Lupin the IIIrd: Jigen’s Gravestone Review — Scotland Loves Anime 2025
This year’s Scotland Loves Anime film festival in Glasgow and Edinburgh featured no less than six films by acclaimed director Takeshi…
Lupin the IIIrd: Jigen’s Gravestone Review — Scotland Loves Anime 2025
This year’s Scotland Loves Anime film festival in Glasgow and Edinburgh featured no less than six films by acclaimed director Takeshi Koike, best known in the West for his insane sci-fi car racing flick REDLINE. Not only did REDLINE show at the festival, but so did all four of his Lupin III OVAs, plus his new Lupin III movie, The Immortal Bloodline, that definitively caps off the five-part story. I was granted the opportunity to interview Koike-san, as well as attend both of his Q&A sessions, so you can read my writeup on ANN via the link below:
Sadly, whoever programmed the festival didn’t account for the fact that likely the vast majority of The Immortal Bloodline’s audience probably wouldn’t have been able to watch the preceding four OVAs (at least not legally, in terms of the most recent OVA). The OVAs were screened on the very last day of the festival, in Edinburgh, while The Immortal Bloodline screened on the first day, in Glasgow. While I didn’t think The Immortal Bloodline was all that great, it would have been significantly enhanced by knowledge of its preceding four OVAs, which all feature story elements followed up in the concluding film.
Fujiko in full-on dominatrix mode. Don’t worry, she loses all of these clothes later to become a damsel in distress. Sigh.
Koike was animation director on 2012’s acclaimed Lupin III TV anime *The Woman Called Fujiko Mine. I binged my way through that for the first time the week before Scotland Loves Anime 2025, but aside from showing how this iteration of Lupin III’s central cast all got to know each other, it’s really not that essential for understanding the OVA’s world. It’s pretty standard Lupin III, though perhaps a little grittier than most of the TV shows that have peppered Japanese TV screens since the early 1970s. With more brutal violence and significant nudity, at least when it comes to sole main female character Fujiko, viewers who have seen only Hayao Miyazaki’s movie interpretation of the franchise, [Castle of Cagliostro](https://medium.com/anitay-official/hayao-miyazakis-lupin-iii-the-castle-of-cagliostro-anime-movie-review-4k-scotland-loves-4f2bf1918be0)*, are in for a shock.
Director Koike doesn’t skimp on the gore…
While these OVAs are billed as a continuation of The Woman Called Fujiko Mine, they’re not written by that series’ screenwriter Mari Okada, here replaced by Yuya Takahashi, who was also in charge of writing Lupin III Part IV for TV. Taking over from Yuri On Ice’s Sayo Yamamoto in the director’s chair, while also maintaining his animation director and character designer role, Takeshi Koike eschews Fujiko Mine’s rough, sketchy, cross-hatched manga-inspired style for a more modern and colourful aesthetic that brings it more in line with the recent Lupin III TV shows.
Lupin with Jigen. These two are practically joined at the hip throughout the franchise.
Each of the four OVAs, released between 2014 and 2025, are structured to focus on one of Lupin’s supporting cast, in this case starting off with trusty sidekick and crack shot Daisuke Jigen, he of the wide-brimmed hat and pointy beard. In Jigen’s Gravestone, we open with Lupin and Jigen in the fictional country of Doroa, which is partitioned into East and West, much like Germany post WWII. Hijacking a diplomatic vehicle, they steal a large blue gem from a goverment building. Their escape is complicated by Yael Okuzaki, a hired sniper who throws dice to decide how many bullets to use on a target. Injuring both Lupin and Jigen, his main target is Jigen, for whom he has already arranged a gravestone (as is his habit for his announced victims). Jigen’s date of death is recorded as 1st April 1973, giving us the time period in which the OVAs are set (after The Woman Called Fujiko Mine, which is set in the late 1960s, but before the late 70’s-set movie The Secret of Mamo.)
Yael Okuzaki. We’ll be seeing more of him later…
As Lupin and Jigen investigate Okuzaki, Fujiko finds herself embroiled in trouble with a disturbing high society criminal group. They seem to kidnap and torture women for fun, munching on their steaks while watching as a massive automaton with a huge drill between its legs attempts to eviscerate a dripping wet and exposed Fujiko. Koike is on record stating that Fujiko is his favourite character, but in this particular OVA her main role appears to be to act as a damsel, and be naked. It seems regressive compared to the preceding series that, while it did feature a lot of Fujiko’s bare skin, it seemed more artistic and less exploitative than it does here. I’m not sure I like her luminous orange/yellow hair in this incarnation either. Fans of Fujiko’s almost comically perky nipples get plenty of material to enjoy here though, I suppose.
“Hello, yes, I’d like to order a freshly-oiled nubile young filly with plenty of spunk. No, I don’t want any clothing with that.”
Juxtaposed between Fujiko’s wet, naked, then oiled (seriously???) battle against the dick-drilled automaton, Lupin and Jigen face off against Yael Okuzaki, who it turns out is also associated with the girl-torturing sickos. At one point it seems like he succeeds in murdering Jigen — I won’t spoil how this situation cleverly resolves itself. Lupin’s most interested in who sent Okuzaki to kill Jigen and why, which marks the beginning of the story arc which will run through all the OVAs until the movie. The brief epilogue threatens to show the meta-plot’s hand far too early by teasing the main villain watching everything behind a wall of TV screens. Long term Lupin III fans will easily guess the identity of the puppet master, which gives me mixed feelings.
Lupin sits back and watches Jigen do his thing.
At least the final stand-off between Jigen and Okuzaki is tense and very cool, an old-fashioned duel where only one can walk away unscathed. It’s not that much of a spoiler to say that Okuzaki will return later, with cybernetic modifications that lean more into the slightly nuttier sci-fi side of the franchise. There’s also a city-wide surveillance network in this OVA that brings to mind a similar concept from Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight, though set decades earlier, and a truly unsettling eye implant thing with penetrating needles that made me wince.
[embed]This is a cool song!
Split into two 25-minute halves, Jigen’s Gravestone establishes a structure that will remain throughout the OVAs. Watching all four back to back, like I did at Edinburgh’s Cameo Theatre, is like shotgunning eight TV anime episodes together. It’s just as well the outro music is so good. Gary Stockdale’s Revolver Fires suits the story and central character perfectly, with effortlessly cool retro vibes and on-point lyrics.
Dressed in black with slanted hat No one knows what you see Oh, no, no Stylish looks with shaggy beard And checks and scotch relieve your pain
Of course there’s a car chase sequence!
It’s nice to see Jigen get the spotlight for some character development outside of his relationship with Lupin. His failure to protect famous singer “Queen Malta” seven days prior to the story’s setting drives him to seek revenge on her killer. He may be a criminal, but he’s principled, and hates to leave a job unfinished, or duties unfulfilled. Unlike many Lupin III stories, this is more serious — there aren’t many laughs at all. It’s certainly enjoyable, if rather absurd in places, and generally the animation is excellent, with some incredibly smooth and detailed action scenes, as expected from a director of Koike’s calibre. Jigen’s Gravestone isn’t as atmospheric or mould-breaking as The Woman Called Fujiko Mine, but it’s a decent start to a new story arc.
I’ll be back soon to discuss the second OVA in this series, Goemon’s Blood Spray, very soon. There’s plenty more Lupin III to discuss!
Fujiko’s happy she gets her shiny blue stone, but this time Lupin has the last laugh…
Lupin the IIIrd: Jigen’s Gravestone Director: Takeshi Koike Script: Yūya Takahashi Storyboard: Takeshi Koike Character design: Takeshi Koike Music: James Shimoji Based on: Lupin III (manga) by Monkey Punch Production: Studio Telecom Animation Film JP distributor: TMS Entertainment JP release: 21st June 2014 NA distributor: Discotek Media US blu ray release: 5th April 2016 Runtime: 51 minutes Language: Japanese audio with English subtitles BBFC rating: 15
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