On Friday, the official X (formerly Twitter) account for the Lupin the 3rd franchise made a significant announcement. A new animated movie is set to hit the screens next year, tentatively titled Lupin the IIIrd The Movie. This film is set to be a major event in the franchise's history.

Significance of Lupin the IIIrd The Movie

It is the first 2D feature-length anime film in over 30 years and the second animated Lupin the Third film since the creator's passing. But there's more to it than that. It's the culmination of a story that Takeshi Koike has been building up over the past decade, involving a vast conspiracy by a villain with origins tied to the franchise's beginning.

Koike's Film Series

In 2014, Koike directed Lupin the IIIrd: Jigen's Gravestone, a continuation spinoff. After that, he went on to direct two more films - Lupin the IIIrd: Goemon's Blood Spray in 2017 and Lupin the IIIrd: Fujiko Mine's Lie in 2019. These films, although stand-alone, are part of a larger evolving story about an organization of assassins working for a shadowy benefactor.In Lupin the IIIrd: Jigen's Gravestone, the final minutes revealed that the villain is Mamo, the antagonist of the first Lupin the Third animated film in 1978. Mamo is a criminal mastermind and global extortionist over 10 thousand years old, who developed a method of virtual immortality. His original plan was to annihilate humanity and replace it with clones.

Mamo's Appearances

In Lupin III: The Mystery of Mamo, Mamo was introduced. In the first trailer for Lupin the IIIrd The Movie, a figure that appears to be Mamo can be seen briefly at the 43-second mark. This shows the connection between the different parts of the story.

Waiting for the Ending

How will Koike and the team wrap up this decade-spanning story? Will we finally get an explanation for Lupin and his many colored suits? We'll have to be patient and wait until next year to find out.Lupin the IIIrd The Movie will be released in Japanese theaters in 2025, and fans are eagerly anticipating this exciting new addition to the Lupin the 3rd franchise.