Green vs. Red is the third Original Video Animation (OVA) of the Lupin the 3rd franchise.
Synopsis[]
After a fake Lupin was arrested by police for shoplifting a convenience store, all the Lupins around the world travel to Tokyo to free the captured Lupin only to be captured themselves. Inspector Zenigata returns to Tokyo to solve who the real Lupin is, but ultimately gets confused. Elsewhere in Tokyo, a skilled pick pocketer named Yasuo who is dating news reporter Yukiko, finds a green jacket and Walther P38 while working at a restaurant. Yasuo decides to wear the green jacket, becoming a Lupin III impostor.
Yasuo starts adding to his income by walking the crowded streets of the Tokyo metroplex and stealing people's wallets. With this, he's able to buy his girlfriend a nice ring even though she says he didn't need to buy this for her.
Over time, Yasuo becomes obsessed with becoming Lupin to the point that he reads and watches everything regarding him. He even works with Jigen for a time, disguised as Lupin. However, when Yasuo learns of the Ice Cube diamond, he knows that if he can steal this, he will be the real Lupin. With Fujiko at his side, he attempts to make the theft, only to have the "real" Lupin interrupt. This leads the red jacket Lupin and the green jacket Lupin in a face-off with the winner becoming the real Lupin. When the battle is over, the following events happen: At a bookshop, Jigen and Fujiko approach the old bookseller and tell him he's done a "good job. Yasuo visits his sick grandmother, who assures him everything will be fine. Soon after, or around the same time, a red jacket Lupin leaves with Jigen. Yukiko's ring is hanging on a chain from the rear-view mirror.".
Cast[]
- Japanese
List of Lupin's presence in some form in this OVA[]
Since the OVA was made to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the series, there are a lot of previous Lupin references:
Profiles[]
- Green Jacket Lupin from Green vs. Red.
- Red Jacket Lupin from The Mystery of Mamo.
- Lupin wearing a suit and glasses from The Plot of the Fuma Clan.
- Green Jacket Lupin with a bandage from The Castle of Cagliostro.
- Red Jacket Lupin with the square chin from the earlier episodes of Part 2.
- Green Jacket Lupin from The Castle of Cagliostro.
- Red Jacket Lupin from $1 Money Wars.
- Red Jacket Lupin from the Pilot Film.
- Green Jacket Lupin from The Plot of the Fuma Clan, where he sees Zenigata in the police car.
- Pink Jacket Lupin with the dimple chin from the earlier episodes of Part III.
- Red Jacket Lupin from the later episodes of Part 2.
- Green Jacket Lupin from the Hayao Miyazaki directed episodes of Part 1.
- Red Jacket Lupin from Dead or Alive.
- Red Jacket Lupin from Part 2 with the face from the TV Special From Russia with Love.
- Unknown TV Special Lupin.
- Pink Jacket Lupin from the later episodes of Part III and The Legend of the Gold of Babylon.
- Unknown TV Special Lupin, possibly from the digital era using a tweaked Part 2 design (2001-2010).
- Fake Lupin from Part 2 Episode 155.
- Unknown Green Jacket Lupin.
- Unknown Red Jacket Lupin.
- Lupin wearing a black catsuit from the spotlight run first seen in the Pilot Film.
- Another Green Jacket Lupin from the Hayao Miyazaki directed episodes of Part 1.
- Red Jacket Lupin from Farewell to Nostradamus.
- Lupin wearing a tank top from The Castle of Cagliostro.
- Fake Lupin from Part 2 Episode 16.
- Pink Jacket Lupin from the second opening of Part III.
- Unknown fat Red Jacket Lupin (he does not resemble the one from Part 2 Episode 96).
- Red Jacket Lupin from Burn, Zantetsuken! where his diver suit shatters while escaping the Titanic.
- Green Jacket Lupin from Part 1 Episode 10 where he got beaten up by Flinch.
- In Joke Sexy Looking Lupin.
Running from the Police scene[]
It is unknown whether all the Lupins featured are references or some in jokes just for the OVA:
- Unknown Red Jacket
- Unknown TV Special Lupin
- Lupin from The Castle of Cagliostro with his bandage.
- Unknown Lupin with an orange tie
- Pink Jacket Lupin (with the dimple chin) from the earlier episodes of Lupin the 3rd Part III.
- Unknown Green Jacket
- Unknown Red Jacket
- Unknown TV Special Lupin
- Unknown TV Special fake Lupin
- Lupin from The Mystery of Mamo with the Egyptian Pyramid background coming from the film.
- Unknown Green Jacket
- Unknown Red Jacket (resembles mid to late Lupin the 3rd Part 2)
- Unknown TV Special Lupin
- Unknown Green Jacket
- Fake Lupin from Part 2 Episode 16.
- Unknown Jacketless Lupin
- Lupin smiling from Plot of the Fuma Clan.
- The goofy looking Pink Jacket Lupin from the beginning of Opening 2 of Lupin the 3rd Part III.
- Formal dressed Lupin from Plot of the Fuma Clan.
- Unknown fat Red Jacket Lupin.
- Unknown TV Special Lupin
Myths[]
- There is a scene in which someone writes Lupin III's name as "ＲＵＰＡＮ参" and someone else wonders if it's the correct spelling, referring to AnimEigo's English rename for the US release of The Fuma Conspiracy. The joke actually stems from using the obsolete "参" kanji (composition 厶大彡) for "three" instead of the usual "三".
Mistakes[]
- 0:20:48-0:20:55 / 0:22:22-0:22:23 - The plane says ROGAN rather than Logan.
Notes[]
- This OVA was made exclusively for the 40th Anniversary of the franchise.
- Yasuo and Yukiko were named after the voice actors of Lupin and Fujiko, Yasuo Yamada and Yukiko Nikaido.
- Lupin does his running from the spotlights by the wall scene, the same that featured in Lupin the 3rd Part 1.
- This is the first (and so far only) Lupin anime to feature and sponsor McDonald's restaurants.
- In Yasuo's room, there are hints that he is into films. A poster of the film The Producers is on the wall while during a daydream seeing Fujiko, there is a poster of the Pirates of the Caribbean as well as a fake poster saying Doom Raiders spoofing the Indiana Jones movies.
- The brooch that one of the Lupins was holding was the same one from the $1 Money Wars TV special.
- The opening and closing theme is "Fire Treasure", the same opening theme from Castle of Cagliostro that is also playing on the iPod. In the Italian dub however the opening version is replaced by an instrumental. The cover of the film as well as the description of the song is also displayed. There is also a scene where a Lupin imposter is watching Castle of Cagliostro off view, with a Cagliostro poster close by.
- While it is implied, Green Jacket Lupin (Yasuo) had watched The Castle of Cagliostro due to Fire Treasure playing however he fell asleep. Also one of his faces that he makes while thinking of Fujiko come from the film.
- When one of the Lupins has been arrested for shoplifting, the Lupin driving in the Fiat with the brunette crashing over the barrier and jumping out is a reference to the opening of Part 1 while the Lupin who falls off the red Mercedes SSK is a reference to the eyecatch of Part 2.
- There are two colors of the Fiat 500 in the OVA, the yellow one is associated with The Castle of Cagliostro and later became the series featured car while the blue one appeared in Part 1 and Part III. There was also a Mercedes Benz SSK when the Fiat 500s were gathered up.
- When the two Lupins drive the yellow Fiat 500, Theme from Lupin III '89 plays that is associated with the TV Specials. There is also a reference to The Castle of Cagliostro when they drive up the wall.
- In the Japanese original, during the scene on the plane, the dialogue is entirely in English including the recording from "Lupin". Lupin's name is pronounced Lupan ze Third and has hints of a French accent; however, Logan calls it Loopin like the Streamline and Funimation dubs.
- Some scenes in the OVA, Jigen uses his character design that appeared in The Combat Magnum Scattered in the Wasteland, The Castle of Cagliostro and later episodes of Part 2 animated by Telecom due to his smaller mouth.
- One of the lines that Jigen says to one of the Lupins is, "Since when are you Japanese, huh?" meaning that the "real" Lupin who is officially unknown is not Japanese.
- The Lupin with the afro is a reference to Shinichi Watanabe, who is a big fan of Lupin III in real life.
- President Kusakabe has a resemblance to Nagata who runs Nagata Heavy Industries.
- The identity of the mysterious customer who gives Yasuo the jacket has been frequently debated, but the knowing twinkle in his eye when he's told he did a "good job" suggests that he's the real Lupin III, who has retired from thieving and has decided to pass his title onto a successor, feeling that Yasuo is worthy.
[]