#don't mind me i'm just being emotional about my favourite old-ass whacky cartoon

[morporkian-cryptid]

I’ve rewatched Episode 0 – Jidai (Eng: The Times) recently. It hits very differently in light of Kiyoshi Kobayashi’s passing.

It's weird to think that in the last few years, several of the people who defined the Lupin III franchise have passed away. There was Yasuo Yamada (Lupin's first VA) nearly thirty years ago; and more recently Yasuo Otsuka (one of the key animators who helped define the series’ art style) two years ago, now Kiyoshi Kobayashi... and most importantly, Kazuhiko friggin' Kato aka Monkey Punch, the guy who invented Lupin in the first place, passed away in 2019. All the big names are disappearing one after the other.

And, well... that's sad, but also that's bound to happen in a franchise that’s 50 years old (55 including manga) and counting. And to me, it puts into light a happier thought: that this franchise has grown beyond what it originally was, and that it's continuing even without these people.

It's not like their passing were great tragedies striking an unprepared franchise and leading it to a crisis. Both Yamada and Kobayashi had trained a successor, and the passing of the flame happened smoothly. And Monkey Punch hadn’t had a hand in the franchise for years when he passed away. They all got to see Lupin III grow, and they passed away with the knowledge that it would keep going on after them. Kind of like parents would shape their child in his first years, but ultimately watch him evolve on his own, in a direction they couldn’t have predicted.

And that's exactly what Jidai was about, right? "When times change, I adapt. That's how I've always lived. But Daisuke Jigen is the only person who never said a thing, who always accepted me the way I was. He's the only stable thing in my life. And I think that's why I've always been able to stay true to myself."

It's about the passage of time and the gentle shift from one era to another, as things and people that we thought were essential disappear, but what matters about them, the things they created, live on and stay true to themselves. I’ve talked about it at length when Jidai aired, through the lense of Kobayashi’s retirement, and it’s still true, maybe even more so, in light of his passing.

Lupin III, as a franchise, is incredibly different today from what it was in its beginnings, in the manga or even in Green Jacket. But that evolution was gradual, and at its core it's still the same characters, with the same values, the same relationships, and that's what make Lupin Lupin. What Kazuhiko Kato, Yasuo Yamada, Kiyoshi Kobayashi and the others built is strong enough to outlive them. And I think that's beautiful.

#rip kobayashi-san #and here's to many more years of lupin iii #also i learned today that i know lupin's quote from jidai by heart #im not even surprised about that #don't mind me i'm just being emotional about my favourite old-ass whacky cartoon #no but seriously lupin iii is a fucking MONUMENT of japanese pop culture #it was the first - the VERY FIRST - anime EVER meant for an adult audience #it's a trope-setter for a bunch of tropes we now consider basics #(i heard somewhere that clarisse for castle of cagliostro was the beginning of the 'moe' character archetype) #*clarisse FROM castle of cagliostro #it has inspired countless other creators and has references in dozens and dozens of other series and movies #heck even friggin DISNEY'S DUCK TALES made a reference to lupin #if that doesn't tell you how influential this franchise is idk what c #*can #this goes way WAY beyond the chaotic criminal gremlin that kazuhiko kato created for a manga magazine fifty-five years ago #it's a huge cultural pillar that has influenced decades of pop culture worldwide #this series is fifty years old and it's still going strong #i can't wait to see where else the creators bring it.