Lupin III 12
Posted: January 20, 2008 Filed under: Lupin III Leave a comment »One of the disadvantages to spending so much money on manga is that I have less to spend on things like a nice apartment. It has been frigid lately, and unfortunately the crappy heater in my apartment doesn’t heat my bedroom. Right now, a draft is rolling out of the window and across my lap as I sit at the computer. This draft is approximately five below zero. I have a lot of stuff to add to the site, but it’s just too cold in here to sit and do it.
This volume of Lupin felt like Monkey Punch had picked up the series after taking a break. One story in particular seems to embody everything about Lupin III you’ve come to know and love. The characters mention they haven’t seen each other in awhile, each one is introduced separately, and weird things like Lupin having sex with an invisible woman happen. Even the art looks a little different in some of these stories, but I have no way to check this out and see if its true.
There’s a great story at the beginning of the volume where a tabloid newspaper starts running stories on Lupin III that give a lot more details than Lupin’s comfortable with. He starts a war with the paper, and as they progressively get closer and closer to what he’s about to do, he tries various strategies to take them out… most of which wind up reported in the paper seconds after he tries. It actually made me laugh a few times.
There’s another story involving the thief with 20 masks, which makes me think of the CLAMP series. One wonders if this man exists in books somewhere.
There’s also a story at the end about Lupin becoming a vampire. I wasn’t sure what to think of that one.
