Lupin III - Reception

Reception

When creating the series, Monkey Punch did not seek permission to use the intellectual property of Maurice Leblanc's estate, and at that time Japan did not enforce trade copyrights. This led to copyright issues once Lupin's popularity spread to North America and Europe; however, the name was still permitted in Japan. Several foreign releases of Lupin III media were forced to drop the Lupin name, and Lupin himself was renamed "Rupan" or "Wolf", or in the French version "Edgar de la Cambriole" (Edgar of Burglary). Leblanc's copyright has now expired, allowing the use of the Lupin name outside Japan.

The Lupin III franchise still remains popular in Japan; the manga was listed in 38th place on Japan’s Agency for Cultural Affairs's list of the top 50 manga series. The Castle of Cagliostro was in 5th place on the Agency's list of best anime, while the original television series was in 50th place on the same list. The original television series also placed 38th on TV Asahi's list of Japan's 100 favorite animated television series. The director of Cowboy Bebop, Shinichirō Watanabe, revealed during an interview with Newtype Japan that he was heavily influenced by the work of director Masaaki Ōsumi on the first television series. Many of the first volumes of the English edition of the Lupin III manga released by Tokyopop made it onto ICv2's list of top 50 graphic novels, as well as later volumes from the series.

In Manga: The Complete Guide, Jason Thompson referred to the original manga as "a crazy, groovy 1960s world of dynamite and backstabbing, hippies and gangsters", and considered it "a fascinating homage to Mad Magazine and a four star example of comics as pure comedy." He rated the series four out of four stars. Allen Divers of Anime News Network praised the strong writing and action; however, he felt that the art was too primitive.

Both Chris Beveridge of AnimeOnDVD.com and Mike Crandol of Anime News Network disliked the dub of the second television series because Pioneer Entertainment used many modern references and updated dialogue for a series that was released in the late 1970s, although the series itself received a positive overall review from both reviewers. John Wallis of DVD Talk compared the series to Cowboy Bebop, while Rob Lineberger of DVD Verdict wrote, "Lupin the Third is James Bond meets Charlie's Angels with Scooby-Doo sensibilities."

The Lupin III television specials and theatrical features released by Funimation have received reviews varying from positive to mixed. The most well-received is Island of Assassins, with Chris Beveridge of AnimeOnDVD.com describing it as "the best non-TV Lupin experience ... since The Castle of Cagliostro", and Todd Douglass Jr. of DVD Talk giving it a rating of four and a half out of five stars. The least well-received of Funimation's releases is the first, Secret of the Twilight Gemini, which received mixed reviews due to the animation and its B movie-style plot.

Both of Manga Entertainment's releases of The Castle of Cagliostro received DVD Talk Collector Series recommendation status, the highest status given by the review website DVD Talk. Chris Beveridge of AnimeOnDVD.com gave the film a grade of "A+", although he disliked Manga Entertainment's use of PG-13 level language in the English dub. While the film was not initially a box-office success, it gained popularity through numerous re-releases and was even voted as "the best anime in history" by the readers of Animage. The film was the best-selling anime DVD in May 2001, and the third best selling in June. Steven Spielberg has called the film "One of the Greatest Adventure Movies of All Time" in an unverified statement. Alex Navarro of CNET Networks praised Lupin the 3rd: Treasure of the Sorcerer King video game for its voice acting, soundtrack, and level of faithfulness to the source material, but criticized it for its poor graphics and weak enemy AI.