Lupin III: Part II (TV)

Trivia:

The English version of episode 3 Hitler's Legacy never aired on television for showing Nazi imagery. 

Spoofs The Six Million Dollar Man, Dawn of the Dead, Hart to Hart, Pink Panther, Superman, Emanuelle and The Deer Hunter.

Lupin encounters many third-generation literary characters, such as Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, and Philip Marlowe.

For episode number 101 "Versailles Burned in Love", Oscar from "The Rose of Versailles" comes out. 

The plot for the last episode, "Farewell My Beloved Lupin" is based on the Fleischer Superman short, "Mechanical Monsters". The actress Sumi Shimamoto, who played Clarice in Cagliostro, reprised the female lead role for this installment, while the robot would later be used again for Nausicaa and Laputa. Also of note is that "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" features that same robot. 

Episode 99 "Kooya ni Chitta Combat Magnum" (The Combat Magnum Scattered in the Wasteland), marks the first time ever an anime was broadcast in stereo. 

The last Lupin III related anime to have Hayao Miyazaki's involvement.

At 155 episodes, this series holds the record for being the longest Lupin III TV anime.

Edie Mirman, Kirk Thornton, Michael Sorich, & Steve Kramer were the only English voice actors to provide voice work for both the Streamline Tales of the Wolf video release and the Pioneer/Geneon version.

Besides Mr. X, Fantoma Mark III was the only other villian to appear in two episodes of this TV series.

Richard Epcar originally wanted to retain the original time period for the English dub. But the producers insisted an updated dialogue for the anime & Epcar didn't want to argue cause he knew where the producers were going with the idea they had.

Makio Inoue's debut as the voice of Goemon Ishikawa.

The first Lupin III anime to feature music by Yuji Ohno.

Nobuo TANAKA's first role in a Lupin anime in 10 years.

Eiko Masuyama's first role as Fujiko Mine in eight years.

The robot that appeared in the last episode, Farewell Beloved Lupin, would later be used in Laputa: Castle in the Sky, both of which were directed by Miyazaki Hayao. 

Richard Epcar got the role of Daisuke Jigen for the Geneon English dub after the lack of finding the right actor for the part.

Michelle Ruff was hand pick by Richard Epcar for the English voice of Fujiko.

The first Lupin III TV series to be released in the USA.

The reason why the English dub remain incomplete was because Geneon lost the rights before the remaining episodes could get dub.

The first Lupin III TV series in which Daisuke Jigen & Inspector Zenigata appear in every single episode.

The clip of the Green Jacket episode "Lupin is Burning...?" in episode 1, marks the only time that any of the events of the Green Jacket series has ever been mentioned in this series.

In episode 2, The New York Cosmos soccer team is an actual American soccer team which managed to hire the Brazilian soccer player Pelé in the late 1970s.

The Nazi imagery in episode 3, lead the English dub of the episode to be omitted on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim. This affected the DVD release of the series as the episode ended up being categoried as episode 26 instead. When Discotek license the TV series, the episode was finally reinstated as episode 3 on their Lupin III Part 2 Collection 1 DVD.

In episode 3, the English dub title, "To Be or Nazi Be" is a riff on both 1942 & 1983 versions of the movie "To Be or Not to Be". Both films involved a troupe of Polish actors who dressed up as Nazis to make fools of the Nazi military government. This included one character dressing up as Hitler, as Lupin did in this episode.

In episode 5, The scheme of smuggling the gold through melting it down and turning it into an automobile's body was inspired from the Speed Racer storyline "The Race Against the Mammoth Car."

In episode 9, The artist Toshusai Sharaku was an actual historical figure, famous for his "ukiyoe" (woodblock printing).

All the paintings shown in episode 9 are copied from Sharaku's real works.

Niki Lauda, shown in episode 11, is a real person who was on top of the Formula One racing world at the time. Lauda, in fact, was the winner of the Formula One Tour for 1977, a year after miraculously recovering from serious injuries suffered in a crash.

The name of the mob boss in episode 11, Socrates Nexus is most likely a reference to the shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis.

In episode 14, the name "Foward Hees" is a reference to the then-recently-deceased airplane magnate Howard Hughes.

In episode 15, Sherlock Holmes III is introduced in a spoof of the famous 007 gun barrel opening.

In episode 16, a gimmick spoofing the 1931 Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde transformation scene is used to outsmart the villain.

In episode 18, The Black Panther emerald and Inspector Conaiseau are spoofs of the Pink Panther emerald and Inspector Clouseau from the original Pink Panther film.

The nudist resort in episode 18 is based off of the one featured in the Pink Panther film "A Shot in the Dark".

Hageito in episode 18 is a spoof of Cato from the Pink Panther films.

In episode 20, the part where Hatler playing with the world globe is a takeoff on the Charlie Chaplin movie "The Great Dictator."

In episode 20, Generalissimo Hatler and his nation are stand-ins for Nazi Germany and Hitler. The baldness angle may also reference Benito Mussolini, the dictator of Italy, who was visibly balding by the time he took power, and was totally hairless by World War Two.

The plot in episode 22, is based off of chapter 4 of "Lupin III: World's Most Wanted".

The plot in episode 22 is loosely based on the Japanese folk tale of Urushima Taro. In short: Urushima Taro, a fisherman, saves a turtle from being killed. The turtle takes him off to an undersea palace where he is feasted and entertained until he has had his fill. When he leaves, he is given an ornate box and a warning to never open it. He returns home to discover that decades have passed, yet he hasn't aged. Finally, curiosity is too much for Urushima Taro, who opens the box, to find that it contains his old age.

Sakuradamon in episode 24 was the same police station that Lupin mentioned in the 1974 live action movie.

In episode 27, the card soldiers resemble the card soldiers from the 1951 "Alice in Wonderland".

In episode 27, a "Cinderella Stamp" is a stamp that was not issued by any postal authority, but was not meant as a counterfeit. Most are issued by whimsical stamp enthusiasts in the name of non-existent countries. In the episode title's meaning, however, the Cinderella stamp is literally that - a stamp that makes one a princess.

In episode 28, The name "Deka Melon" is a pun. "Deka" is a slang term for police detective in Japanese. Written another way, however, it is short for "dekai" which means large. "Melon" is a slang term for a woman's breasts. Thus, "Deka Melon" is a pun meaning "Big Tits," and "Onna Deka Melon" can be interpreted as "A Woman with Big Tits," or possibly "A Woman's Big Tits."

Melon in episode 28 is based off of Melon from the original manga. However in the manga, Melon was a man who would serve for a number of stories as Zenigata's unwanted partner/rival, and who had a preternatural skill at throwing handcuffs.

In episode 31, The episode's title is a takeoff on "Face Tomorrow and Fire" (Ashita ni Mukatte Ute), the Japanese title of the movie "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid."

In episode 35, the long drawn out car chase with a group of theives dressed in gorilla suits is a spoof of a scene from the original Pink Panther movie.

The plot in episode 37, references the long-standing belief in Japanese folklore that Minamoto no Yoshitsune, one of the top leaders of the Gempei War (1140s-1185) escaped his jealous brother Minamoto no Yoritimo, who had become the first Shogun, by fleeing to Mongolia. There, the legend says, he took control of the Mongol hordes under the name Genghis Khan.

In episode 42, when Onabes says "Well, nobody's perfect!" this is a tribute to the final scene of the film, "Some Like It Hot".

In episode 47, Lupin talks about walking Fujiko through the foggy town of London, just like in the movie "Waterloo Bridge".

In episode 47, Zenigata's scream "It's a travesty of a mockery of a sham!" was taken from the Woody Allen film Bananas.

In episode 52, the plot is a tribute to the first Emmanuelle movie which also takes place in Bangkok.

The disco sequence in episode 52, features two party guests dress up as Bugs Bunny & C-3PO.

The femme fatale Emmanuelle Poirot in episode 52, is a tribute to Agatha Christie's famous detective Hercule Poirot (who is her grandfather).

In episode 52, Emmanuelle's costume during the disco sequence is Charlotte Rampling's infamous costume from the film, The Night Porter.

In episode 53, Fantomas Mark III is the grandson of the legendary criminal mastermind Fantomas, whose adventures were published in the late 1800s the same time the adventure of Arsène Lupin were published.

In episode 58, the plot is a homage to the movie "The Third Man."

In episode 59, among the wax figures of Madame X's collection are Bruce Lee, James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, & John F. Kennedy.

In episode 62, the plot is a homage to the TV series "The Prisoner".

In episode 64, the plot is a take on the movie "Breakfast at Tiffany's".

In episode 72, the plot and the style was based upon the show "Columbo".

In episode 78, the plot is a take on the show "The FBI" including the style of the narration in the beginning and the end describing what became of the various characters.

In episode 86, The name "Yakkoo Kamen" (Nightlight Mask) is a take-off on "Gekoo Kamen" (Moonlight Mask), the original Japanese masked hero. Also, "Conan Dorill" is a pun on "Conan Doyle" and "dorill," which is the Japanese pronunciation of "drill."

In episode 90, the following masquerade guests are dress up as the Lone Ranger, Zorro, Spider-Man, Batman, Mickey & the Beanstalk version of Mickey Mouse and the Hulk.

Goof: In episode 90, Marlon Brando's name on the Superman movie poster was misspelled as "Marlon Brand".

In episode 94, McCleed is a takeoff on the name of the TV series "McCloud".

In episode 97, the Sherlock Holmes III who makes an appearance is not the same Holmes from episode 15.

In episode 99, marks the first time ever an anime episode was broadcast in stereo. The opening & ending theme songs were the only parts that were converted to stereo by adding sound effects to the soundtrack.

In episode 101, the plot is a homage to the historical manga "The Rose of Versailles" (Versaille no Bara), Ikeda Riyoko's classic tale of France before and during the Revolution, and which was also animated by Tokyo Movie Shinsha.

In episode 111, the Space Protectors game is a spoof of Space Invaders.

In episode 113, the plot is a takeoff on the classic Kabuki tale, "Cuushingura," also know as the 47 Roonin.

In episode 124, the title is a homage to the film "2001: A Space Odyssey".

In episode 125, The kingdom of Iraran combines the names of the Middle Eastern nations of Iraq and Iran. The name of Guiana was taken from the African country of Guiana (now known as Guyana).

In episode 128, "Dokonjo" may be a pun on "Dokonjoo," which can be translated as "extreme nerve" in Japanese.

In episode 128, The East Side Story poster on the marquee is a spoof of the 1961 movie "West Side Story". It was also the original working title for the movie.

In episode 128, Bucky from episode 106 & Bakkingamu from episode 117 are seen in the crowd of bystanders observing Lupin's wanted poster.

In episode 129, "Janaika" is a bilingual pun on "Jamaica," and "Ja nai ka," which can roughly be translated as "isn't it."

In episode 130, The surrealist artist Daré pays homage to French artist Salvador Dalí. The name "Daré" is a pun on "Dali" and "dare," which means "who" in Japanese.

Inspector Magrey in episode 130 is a tribute to Georges Simenon's Inspector Maigret.

The stadium in episode 141, was called the Central Lenin Stadium which did house the 1980 Summer Olympics. The stadium was first opened to the public on July 31, 1956. The stadium was renamed as the Luzhniki Stadium in 1992.

The torch holder in episode 141 was Sergei Belov, a professional basketball player of the Soviet Union.

The toy bear that the police chief was carrying in episode 141, is Misha the mascot of the 1980 Olympics. Created by Victor Chizhikov, Misha was the first Olympic mascot to achieve large-scale commercial success in merchandise. Misha is sometimes refer to a Mishka.

The albatross plane in episode 145, resembles the Giganto in "Future Boy Conan".

The albatross plane in episode 145 was modeled after the Dornier Do. X. Seaplane and the Spruce Goose.

The Silverbird Hotel in episode 146, was an actual hotel/casino in Las Vegas. It was first open to the public on September 2, 1948 under the name "The Thunderbird Hotel". The hotel was renamed as "The Silverbird" in 1977 and was renamed again in 1982 as "El Rancho Hotel". By July 6, 1992 the hotel was closed down and was later demolished. In 2009 the property became part of the Fontainebleau Resort.

Minnesota Fatz in episode 152 was based off of a real life billards player named Rudolf Walter Wanderone, Jr.

In episode 155, the opening is a take on the opening of the 1941 Flesicher Superman short film "Mechanical Monsters". While the plot includes elements from the same short as well.

In episode 155, Maki is based off of Clarisse from Castle of Cagliostro who was also voiced by Sumi Shimamoto. Maki would later serve as the inspiration for the title character in both the Nausicaa manga & movie.

The robots in episode 155 were the inspiration for the Laputian robots in "Castle in the Sky". Which was also directed by Hayao Miyazaki.