Cartoon Network recently added "Lupin the Third" to their Adult Swim lineup. This show has been lost in the recesses of my braincase since high school when a friend of mine was into anime and manga (well before DBZ and Pokemon made it mainstream.) All I really remember about Lupin was his slick monkeylike head and the unusual French name. In fact, I confused Lupin 3 with Golgo 13 for many years.
CN is running a modern redub of the show, which was originally animated in the '70s, I believe. I don't know much about it. Like DBZ, my only meaningful exposure to the show is whatever Cartoon Network places in front of me. A quick internet search reveals that there have been several animated series and movies, some lousy looking video games, and quite a bit of typical angry otaku response whenever anybody tries to dumb down the show for US audiences.
Lupin himself is a "Gentleman Thief"... his name and ouevre blatantly stolen from a 1900s French literary figure in the days before copyright law. He's also a skirt-chaser and a showoff. He's into theivery for the challenge of it as much as the outrageous riches. His gang consists of Jigen, an American gunman, and Goemon, a modern day samurai. Sometimes they work with Fugiko, a conniving sexpot, but she usually tries to double cross them.
Most episodes begin with Jigen and Goemon sitting on a couch when Lupin busts in to explain some crazy new scheme. If Fugiko is involved, Jigen will complain because he knows she's untrustworthy. Goemon averages about three lines per show; his main function is to use his incredible sword to cut something at the show's critical moment to save the caper... gladius ex machina?
Like most anime, here in the States we would consider it "ahead of its time," which means the show is full of swearing, violence and comic sexuality. This brings me the point often made that shows like this weren't made for kids. I've made it myself - often referring to the Warner Bros. shorts of the 30s and 40s. But I've been re-thinking that lately, primarily because Bugs Bunny and Lupin were made for kids. Just not kids today.
What I mean is, times have changed. In the 40s, it was acceptable to entertain kids (and adults) by having Bugs put on blackface. Today, it's decidedly not okay... leaving modern-day animation fans to defend cartoon racism by declaring it was not intended for children. When it obviously was. Sure, Mssrs. Jones, Freleng, Clampett et al threw in references that adults would appreciate - ration cards, mothers-in-law - but it was still a goddamn talking rabbit in seven minute shorts designed to make audiences of all ages laugh. In Japan, having a cartoon feature a man (Lupin) ogling a woman's (Fugiko) huge breasts was perfectly okay. In fact, the "dirty but harmless old man" stereotype has been a staple of anime for decades, most recently and widely evidenced in Dragon Ball Z's porno-mag voyeur Master Roshi. The Japanese culture is simply not as threated by sexuality in animation. We've always had minor ogling here in the US, but only at a comic level, not a sexual level. Lupin totally wants to bang Fugiko, it's not as innocent as Yosemite Sam getting distracted by a pretty saloon gal.
But US society has changed (for the better, I'd say) and today nobody would make a cartoon that features blackface and run it at 4:00pm on Nickelodeon. That's why I'm glad something like Adult Swim exists, so that I have a chance to watch Lupin, Cowboy Bebop, the old Warners shorts and new stuff like Sealab 2021 and Mission Hill. That's another change for the better.
