60-3 - Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro

A gentleman thief, a princess in a wedding dress, a count with a secret, and a clock tower chase that people still talk about.

This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro (1979), Hayao Miyazaki’s feature directorial debut, made at Tokyo Movie Shinsha before Studio Ghibli existed.

Lupin and Jigen rob the Monte Carlo casino and then notice the money is counterfeit, the legendary “goat bills.” Lupin throws it away and decides to track down the source in the tiny nation of Cagliostro.

On the road, they run into a car chase and rescue a young woman in a wedding dress, Clarisse, who is the princess of Cagliostro and is being forced to marry the regent, Count Cagliostro because her ring is the key to a lost treasure, and the Count wants it. However, Lupin won’t let that stand and decides to rescue the princess. Goemon and Jigen hold off the Count’s assassins, Fujiko works her own angle, and the story ends in a chase up the castle clock tower and the draining of the castle’s lake.

We discuss how Miyazaki’s Lupin differs from the series’ usual rogue, what the film does for Zenigata, why Clarisse is such a well-drawn princess, and the “goat bills” versus “Goth bills” translation issue, which early English versions handled as goats.

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📌 Topics covered this episode:

– Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro (1979) recap & review

– English release and translation discussion

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

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