandoned that material for a reason. I am so pleasantly surprised by what we ended up receiving though. Not only does it exist as a distinct and engaging entry in the Lupin saga it also serves as a great way to introduce yourself to it. 600https://i.ur.com/WahIufc.jpg 600https://i.ur.com/XNJF4ip.jpg I think its important to touch base on the manga for a moment and how this ONA improves upon it. There will come a day where I give the manga a thorough dissection until then just know I have incredibly complex emotions towards it. This was where everything began and in the case of some ideas it was where some of them appeared to die off. Whether Monkey Punch lacked an interest in exploring some of his concepts further or his editor steered him in other directions the fact remains in his initial series he left some to fade away. Among them were Lupin and Jigen being childhood friends and seeing Lupins father and grandfather. He brought these in briefly just to do nothing with them and because of that I found them to be mistakes that TMS would rectify by omitting them completely. Until now. Lupin Zero not only establishes Lupin and Jigen meeting as teenagers it also gives genuine spotlight to Lupin I and Lupin II. Both were aspects of the anime I was apprehensive about however the anime manages to make them work. Lupin appears to be a carefree rich boy while Jigen is an emotionally withdrawn street kid by having their relationship develop from a place of relative animosity to the deep friendship fans know and love the anime is able to flesh them out as people. They still behave in ways associated with their adult selves but there is a youthfulness to it all that makes it feel fresh. In the manga it gets mentioned once that they were friends as children and that is it. The rest of your time is seeing them as adults and nowhere in the teen Lupin chapters is Jigen mentioned. And speaking of the teen Lupin chapters simply werent good to my memory. They arent something he built up towards as an extensive flashback either. They just start happening and I was left wondering wait why do we need to see this as it did nothing to offer further insight into Lupin as a character. Because this anime builds itself around the idea of exploring how Lupin and Jigen became friends it is able to accomplish more in these six episodes than Monkey Punch was able to in those chapters. With the elders in Lupins family the manga has them rather suddenly appear when hes an adult making me very curious about how old Lupin I was supposed to be and then the chapter just ends. It wasnt even a conclusive chapter it happens at a random moment and I was left wondering what the point was. Sometimes in various anime adaptations we see Lupin I and II through flashbacks but theyre never treated as more than extensions of Lupin IIIs persona right down to them having the same face. This was never a problem to me before but now that weve been allowed to see them as their own characters it makes things feel larger. Lupin I is framed as an amoral man trying to force his grandson into furthering his own legacy while Lupin II is actively trying to keep his son away from this world of crime. This leaves Lupin III stuck in this tug of war where he wants neither of them telling him what to do and controlling his life. We as the audience know he will become a thief but instead of our curiosity resting on what hell do it has us think about why hell go down this path. This arc is also linked back to his relationship with Jigen and its handled with flying colors. The anime was written by Ichiro Okouchi the same man who handled Lupin III: Part 5 and cocreated Code Geass and he does an amazing job at taking these abandoned ideas from the manga and turning them into something that feels welcome. 600https://i.ur.com/7ilv43B.jpg Now something important to bear in mind about Lupin III as a franchise it is has always been an episodic affair. Even the manga seldom did recurring arcs and when it did they were some of Monkey Punchs worst efforts. Various writers and directors have come in with their own interpretations of the Lupin gang with all of them feeling equally valid though. And while there is a certain identity to the franchise in a broader sense there really is no hard continuity or lore here save for key details like Goemon trying to kill Lupin before befriending him. Some elements will always be with the characters absolutely but there appears to be a lot of freedom for people to toss in their own ideas. This is how Takeshi Koike was able to create his film trilogy without imposing on what the TV series at the time were doing. Due to this you will find other Lupin anime that contradict what Lupin Zero portrays. This isnt something I consider bad in fact the general looseness of the franchise is the reason this exists in the first place. And it does adhere to certain longstanding elements which is why Goemon Fujiko and Zenigata are absent. However if someone was to begin here and expect the original green jacket anime to feel like a sequel Im going to tell you it wont. I know Anilist is cataloguing them that way but my advice is to ignore that and bear in mind that the franchise doesnt function like Universal Century Gundam with direct links tying Amuro Kamille and Judaus stories together. You typically must take each entry as its own thing. 600https://i.ur.com/jwb31gM.jpg 600https://i.ur.com/efzdCvd.jpg In many respects Lupin Zero also serves as a fantastic anniversary special. That isnt what it is Lupins 50th anniversary was in 2021 and honored through Lupin III: Part 6. And yet it feels so suitable for the position. Not only are there direct homages to the green jacket series and The Castle of Cagliostro it also resurrects some of Takeo Yamashitas music from the first anime. When I reviewed the green jacket anime I critiqued the music for not fitting Lupins character I still believe that when it comes to certain tracks. But this anime manages to retool some of those songs in a way that works. The music was composed not by the series regular Yuji Ohno but by a composer and multiinstrumentalist named Yoshihide Otomo. Having given his discography a brief glance he appears to be a very reputable figure in the world of Japanese music with decades in the industry. What he achieves here is fantastic. As Ive said before I am not a musician I dont have the musical insight to discuss things like chord progression or phrasing but I can recognize that what he was doing here has a refinement to it. He took these 50 year old pieces like Afro Lupin 68 and the original series closer Lupin the Third Theme Song II and updated them while still exercising his own creative voice. Not only do the opening and closing honor the green jacket anime visually but they enhance these songs with their new arrangements and vocal performances. For the closing they hired a singer named Tavito Nanao and he does an excellent job livening up a piece whose original vocals were very much of their time. With Afro Lupin 68 instead of hearing Lupin narrate about himself and his friends on top of the song which he did with the tracks original use we get to hear it as a fine jazz instrumental. Im very attached to Ohnos music but I feel like the musical choices being made here work to the ONAs advantage. No youre not going to hear Zantetsuken or Love Theme but considering Goemon and Fujiko cant be in this anime theres no reason to bring them back. And because Lupin Zero wants to establish itself as a beginning of sorts I think it makes sense to use different music while also resurrecting the songs we havent heard since 1971. I would have liked to have heard Nice Guy Lupin make a comeback though. 600https://i.ur.com/HV7SVFd.jpg I would also like to give some credit to the voice cast. Because of how much younger these versions of Lupin and Jigen are the reality is that they were never going to have Kanichi Kurita and Akio Otsuka reprise their roles. Enter Tasuku Hatanaka and Shunsuke Takeuchi. I was impressed by their ability to sound in keeping with these characters established voices while still injecting some necessary youth to them. Hatanaka clearly did his homework in order to bend his voice in ways that is reminiscent of Yasuo Yamada and Kanichi Kuritas takes on Lupin. This is a situation where this character needs to sound a specific way you cant just hire anyone to be Lupin. This was made very apparent in 1987s The Fuma Conspiracy which is great but they recast everybody and it was a mountain I had to overcome when watching it because the differences were too distracting. With Takeuchi he manages to sound a lot like a young Kiyoshi Kobayashi and Im very impressed. I havent seen a lot of anime with him in them but I applaud his ability to capture the essence of a performer who was with this character longer than anybody else. This series introduces us to an ingnue named Yoko played by Saori Hayami who blends into this world perfectly. I feel like not every seiyuu can fit into this franchise due to it having such a long history and the conventions of Japanese voice acting have evolved considerably from the 70s. Hayami is one of the most well employed seiyuu of our time shes in a lot. So youd think Id be too distracted by her presence yet Im not. Perhaps its because I think she has a very pleasing voice or maybe shes a rare breed like Kenjiro Tsuda or Miyuki Sawashiro where she can suit different eras. For grandpa Lupin I we have veteran seiyuu Yoshito Yasuhara. I love him as Kadokura from Golden Kamuy and I think he succeeds here at playing this belligerent old man. He only gets so many appearances within the anime but he definitely makes the most of it. And as Lupin II we get Toshio Furukawa the same man who played Lupin III in Fuma. In that anime I do think his performance was great Furukawa is great in all of his roles whether its Kai Shiden Piccolo Ataru Moroboshi or Portgas D. Ace. The issue boiled down to but its not the same logic with me due to my strong attachment to Yamadas voice. Still considering that one moment he got to be our Lupin its very nice having him come back as that characters father. Furukawa is in his 70s and the fact that hes still in the game impresses me. Everybody plays their characters so well that it doesnt actually matter to me that we arent hearing the regular cast. All I can think to add is bravo. 600https://i.ur.com/fbtwRxq.jpg Lupin Zero is the best anime this franchise has seen since Lupin III: the First. It manages to work for old and new fans alike despite it lacking characters and elements the franchise usually maintains. Really think about this we have a great addition to the franchise that by design removes Zenigata Fujiko Goemon and Ohnos music. On paper that sounds like it shouldnt work but it does thanks to the commitment to the bit. They took the forsaken concept of a younger Lupin who was friends with Jigen and expanded it into something that helps make their characters feel richer. Would a cameo from a younger Zenigata possibly heating up some cup ramen been a nice touch? Yes but it also wasnt necessary. Lupin and Jigen are strong enough to carry this ONA while still developing themselves as characters. The anime is a glorious blend of classic Lupin fun and good times with a coming of age story where two boys build a connection thats more precious than any material object. Im happy I was proven wrong in my assumptions this would be bad and I encourage seeking it out as your first taste of one of animes oldest and greatest franchises. Its not so long that it becomes daunting to finish while still having enough time to follow through on what it sets out to do. And for the fans who have already dipped their toes and happened to overlook this please do yourself a favor and give it a shot. If you think the franchise is monotonous its entries like this that prove theres still more ways to play with the material. Abayo