Interview with Director Ken Koike on "LUPIN THE IIIRD: The Bloody Smoke of Ishikawa Gomon," an action drama that once again depicts the spirituality of Ishikawa Gomon

LUPIN THE IIIRD: Tombstone of Daisuke Tsugimoto," released in theaters in 2014, set a milestone in the "Lupin" series as a neo-classical film that solidly reconstructs the hard-boiled image of the early "Lupin III" series using modern technology. Now, director Ken Koike, who once again took the director's chair for "LUPIN THE IIIRD: Ishikawa Gomon in the Smoke of Blood," featuring Ishikawa Gemon, talks about how he directed this film with the image of Ishikawa Gomon in mind.

Drama depicting Gemon's rise to power

Tatoo Koike: You used to work with Yoshiaki Kawajiri, the director of "Zubei Ninpoucho" (1993), so it was your wish to portray Ishikawa Gemon's sword fight in this film, wasn't it?

Koike Yes, it was. I had always wanted to try sword fights, so when it was decided to focus on Ishikawa Goemon this time, I felt that my motivation increased.

How did you start the production of "LUPIN THE IIIRD: Gomon Ishikawa" after the release of "LUPIN THE IIIRD: The Tombstone of Daimon Daisuke" in June 2014?

Koike: I received an offer from the producer for the sequel right after "Daimon the IIIrd" was released. I had a desire to do it myself, so I said I would definitely like to do it. We talked about which character to choose next, and it was easy to decide that after Daimon, Goemon would be the next character in the "Lupin" story. I was also encouraged by the fact that many of the audience who saw "Daimon Daimon" said they wanted to see Gemon.


How was the process this time?

Koike: It is almost the same this time. When I talked to Mr. Ishii, he suggested that if Gomon was to play the leading role, it would be better to create a work that would show a lot of emotional changes. From there, I asked Mr. Takahashi, who wrote the script, to come up with a story. I thought it would be interesting for the drama to have a character like Gomon, who wants to master the art of swordsmanship, be defeated by a sword he is confident in, and then rise to the occasion.

TM: Did you have the idea of Hawk using an axe from the first image board?

Koike Yes, that's right. Yael Okuzaki, the enemy character in "Daimon Daisuke," was an intelligent and systematic man, so I wanted to contrast him with a power-oriented character this time.


─ Was the character design of Gomon newly created this time?

Koike Yes. Her facial expression has changed since the TV series "A Woman Called Fujiko Mine". Also, since her upper body was becoming ragged and peeling off, I had to incorporate the way her muscles were attached to her body into the design.

─ What do you think of Goemon's unique form?

Koike: I think people have the impression that Goemon is thin and macho. While maintaining his slimness, one of the elements we wanted to express was that he is well-trained and athletic, so we set up his muscles in a way that they are well-developed. I wanted to express the image of the strongest Gomon by combining such physical and mental aspects in this story.


─ Did you have a clear idea of the period in which you wanted to set the story?

Koike: I haven't set a definite time period, but I have kept the same relationship between Lupin and Gemon from the previous work, which is around 1970. Gemon makes his first appearance in the fifth episode of the first Lupin film, which is around the same time as the first Lupin film. So, Goyemon is more like an enemy. But Lupin is the type of person who wants to succeed in his missions as a brain, so he wants to add a highly skilled person like Gemon to his workmates. I think you can get a sense of that kind of relationship when you see the film. I myself loved the early days of the original works drawn by Monkey Punch and the early days of First Lupin, so I wanted to create that atmosphere. In this work, I hope to carefully depict the value of the relationship between the two.