 It's with that bold opening statement that Lupin the Third's legend of Fujikomine signals an important change for a franchise with decades of formulaic stories. Monkey Punch's Lupin the Third manga debuted in 1967, decades later it boasts a vast animation catalog with multiple series and movies, yet you could say they have all followed, for better or worse, the same plot. Lupin the Third is the world's greatest thief. We follow his adventures with his colleagues, the right hand man marksman Daisuke Jigen, the master swordsman Goemon Ishikawa, and of course one of the original femme fatales, Fujikomine. The foursome would try bold heist while escaping the silly clutches of Inspector Zenigata of Interpol. There have been OVAs, five different television series, animated motion pictures, but the formula mostly remains. Lupin steals or fails to get the item while escaping the clutches of the police, all the while unintentionally saving the world from a particular case or a larger than life danger that may present itself. Zenigata will always chase after Lupin in an eternal cat and mouse game, and Fujikomine, well for the better part of a century or so, she has mostly been eye candy. She's a thief, a dangerous play by her own rules kind of gal, or so we think. Lupin has always been a womanizer and a hopeless romantic. He follows the beat of his own drum, declaring to love every woman in the world, however he has an ultimate price aside from his many heists. Fujiko. Lupin's desire for her to be his has led to countless storylines and plot threads of unrequited love with our hero chasing, only to be played, toyed, or manipulated with. Fujiko has been the victim of Tropes of the Guerra, a series deep in 60s, gogo-infused Cold War 007 Scare, Lupin the Third usually has our lady in tight situations with various amounts of fan service, which has led to a lot of people dismissing the property as something of a bygone era. Well, this all changed, back when the series was celebrating its 40th anniversary. Saiya Yamamoto was approached back in 2012 to helm a new take on a franchise that had not really dared to try something different. Don't get me wrong. I enjoy the different Lupin series, but after many hours of the same formula, I think the cycle needed a change. Saiya agreed to do the series under one condition, and she'd get to pick the focus of said show, and she went with the most misunderstood character in the franchise. The Legend of Fujiko Mine is a 12 episode mini-series exploring the roots of Mine's character, what makes her who she is, venturing into uncharted waters and bringing us some sort of origin story to a character that has been written off mostly as fan service for adolescent teens and young men. In this new series, we see how she became acquainted with Lupin and the gang, taking center stage and becoming the only property as of now to not feature Lupin as the protagonist. The show, with heavy beautiful shading and noir inspired artistry, weaves a fine tale of intrigue, sex, love, violence and revenge, boasting an impressive musical score and a rich colorful atmosphere of a cinematic era long gone. This series reinvents the wheel, deconstructing a character into something more than a stereotype. Saiya plays with the concepts of feminism and how powerful sexuality or sensuality can actually be. If you do decide to watch this show, please be aware of the abundant Nazi for work imagery that is present from the beautiful stark opening to scenes in luxurious locales and characters dealing with traumatic events, themes of violence, torture, abuse and other difficult subjects are present in this and the characters do not shy away from expressing what they feel. Fujiko has been a thief, a cunning woman that does as she pleases, using her femininity, sex, sensuality to overpower and outsmart opponents. And our director plays this expertly by empowering our lead with the very thing that was so controversial for so long. The series goes through many standalone stories that deal with everything from politics, bureaucracy and the disenfranchised to the struggles of people communicating with their feelings. Loss, love and solitude are explored through the many encounters that Mine has with not only Lupin and gang, but new characters as well. I don't want to spoil the plot of this series for you since I do believe it is worth checking out, but do know that the creators take their time by the final two episodes to destroy all preconceived notions as to what the plot of the show is actually about. Fujiko Mine is a real person. She feels she's empathic towards others, but will also do what it takes to achieve her goal. There's a great twist near the end of the show that will definitely break your perception of our heroine's origins, tropes and reasons for being that I thought was pretty clever, almost as if the plot of the show is taking us for a loop in a grand heist orchestrated by our main character herself, and in the process, dethroning a machismo that has run rampant through the series' history. In today's world where sex is taboo and something to be ashamed of, a character like Fujiko in her own series embraces her attributes and does her own thing. The series should not be viewed as demeaning or fan service because a woman is leading it. You see, the era in which this tale takes place should make us view the plot instead as a timepiece, like a good western or a sci-fi flick. This go-go-infused world has its own set of rules and tropes that dictate the narrative and how it proceeds from there. Our villains in these stories are ruthless and pretty disfigurable, making our lovable band of thieves a lot more heroic in comparison. Sure, a lot of the standalone episodes can be a big predictable, and the show does have a tendency to Deus Ex Machina its problems, but at times this R-rated adventure seeks to entertain with a style of old Hollywood detective noir stories and a fantastic musical score that is very avant-garde jazz. The cast is enjoyable and must give special props for Funimation's dub. In my honest opinion, Sonny Strait, Michelle Ruff, Chris Savitt, Mike McFarland and a returning Richard Ebbcar all do a fantastic job of bringing these characters to life in a new, serious, yet familiar kind of way. I do think the series asks us one very important question. Who is Fujiko Mene? To me, she is much more complex and three-dimensional and not just a fan-service plot device from the 60s and 70s. Fujiko is a franchise's epoxy. Through her interactions and personal connections to Lupin, Gigan and Goemon, she becomes the central character of the story about what it means to live life, finding meaning and or pleasure in what you do, even if it means stealing hidden treasures and running away from cops. In a franchise where slapstick fun has been the norm, this tale of Fujiko Mene dares to be bold, different and special. Stick with it and you will find it interesting how things aren't as they appear.