First off, huge thanks goes out to Reed Nelson (Lupinthethird.net) for arranging for this review copy!

Now this DVD contains Discotek's much belated release of the 1987 OVA Lupin the 3rd: The Fuma Conspiracy, after acquring the rights with other Toho titles late in 2005. Thankfully, it was worth the wait, as the release is pretty outstanding overall. From a great video presentation, to a nice audio package and a wealth of extras, there is a lot to like about this DVD.

Discotek has done a great job with the video quality on this release overall. Not surprisingly, given other DVDs from the firm, it's closely sourced after the region 2 release distributed by Toho in 2003, and greatly benefits from the level of restoration committed to the material. In fact, there is hardly a scratch to be seen during the course of the entire movie. In terms of noise, visible grain is also kept to a very low level. However, the colors could have stood to be a bit more vibrant in places, particularly the reds, but the overall array looks natural and more often than not looks very lush in its tones. Also, unlike the saturated look on AnimEigo's release, no scenes have details "drowned out" as a consequence to achieve this. The print on this disc also looks fairly sharp in terms of detail, and there are no overt signs of edge enhancement to boot.

Lupin the 3rd: The Fuma Conspiracy is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.33:1, due to the fact that it was an OVA (direct-to-video). It should be noted that although the movie is not Anamorphic, the menus are.

There are two audio tracks found on this DVD, both present in two channel stereo. One of the tracks is the original Japanese presentation, while the other is dubbed into English and is the "Rupan" track that has been available in the states for years. Some may be disappointed that the movie wasn't redubbed, since copyright related to the name Lupin is no longer a concern, but anyone who has a nostalgic attachment to the previous dubbing should be thrilled to find it included. Overall, the sound quality on both tracks is fantastic, although the contrast in volume level between the two is pretty stark, making shifting between the two cumbersome.

The audio can be accompanied with, removable, English subtitles. Unfortunately, there are a few lines that the subtitles do not translate, or scenes where the timing is off, particularly around the 39 minute mark which makes a conversation between Murasaki and Goemon fairly awkward to follow.

This disc has very little in terms of video extras, featuring just a large collection of trailers from two of the Lupin films and other anime features, but more than makes up for it in other areas. The foremost of these are all of the audio supplements, such as an isolated music track that contains just the score to the movie by Kiyoshi Miyaura and sound effects from the film. The disc also features a commentary track by Reed Nelson (Lupinthethird.net) that features a wealth of information, and there is a ton to talk about given both the fact that this movie featured all different voice actors for the main characters and the "Rupan" angle. Nelson really knows his stuff, and it shows with the track being a great listen. However, a few details are repeated during its course and it is a little too apologetic at points, but it's certainly one of the more professionally sounding tracks I have heard from a fan for a Toho film outside of Criterion's releases. Suffice to say, anyone interested in the series as a whole should set aside some time to soak in all of the information present in this commentary.

Now aside from the audio extras, the disc also features a lot of text based information. Tons of it, in fact. This text covers various aspects of the movie and the Lupin franchise in general, from giving bios for the voice actors (both Japanese and English) to giving a general history on the character himself. The DVD also includes a few picture extras. Sadly, the "Photo Gallery" is fairly lackluster, due to the shots being from the feature film and the quality on par with a freeze frame of the DVD. However, in contrast the other gallery, called "Artwork", is really fantastic and features a wealth of concept art related to the 1987 Lupin movie.

Bottom line, Discotek has hit one out of the park. This is a great release from nearly all aspects, and fans of the Lupin character would be doing themselves a disservice to miss it. Regrettably, like most titles from Discotek, this release is going to be incredibly tough to track down in brick and mortar retail outlets, meaning most will have to opt to purchase the DVD online.