Lupin VIII

Background

DiC decided to co-produce with TMS and bring the Lupin the 3rd series to a Western audience. Changes were made, such as Lupin becoming a detective instead of a thief, Jigen no longer smoking, and setting the series in the future. The series was named Arsène et Cie in France and Lupin VIII internationally. Rintaro (Shigeyuki Hayashi), who worked on Captain Harlock and Galaxy Express 999, was the director, and Shingo Araki was brought in as a character designer along with Michi Himeno. Monkey Punch originally designed the characters, but the designs changed from his early concepts. A problem arose during production with the Maurice Leblanc estate, which demanded money for the use of the Lupin name, which TMS and DiC refused to pay. This issue affected the series' release outside Japan, with France adopting the Edgar de la Cambriole name, Lupin being renamed to Wolf or Cliff in the US, while Spain and Italy, which kept the Lupin name, had to distance from Arsène Lupin, affecting later dubbed episodes of Lupin the 3rd Part 2.