Rating: **
Review Date: 4/18/26
This bizarre crossover celebrates "Lupin's" 50th TV anniversary and "Cat's Eye's" 40th anniversary. While Cat's Eye continues to track down their father's paintings, Lupin is also interested in a certain series by the artist. There's also an international arms dealer who wants them, as they supposedly hold a secret regarding lost Nazi treasures. Naturally, Lupin and Cat's Eye find themselves at odds with each other, but they ultimately end up working together due to Lupin's overly contrived setup and backstory.
Unfortunately, the mixing of these two franchises doesn't work well, as "Cat's Eye's" overly silly and campy vibe clashes with "Lupin's" more gritty (but still silly) tone. However, the first thing you notice is the off-putting animation style, which is a blend of 3D animation and 2D cel shading. Background and foreground elements don't match up and some of the layouts look exceedingly crude. The bigger issue is with the character designs, which are simply not attractive, although they're much better than the fully 3D rendered characters from "Lupin III: The First" (2019). Regardless of the disappointing style, the motion is silky smooth and the dynamic action is delightfully fluid.
Despite all of the action, the pacing still feels a tad sluggish and the villain is immediately obvious. Despite their mad skills, Cat's Eye are seriously outclassed by Lupin at every turn, which leaves a bad taste. That said, having the equally incompetent Zenigata and Toshio team up is fun, but even that wears thin after a while. I really wanted to like this more, but like most crossovers, it sacrifices too much in an attempt to appeal to fans of both series.