X-posted to hell and back:
FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF GREEN VS. RED
My first piece of advice when it comes to approaching Green vs. Red is "holy shit wait for subs if you don't know Japanese." I believe I pieced the plot together pretty well, but it's still confusing as hell.
We start off with Hobo Lupin. He doesn't really actively participate in Lupin-ing, but he thinks about it a lot. And he mopes. Oh, does he ever mope.
Hobo Lupin mopes around.
Red Lupin #1 gets arrested for a stupid reason. All the other Lupins in the world, regardless of color, get pissed off. They decide to do something super awesome to prove that they're the "real" Lupin. Unintentional hilarity ensues as this part of the movie is set up completely in English. Goofy-ass out of place sounding English. One of the Lupins threatens to steal some crazy device/jewel called "Ice Cube" which does in fact look like an ice cube. It's said to be able to do all sorts of crazy shit. One Lupin's threat draws the attention of all the other Lupins, and soon we have a giant clusterfuck of Lupins clamoring to get this damn thing.
Clusterfuck of Lupins
One of the most disappointing things about the fact that I was too impatient to wait for subs for this is that I couldn't catch what Zenigata was saying. Although half the time he looked like he was about to rape everyone to death, I could tell that he was saying things that I would be definitely interested in, particularly in his last few scenes. I'm looking forward to seeing what they were all about, since I have the feeling that even after 40 years of Lupin, receiving new insight on his character is still possible.
The unfortunate thing about Zenigata's appearances is that his voice doesn't quite have the oomph it used to. This is probably due to the fact that the same person has been voicing him for a million years, so I can't really blame him. You can tell it's the same guy, but you can also tell that his voice isn't what it used to be. Sob.
He's actually pretty damn good looking when he isn't raping you with his eyes.
Speaking of other characters, hope you don't like them too much. Fujiko, Jigen, and Goemon do next to nothing in this movie. Their appearances are short and infrequent, although they are quite badass.
There weren't really any awesome villains/allies/bystanders in this one, unless you count the Lupins. Most of the side characters were extremely uninteresting, although without them we wouldn't have the hilarious English speaking moments.
Jewpin the Thiiiiiiird
The animation in this movie was awesome awesome awesome. It was fast-paced, smooth as hell, and visually appealing. The animators played with visual effects to create an interesting, fitting, and appealing variety of tones for the various parts of the movie. There are even some surprising visual shocks that I for one appreciated, but I know that some others didn't.
Watching the movie, I kept in mind that this is one for the fans who've stuck with the Lupin franchise for years and years, and it's very obvious even from the intro (which is GORGEOUS). In other words, there are some references and homages that might be lost if you're not a total Lupin nut.