Mystery of Mamo

Mystery of Mamo
Directed by	Sōji Yoshikawa
Produced by	Yutaka Fujioka
Written by	Atsushi Yamatoya Sōji Yoshikawa
Starring	Yasuo Yamada (Japanese original) Bob Bergen (Streamline dub) Tony Oliver (Geneon dub)
Music by	Yuji Ohno
Editing by	Yoshiaki Aihara
Distributed by	Toho Columbia Pictures and Buena Vista Distribution Co. Inc (English sub. only) Manga Entertainment (1995 Australia and UK, 2008 UK only) Streamline Pictures (1995) Orion Pictures (1995 home video distribution) Geneon (2003) Madman Entertainment (2006 Australia & New Zealand)
Release date(s)	16 December 1978 (Japan) 1995 (USA) 1996 (UK) 2003 (USA re-release)
Running time	102 min.
Language	Japanese

The Secret of Mamo, or The Mystery of Mamo,^[1] is the most common English name for the 1978 first animated feature film based on the Lupin III character created by Monkey Punch, originally released in Japan as simply Lupin III (ルパン三世, Rupan Sansei^?) and now known there as Rupan Sansei: Rupan tai Kurōn (ルパン三世 ルパンVS複製人間^?)^[2] in order to differentiate it from the four others that followed it. Produced at the studio now known as TMS Entertainment, it is a traditional animation on cel directed by Sōji Yoshikawa and written by Yoshikawa and cult pink film screenwriter Atsushi Yamatoya.

Plot

The film opens with white lines traveling down and a trapdoor opening underneath a prisoner. The prisoner is hanged, and a coroner's report (with narration by Koichi Zenigata in some dubs) confirms the executed prisoner to be the real Lupin III. But Zenigata doesn't believe this, so he goes to the tomb to see for himself. Opening the coffin, he drives a stake into the body, which promptly explodes. The real Lupin III shows up to witness Zenigata's humiliation and narrowly escapes by hang glider (which is in the shape of bat wings). Zenigata fires at him three times, hitting the camera the third time to trigger the opening credits.

The opening scene shows Zenigata following Lupin all the way to Egypt, where the latter is looking for the Philosopher's Stone at the request of a contract with the help of his partner-in-crime Daisuke Jigen. They find the stone, but the setup fails, triggering an alarm. What follows is a brief encounter with Zenigata, who is shocked to see Egyptian officers pointing guns. Zenigata refuses to let them fire, insisting that they have already trapped Lupin and "unless they're issued with silver bullets, the men will waste their ammunition". This is a play-on-words as Lupin derived from Lupus, or the genus of wolf. Regardless, Lupin evades Zenigata's trap, curiously by riding a fast motorcycle through the pyramid corridors. On the way out of the pyramid, Jigen almost loses his hat, and Lupin criticizes him for not losing it. Goemon Ishikawa XIII, meanwhile, has incapacitated the officers surrounding the pyramid. Cutting the tires on Lupin's cycle, the three make it out on a tightrope strung from the opening to a distant site when the gang's Mercedes is waiting. Zenigata is literally left in the dust, cursing them as they leave.

Meanwhile, Fujiko Mine is waiting for Lupin to deliver the stone, but doesn't have to wait long, since Lupin was already there to surprise her. When she learns that Lupin nabbed the stone, she grabs for it, but Lupin chides her for being too passionate and reminds her of her promise to date him in exchange for the stone. Fujiko backstabs Lupin by spraying him with paralysis gas. Lupin returns to HQ to listen in on Fujiko to find out who asked for the stone, only to discover that the stone was a fake. (Of course, the viewer knows it already from the Egyptian police chief's dialogue in an earlier scene.)

The contract is not pleased that Lupin had given him a fake, so he sends two of his men after him, the first piloting a chopper. The chopper chases Lupin, Jigen, and Goemon into a sewer, where Goemon is waiting to chop the chopper's blade with his Zantetsuken, remarking "Once again, I slashed an unworthy object." The chopper blows up as Goemon retreats, and Lupin and Jigen are not too happy that the explosion damaged the car. Fujiko pulls up and asks for the stone, but Lupin tosses her out of her own car, paying her back for the backstabbing she gave him earlier (and reminding her to take his car, which "still needs some repairs").

Zenigata quickly arrives, hot on their tail and tries to get Lupin to turn himself in with the reason that "it would promote friendly relationships between France and Japan". Lupin refuses, and during a high-speed mountainside chase, the second of the goons arrives in a 18-wheeler and crushes two of the police cars, sending the one with an awe-struck Zenigata into the water below. The chase continues as Lupin tries to dodge the truck. The confrontation appears to be over after the henchman plummets to his death after driving off the mountain. That's when Flinch arrives in a plane, blows up the car, and buzzes the gang (so close the landing gear leaves a tire rut on Lupin's hair). He then proceeds to blow up Lupin's HQ.

Jigen and Goemon chastise Lupin because of Fujiko and nearly get into a fight until Lupin decides to throw Fujiko out of his life. In a spur of the moment, they travel toward the ocean. On the way, Lupin sees a pitcher of water on a table and accidentally sets off a booby trap that Flinch left. After some more walking, the threesome find a house stocked with food and water. That's when Fujiko, beaten up and helpless, comes for Lupin, who rushes to her and alienates his two sidekicks in the process. However, Jigen can't leave him with Fujiko for too long and tries unsuccessfully to rescue him when Fujiko puts him to sleep with some strong medicine she used to drug his food. A clue to Lupin's whereabouts is then dropped, reading "WATER".

Soon, Jigen attracts the attention of Agent Gordon, who tails him throughout Europe the following day. Surprised at first by Jigen's quick move to threaten him, Gordon manages to bring him and Goemon to Area 64 to be interviewed by Starky, an important government official from America. After listening to a tape of an interfered-with conversation between the secretary general and President Jimmy Carter, Starky asks for info on the man who broke into the conversation. Jigen hands Gordon the note and angers him by saying that if they knew what the note meant, they wouldn't be where they were. Starky decides that Jigen and Goemon knew nothing, releasing them for the sole purpose of using them to find the mystery man. They know immediately because of spilled water, and the invisible ink is revealed to be "CARIBBEAN".

Meanwhile, on a Caribbean island, Lupin manages to find the mystery man, who reveals himself to be a dwarf named Howard Lockwood who refers himself as Mamo. He offers Lupin eternal life, but Lupin refuses, saying that all he wants is the Philosopher's Stone. He then manages to find it as Jigen and Goemon, tailed unknowingly by Zenigata and tracked unknowingly by the U.S. Government, head for the Caribbean island. Fujiko plays with Lupin awhile, but they are soon chased by thugs led by Flinch.

Release

The Japanese release was handled by Toho, who was also responsible for the initial English dub, also known as the JAL dub or the HK dub produced in 1979 for JAL Airline flights. The dub was also released to several markets in Europe, and was also screened at least once in the United States. The second dub, handled by Streamline Pictures, was released on home video by Orion Home Video in late April of 1995. It was later released on DVD by Image Entertainment in 1998, but without the Japanese language track. The third dub, which was never released stateside, was released on home video in the UK by Manga Entertainment, Ltd., who handled that same dub, in 1996. The fourth dub was handled and released on DVD by Pioneer Entertainment (USA), Inc. in 2003; in Australia and New Zealand, it was released by Madman Entertainment in 2006. Manga Entertainment then released the film as Lupin The Third: The Secret of Mamo on DVD for the first time in the UK on 4 August 2008, with the same cover and transfer as the Australian release and both Japanese and English-language audio soundtracks. The dub on this release was the Manga UK dub that was released on home video.

Full cast

The cast for the oldest English dub (sometimes known as the "JAL," "HK" or "Toho" dub) is still unknown, due to a lack of localization credits on any known prints.^[3]

Character	Japanese	English (Streamline)	English (Manga UK)	English (Geneon)
Arsène Lupin III	Yasuo Yamada	Bob Bergen	William Dufries	Tony Oliver
Daisuke Jigen	Kiyoshi Kobayashi	Steve Bulen	Eric Meyers	Richard Epcar
Goemon Ishikawa XIII	Makio Inoue	Kirk Thornton	Garrick Hagon	Lex Lang
Fujiko Mine	Eiko Masuyama	Edie Mirman	Toni Barry	Michelle Ruff
Inspector Koichi Zenigata	Goro Naya	David Povall	Sean Barrett	Jake Martin
Mamo	Kō Nishimura	Robert Axelrod	Allan Wenger	Paul St. Peter
Starky	Tōru Ōhira	Steve Kramer	unknown	Osgood W. Glick
Special Agent Gordon	Hidekatsu Shibata	Michael Forest	unknown	Michael McConnohie
Police commissioner	Kōsei Tomita	Jeff Winkless	unknown	Richard Cansino
Flinch	Shōzō Iizuka	unknown	unknown	Bob Papenbrook
Egyptian police chief	Haruo Minami	Steve Kramer	unknown	Richard Cansino
President	Fujio Akatsuka	Steve Kramer	unknown	Richard Cansino
Chief secretary	Ikki Kajiwara	Jeff Winkless	unknown	Richard Cansino

References

1. ^ VHS and DVD releases in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States have used various combinations of "Secret" or "Mystery", with or without the "The" article and with the franchise name rendered "Lupin III," "Lupin the 3rd," "Lupin the Third" or absent altogether, with some examples listed here.
2. ^ http://www.kinejun.jp/cinema/id/18909
3. ^ http://www.lupinthethird.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=17:english-versions&catid=16:lupin-the-third&Itemid=30

External links

• Rupan sansei: Mamo karano chousen at the Internet Movie Database
• Lupin the 3rd (English & Italian)
• LEP Lupin European Page
• Lupin III Encyclopedia