Here in the U.S., films that are released to the public on home video formats (historically VHS) first rather than first being released in theaters are often looked down upon. These 'direct-to-video' releases are regularly not expected to have financial success. I'm sure we all remember the numerous direct-to-video sequels that Disney has released to some of their classic films, and that most of them turn out crappy. But over in the country of Japan, it isn't necessarily like that. Over there, anime titles that are released directly to retail sale, without prior showings on TV or in theaters are known as Original Video Animation, or OVAs. OVA titles were originally available on VHS, though they later became available on newer media such as Laserdisc and DVD. Like anime made for television broadcast, OVAs are broken into episodes. OVA media (tapes, Laserdiscs, or DVDs) are usually sold with just one episode each. Episode length varies from title to title, and might be anywhere from a few minutes to two hours or more per episode. Many popular anime began as OVAs, and later grow to become popular television series or movies ("Tenchi Muyo!" is the most popular example of this). Other OVA releases are made as sequels, side stories, music video collections, or bonus episodes that continue existing TV series or films. The latter is what applies to the OVAs from the anime franchise known as "Lupin the 3rd; after three television series', as well as three animated full length films, the first Lupin OVA, a one-episode feature titled "Plot of the Fuma Clan", was released in 1987.

Before I get started, here’s a little background info on the series itself. Lupin the 3rd is an anime and manga (Japanese comic books) series originally created by manga artist Kazuhiko Katō under the pen name Monkey Punch in 1967. It began as a parody of a series of novels by Maurice Leblanc featuring a French gentleman thief named Arsene Lupin. The series follows the third generation thief who, unlike his grandfather, is far from a gentleman. In Monkey Punch's original manga series, Lupin is a lunatic with an extreme lust for women that can never be satisfied and yet, he somehow remains a likeable character. The manga has since spawned three television series (each characterized by the color of the jacket he wears), three OVAs, six full length feature movies (one live action, five animated), and sixteen television specials (or made-for-TV movies, whichever you wanna call ‘em) which continue yearly to this day. It is also the inspiration for other anime and manga series, perhaps most notably “Cowboy Bebop”. Some of the episodes and the second movie were even directed by Hayao Miyazaki, one of the most well-known anime directors.

There are five main characters in the entire Lupin series. First there is of course Arsene Lupin III, the grandson of Arsene Lupin. He is the world's most skillful and most wanted thief and his biggest fault is his love of women. Sometimes he just steals whatever he wants, at other times he steals from disrespectable people; he and his gang often take it upon themselves to foil other criminals engaged in more serious crimes. Daisuke Jigen is Lupin's right hand man and accomplished gunslinger with spectacular accuracy; he can perform a 0.3-second quick-draw. He wears a hat to conceal his eyes, giving him a more enigmatic appearance, and is a chain smoker. Goemon Ishikawa XIII is the thirteenth generation of a real-life renegade samurai named Ishikawa Goemon. He has a sword called Zantetsuken which can cut through anything, but is usually used to cut inanimate objects that Goemon often consider ‘unworthy’ of being cut by his blade. Fujiko Mine is Lupin's on again off again love interest and rival thief. She isn’t technically part of Lupin's gang, but she often participates in Lupin's exploits; most of the time, she works to serve her own interests, which often conflict with Lupin's. Finally, there is Lupin’s arch nemesis Inspector Kōichi Zenigata, who’s made it his life’s mission to arrest Lupin. In most of the Lupin features, he comes off as a pathetic cop with an unhealthy obsession with Lupin. Despite his lack of success in capturing Lupin, he is a highly skilled and intelligent police detective whom other criminals underestimate at their peril. Lupin often refers to Zenigata "Old Man" or "Pops" and is named after a figure of Japanese legend, Zenigata Heiji.

As for the film itself, "Lupin the 3rd: Plot of the Fuma Clan" (Japanese title "Rupan Sansei: Fuuma Ichizoku no Inbo") is the first direct-to-video Lupin feature, released in Japan in 1987. It was the first new Lupin feature in two years; the third television series had wrapped up in 1984 while the third Lupin film, the critically panned "Golden Legend of Babylon", was released in 85. This film was notable as being the first Lupin release to feature an entirely different cast (more on that later). Later on, both "Fuma" and "Babylon" were licensed by Animeigo and released in America in 1994; the former was released as "The Fuma Conspiracy" while the latter was released as "The Legend of the Gold of Babylon". They were released on VHS in two different formats (English dubbed VHS and English subtitled VHS) as well as on Laserdisc. In 2003, Animeigo's English dub of "Fuma" released on Region 1 DVD, with both the English dub and the Japanese language track with English subtitles (a DVD release of "Babylon" was soon to follow, but it never happened). In America, this film was notable for the name change of the main character. When Monkey Punch created the original manga, he did not seek permission to use the Lupin name from the estate of Maurice Leblanc. The estate agreed not to pursue any legal action, provided that the usage of the name remained within Japan. Therefore, when Lupin material was licensed for overseas usage, the name had to be changed. Even though the name "Arsène Lupin" fell into the American public domain 50 years after Leblanc's death in 1941, the Lupin name was still taboo for some American companies. When Animeigo dubbed "Fuma" in 94, they decided to use the name "Rupan" which is how Lupin's name is actually pronounced in Japanese (in English it is usually pronounced LOO-pahn, not LOO-pin). Therefore, the film was released by Animeigo as "Rupan the 3rd: The Fuma Conspiracy". In late 2005, the rights to both "Fuma" and "Babylon", as well as the live action Lupin movie, "Strange Psychokinetic Strategy", were bought by Discotek Media. Strange Psychokinetic Strategy was released in February 2006, and Discotek's dubs of Fuma and Babylon are expected to be released later this year. When Discotek releases these films, it will be the first time they have been released in America under the original Lupin title.

(1/18/08 EDIT: Discotek eventually released their version of "The Fuma Conspiracy", labeled the '20th Anniversary Edition', on October 30th, 2007. As I expected, they did release it under the name "Lupin the 3rd" Unfortunately, Discotek did not re-dub the feature like I thought they would: they included the AnimeEgo dub, which has the 'Rupan' pronunciation. But still, I'd say it's a better release than the original DVD for the added features.)

Our story begins with a wedding ceremony; renegade samurai Goemon Ishikawa XIII has finally decided to settle down, and is preparing to marry Murasaki Suminawa, the daughter of a venerable Japanese clan. Goemon's closest friends, Lupin (or Rupan, whichever you wanna go with now), Jigen, and Fujiko, are guests at the wedding. But the ceremony is interrupted by some ninjas attempting to steal the sacred vase belonging to Murasaki's family. When their attempt to steal it is foiled by Lupin and Fujiko, they kidnap Murasaki and want Goemon to exchange the vase for her. Murasaki's grandfather refuses to hand it over, later explaining to Goemon that the ninjas were part of the Fuma Clan, and that the vase holds the secret location of a large treasure that was left behind by their ancestors. Lupin gets involved when he hears this, attempting to rescue the girl AND get the treasure for himself. When he realizes that it's Lupin who foiled their original plot, Kazami, the underboss of the Fuma Clan, goes undercover as a colleague from Interpol, and calls upon the help of Inspector Zenigata, who became a monk following the apparent death of his arch nemesis. After Kazami shows him a photograph of Lupin at the wedding ceremony earlier that day, Zenigata quickly rejoins the force. After the vase is traded for Murasaki, the race is on as Lupin and company, with Zenigata following closely behind, try to beat the Fuma Clan to the ancient treasure.

The first thing you'll probably think upon viewing this film is how similar it is to the classic Lupin film, "The Castle of Cagliostro". Like in "Cagliostro", Lupin's personality is that of a good natured rouge, willing to help Murasaki get away from what he calls "those Fuma bastards". However, unlike "Cagliostro", Lupin's nature is more towards that of his original persona, making the theft of the treasure his top priority. But the great thing about this OVA is that all of characters are active and none of them are limited to the sidelines. Over the course of the movie, everyone has a part to play and they see it through right to the eventual end. This especially true for Goemon; the full extent of his character is seen here than any other Lupin feature. Being the main focus, he does most of the fighting and puts on a spectacular show in an attempt to stop the Fuma. But perhaps the best part of Goemon's part in this film is the character development he's given: he's given a female companion who happens to be his fiancé. Being a 'renegade samurai', you normally wouldn't think twice about Goemon in love with a woman, especially since Lupin's infatuation with Fujiko has left him completely disgusted in the past. Giving him a fiancé shows the range of Goemon's emotions, the most of which he lacked in past adventures. Murasaki herself is a sweet but determined girl, and is more memorable than some the girls in the other Lupin features. Zenigata is also greatly characterized, as he isn't as much of a comic relief as he normally is (thank God). He is also given some rare character development: He is obviously disillusioned with the supposed death of Lupin, saying that nothing in life matters to him anymore. But this all changes when he comes face to face with the master thief; the sheer look of joy on his face is utterly priceless. The film consists of two main villains, the underboss Kazami and The Fuma Boss (who is never given an actual name for some strange reason), with the rest being nameless Fuma assassins. They are all somewhat one-dimensional, but the main focus here is on the good guys, so that doesn't really bother me too much.

This is rather less plot driven than "Cagliostro", and that can be looked at as a plus or a minus depending on how you looked at it... I looked at it as a minus. The plot itself was fairly straightforward, without any major twists and turns, and this made the nature of the film somewhat predictable. As they arrived at the cave where the treasure was buried, you knew they'd each get down there in separate groups (Murisaki & Goemon; Lupin, Jigen, & Fujiko, The Fuma Clan, and Zenigata & Murasaki's grandfather) and it would all come down to a final battle between Lupin's gang and the Fuma Clan, with Goemon doing the majority of the fighting. Despite the predictability, it's still more entertaining than "The Secret of Mamo", where too many plot twists pretty much ruined the overall viewing experience. The action scenes aren't really high profile as they are in other Lupin releases, but they are still pretty good. Watch out for the excellent ongoing car chase between Lupin & his gang and Zenigata & about 12 cars filled with cops. In this totally absurd sequence, Zenigata follows his foe through a many bizarre places: they go through a river, over a broken bridge, and through a Japanese village, pretty much demolishing anything and everything that gets in their way., It is without a doubt the film's highlight and I'd recommend seeing it just to witness that one part. Sadly, the usual music you hear in every Lupin feature, which resembles that of 70s funk, is replaced by a congenial score, and not really as fun to listen to as that jazzy stuff. Thankfully, that is only a small con, not really needed to be noted. The animation quality is also reminiscent of "Cagliostro": a smooth style which wasn't radical or uncomfortable on the eyes, and the animation itself was pretty good, as far as most OAVs go. Apparently, most of the money went into the animation budget, and I'd say it was definitely money well spent.

However, with most of the money was focused on one aspect, a lesser focused aspect was sure to be diminished. Here, it was the voice acting that took a hit, and Monkey Punch was told that they'd have to recast the voices for this Lupin production to save on cost. He agreed to it, as long as the original VAs got a fair explanation for it. The late Yasuo Yamada, who prided himself in playing everyone's favorite thief, misunderstood and thought that he was dropped by Monkey Punch. Though the mix up was resolved, Yamada and Monkey's friendship was strained until Yamada's death in 1995. So, what we have here is an entirely new cast for the main characters and while I don�€™t want to compare them to the original Lupin cast that most fans would be familiar with, they held their own and were very good for the most part. For this feature, Lupin is voiced by veteran voice actor Toshio Furukawa, who is perhaps most well known for his role as Piccolo in "Dragon Ball Z". Furukawa sounds like a younger version of Yamada, so the voice was fitting for the character. He has the essence of Lupin's personality down pat, but I don't think he does as good a job as Yamada would've done. The rest of the new cast does a fair enough job, with the major standouts being Seizo Katou, the voice of Inspector Zenigata, and Kaneto Shiozawa, the voice of Goemon. Shiozawa is known for playing various different anime roles, though his most well-known role is probably D from the classic "Vampire Hunter D". He brings the same characterizations here for Goemon; his acting was superb, containing lots of emotion. I always wonder how this film would have turned out if they had not re-casted, but I guess we'll never know. Either way the Japanese cast was pretty good for the most part, especially considering the shoes they had to fill.

The English dub however is a different story. There are just too many problems with the English dub for it to be considered good. Don't get me wrong, it has its ups and downs, the up being the great dub dialogue. Despite changing Lupin's name, the English translation is very true to the very accurate subtitles, making it probably THE most accurate Lupin dub from an American anime company. Unfortunately, the lip-synching suffers because of it. Instead of trying to synch the words up with their mouths, their dub comes nearly word-for-word from the subtitles, giving it sort of a "Speed Racer" feeling. Also, the voice acting is not as good as other casts have been. This time, the voice of Lupin is provided by Robin Robertson. First off, this guy's voice is REALLY annoying, straight up. At first, he sounds like he could be a good Lupin but he gives an over-the-top performance, making it really hard for me to take him seriously. I mean I know Lupin is supposed to sound somewhat nerdy but for God's sake, he sounds like he's going through puberty! And he's not the only bad voice actor of the bunch. Sean P. O'Connell gives an extremely dull performance as Jigen; the man sounds utterly bored out of his mind, like he REALLY doesn't wanna be there. And Amanda Spivey, the voice of Murasaki, sounded completely amateurish, like she had no idea what she was doing. The other cast members do much better, but are still no more than average, including Michele Seidman the voice of Fujiko, and Dave Underwood, the voice of Kazami. Though I was somewhat impressed with Mark Franklin, Goemon's VA, he was only above average, and like O'Connell, he sounded bored at a few points while playing his role (not as much as O'Connell was, thankfully). Sadly enough, the only standout VA was Marc Matney, the voice of Zenigata. At least he played his character with some EMOTION. Overall, this was one of the bad Lupin English dubs, and I haven't seen very many of those.

If you're a fan of extras, you'll be disappointed with this release. All we basically have is an image gallery and 'career highlights' of the Japanese and English VAs. I personally don't give a damn about extras so it's whatever to me.

(1/18/08 EDIT: But to add to the lack of features on the original DVD, the Discoteck DVD adds a BGM Audio Track, full-length commentary by Reed Nelson of LupintheThird.net, the original trailer, and liner notes for the film. And being that the DVD only goes for 20 bucks, I'd say to buy that version. You can find it on online stores, such as Amazon.com.)

Overall, I'd have to say that "Plot of the Fuma Clan" is one of the best titles in the Lupin catalogue. In terms of greatness, it isn't touching "Castle of Cagliostro" (then again, what is?) or "Dead or Alive" but it's still very good. Though the plot was a little predictable, the presentation was well executed so long time Lupin fans should be pleased. Even if you're new to Lupin, you'll enjoy this, especially if the first Lupin title you viewed was "Cagliostro". The only real thing that got to me was the bad English dub; I know Funimation has dropped the ball before when it comes to Lupin titles but even they haven't done this bad with an English dub before ... that just shows how bad a job Animeigo did here. But overall, "Plot of the Fuma Clan" is worth viewing, because it's just as every Lupin adventure should be: exciting, fun, and thoroughly entertaining.

FINAL RATING: 4 Stars


Related reviews:
Lupin the 3rd: The Secret of Mamo (3 Stars)
Lupin the 3rd: The Castle of Cagliostro (5 Stars)
Lupin the 3rd: Dead or Alive (5 Stars)
Lupin the 3rd: Crisis in Tokyo (Coming soon!)


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older