Reflecting on the Passing of Monkey Punch

It’s that time again, friends, to reflect on the passing of yet another great member from the anime and manga industry, and this time Lupin III creator Kazuhiko Kato, better known as Monkey Punch. More than 50 years ago, Kato’s Lupin III manga debuted in Futabasha’s Manga Action Magazine and became an instant success. The story of a half-Japanese, half-French gentleman thief named Arsène Lupin III — the grandson of Arsène Lupin from a famous line of French novels, though this homage was done without any official permission — who travels around the world stealing anything he pleases, with his friends Jigen and Goemon in tow.

Lupin III fans will know that Lupin’s jacket changed color depending on who was writing him. The original Lupin III generally wore a red jacket and appeared in the classic original series and films, always based on stories by Monkey Punch-sensei. This means stories that had the maximum “edge” to them, including sexual situations and extremely violent scenes, such as Lupin and Fujiko each promising to kill the other rather than allow them to be taken alive. Whenever Hayao Miyazaki took the reigns, Lupin’s jacket was generally green, indicating the more “family friendly” style seen in the classic film The Castle of Cagliostro. And in the more recent reboots of the series, such as Lupin the 3rd: The Italian Adventure, he wears a blue jacket to indicating a blending of the two extremes.

One of the big innovations Lupin III brought to Japan’s popular culture was in the character Fujiko Mine, a sexy femme fatal who is Lupin’s sometimes lover and sometimes betrayer. In an age when every girl wanted to emulate Sally the Witch, the first magical girl, Mrs. J-List was enamored with the sexy wiles of Fujiko, and would sneak manga volumes home in her school backpack, though Monkey Punch’s style was far from appropriate for kids. The artist has said he based the relationship of Lupin and Fujiko on Charles de Batz de Castelmore d’Artagnan and Lady de Winter from the Three Musketeers novels from 1844.

Saying goodbye to anime industry names is something we’re called upon to do all too often, and it doesn’t get any easier with practice. Monkey Punch-sensei joins Yasuo Yamada (the original voice of Lupin), whose passing in 1995 caused a huge outpouring of love and sadness by all of Japan.

If you’re looking for some Lupin III to watch tonight, The Castle of Cagliostro is always a great idea. Another recent “new Lupin” creation that really impressed me was the two-part film The Gravestone of Jigen Daisuke, which is filled with true Monkey Punch-style grit and deals with the death of Jigen. Give it a watch!