The history of Lupin VIII
At first glance, Lupin VIII doesn’t look real. The character designs, the setting, the animation - it is all so vastly different to the more consistent looks of Part I or Part II, the two Lupin TV shows that aired prior to Lupin VIII’s existence.
It might look like an extravagant hoax, or even a project from a group of incredibly talented fans, however Lupin VIII (French title: Arsène & Cie (Arsène & Company)) is indeed real. Unfortunately, this was one rocket ship that never made it off the ground and into orbit.
The history of Lupin VIII
A brief look back at the Lupin that never was!
Before we speak more about the show, some context about the studio behind it is needed. In October 1981 DiC Entertainment, an international film and television company, had just wrapped up a show named Ulysses 31. The company, which originated in France during the mid-1970’s, worked alongside Japanese production company TMS on the show.
Originally created by Jean Chalopin and riffing heavily on science fiction epic Star Wars, Ulysses 31 tells of the struggles of Ulysses and his crew as they team up against the divine entities that rule the universe, the ancient gods from Greek mythology. Some musical controversy aside, the show launched in October 1981 and was deemed a success. It later saw a release in around nineteen different country’s - including both France and Japan.
DiC Entertainment then went on to become an absolute powerhouse when it came to creating children’s cartoons.
DiC worked on such high profile properties such as Pole Position, Ghost Busters, Super Mario, Captain Planet, The Care Bears, Where’s Waldo, Sonic the Hedgehog, Extreme Dinosaurs and many more (the list feels practically endless)! If you grew up in the late 80’s and 90’s, there is a very high chance you will recognise the video containing their logo, simply due to the sheer amount of content they put out during this time.
Back to 1982. Pleased with their recent work on Ulysses 31, TMS approached DiC with the idea of Lupin VIII.
This came two years prior to the first pink jacket episode hitting Japanese televisions on the 3rd of March 1984 (a surprising fact, especially when you compare the style and animation of Lupin VIII to that of Part III).
The project was ambitious but the goal was clear; how do we take the Lupin brand and make it more appealing for younger audiences abroad, while still pleasing the Japanese fans?
In an attempt to do this, a fair few changes were made.
The show was to take place in space - a familiar concept for fictional media in the 80’s, partially thanks to the popularity of works of science fiction such as Star Wars and Star Trek. As mentioned before, this was also familiar territory for DiC and TMS due to the success of Ulysses 31. The space setting was also a concept that sowed itself into many other Japanese animated shows of the 1980’s too, with Space Adventure Cobra and Macross being two of the more popular ones.
Since such an outer worldly setting was decided upon, the story needed to take place far into the future. This is where two key members of staff come in; Rintaro (Shigeyuki Hayashi) who took the role of director while Shingo Araki handled the character designs (but take these with a pinch of salt, as the staff behind the show has still to this day not been 100% verified)!
Just as Lupin III himself is a descendant of the original Arsène Lupin, Lupin VIII is a descendant of Lupin III. The show also introduced Jigen the Sixth, Goemon the Eighteenth, Fujiko the Sixth and Zenigata the Sixth - again, all descendants of their original counterparts. The offspring of our familiar friends all seem to have wound up in the same place at the same time, and believe it or not, they are all still best pals. Well, aside from Inspector Zenigata, of course…
As thieves are generally conceived as “bad” characters, Lupin VIII’s role in society was changed to that of a detective. This was so his character would become more suitable for children in the non-Japanese speaking territories. His character was now more modelled on fictional detective Columbo then the original Arsène Lupin. Instead of committing crimes he vowed to help solve them, making up for his shady family history. He is still of course madly in love with Fujiko VI, who was due to pop up throughout each episode.
Both Jigen VI and Goemon XVIII stood by Lupin’s side, only dropping their cigarettes and weapons for more non-traditional means. Jigen now sucks on lollipops instead of puffing his regular smokes. He carries a laser pistol rather than a .357 Magnum, updating with the times. In similar fashion, Goemon’s Zantetsuken is now a beam sword; a powerful beam of light hidden within the Zantetsuken’s familiar shell. This was no doubt modelled after Obi-Wan Kenobi’s lightsaber from the original Star Wars film, A New Hope.
Zenigata VI, now working for the space ICPO, still has a strong distaste for Lupin. While he isn’t clamouring for the detectives arrest, he simply does not trust him due to their ancestors rivalries. Wherever Lupin VIII goes, trouble does not seem far behind - so with his communicator / bubble pipe and brown hat atop his helmet, Zenigata VI never strays too far from our heroes side.
While the idea of there being so many lollipops in space is a little baffling, these small character tweaks updated a familiar cast and softened them up for a wider audience. The changes where not too dissimilar to the censorship later seen in 4Kids Entertainment’s localisations of animated television - however, as Lupin VIII technically has had its cast and concept shaped around this whole idea from the get-go, it would be unfair to lump it into the same ballpark.
With the concept and characters nailed, the team got to work on the first episode. With that, in early 1982, a twenty-two minute long pilot film was created along with a heap of both French and Japanese promotional artwork.
The pilot film, which you can now watch in its entirety on YouTube (also embedded toward the bottom of this article), showcased the series’ bold new animation style and setting. While a French or Japanese dub was yet to be recorded, the Japanese script was complete and in the pilot film itself, can be seen at the bottom of the screen as the episode plays out. Audio, sound effects and music was mostly final, but an opening and ending animation was yet to be complete.
The story sees Lupin VIII attempting to solve a mystery for a little girl. Jigen joins him on his endeavours, while Goemon stays behind to care for the child (only to make a grand entrance with holographic effect at the end). There are car chases (flying ones, this time), comedy scenes with Inspector Zenigata and a bad guy that gets his comeuppance at the end.
Everything was looking good and work on the script for episode two soon began - that is, until a familiar spanner hit the works.
The copyright confusion surrounding the Arsène Lupin character and name soon began creeping in. As the show was being produced in France, the country where Maurice Leblanc and the original Arsène Lupin originated from, the use of his name here caused the production teams plenty of headaches. At the time, nothing could be done - however in more recent years, the Lupin III character eventually released in this territory under the name of Edgar de la Cambriole.
In 1982, the only safe solution appeared to be to cancel the show entirely.
Lupin VIII was no more. Not a single episode was ever fully completed. The failed launch saw the split of DiC Entertainment and TMS, with both production companies going their separate ways, never to reunite again.
After Lupin VIII’s failure, the production team at DiC went on to create the 1983 animated series of Inspector Gadget. It is extremely likely that the team pencilled in for the development of Lupin VIII moved straight on to Gadget, and if it wasn’t for its cancellation the bumbling Inspector may never have seen the light of day (therefore not getting this absolutely flawless and classic live action movie adaptation)…
Rumours of Lupin VIII’s existence circled the Internet for years, with fans of the show only having warped or grainy VHS recordings of the pilot film to go off. We did not get a good look at the pilot episode, and therefore concrete confirmation of its existence, until the 2012 DVD and Blu-Ray release of The Master File.
This release, which featured cover artwork by the late Kazuhiko Katō (Monkey Punch) contained various bits and pieces from Lupin III’s past, and also featured a brand new OVA based on a chapter of the original manga. Alongside it was the pilot film for Lupin VIII, in high quality for the first time and with Japanese notes from the original script. You can see the full thing in the video embedded above. A piece of series history restored.
Animation cels from the cancelled show have sparingly showed up on auction websites over the years. The price of these often inflates as soon as auctioneers catch on with what show they originated from - animation cels can be expensive as standard, but for a cancelled Lupin III spin-off, the price tag always sky-rockets!
It is easy to speculate on what Lupin VIII could have been. Would this have set the tone for the series going forwards, and would it have meant a bigger fan base in international territories? Would there have been spin-off’s, films, even video games?
While that is one way to look at it, if it was not for its cancellation we perhaps wouldn’t have seen the release of Part III, which is a wonderful show in its own right. Both TMS and DiC went on to bigger things and chose to not look back.
Lupin VIII remains a superb curio of Lupin’s past and if you haven’t seen it, the pilot film is absolutely worth a watch - especially if you are already a fan of Lupin and company. Now that legal issues surrounding the Lupin name have mostly all cleared up, there is still some fan hope that Lupin VIII may return - however, this has still yet to be seen and with upcoming releases such as the 3DCG movie Lupin III: The First, it is looking unlikely.
What are your opinions on Lupin VIII and what would you have liked to have seen in the series had it released? Please feel free to let us know by leaving a comment below!
