Mystery of Mamo

Mystery of Mamo
Directed by	Sōji Yoshikawa
Produced by	Yutaka Fujioka
Written by	Atsushi Yamatoya Sōji Yoshikawa
Based on	Lupin III  by Monkey Punch
Starring	See Full Cast
Music by	Yuji Ohno
Editing by	Yoshiaki Aihara
Studio	TMS Entertainment
Distributed by	Toho
Release dates	December 16, 1978 (1978-12-16)
Running time	102 min.
Language	Japanese

The Mystery of Mamo or The Secret of Mamo,^[1] originally released in Japan as simply Lupin III (ルパン三世, Rupan Sansei) and now known there as Lupin III: Lupin vs. The Clone (ルパン三世 ルパンVS<rb>複製人間</rb>(クローン), Rupan Sansei: Rupan tai Kurōn),^[2] is a 1978 Japanese animated adventure film. It is the first animated Lupin III film, following the 1974 live action adaptation, Lupin III: Strange Psychokinetic Strategy, based on the manga series of the same name created by Monkey Punch, and was produced by TMS Entertainment, directed by Sōji Yoshikawa and written by Yoshikawa and cult pink film screenwriter Atsushi Yamatoya.

Plot

Inspector Zenigata investigates the execution of Arsene Lupin III, but discovers Lupin has used the dead body as a decoy. Lupin flees from the castle via hang glider. In an Egyptian pyramid, Lupin finds Philosopher's Stone with Daisuke Jigen, but they are discovered by Zenigata and the Egyptian police. Lupin escapes the pyramid corridors and Goemon Ishikawa XIII incapacitates the officers surrounding the pyramid. The three use Lupin's Mercedes-Benz SSK to flee from the pyramid.

After Lupin delivers the stone to his lover Fujiko Mine, Fujiko turns on Lupin and steals the stone. Lupin listens in on Fujiko to find out who asked for the Stone, only to discover that the Stone was a fake. Dissatisfied that Lupin had given him a fake, the contractor dispatches two of his henchmen to kill the thief. After Lupin and his gang defeat the henchmen, Frenchy destroys Lupin's car and his headquarters. Jigen and Goemon berate Lupin for being faithful to Fujiko until Lupin decides to leave Fujiko out. They travel toward the ocean to the desert where Lupin accidentally sets off one of Frenchy's booby traps before the group finds a house stocked with food and water. A seriously wounded Fujiko comes for Lupin and alienates Jigen and Goemon in the process. Fujiko inadvertently drugs Lupin to sleep and they are captured by Frenchy in his plane. Jigen and Goemon travel to Rome and discover a clue of Lupin's whereabouts, reading "WATER".

Jigen gets pursued by Agent Gordon. Surprised at first by Jigen's quick move to threaten him, Gordon manages to bring him and Goemon to Area 64 to be interviewed by Starky, an important government official from America. After listening to a tape of an interfered-with conversation between the secretary general and U.S. president Jimmy Carter, Starky asks for info on the man who broke into the conversation. Jigen hands Gordon the note and angers him by saying that if they knew what the note meant, they wouldn't be where they were. Starky decides that Jigen and Goemon knew nothing, releasing them for the sole purpose of using them to find the mystery man. The two know immediately because of spilled water, and the invisible ink is revealed to be "CARIB".

Meanwhile, on a Caribbean island, Lupin manages to find the mystery man, who reveals himself to be a dwarf named Howard Lockewood who refers to himself as Mamo. He offers Lupin eternal life, but Lupin refuses, saying that all he wants is the Philosopher's Stone. He then manages to find it as Jigen and Goemon head for the Caribbean island. Fujiko plays with Lupin awhile, but they are soon chased by thugs led by Frenchy, Lupin having discovered what Mamo's staff was planning to do with the Stone. Lupin and Fujiko end up in Mamo's lair, where he reveals that the island is inhabited by clones.

After Mamo deems Lupin unworthy of eternal life, Fujiko refuses to abandon Lupin even after Mamo reveals to her his dirty secrets. When Mamo tries to kill him, Lupin is rescued by Jigen, who puts a bullet in Mamo's head, and Goemon. They and Fujiko then get the hell out of Dodge, but not before Goemon engages in a final confrontation against Frenchy. When Goemon learns that even his Zantetsuken couldn't penetrate Frenchy's armor unless it had the intensity of a laser, he instead proceeds to cut Frenchy's face, much to the latter's shock. As Frenchy drops dead into the waters, Zantetsuken is detipped, much to Goemon's sorrow. As Lupin and his gang leave the island, they are chased by Zenigata, who chooses the wrong boat to go after them in.

Finding Zenigata on a beach, the Commissioner reveals that Zenigata has been removed from the Lupin case due to circumstances beyond their control. He encourages Zenigata to think of it as an opportunity to take a vacation, but Zenigata instead resigns from the police force and goes after Lupin on his own, deciding that the endgame will be in Colombia.

Meanwhile, Lupin and his gang (sans Goemon, who decided to train harder) are thrust into a vision by Mamo after tasting coffee laced with sedatives. Mamo reveals his hand in the history of the world and puts the gang back where he had left them after rearranging the room a bit, as Lupin correctly deduces. When Mamo shows up to reclaim Fujiko, Lupin dares him to prove himself a God by performing some kind of miracle and not one of those Las Vegas-style parlor tricks. Mamo responds by setting off several charges to simulate an earthquake, which registers on the Richter scale and alerts Gordon and Starky to where Mamo is located.

Lupin figures out what was behind that earthquake and sets off for the source, where he believes Mamo to be hiding. As Mamo convinces Fujiko to push a button to launch missiles, Lupin shows up as the snake to their Adam and Eve, revealing he rigged the missiles to blow up before they could launch. Frustrated, Mamo takes Fujiko with him to a rocket launching pad and tries fending Lupin off with lasers. Lupin uses the tip of Goemon's Zantetsuken to deflect the lasers onto Mamo and incinerate him, but not before Lupin learns from Mamo that he is the original Lupin and that it was the clone that swung in Transylvania. Lupin is sure that was the real Mamo until he discovers a chip hidden among the ashes.

The rocket emerges, containing a brain that reveals itself to be the original Mamo. Lupin figures out that Mamo had controlled the clones resembling his old body right before the rocket launches into space as Mamo declares he is setting off into space and eventually plans to return to Earth as its one true God. Lupin and Fujiko escape the rocket's trajectory, but not before Lupin puts an explosive onto the rocket. The glass shatters, and Mamo's gigantic brain drifts toward the sun as Lupin reminds Mamo that time does everyone in and that he should be grateful Lupin put him to death when he did. Fujiko reveals that Zenigata had threatened her into luring his quarry for the catch, and Lupin is unable to convince Zenigata that he is a clone and that the real Lupin was the one that was hanged. Fujiko offers to help Lupin after they kiss, but Gordon launches his missiles on Mamo's Colombian base, and Jigen picks up Fujiko in a plane while Zenigata and Lupin escape together on foot.

Release

The Japanese release was handled by Toho, who were also responsible for the very first English dub, which was produced in 1978^[3] and reportedly screened in the United States by TMS.^[4] This dub was also released to several markets in Europe. The second English dub, produced by Streamline Pictures, was released to home video by Orion Home Video in North America in late April 1995 under the title The Mystery of Mamo. It was later released to DVD by Image Entertainment in 1998, but without the Japanese audio track and again using the "Mystery" title. The third English dub was produced and released on home video in the United Kingdom by Manga Video in 1996 and re-titled to Secret of Mamo. The fourth dub was produced by Phuuz Entertainment in association with Pioneer Entertainment and released on DVD in North America by Pioneer as The Secret of Mamo. Madman and Manga Entertainment released similar discs in Australia and the UK.

In 2012, TMS Entertainment began streaming the Pioneer/Geneon dub of the film on Hulu.^[5]

Discotek Media re-released the film on DVD in the US using the "Mystery" title in 2013 after Pioneer/Geneon lost the license. The new DVD contains the Japanese audio track as well as all four English dubs, including a reconstruction of the Toho dub.^[6][7]

Full cast

The cast for the Toho dub is still unknown, due to a lack of localisation credits on any known prints. It has been confirmed that Goemon and Zenigata were voiced by William Ross and Greg Starr, respectively, however.^[8]

References

External links

• Lupin III: The Secret of Mamo at the Internet Movie Database
• LEP Lupin European Page
• Lupin III Encyclopedia