Lupin the Third Part IV: the Italian adventure
The revival that treated Lupin like a modern serial, and premiered in the country it depicts.
Thirty years after Part III, Part IV brought the gang back in a blue jacket and set them loose in Italy and San Marino, with continuing story arcs threaded through the capers. Telecom Animation Film produced; the series premiered where it is set, airing 26 episodes on Italy’s Italia 1 from August 30, 2015, before Japan’s NTV run of 24 episodes from October 1, 2015 to March 17, 2016. Italy had always been Lupin’s second home audience; Part IV made it official.
A one-off special, Italian Game (January 8, 2016), ties into this series, and the English dub reached American television on Toonami in June 2017. For new viewers, Part IV and Part 5 are the standard recommended doors into the franchise: modern pacing, classic machinery.
THE BLUE RESET
2015 to 2016Why Italy
Lupin has been a phenomenon in Italy since the late 1970s; an Italy-set series with an Italian broadcast premiere was both a thank-you and a homecoming.
Arcs, not just capers
A season-long thread involving a mysterious rival and a Leonardo-linked treasure runs beneath the episodes, the franchise’s first sustained experiment with serialization on television.