MONKEY PUNCH (1937 – 2019), LUPIN III - THE THIRD, Arsène Lupin[MONKEY PUNCH (1937 – 2019), LUPIN III - THE THIRD, Edgar de la Cambriole, Arsène Lupin]

Between an obituary and a short story of the life of Monkey Punch, Kazuhiko Katō, the creator of Lupine III / The Third / 3rd, this analysis is intended to be a fair return for the author of the most famous version of the character of Arsène Lupine in the world in the field of animation and pop culture. It allows us to "close the loop" and to make appear in the columns of the organ of the French association of Arsène Lupin (AAAL) the name of Monkey Punch who so well knew how to transcribe another facet of the gentleman burglar in his manga and anime. Between various Western influences and a designer passionate about computers and new technologies, Monkey Punch, recognized mangaka and teacher - awarded on various occasions around the world, offers a work with multiple ramifications resulting from the effects of globalization by combining two main representations of its hero, namely on the one hand a dark and mysterious protagonist tending towards eroticism and assumed violence, and on the other hand a vision combining burlesque, adventure and frank camaraderie through other characters created for the occasion. In the short, medium and long term, the creation of the Lupine III archetype has become a successful outgrowth in the world of animation, more economically profitable than the one from which it originated to become the spearhead of the animation house TMS in Japan and Fuji TV. This franchise is very profitable. This work has seen numerous directors - animation directors and screenwriters succeed one another over the more than fifty years of the franchise's existence, modifying the representations of the original hero and creating an entire coherent universe full of imagination. An example is found with "The Castle of Cagliostro" (ルパン三世 カリオストロの城, Rupan sansei: Kariosutoro no shiro?), a Japanese animated film by Hayao Miyazaki (宮崎 駿, Miyazaki Hayao) released in 1979 and awarded with the Mainichi Noburō Ōfuji Prize. Everyone finds themselves in their Lupine through the multiple facets of their personality and those of their acolytes. To this, his work is now relayed through a tourist festival dedicated to Lupine III and Monkey Punch in his hometown Hamanaka-cho. RIP.