Lupin the Third: Blood Seal of the Eternal Mermaid
December. 02,2011A gemstone named the Mermaid's Scale appears in a secret, underground auction, and Lupin is coerced by the queen of the underworld into stealing the rock for her. Lupin however quickly discovers not only that the stone is a forgery, but that the real Mermaid's Scale is part of an unsolved riddle involving the mysterious girl Misa that leads to transcending mortality.
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Reviews
The art is really good. It's definitely gotten an upgrade. I was thrown off by the new voice for Zenigata, at first, but once he starts yelling he starts to sound like the old Zenigata. Fujiko looks a lot different than her typical design from the second series, and her voice has changed too...but, it didn't bother me. This is the second Lupin TV special I've seen that was produced in widescreen format. I wonder what year they started doing that. I think the best part of the movie is the inclusion of Maki as a protégé for Lupin. Unfortunately they entangle her with the mermaid story line and so it doesn't really go anywhere. I didn't like the way they evaded the helicopters at the beginning because it seemed really unlikely that they would crash into one-another with so little intervention from the thieves. The ending and sort-of non-explanation of the whole mermaid thing is really underwhelming. I think the mermaid story line was a convoluted MacGuffin that the filmmakers cared little about, so they didn't realize it to the degree they should have.I don't really agree with the whole MacGuffin theory, but if it is the excuse for them to make this movie (the mermaid thing), then they didn't need it because they could have had a wonderful story about Lupin and his unwanted protégé. I think the sign of a good MacGuffin is when it is no longer a MacGuffin and the audience and the characters genuinely care about it and feel it is important naturally. The whole mermaid thing they did just threw us a bunch of loosely connected ideas and then a complicated ending that didn't really make any sense, so you leave the film feeling as you did before you watched it, with no connection to it at all. The only thing that really stays with you is the art and the Maki character.It probably deserves a 6, but the art was great as I said and it's nice to watch a Lupin TV movie even if it isn't the greatest. If you haven't seen much Lupin check out some of the bests like "Episode 0: First Contact," the second series, "The Secret of Mamo," "Castle of Cagliostro," and "Green vs. Red" (watch that one last because you've gotta know Lupin well to enjoy it).
