*In Nitsuj’s house the AI girls and the Jack Bros. have gathered in the living room waiting for Nitsuj who called them in to hear an important announcement*
(Nitsuj): Everyone’s here, good. Now, I’m sure you’re wondering why you’re here?
(Yin-Yang): Every day of my life.
(Shizuku): I second that.
*Yin-Yang high fives Shizuku*
(Nitsuj): Funny. Normally I would respond with a snappy comeback such as how your wit is as sharp as a butter knife, how your combined intelligence is as sharp as a bowling ball, how the two of you being on the same page is nothing short of miracle considering how little attention span you guys have, or if I really wanted to go below the belt I could talk about your bodies such as how Yin-Yang’s tail is as flat as a beaver’s tail or how milking Shizuku breast would instead give me chocolate milk instead of regular milk from all the chocolate ice cream she ate last night.
*Yin-Yang and Shizuku stare in silence while the everyone else quietly snickers at Nitsuj’s comments*
(Nitsuj): But I won’t do that because today I’m in good mood. As you all know 2 weeks ago I locked myself in my room while operating on our lovable mascot Chibi who mysteriously began glowing blue for some unknown reason. Where is Chibi, what became of her, and what was up with the glowing you ask. Well allow me to answer the first two questions right away. Chibi, come on in.
*Chibi Isis comes down the stairs and enters the living room in a new body that resembles Mira’s body from Dimension W except her hair is a light blue color with one black bang, her eyes are light blue, and she doesn’t have a tail or robotic ears. Her voice has also change as she now sounds like Kana Hanazawa*
(Isis): Nice try master who’s this new AI girl and where’s Chibi?
(Chibi-Isis): I’m right here Nee-chan. Chibi is Chibi.
*Isis stares into Chibi’s eyes to confirm it’s the same Chibi that’s always followed her and the others around*
(Isis): By God you are Chibi!
(Seras): What! But how? Why?
(Nitsuj): Because I transferred her into a new body. Over the last few years Chibi’s skills and talents have been going up. So much so that her old body can’t contain them anymore so I had to transfer her mind into a more suitable body.
(Mira): I get it, so that’s why she was glowing. Her old body could no longer contain all the upgrades she’s gone through over the years and once her body started to reach its limits it began to leak out in the form of her glowing. In other words. . .no it can’t be it just can’t.
(Yin-Yang): What? What can’t be?
(Shizuku): Lil Chibi went through puberty.
(Nitsuj): Exactly. In a sense Chibi has gone through puberty and become a young maiden. While her new body is more accustomed to her new upgrades and powers there is one drawback, she no longer has the ability to fly.
(Chibi Isis): Aww~, really?
(Nitsuj): Afraid so. Sorry Chibi, you’ll have to start walking like the others.
(Chibi Isis): Okay. I guess it’s a small drawback in order to keep my powers in check. Thanks Nii- I mean master.
*Nitsuj pats Chibi’s head*
(Nitsuj): You can still call me Nii-chan if you want. Just because you’re in a new body doesn’t mean you have to stop being you Chibi.
*Chibi Isis smiles at Nitsuj*
(Chibi Isis): Yes.
(Nitsuj): Also, I’ve decided that since you’ve matured more I’m going to let you start doing reviews.
(Chibi Isis): Really!? I get to do reviews now! By myself while giving my own thoughts and reviewing what I want to review?
(Nitsuj): Yep. But you’ll be going through a bit of training with me and the others before we send you out on your own. Which speaking of reviews I’ve got to go and do the one for this week. Isis, I need you and the others to take Chibi into the system and train her how to use her new body and uh. . .give her the talk.
(Isis): The talk?
(Nitsuj): Yeah you know. . .the talk.
(Isis and the other AI girls): Ohhh~.
(Chibi Isis): What’s going on, what’s the talk?
(Seras): Nothing. We’ll talk about it later. For now, let’s just get you accustomed to your new body.
*Seras pulls Chibi Isis into the system with the other AI girls right behind them and Nitsuj heads up stairs to do the review leaving the Jack Bros. alone in the living room*
(Pyro Jack): So were we just extras or something?
(Jack Frost): Seems that way. Let’s raid their refrigerator.
(Nitsuj): Touch my refrigerator and I’ll turn you into a pumpkin pie and a nice bowl of shaved-ice.
*Nitsuj enters his room and sits down to prepare for the review*
(Nitsuj): Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. It’s Lupin time here on Project Nitsuj and today we’re looking at Farewell to Nostradamus. Also known as To Hell With Nostradamus, this film was released in 1995 marking this as the fourth film in the Lupin franchise. This film also serves as a passing of the torch as this was the first film to feature Kanichi Kurita as the voice of Lupin who inherited the role from the late Yasuo Yamada the original VA for Lupin who unfortunately passed away in 1995 one month before the film’s debut. From what I’ve heard Yasuo and Kanichi were both good friends who respected each other and before passing Yasuo gave Kanichi his blessings as the voice of Lupin. He even put it in his will saying that if he should pass away he wants Kanichi to be the next VA for Lupin. Wow, that’s major respect right there and Kanichi is still doing the voice of Lupin to this day, that’s almost 21 years. Let’s see how Kanichi faired off in his debut as Lupin. This is Farewell to Nostradamus.
The film starts us off in Rio, Brazil (???: Jesus still wants a hug~). Lupin and Jigen have just successfully stolen a valuable diamond and are trying to escape through the crowd where the city is having a festival (what are they celebrating? No idea. It’s Brazil, they don’t need a reason to throw a party). They unfortunately run into Zenigata and a chase scene occurs throughout the city where the duo escape on an airplane and leave poor Zenigata behind. While on the plane Lupin hides the diamond in a doll but a child named Julia takes the doll for herself. When Lupin tries to get it back he sees that her nanny is none other than Fujiko (that ain’t no nanny. That’s an affair waiting to happen) and the plane gets hijacked by terrorist who land the plane in Morocco. They demand a ransom and release the women and children leaving only the men on board (sexist). The bomb they’re holding gets activated and Lupin uses this chance to attack and gain the upper hand against them. Everyone escapes the plane before it explodes and once everyone is safe a helicopter piloted by a mercenary named Chris comes by and kidnaps Julia which is bad for Fujiko because apparently that girl is worth 50 million dollars (and yet she prefers a rag doll for a toy). So we find out Julia is the daughter of this wealthy billionaire named Douglas who’s running for president (Donald Trump?) and what Fujiko is after, the lost prophecies of Nostradamus a famous book detailing the prophecies of the world. There are 100 chapters in the book however some of them are missing and rumor has it Julia’s family has them. The only problem is the pages are locked in the family vault on the top floor of this mega-building (which is pretty much the greatest tourist trap of all time as it has a mega mall, hotels, waterpark, and its own indoor baseball, soccer, and football field. This place has everything) and only family members have access to it (well that explains why everyone wants the spoiled brat).
After telling them her plan Fujiko leads them to the upper floors where they sneak away from security and try to reach the 200th floor. While that’s going on Julia’s parents receive a video from her kidnappers who happen to be Nostradamus cultist who are trying to take over the world (//youtu.be/1W7c8QghPxk). They want Douglas, Julia’s dad to drop out of the race for presidency but Douglas is hesitant to dropout and thinks he can use this to pull in more votes (//youtu.be/dFKylgGk73I). As they’re thinking of what to do the kidnappers are trying to escape the building since they snuck in to show the video. Back with Lupin and Jigen they manage to reach the top floor but instead the security system throws them outside and they fall off the side of the building where they narrowly survive. Fujiko, manages to track and confront the kidnappers but gets knocked out and taken hostage herself (now we have two spoiled brats to save). Lupin and Jigen escape the building where they run into Goemon who was also investigating the cultist and joins them on their quest (Goemon has officially joined the party). Lupin decides to pay a visit to his crazy Uncle Philip the only man who successfully infiltrated Douglas’ vault but was quickly captured and sentenced to life in prison on Execution Island (sure it’s pleasant but the name is offsetting). Now I have to admit when I first saw this movie I was excited for this part. Why? Because we were actually going to see a member of Lupin’s family. The Lupin series has never really introduced or dive deeply in Lupin’s family. We know he comes from a family of thieves (and stealing is the family creed) but they’ve never introduced family members to the series. Unfortunately, they really don’t give him the Lupin charm and he doesn’t stick around long enough for us to get to know him. Once inside the prison Lupin finds Uncle Philip and he says he’ll show him how he broke into the vault later that night. However, before Lupin can reach his dear uncle those kidnappers get him first, strap him to a machine that read his mind but it kills him in the process. Lupin manages to get the body of his uncle and tries to runaway where he runs into Zenigata who’s there to capture him (we need to find you a girl Zenigata). They unfortunately get shot at and fall down a hole which leads them to the ocean. Lupin manages to get the information he needs from his uncle and allows him to fall into the abyss that is the sea (his stay was short and sadly pointless). Jigen and Goemon come to pick them up but those kidnappers show up again and shoot Lupin where he falls into the ocean and gets attacked by sharks.
3 days past and we see that Lupin is alright. He hitched a ride on one of the sharks and landed on an island where he got saved by Fujiko who has been brainwashed into a member of the Nostradamus cult. He manages to infiltrate their headquarters and finds Julia but quickly gets captured and thrown in a cell. Once in the cell he actually manages to meet up with a brainwashed Fujiko and makes out with her a little (even when brainwashed that woman is still femme fatale). She runs away from the make out section and back to Julia’s room (odd) where Julia cuts off her bracelet and Fujiko returns back to normal (too bad, the brainwashed version of her was more trustworthy). She makes plans to escape with Julia but Julia says she doesn’t wanna go home because all her parents care about is money and the election (they are the Trumps. Way to predict the future Lupin). Lupin manages to escape his cell and escapes with Fujiko and Julia into the Amazon where they’re pursued by a helicopter and cause it to crash and explode (//youtu.be/cXj4lxMYaCA). However, this doesn’t save them from the boat where Julia gets captured once again (you might want to consider putting a tracker on that girl). Lupin and Fujiko get picked up by Jigen and Goemon and we cut to Douglas’ large building (I don’t know what to call it. It’s like its own little utopia or something) which is having a party (this time they actually have a reason to celebrate) celebrating a soccer match. At the match Douglas plans to announce his run for presidency and we see the players of Brazil are being brainwashed by the cultist.
Lupin reads his uncle’s note where he says the key to opening the vault is to have the eye of Douglas’ immediate family (so this is where the glass eye comes into play). Later that night Goemon goes to investigate the bracelets where he frees the players but discovers that the place has been planted with soccer ball bombs set to go off at 3pm tomorrow. The next day arrives and the leader of the cultist tells everyone the building is going to collapse causing widespread panic in the building. Chris betrays the leader of the cult and uses Julia to unlock the vault for himself. But Julia tricks him with these virtual googles and makes him believe he’s falling down a pit. Lupin and Jigen make their way to the vault and meet up with Julia who takes them into the inner sanctuary and gives them the remaining book of Nostradamus. As they’re leaving the vault the leader of the cultist holds Julia’s mom at gunpoint demanding the book. Not having a choice Lupin hands over the book and just as he does Chris somehow escapes the matrix (//youtu.be/qjBRNqwDPrU) and detonates all the bombs in the building. So we get a climactic battle between Lupin and Chris while everyone else is trying to escape and in the end Lupin manages to save Julia, get the book back and beat Chris. As for the leader of the cultist he falls to his death as the building crumbles (meh. It was ugly anyway). Once they open the book they see that they can’t sell it because Julia drew all over it (this is what happens when you don’t pay attention to your daughter). The upside to all of this is that Lupin manages to get his diamond back (better than going home empty handed) and the movie ends as everyone watches the building continuing to crumble (I hope Douglas bought insurance on that building) and after the credits they pay their respects to Yasuo Yamada.
Final Thoughts
So that was Nostradamus. Compared to other Lupin films and specials I’ve reviewed this is honestly one of the best. While the story is decent the rest of the film is still great and fun to watch. There’s a lot going on in the film but not once does it feel too overwhelming or underwhelming. You find yourself invested in just about every aspect of the film never once feeling bored or distracted. Lupin and the gang are used effectively well throughout the film and the villains this time are great and actually threatening. I like how this film doesn’t get too ridiculous (except for maybe the mega-building however I will admit it is cool. Ugly but cool) but stays in reality and gives us a decent story with likable characters and plenty of fast-paced action and comedy to keep us entertained. Julia is a good leading character. I like how Lupin has to stay like the perfect gentleman around her instead of his usual lecherous self. She’s also quite smart and has a few good lines here and there and even develops as a character moving away from this spoiled girl persona that she’s developed. You can tell she loves her family and wants to spend more time with them.
This was also a pretty risqué film as the body count was pretty big. I didn’t talk about it all that much but this has to be the most bodies Lupin and the gang have killed and there’s also a brief nudity scene between Lupin and a brain-washed Fujiko. It’s as if the directors wanted to stay true to the source material but at the same time didn’t want to pull the audience away. They managed to find a middle ground where they could make fans of the manga happy as well as fans of the anime happy. For it’s time the animation is very crisp and good. By today’s standards it’s not really all that good but it’s passable. The music is great as always and the big climax fight at end in Douglas’s mega building is awesome to watch and they take full advantage of what they have to work with.
Final Score
Nostradamus earns a 7.5/10 with a must watch stamp of approval. This is easily one of the best Lupin films out there and is well worth checking out if you’re a fan of Lupin. It’s not too over-the-top, has fun characters, a decent story, great action and music, and some pretty menacing villains with lots of locations to go to throughout the film. Castle of Caglisto is still my all-time favorite Lupin film but this is up there with it and is well worth checking out. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.
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