Conceptually, there is a lot of fun stuff packed into Voyage to Danger. Unfortunately, there most of those ideas are either squandered or not played with enough to warrant their inclusion.
The plot, in a loose sense, is started with Zenigata being removed from the Lupin case and being shifted to another case altogether. Lupin, after finding out, decides to help Zenigata. Although a great idea for a Lupin adventure, this narrative framing doesn't last longer than the scene it originates from, as both characters share maybe 10 more frames throughout the remainder of the film as Lupin just chases a score as always. Additionally, the particular characterization of Zenigata employed by this film is definitely my least favorite use of his character. Bumbling, goofy, and otherwise incompetent is not the flavor I enjoy when it comes to Zenigata, and this movie makes no attempts to make him anything other than that.
The secondary plot, involving Jigen's past is also sprinkled into the film through the addition of Karen. I won't spoil what this interaction is, but I am sure you can guess the nature of this relationship just by the context of Jigen's character. This plot isn't much better, as Karen isn't interesting in the slightest and is greatly overshadowed by the general heist that takes up the remainder of the runtime.
Fujiko at least gets some fun moments beyond her general "I've been kidnapped" trope, but Goemon just disappears for almost all of the movie about 1/3rd of the way in.
Finally, I'll just note that I wasn't the biggest fan of the general art style and the blatant reuse of animation cells. I understand that the film was a tv special, but it takes me out of the movie every time a character rides off on a motorcycle from the same angle in the same exact way every single time.
It seems that other people seem to be a fan of this one, and I can see why. The contextual surroundings of the heist are fun and interesting, and the villain isn't actually that bad (Not Kieth though). Voyage to Danger just isn't for me.
Conceptually, there is a lot of fun stuff packed into Voyage to Danger. Unfortunately, there most of those ideas are either squandered or not played with enough to warrant their inclusion.
The plot, in a loose sense, is started with Zenigata being removed from the Lupin case and being shifted to another case altogether. Lupin, after finding out, decides to help Zenigata. Although a great idea for a Lupin adventure, this narrative framing doesn't last longer than the scene it originates from, as both characters share maybe 10 more frames throughout the remainder of the film as Lupin just chases a score as always. Additionally, the particular characterization of Zenigata employed by this film is definitely my least favorite use of his character. Bumbling, goofy, and otherwise incompetent is not the flavor I enjoy when it comes to Zenigata, and this movie makes no attempts to make him anything other than that.
The secondary plot, involving Jigen's past is also sprinkled into the film through the addition of Karen. I won't spoil what this interaction is, but I am sure you can guess the nature of this relationship just by the context of Jigen's character. This plot isn't much better, as Karen isn't interesting in the slightest and is greatly overshadowed by the general heist that takes up the remainder of the runtime.
Fujiko at least gets some fun moments beyond her general "I've been kidnapped" trope, but Goemon just disappears for almost all of the movie about 1/3rd of the way in.
Finally, I'll just note that I wasn't the biggest fan of the general art style and the blatant reuse of animation cells. I understand that the film was a tv special, but it takes me out of the movie every time a character rides off on a motorcycle from the same angle in the same exact way every single time.
It seems that other people seem to be a fan of this one, and I can see why. The contextual surroundings of the heist are fun and interesting, and the villain isn't actually that bad (Not Kieth though). Voyage to Danger just isn't for me.
