This is a list of television specials of the Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese media franchise

Media franchise

A media franchise is an intellectual property involving the characters, setting and trademarks of an original work of media , such as a film, a work of literature, a television program or a video game. Generally, a whole series is made in a particular medium, along with merchandising and endorsements...

 Lupin III based on the Lupin III

Lupin III

, also known as Lupin the 3rd, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kazuhiko Kato under the pen name of Monkey Punch. The story follows the adventures of a gang of thieves led by Arsène Lupin III, the grandson of Arsène Lupin, the gentleman thief of Maurice Leblanc's series of...

manga written by Monkey Punch

Monkey Punch

Monkey Punch is the pen name of Japanese manga artist Kazuhiko Katō , creator of the successful Japanese manga series Lupin III...

 beginning in 1967. In a tradition that began in 1989 with the television special Bye Bye Liberty Crisis, every summer since then featured a new 90 minute Lupin III television special that would air on NTV

Nippon Television

is a television network based in the Shiodome area of Minato, Tokyo, Japan and is controlled by the Yomiuri Shimbun publishing company. Broadcasting terrestrially across Japan, the network is commonly known as , contracted to , and abbreviated as "NTV" or "AX".-Offices:*The Headquarters : 6-1,...

 at 9:03 on Friday evening, usually in the last week of July or the first week of August (Bye-Bye Liberty Crisis and Seven Days Rhapsody diverted from that trend, however).

Each television special features its own plot, but the general theme centers on the adventures of Arsène Lupin III

Arsène Lupin III

is a fictional character introduced by Monkey Punch in Weekly Manga Action on August 10, 1967. According to its creator, Lupin is the grandson of Maurice Leblanc's Arsène Lupin....

, the grandson of Arsène Lupin

Arsène Lupin

Arsène Lupin is a fictional character who appears in a book series of detective fiction / crime fiction novels written by French writer Maurice Leblanc, as well as a number of non-canonical sequels and numerous film, television such as Night Hood, stage play and comic book adaptations.- Overview :A...

, the gentleman thief

Gentleman thief

In the Victorian vernacular, a gentleman thief is a particularly well-behaving and apparently well bred thief. A "gentleman" is usually, but not always, a man with an inherited title of nobility and inherited wealth, who need not work for a living. Such a man steals not in order to gain material...

 of Maurice Leblanc

Maurice Leblanc

Maurice Marie Émile Leblanc was a French novelist and writer of short stories, known primarily as the creator of the fictional gentleman thief and detective Arsène Lupin, often described as a French counterpart to Arthur Conan Doyle's creation Sherlock Holmes.- Biography :Leblanc was born in...

's series of novels. He is joined by Daisuke Jigen

Daisuke Jigen

is a fictional character in Monkey Punch's Lupin III series.-Abilities:Jigen is master thief Arsène Lupin III's marksman. He can perform a 0.3-second quick-draw and has an accuracy that borders on superhuman; he can shoot skeet with a handgun, explode a missile before it hits by targeting the...

, crack-shot and Lupin's closest ally; Fujiko Mine

Fujiko Mine

is a fictional character created by Monkey Punch, for his Lupin III series. Fujiko is a professional criminal, burglar and "confidence trickster"....

, the femme fatale

Femme fatale

A femme fatale is a mysterious and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers in bonds of irresistible desire, often leading them into compromising, dangerous, and deadly situations. She is an archetype of literature and art...

 and Lupin's love interest who works against Lupin more often than with him; and Goemon Ishikawa XIII

Goemon Ishikawa XIII

is a fictional character created by Monkey Punch for his Lupin III series. Goemon is the thirteenth generation of renegade samurai, a descendant of the historical figure Ishikawa Goemon...

, a master swordsman and the descendant of Ishikawa Goemon

Ishikawa Goemon

was a semi-legendary Japanese outlaw hero who stole gold and valuables and gave them to the poor. Goemon is notable for being boiled alive along with his son in public after a failed assassination attempt on the civil war-era warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi. A large iron kettle-shaped bathtub is now...

, the legendary Japanese bandit. Lupin is often chased by Inspector Koichi Zenigata

Koichi Zenigata

, usually called , is a fictional character in Monkey Punch's anime and manga series Lupin III.- Personality :Inspector Zenigata hails from Japan, city of origin unknown. According to Lupin III: Episode Zero - First Contact, his original title was Tokyo Police Inspector whose original interest was...

, the rather cynical detective who has made it his life mission to catch Lupin.

FUNimation Entertainment purchased the American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 DVD

DVD

A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....

 distribution rights to television specials five through 12 back in 2002 in a package that also included the two theatrical films Farewell to Nostradamus

Farewell to Nostradamus

, sometimes also referred to as To Hell With Nostradamus, was a 1995 movie. It is the fourth feature film in the Lupin III franchise. The North American release was done by FUNimation; it was released individually and later made a part of the "Final Haul" box set.-Plot:A simple diamond heist leads...

 and Dead or Alive

Dead or Alive (Lupin the 3rd)

is a 1996 anime film. It is the fifth and latest feature film in the Lupin III franchise. The North American release was done by FUNimation; the film is available both individually and as part of the "First Haul" box set.-Summary:...

. Several of the television specials were re-titled for their American DVD release. All of the licensed movies and television specials have now been released on DVD. Discotek Media acquired the license for Episode 0: First Contact and announced that they would release it in 2010.

Specials

#	Translated title / English title Japanese title (Kanji)	| Director	| Original airdate

Production notes

• While recording Orders to Assassinate Lupin, Lupin's voice actor, Yasuo Yamada
  Yasuo Yamada
  was a Japanese voice actor born in Tokyo, Japan.Yamada left the faculty of literature of Waseda University, and had performed in many stage, radio, and television productions. His most famous role was Arsène Lupin III from the Lupin III series, starting in 1971 and ending in 1995...
  
  , took a sudden illness, and his standing became unstable. By the last part of the recording, Yasuo recorded his voice while he was on a chair. Yamada went on to reprise the role one last time in Burn, Zantetsuken! the following year, however, his health continued to decline during the recording. He died of a brain hemorrhage in 1995, at the age of 62.

• Elusiveness of the Fog, as well as being one of the annual Lupin TV specials, also aired as a tribute to the 40th anniversary of the Lupin manga. Just as the OVA Return of the Magician
  Return of the Magician
  Lupin III: Return of the Magician, known in Japan as , is an OVA based on the Lupin III animated series. Return of the Magician features the return of an old villain in recognition of the 30th anniversary of the anime.-Plot:When Lupin attempts to steal a gem, he interrupted by Pycal, a...
  
  brought back an old villain in recognition of the 30th anniversary of the anime, the character of Mamou had previously appeared in both a story in the original Lupin III manga
  Manga
  Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
  
   and the thirteenth episode of the first anime series
  Lupin III (anime)
  is the first anime made after the manga series of the same name, produced by Tokyo Movie Shinsha. It was directed originally by Masaaki Ōsumi and later by Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata. A pilot film, also directed by Ōsumi, was made in 1969, but a full series was not made until 2 years later....
  
  . It should be noted he is treated in this special as if Lupin's gang had never met him before.