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New Lupin III TV Anime's Promo Previews Characters, Setting

The official website of the new Lupin III TV anime series began streaming the first promotional video for the series on Wednesday. The video introduces the series' main characters, as well as the show's Italian setting.

Text: 2015. After 30 years, he returns!
Text: The setting is Italy and San Marino.
Logo: Lupin III
Text: A new history begins for Lupin III, the world's greatest thief.
Text: Original creator - Monkey Punch
Text: Chief director - Kazuhide Tomonaga, Music- Yuji Ohno
Text: Premiere broadcast in May in Italy. Showing on NTV and other channels this fall.

The new series will be the first full-fledged Lupin III television anime series to star the legendary thief character since 1984-85's Lupin III: Part III ended three decades ago. (Sayo Yamamoto and TMS Entertainment made the Lupin III: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine television anime spinoff in 2012.)

The series was originally announced at the MIPCOM event in Cannes, France last October. The series is set to have its world premiere on Italy's RTI channel in May. The series will be broadcast in Japanese television this fall. The story of the new series will take place in Italy and San Marino.

Monkey Punch, the creator of the original 1967 Lupin III manga, commented that he is excited for the start of a new animation series, and that he is looking forward to Lupin's exploits.

Franchise veteran Kazuhide Tomonaga (key animator on Lupin the 3rd: The Mystery of Mamo and Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro, particularly the whole iconic car chase) is serving as chief director, and Yūichirō Yano (Moyashimon, Francesca, Mujin Wakusei Survive, Patapata Hikōsen no Bōken) is directing at Telecom Animation Film. Writer Yuuya Takahashi (Donten ni Warau, Tiger & Bunny, Lupin the IIIrd: Daisuke Jigen's Gravestone) is in charge of the series scripts. The franchise's veteran composer Yuji Ohno will again compose the series' music.

Tomonaga noted that the Lupin III anime that his generation watched four decades ago was completely different from the previous anime aimed at children. He added that it had a very huge impact on the diehard adult fanbase. For the generation that already experienced that amazement as well as the generation unaware of those days, Tomonaga wants to make an exciting animation that is realistic yet sprinkled with fantastic elements. Furthermore, he wants to depict a Lupin in which conflicting elements coexist — hard-boiled yet comical, cool yet tongue-in-cheek.