Naoki Urasawa
In November 1994, Monkey Punch himself named the first series as the best anime adaptation of "Lupin III", particularly the first few episodes, citing its faithfulness to his manga. Shinichirō Watanabe, director of "Cowboy Bebop" and "Samurai Champloo", has spoken of being heavily influenced by the work of director Masaaki Ōsumi on the series. Manga artist Naoki Urasawa considers Miyazaki's depiction of Lupin in this series to be the "real Lupin."