Lupin VIII (2012) – A Cool Concept That Never Got Its Chance As a longtime Lupin fan, I was really curious to finally sit down and check out Lupin VIII. The name alone is enough to raise eyebrows — a sci-fi spin-off with the descendant of the original Lupin? Set in the future? With laser guns? Sounds wild, right? And honestly, the concept is really fun. You can tell this was meant to be something ambitious — a Franco-Japanese co-production that wanted to take the Lupin legacy in a completely new direction. The designs have that retro-futuristic 80s vibe, the characters are recognizable but tweaked for aspace-age setting, and there's this weird charm to the whole thing, like watching a parallel universe where Lupin became a sci-fi franchise instead of a globetrotting heist series.
That said… it just doesn’t quite come together.
The 2012 pilot (resurfaced from its 1980s production) is more of a curiosity than a fully fleshed-out episode. It’s short, rough around the edges, and clearly unfinished. The animation is decent for its time, and there’s a bit of style here and there, but it lacks the energy, wit, and pacing that make the main series so fun. It tries to mix French animation sensibilities with Japanese storytelling, but ends up feeling more like a proof-of-concept than anything with real weight behind it.
For hardcore Lupin fans, it’s worth watching just to see what might’ve been. There’s something undeniably interesting about the idea of a sci-fi Lupin family continuing the legacy in a whole new era. But for most viewers, especially newcomers, this isn’t exactly essential viewing.
6/10 – A neat footnote in Lupin history, but more interesting as an idea than as an actual anime.