Lupin III: Dead or Alive is a 1996 Japanese animated film directed by Monkey Punch. It is the fifth feature film in the Lupin III franchise. The North American release was done by FUNimation; the film is available both individually and as part of their "First Haul" box set.
Summary
Lupin, Goemon, and Jigen take a mini-helicopter and head to the mysterious "Drifting Island" looking for a treasure rumored to be hidden somewhere on it. Through their exploration of the island, the trio encounters the lethal "Nanomachine", the island’s security system. The trio triggers the alarm, springing "the Nanomachine" to life. The key to solving the island’s mystery lies in the small nation of Zufu. This once prosperous nation is now ruled by the ruthless, knife-collecting, General Headhunter. Fujiko does her usual probing and hacks into General Headhunter's computer hoping to find some crucial information. Zenigata has received a video message from Lupin in which he announces his desire for the priceless treasure. Oleander, a fiery blonde officer with some hidden secrets of her own, steps in to help Zenigata. Armed with their newly found information, Lupin, Goemon, Jigen, and Fujiko go back to "Drifting Island," but this time they are followed by General Headhunter.
Production
Monkey Punch, the original creator of Lupin III, was the director of the film. However, he claims it was not something he wanted to do. The production had a short deadline and as there was no director, he accepted the role. He said the experience was too demanding and claimed that it was the other people involved that "saved" the film, and added that he never wants to direct again. [1]
He only directed the opening and ending sequences; the rest of the film was primarily handled by assistant directors. Monkey Punch has discussed this in both written interviews and on the brief video interview on the Dead or Alive DVD as released by FUNimation.
Cast
- Japanese
| Characters | Voice Actors |
|---|---|
| Lupin III | Kanichi Kurita |
| Daisuke Jigen | Kiyoshi Kobayashi |
| Goemon Ishikawa XIII | Makio Inoue |
| Fujiko Mine | Eiko Masuyama |
| Inspector Koichi Zenigata | Gorō Naya |
| General Headhunter | Banjō Ginga |
| Oleander | Minami Takayama |
| Crisis | Nachi Nozawa |
| Panish | Tōru Furuya |
| Emera | Chisa Yokoyama |
| Spanky | Shigeru Chiba |
Additional Voices:[1]
- Misa Watanabe
- Mahito Tsujimura
- Kenichi Ogata
- Ikuo Nishikawa
- Chafūrin
- Ryūzaburō Ōtomo
- Mitsuru Ogata
- Kujira
- Takashi Irie
- Hisaya Ishiguro
- Kiyomitsu Mizūchi
- Kikuko Asanuma
- Yuria Hama
- Jun Ogura
- Italian ("Trappola mortale" [Mediaset] / "Dead or Alive - Trappola Mortale")
| Characters | Voice Actors |
|---|---|
| Lupin III | Roberto Del Giudice |
| Daisuke Jigen | Sandro Pellegrini |
| Goemon Ishikawa XIII | Antonio Palumbo |
| Fujiko Mine | Alessandra Korompay |
| Inspector Koichi Zenigata | Rodolfo Bianchi |
| General Headhunter | Saverio Moriones |
| Oleander | Unknown |
| Crisis | Oliviero Dinelli |
| Panish | Massimiliano Alto |
| Emera | Unknown |
| Spanky | Ambrogio Colombo |
- English
| Characters | Voice Actors |
|---|---|
| Lupin III | Sonny Strait |
| Daisuke Jigen | Christopher R. Sabat |
| Goemon Ishikawa XIII | Mike McFarland |
| Fujiko Mine | Meredith McCoy |
| Inspector Koichi Zenigata | Phillip Wilburn |
| General Headhunter | Bill Townsley |
| Oleander | Colleen Clinkenbeard |
| Crisis | Chris Patton |
| Panish | Sonny Strait |
| Emera | Colleen Clinkenbeard |
| Spanky | Chris Rager |
Additional Voices:
- Brad Jackson
- Caitlin Glass
- Chris Rager
- Justin Pate
- Kyle Hebert
- French ("Mort ou Vif")
| Characters | Voice Actors |
|---|---|
| Lupin III | Bruno Magne (as Lupan) |
| Daisuke Jigen | Hervé Caradec |
| Goemon Ishikawa XIII | Constantin Pappas |
| Fujiko Mine | Nathalie Homs |
| Inspector Koichi Zenigata | Constantin Pappas |
| General Headhunter | Gilbert Lévy |
| Oleander | Caroline Mozzone |
| Crisis | Thierry Kazazian |
| Panish | Adrien Solis |
| Emera | Sasha Supera |
| Spanky | Gilbert Lévy |
Additional Voices:[2]
- Gilbert Lévy
- Danièle Hazan
Releases
Japan
- VHS July 1998 (VAP)
- VHS (VPVV-63816, VAP reprint)
- Laserdisc (VPLV-????, VAP)
- DVD March 2000 CD Packaging (VPBY-11054, VAP)
- DVD DVD Packaging (VPBY-1777?, VAP)
- Blu-ray September 15, 2010 (VPXV-71094, VAP)
Italy
- VHS Trappola mortale (Univideo/Medusa Film)
- DVD 2004 (Dynit)
- DVD 2005 Lupin the 3rd Special DVD Collection - Dead or Alive Trappola Mortale (1LUP??, DeAGOSTINI/Yamato Video)
- DVD 2009 Lupin the 3rd Movie DVD Collection - Dead or Alive Trappola Mortale (DeAGOSTINI/Yamato Video)
- DVD December 1, 2009 Lupin the 3rd - Dead or Alive Trappola Mortale Ultimate Edition (Yamato Video/Dolmen)
- DVD December 16, 2011 Lupin III Film Collection (Uscita 8, Yamato Video/La Gazzetta dello Sport)
USA
- DVD February 22, 2005 (Funimation)
- DVD Lupin the 3rd: Movie Pack - First Haul (Funimation)
Translation Notes
There were some changes between the Japanese original and the English dub as the English dub was partially rewritten and included minor extra dialogue.
- After Lupin has hacked into the computer, Jigen says "You got into the enemy's computer pretty easy", In the English dub however, Jigen instead says "Oh... so could do with a new web designer" and Lupin adds "I'm not talking about jpegs Jigen." This was due to a 9 year gap between the Japanese release and the Funimation DVD release. This was also ironically aged as website designs have changed several times over the course of the Internet and jpg files are getting less used instead replaced with png and webp files for images.
- The police officers in Zufu warned that Zenigata had entered the island illegally with the English dub adding that they are taking him in while Zenigata replies "Only my superiors may drop my name suffix". In English dub however Zenigata says "Come on, cut me some slack. I'm a cop, same as you." The officer suggested that everyone will drop the title in the Japanese original while in the English dub he said that he would put in a good word for the other inmates.
- Spanky sings a parody version of La Cucaracha while he was drunk in the English dub.
Notes
- Despite Monkey Punch saying that he never wants to direct again, he did co-direct Is Lupin Still Burning? for the 50th anniversary of the series.
- The film took 5 months to make and currently the shortest produced Lupin the 3rd film in the series however according Yasuo Ōtsuka, the film going from the storyboards to the rush print took 3 months.[3]
- Promotional art featured Lupin running on the wall with the spotlights on him, this hasn't appeared in the film.
- Lupin uses a Mac in the film, Monkey Punch was involved in J-Mac (Japanese Manga Artists Club) a group where people who had Macs was about to do digital artwork that had around 1500 members.[4]
- During the video that Lupin made, at the beginning it shows a spoof of the 20th Century Fox logo but as Lupin III.
- The Italian dub included music from The Secret of Twilight Gemini in selected scenes where it was originally silent.
Gallery
References
- ↑ ルパン三世 DEAD OR ALIVE. www.mau2.com (in Japanese)
- ↑ http://www.planete-jeunesse.com/fiche-2398-lupin-iii-mort-ou-vif.html Planete Jeunesse - Lupin III : Film 6 - Mort ou Vif (in Francais)
- ↑ http://www.yk.rim.or.jp/~rst/rabo/ohtuka/oh_interv/oh_interv06.html レイアウトパレット - Interview with Yasuo Otsuka (in Japanese)
- ↑ https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/feature/2003-11-13
