Coming off the back of his first major lead directorial role in 1978's Future Boy Conan with Nippon Animation, Hayao Miyazaki's The Castle of Cagliostro is a high-budget spin-off from the highly popular Lupin III franchise. Known for it's thrilling but light-hearted action and gritty James Bond feel, the franchise is one of anime's biggest and longest lasting. Miyazaki had previously directed several episodes of the original TV show, along with his professional partner Isao Takahata. The two would, along with producer Toshio Suzuki, go on to form Studio Ghibli just 6 years later. The film's plot is a standalone story, and while it stars the cast of previous works, is completely digestible and fully enjoyable without any previous knowledge of Lupin & co.
Set in the small (fictional) Italian city state of Cagliostro, the film portrays a whimsical ideal of post-war Europe, evoking feelings of art-nouveau and an almost American stylisation of an ambiguous European culture. The petite town lorded over by an overtly fantasy castle and it's count* serve as the backdrop for a classic heist story, albeit a very much child-friendly one. In fact the film has been critiqued as being a departure from the more adult dialogue and gags of previous Lupin animation into a style very reminiscent of Ghibli's forthcoming staple of family-oriented composition: aimed at no age-group in particular, or rather aimed at many age-groups simultaneously. This itself is actually rather rare within manga and anime, with almost all content being built ground-up for a specific audience and controlled content-wise by strict anime timeslot or manga magazine requirements. But such is otaku media, and Miyazaki (and actually even moreso Takahata) are very much not at all otaku directors, or they would never admit it.
The story is very solid, following almost, but not quite, predictable beats as Lupin uncovers the mysteries of Cagliostro and meets characters, both old and new. A slow drip-feed of the classic Lupin cast over the film's course leaves no one left out. The princess character of Clarisse is a standout for me. Despite being a Nausicaa recolour (or vice versa?), Clarisse plays both the damsel in distress and actionable Bond heroine. At first unsure about the international criminal that has broken into her sleeping quarters, she quickly learns that her situation is more dire than she first realised and that her best shot at situational escape is to team up with the rugged and devilish Lupin. For whom she quickly falls for. But interesting the romance is requited since it Lupin seems to have legitimately fallen for the princess' royal mode. The two uncover the secrets of Cagliostro and in the end the villain succumbs to his own downfall due to his greed. The climax of the film, the clock tower scene, is a perfect portrayal of the diasma between the greedy and sinful lord and the moral but wrongdoing Lupin, with the innocent Clarisse having to decide between which side of the clock to turn to. Blinded by his greed and his lack of perspective the Italian noble is defeated by the absurdly long arm of the Japanese police force. As Lupin holds Clarisse, the sun rises upon the true secret of Cagliostro...
The final scene of Lupin riding away in his first generation Fiat 500 feels prematurely nostalgic: leaving behind the girl he did truly love, but not wishing to involve her in his life of criminal debauchery. 'Mono no Oware' I mutter to under my breath. I can already imagine how Clarisse will remember the occurrences of the film as a dream-like memory, as she goes on to become the grand duchess (not countess) of Cagliostro she will look back fondly on the long-gone mysterious man from Japan who saved her and showed her passion.
*This may be slightly pedantic but Cagliostro is explicitly a grand duchy, so why then is it under the control of a count? That would make it a county. The correct title would simply be a grand duke, come on this is easy.
This is the start of a new quick-review series where I will be talking about the ancient anime that I watch. In this context, ancient will mean anything made before the date of my birth in 1999, and seeing as in this medium anything older than a decade is quickly pushed into the old bracket, I think this is a fair estimation of the term. Next time I will be reviewing the 1987 Mecha OVA, MADOX-01, bye for now!
Originally posted on the 1st of July 2019
