ルパン八世
Rupan Hassei

Riguardo al manga di Kon Oriharu
Lupin VIII - i titoli dei 6 episodi presenti nel volume distribuito dalla Futabasha nel dicembre 1982.
1. "Kako kara kita otoko" ("A man from the past")
2. "Honoo no suisyou wo mamore" ("Protect fire crystal")
3. "Youkai kaosu" ("The monster, Caos")
4. "Beeta MAD mashinn" ("Beta MAD machine")
5. "Meka ninja-hanzo" ("Robo-type ninja, Hanzo")
6. "Jinkaku tenkan ki" ("Character-switchering")

Nel 1982 la TMS avvia la produzione del film Lupin Hassei, in cui incontriamo i bis-nipoti dei nostri amici perfettamente a loro agio in una Parigi del 22° secolo ... il film purtroppo non fu mai concluso a causa di alcuni problemi della produzione.
[Tratto da Mangazine n° 13, aprile 1992, Granata Press Editore]

Serie fantasma nippo-francese di cui esiste solo il film pilota: gli eredi di Leblanc vietarono infatti l'uso del nome Lupin nel cartone e così i coproduttori francesi abbandonarono il progetto.
[Tratto da Mangazine n° 21, febbraio 1993, Granata Press Editore]

I cell di Lupin Hassei ... sono ormai nelle mani dei collezionisti, che all'infuori di un piccolo documentario di 58 minuti realizzato nel 1982, non hanno avuto la gioia di vederli in sequenza alla TV. Di Lupin Hassei ci rimangono oltre a ciò solo i settei, disegnati da Shingo Araki e apparsi sulle varie riviste d'animazione dell'epoca.
[Tratto da Kappa Magazine n° 22, aprile 1994, Star Comics Editore]

Il film non vide mai la luce a causa di motivi ancor oggi poco chiari, l'unica cosa esistente sono brevi sequenze, tra cui una molto interessante che vede Lupin e i suoi compagni nello spazio e Goemon che fa a pezzi un'astronave con la sua Zantetsu-ken.
[Tratto dallo Speciale Ukiyo n° 5, su Lupin III e Cat's Eye, Edizioni Grafiche LO VECCHIO]

"
Que pouvez-vous nous dire sur Arsène et Cie, un dessins animés que vous avez réalisé, mais qui n'a jamais été diffusé?
Bernard Deyriès - C'est le vieux truc que je regretterai toute ma vie. Cette série d'origine nippone intitulée Lupin le 8e faisait suite à Lupin le 3e créé par Monkey Punch. L'action se situe dans l'espace, cinq générations plus tard. Lupin habite un grand dirigeable qui se ballade au-dessus d'un Paris futuriste. Six épisodes ont été fabriqués, puis on s'est arrêté. Les japonais avaient oublié de vérifier si les droits étaient libres ! Ils appartenaient encore pour quelques années à la famille de Maurice Leblanc (créateur français d'Arsène Lupin) et étaient trop cher... TF1, alors chaîne publique, voulait diffuser Arsène et Cie de 20h30 à 21h.
C'était un dessins animés familial dans le style de Columbo, bénéficiant d'un beau budget.
"
"
Che cosa ci può dire riguardo ad "Arsène et Cie", una serie animata bloccata in fase di produzione?
Bernard Deyriès - E' una vecchia spina nel fianco che rimpiagerò per tutta la mia vita. Questa serie di origine nipponica, intitolata "Lupin VIII", voleva essere un seguito del "Lupin III" di Monkey Punch. La storia si svolge nello spazio, 5 generazioni dopo. Lupin vive su una grande nave che vola sopra una futuristica Parigi. 6 episodi sono stati conclusi e uno bloccato. I giapponesi si sono scordati di controllare se i diritti sull'uso del nome erano liberi! Appartengono ancora per pochi anni agli eredi di Maurice Leblanc (il creatore di Arsène Lupin) e le loro richieste erano troppo esose ... TF1, a quel tempo TV pubblica, voleva trasmettere "Arsène et Cie" ("Arsène and company") nella fascia fra le 20:30 e le 21:00. Era una serie indirizzata a tutta la famiglia nello stile di Colombo, che godeva di un ottimo budget.
"
[Tratto dall'intervista a Bernard Deyriès]

To accomplish this, the cast had to undergo some cosmetic changes. A thief could not be the "hero" of the series, so Lupin the Eighth became a freelance detective patterned after Columbo. Smoking and realistic guns were taboo forcing Jigen the Sixth to trade in his cigarette and Magnum for a lollipop and laser gun that drew no blood from its target.

Oddly enough, Zenigata the Sixth carried around a pipe, but the character design sheets show that this pipe was actually a minature communicator. Now that Lupin was no longer a thief, Zenigata's pursuit was reduced to chasing him simply based on their shared family history rather than on any actual crimes committed. Goemon the Eighteenth was the only character to receive a cool upgrade; the Zantetsuken was replaced by a lightsab... laser sword.

Sadly, the turmoil surrounding the copyright and use of the Arsène Lupin name doomed this project to failure. Not a single episode was completed and broadcasted. Very little information about this project has survived since it folded. One rumor has Rintaro listed as the Japanese director attached to the project, but this is unverified.

Two scripts for the series were completed; the first script, titled "The Man from the Past", was fully animated and had a music and effects track created for it. The project was terminated before a dialogue track could be recorded. This vocaless cut of the first episode has managed to surface here and there but has been ravaged by time and countless format conversions and duplications.

Production cels from the series crop up occasionally on auctions sites, but due to their rarity, they quickly soar in price. A manga version of the first episode was also released in Japan but is also a difficult item to find.

~25 Minutes, 1982 Color Television Series
Original Japanese Title: Rupan Hassei
English Release: Never completed in any language; Fan-distribution only.

Episode 1: The Man From the Past
Original French Series Title: Arsène & Cie, or "Arsène and Co."
Original Japanese Title: I'll get back to you on that...
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Content
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Some futuristic gunplay and Star Wars-esque action.

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Dubbing and Translation
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See below.

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Animation
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On par with and exceeding other early 80's TV animation.

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Summary and Review
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(Contains spoilers for the sake of those who are unable to view it)

5 generations later, Lupn's gang is still going strong: Lupin the Eighth, Jigen the Sixth, Goemon the Eighteenth(!), and Lupin's love interest, Fujiko Mine the Sixth, who looks almost exactly like the Fujiko of old (so wait, could they be blood-related, or did Fujiko and Lupin never procreate?). Anyhow, Fujiko spends her time with a fat moustachioed rich guy who has technology on his side, while Lupin is approached by a young girl who gives him both a necklace and music box. It would seem this music box contains the secret to a great treasure. But after deciphering the secret, Lupin discovers this "treasure" is just a guy preserved in a cryogenic chamber. Attempting to take off with the man, they are stopped by a giant robotic fly, which cheerfully kidnaps the sleeping individual and takes him to the fat man's place, where the bespectacled sleeper is awoken and convinced (on punishment of trash-compactor crushing) to take the fat man to a treasure trove of diamond-esque jewels. The man, suddenly changing his mind, instead attempts to defend his riches from the fat man. Lupin interferes, but gets cornered himself when the fat man sicks a giant mining mecha on him. Ultimately, Lupin, lasergun-shooting Jigen and lightsaber-wielding Goemon stop the fat man, and Inspector Zenigata's descendant captures both the once-sleeping individual and the fat man. He also takes a diamond thing from Fujiko (who probably swiped it from the chest full of them) as Lupin returns the necklace to the young girl.

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Notes
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An abandoned Franco-Japanese coproduction in the vein of Mysterious Cities of Gold, Lupin the Eighth's termination brought about by a French upheaval over the use of Arsène Lupin's name. With the name falling into American public domain in 1991 (and its existence as a public domain character in Japan since the late 70's), and the recent acquisition of Lupin shows by American companies, there may be a slim chance we will see the residue of this program as something other than a fan-traded bootleg (We can only hope!).
The only existing copies (all of episode 1) have only a sound effects and musical track, providing a perfect opportunity for the creation of a fan-dubbed version.
According to an interview with a member of the cooperating French studio, DiC, there was only one episode completed, but at least two were written: a script for a different episode has been posted online on a Japanese Lupin site, "Typer's Lupin III."
Character design sheets for the series reveal something that was unused in the first episode: Zenigata's pipe could also be broken into two pieces and used as a miniature telephone-style communicator. The design sheets also announce that the characters are exactly who they seem to be: Lupin, Jigen, Goemon, Fujiko, and Zenigata (in Roman characters, even). The first episode was to be entitled, "The Man From the Past," which is probably this episode.
On Goemon's character design sheet for this series, the "e" in his name was written with a horizontal line over it.
There was a manga of Lupin the Eighth, using similar character designs. The first episode begins similarly to this episode, but those from the past, in cryogenic sleep, turn out to be the entire cast of Lupin the Third.
This project was essentially the pet project of its creative staff: everyone wishes it could have been made. It benefitted from a beautiful budget, and had a marvelous staff, say some of the heads of development.
The distinct difference between Lupin the Eighth and Lupin the Third was that, from its outset, it was designed to be viewed by a Western audience, with the moral issues of a European broadcast in mind. Many aspects of Lupin the Third could never be used in a series for children: real guns, smoking, drinking, the drawing of blood, and the topper being that the protagonists were thieves. Lupin the Eighth eliminated all of that. Jigen didn't smoke, but instead constantly had the stem of a sucker hanging from his mouth. Guns fired bright plasma beams instead of bullets. There was no blood. And Lupin was a freelance detective-for-hire, based on the famous TV detective Columbo.
Zenigata's role in this series is also changed due to the alternate series structure. While in the Third, he pursued Lupin, the criminal, in the Eighth, he seems to only pursue Lupin because his ancestral heritage demands he do so. But since Lupin the Eighth is no evildoer, Zenigata can never find grounds to put him in the brig. And so you have the setup of another bizarre relationship between Lupin VIII and Zenigata VI.
Some credits from this now-removed article from French site Cyna.net:
Original Concept: Monkey Punch
(Technical) Director: Rintaro
Realizer (*): Bernard Deyriès
Character Designer: Shingo Araki, Michi Himeno
Animation Director: Shingo Araki
Writers: Yutaka Kaneko (veteran Lupin writer) and Jean Chalopin (DiC founder, creator/co-creator of several successful animated series [such as Inspector Gadget])
Production: TMS (Tokyo Movie Shinsha) and DiC