Welcome!
5/28/2007
Welcome Lupin fans one and all! These are the Lupin III archives, dedicated to all the bizarre and obscure information about this series that slips through the cracks. In this blog you'll find posts covering the history of lost, cancelled, or even nonexistent Lupin projects, along with sporadic discussion of more well-known projects and my own opinions on them.
About me: Heya! My name is Vivian! When I was a little kid, I got into my dad's VHS collection and watched Castle of Cagliostro for the first time, and that started my lifelong obsession with the gentleman thief! I've basically watched every second of Lupin put to film (yes, even Lupin VIII) and read every chapter of the manga, and have taken my adventures to discussing the unknown parts of his history!
The Viper
5/28/2007
This one is more “weird rumor” than actual confirmed lost media, but I still think it’s cool!
A few years ago, a user on the Lupin forums posted about a supposed lost American dub of Part 1 called "The Viper" that aired in 1972. As a lost dub of Part 1 with not a lot of info around it, people were pretty skeptical, but it wasn’t entirely impossible. Early in its international life span, Lupin was shipped out of Japan under a ton of different names- Rupan, The Wolf, Cliff Jumper- it was weird that no one had ever heard of it, but it wasn’t IMPOSSIBLE. So people got to doing the basics of starting a search like this: asking for a source.
Turns out, much to many people’s surprise, there actually was a source! …one singular book called the Anime Encyclopedia. Except no, when the version that it was supposedly from was found…there wasn’t any mention of The Viper under the section for Lupin III.
The funny thing? People are STILL trying to act like Viper is real - now they claim it’s from an 80’s book called “The Lupin III Field Guide”.
So just where DID the existence of the Viper come from? Why will this one hoax just refuse to die? Who knows. It’s just one of those weird things that seem to pop out of nowhere- pretty fitting for our master thief if I do say so myself!
Pepsi Ad
5/29/2007
So, this is a weird one. At some point in the 70's, there was an ad campaign for Pepsi that used Lupin III characters, even including an animated commercial...but it somehow managed to fly under the radar. Lupin's done ad campaigns that've been decently covered before, like that Esso commercial with some pretty great animation for an ad. I guess this was just more run-of-the-mill and no one thought to document it until it was too late.
All we had for a while were a couple screenshots from it, but it turns out someone on the forums found an old Japanese magazine called Figure King that had an article or something on the commercial, and it had an entirely new image of it! Unfortunately the image quality is not very good, but hey, definitely better than nothing.
But still, it’s so weird that these two huge brands collated and barely anyone knows anything about it, especially in the 70’s when Lupin was at its peak of popularity. Reminds you that pretty much anything can go missing even in this day and age. Spooky! OnO
The Cancelled Mamoru Oshii Lupin Film
5/30/2007
So, Legend of the Gold of Babylon. That one was weird, wasn’t it? I mean, even more so than Pink Jacket usually is, and I say this as someone who loves Pink Jacket. It also took a pretty long time to come out- Mamo and Cagliostro were right after one another, and then there’s this six year gap between films? Sure, there’s nothing new about big gaps between films - Fuma Conspiracy and Farewell to Nostradamus had an even longer gap at eight years, but by then there was a Lupin special coming out on TV every year.
Well, there’s actually a reason - and it’s one you might not know about. In late 84, TMS was working on a new Lupin film and hired none other than Mamoru Oshii - yes, the Mamoru Oshii behind Ghost in The Shell, Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer, and director of the first ever OVA, Dallos - to direct it. Oshii, in his typical fashion, cooked up something completely insane.
While documentation on this project is pretty rare, thanks to a bunch of interviews Oshii has done, there IS a confirmed plot for this film- and it’s a wild one.
Based on the information we have about the film, it would’ve gone something like this: Lupin, who much like his Cagliostro counterpart is more mature and solemn because there’s “nothing left to steal”, would be going after an angel fossil in a Tower of Babel-like structure in Tokyo, built by an archeologist who had gone insane and killed himself by throwing himself from the roof once it was finished. The architect's daughter/niece (this detail’s hard to find info on) would be stuck inside the tower and framed for a murder. Meanwhile on the other side of the world, Fujiko is busy researching the angel fossil- learning that it was excavated in Africa, stolen by the Nazis in WWII, sent to Israel, and has now somehow ended up in Tokyo. She ends up learning that the girl in the tower is an angel that delights in tricking and killing humans, right as Lupin touches the angel’s fossil…and it explodes, having been made out of plutonium…and destroys the entirety of Tokyo. Except not. Because the explosion was fake. Because all of this was fake. Because Lupin was going to learn he was a fictional character, and in Oshii’s words, “steal his own existence” and/or try to come to the real world.
As you can probably guess, TMS did not like the direction this went, resulting in Oshii being fired from the project and Legend of the Gold of Babylon being slapped together in a little over a year to deliver on the Lupin film they’d been promising. Do I think this should’ve come out? Eeeh, it’s probably better it didn’t, all things considered. This would’ve clashed like crazy with the pink jacket series at the time, and I feel like this just would’ve ended the series far too soon imo, especially considering the great projects we’ve gotten in the Lupin name after this came out like Fuma Conspiracy and First Contact. Plus, as I mentioned, Oshii got to work a lot of these ideas into his own projects like Angel’s Egg and Patlabor, so it was probably better for him too creatively, all things considered. Don’t get me wrong, it sounds INSANE and if anything was actually made for it, I would LOVE to see it, but I’m not exactly clamoring for this to be released. If it shows up it shows up - but regardless, I do find it interesting to think that the series could’ve ended in such a bizarre way.
NTV Actors Underwater Concert
5/31/2007
Guess we’re on a roll with insane ones lately, huh? This one isn’t technically a piece of Lupin media, but it’s related and it’s too funny for me not to post here.
So apparently when Part II was airing, all of the actors for the main cast showed up in cosplay on NTV (Nippon TV, a really big Japanese TV station) to play instruments…in a tank of water. Yes, you’re reading that right. There are actually pictures of it, one from what looks like a recording and one from a magazine article. There's also supposedly audio floating around online (but I haven’t been able to find it at all), but the footage is lost to this day. This is bonkers and I REALLY hope it gets found some day, just sounds like a blast to watch! .
Heaven’s Tower (Lost media found??)
6/01/2007
So…remember the post I made a while back about the lost Mamoru Oshii Lupin film? I, and pretty much everyone else to be fair, assumed that it was cancelled way too early for anything concrete to be made- no concept art or anything. But today…I was scrolling on Yahoo Japan, and I found this.
There’s no Lupin project named Heaven’s Tower.
Either this is a bootleg, some kind of fan project, or…considering the elements of the plot from the Oshii film we know about…this could be some kind of pitch reel or storyboard or something.
I bought it. I mean, what kind of idiot would pass this up? Even if it’s not official I have to know what’s on it- and the chance that this IS something is way too high for me to pass up on. I’ll let you know when it gets here and rip it ASAP.
Thieves Throughout History: Autolycus
6/02/2007
So, I'm not a huge Greek mythology gal unlike some of my pals (talking about you Eris XD), but a name came up once or twice while looking into more obscure Lupin projects that I decided to look into, so here's a bit of a different post than usual!
Apparently there's this figure in Greek myths named Autolycus- he's pretty obscure, to the point no one's 100% sure who his parents are. Most people at least manage to agree that his dad is Hermes. He's an incredible thief, gifted with the ability to make things he stole invisible and blessed so he'd never be caught- he might also be a shapeshifter but the info there is kinda foggy.
He taught Hercules how to wrestle, is also the grandfather of Jason of the Argonauts and Odysseus, and even gave Odysseus his name! For someone who's done so much, you think people would talk about him more- maybe he was supposed to be mentioned in a cancelled Lupin movie or something and that's why his name came up? I can definitely see the similarities between him and Lupin- heck, both are even named after wolves! Something about wolves and thieves…
If you found this interesting let me know- I might turn it into a series talking about other famous thief characters and how they could've shaped Lupin's history!
Heaven’s Tower Watchthrough (Pt 1/?)
6/03/2007
Well, it came in today. It still feels kinda unreal, in all honesty. I’m honestly scared to even watch it- what if the tape breaks or something? But I’m the only person who has it, so I have to be the one who spreads the news about it. I’ll watch through it and give you my thoughts, along with some screenshots (don’t worry, I’m not one of those pricks who’ll hoard this and try to jack up the price - I’m just curious and wanna see the whole thing first)
So, first thing’s first, the title!
Huh, they…actually call it The Viper? Is that where that name came from? Leaks of this or concept art or something? If that’s it, wonder why it’s not more well-known…guess not a lot of people saw this though and it’s easy to lose fine details…
Anyways, it’s actually pretty close to the summary that’d been going around so far. Starts with a scene of the architect guy throwing himself from the tower, and you actually see him hit the ground- it’s pretty intense for a Lupin film. Reminds me more of how gross the manga compared to any of the animated stuff.
Speaking of animation, it's…hard to describe how this is animated. There's not a ton of movement, so it feels more like the manga or a storyboard, but the backgrounds look done and the characters are colored. Maybe they were reusing cels from older movies or episodes to make it look more finished? And on the topic of weird things about this, the audio is off too. It sounds like they have stand ins for everyone which I get - storyboards use placeholder VAs a lot…but Lupin sounds exactly like he does in the show/actual movies. Either they had a really good impressionist on team, or the actual VA wanted to work with this for whatever reason.
I know I compared it to Cagliostro in the first post I made about it, but you can really see it here. Lupin hasn't stolen anything in a while, but the news of the tower's caught his eye and he wants whatever's at the top of it. So he calls up Jigen and Goemon - and it seems like he hasn't seen them in a while, cause they're both doing their own thing. Jigen’s been a hitman for the past couple of years, and Goemon went back to training in the mountains. He’s so happy to see em again - they’re total besties, it’s honestly so cute! ^w^
He gets everyone together over some booze and tells them his plan: break into the tower, steal whatever’s at the top, and become so famous that no one can ever top them and then they can finally properly retire. They spend a lot of time planning out the actual heist and while he’s excited about it, he’s…acting kinda weird. Jigen and Goemon seem to notice, but they don’t say anything for whatever reason.
Fujiko hasn’t even shown up yet which is weird- they’ve mentioned her though, say she’s on the other side of the world doing some kind of research. Oh yea- Zenigata isn’t in this movie at all. Apparently he retired once Lupin gave up because there wasn't any meaning to his life anymore or something like that. He’s probably gonna show up later, but he hasn’t really been mentioned at all for the first part of the movie which is kinda surprising.
That night Lupin and the gang drive out to the tower and, I gotta give em this, it's really something. It has that tiered look that you always see in pictures of the Tower of Babel, but it’s made out of this white stone that almost looks blue in the moonlight. The thing is sealed up from the outside, but they're able to find a weak spot in the bricks and Goemon cuts his way through. Lupin waves the two off, handing them each a walkie-talkie so they can keep in touch.
And that’s where I’m calling it for now! What, it wouldn’t be fun if I gave it all away at once! Gotta keep you hooked so you keep following me ;P Stay tuned for the second part of this watchthrough sometime soon!
Weird Note I Got?
6/04/2007
Hey guys - quick non-Lupin post (well kinda but you’ll see) because something really weird happened.
I was doing some of my work for the day when I noticed something on the side of my desk - it was some kinda note card. I thought it might’ve just been a flashcard I had left from a project ages ago or something, but it was…very much not that.
This is obviously supposed to be one of Lupin’s calling cards, but…who left this for me? My dad likes Lupin yea, but he’s not nearly as into it as I am so I doubt he has what his calling cards look like memorized. My mom doesn't care at all about it, and I don’t have any siblings or IRL friends who could do this…
Any of you guys have any ideas on where this could come from? I know it’s not that serious but I can’t deny that it’s a little weird - hopefully I can get back to the regular posts soon!
Nightmare
6/06/2007
Sorry for derailing the blog again, but I’ve been having weird dreams and just wanna get em off my chest. Like last night- I had this dream that I was in the woods and it was all snowy- and there was this HUGE wolf staring at me. It was all black, but it had like…a chunk of its face missing so it didn’t have an eye. It just kinda…stood there for a bit, but then there was this super loud SNAP and its back bended in a way it shouldn't and split open and something crawled its way out.
It was a person but it had the face of a wolf. For some reason…I felt like I knew it. Like I knew him.
It walked towards me- it was kinda unsteady, like it wasn't really used to being on two legs after spending so long on all fours. But it got right up to me, and it didn’t say anything. It just…dragged a finger down my chest. I couldn’t see its face very well, but…I swear it was smiling at me. Like it knew something I didn’t.
Does anyone who follows me know anything about dream symbolism or anything? Is this a stress dream or something? Again, I’m sorry that it’s been so long without a Lupin post, I promise I’ll try and get back to em soon.
Another Note?
6/08/2007
Okay, now things are starting to get weird.
I assumed the first calling card was just like a freak accident or a weird coincidence - but I just found another one in my room. This one was on my pillow.
I’m actually a little spooked now- this right after that weird nightmare I had has me super on edge right now. I know it’s probably just a prank and I’m overreacting but…idk, not sleeping very good has me thinking all weird. I’ve been on a hair trigger lately, so I’m sorry if I snap at anyone in the comments or anything. Just…I wanna know what’s happening, okay?
Heaven’s Tower Watchthrough (2/??)
6/11/2007
It only took about a week, but we're finally back to Lupin! Honestly it’s sort of a nice break from everything right now in a weird way - I’ve been needing something else to focus on to distract me. But that’s enough real-life stuff from me, I know what you're here for- time to get back to actually watching and talking about this thing!
I think the tape wasn’t taken super good care of because it’s really starting to deteriorate - it gets really bad whenever Lupin’s on screen. Everything goes all dark and I can barely see him- I'm lucky I’ve picked up enough Japanese from all my time watching this that I can understand the gist of what’s happening. I’m gonna look into seeing if I can get it cleaned up though, it’d be a shame to let this just rot away.
A good bit into climbing the tower, Lupin gets a phone call- it’s from the architect’s daughter! Her name is Lilith, and it turns out that her dad left his phone inside before he jumped- but she doesn’t have any way to recharge it, so she’s gonna try and feed Lupin all the info he needs to get to the top before it runs out. Luckily it’s pretty well charged, so she has a good bit to get it all out.
Oh hey, Fujiko finally showed up! Turns out she’s down in South America trying to find info on the architect and the tower - it seems like too good of a gig to be true, so she doesn’t wanna rush in and get killed. After talking to (and paying off) some of the locals, she learns that the team that excavated it is actually staying in a hotel not too far from her.
Barging in on them in the middle of the night and holding them at gunpoint (Again, you get what I mean when I say it feels like the manga?), they give her some info. Apparently they dug up the fossil a decade or two ago while in Libya, and almost immediately started auctioning it off to the highest bidder. It went around some underground circles before finally being bought by some religious official in Israel and stayed with him for years - up until last year, when the architect approached him and said God told him he needed the fossil for something. A few billion changes hands, and well, here we are now. The head of the team says they don’t know if the skeleton is a real angel or not, but it’s definitely not something they can identify as any existing animal- and that interests her even more.
The Fujiko scene was pretty long so I think I’ll call it here for the day - it’s definitely picking up though! Hopefully the next post will be me finally finishing this, lmao-
Help With Notes?
6/15/2002
You’ll never guess what’s shown up now!
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Yep, in the few days I've been gone, I've gotten TWO more! These two don't have the calling card stamp for some reason. Honestly if it wasn’t for the two I’d found before and just how...threatning the second one is, I’d just assume one of my parents left them for me. Honestly? They probably did - I KNOW it has to be someone close to me, but I don’t know who. I just don't get why Lupin - I thought we were pretty good at talking when something bothered one of us, I don’t know why they’d play these kinds of….mind games with me.
Maybe it’s because of the tape. I mean it’s a one-of-a-kind thought to be nonexistent film - I can definitely see plenty of people who want it for themselves. Well, I’m not giving it up. You can’t make me. I’m gonna finish talking about this, then rip it and then EVERYONE will see it. That make you mad? Good! You SHOULD be mad! I WANNA see you mad! Maybe that'll teach you to leave me the hell alone!
This Isn’t Funny Anymore
6/16/2007
Sorry I freaked out at the end of the last post. The nightmares have kept up, so I’ve been getting a lot less sleep- I’m kinda on a hair trigger lately. They’ve been getting worse too - he just keeps getting closer and closer, and the dreams feel like they go on for so much longer…I think I can hear him laughing at me sometimes.
But if these notes were supposed to be some kind of practical joke, whoever is planting them better fess up - because the joke has gone way too far.
I got into a huge fight with my parents over this, so I’m pretty sure it’s not them. That or they’re lying to me for whatever reason. So it’s probably one of you.
The worst part is on top of the notes and the nightmares, I think I'm getting sick or something. I've been feeling out of it for the past few weeks, and I'm losing weight REALLY fast. I went to the doctor, but they couldn't find anything wrong with me. I feel like I'm starting to lose it - everything in my life has basically just spiraled out of control once I bought that STUPID TAPE - but I can’t get rid of it. I can’t. If I destroy it that’s it. No more Heaven’s Tower. I don’t have the right to take it out of this world. I didn’t make it. It has to keep existing. If I break it I’m destroying history. So it has to stay. I have to finish it.
Sorry For Vanishing
6/28/2007
Hey, sorry I’ve been gone for so long. The cards really got under my skin - honestly they made me not want anything to do with Lupin for a while. Plus on top of that like I said I’ve been really sick, and my temper’s been all over the place…it’s just been a really weird time for me. But I thought it was kinda dumb to let a few pieces of paper ruin my love for this show, so I tried rewatching some old Pink Jacket today. And it felt…weird.
Like, I know it's just a cartoon. It's an unreleased movie from a silly TV show about a thief and his friends. But something about it's just…stuck with me. I used to love Pink Jacket, it was my favorite series- but now every time I boot up an episode I just…
They always start off normal, but the more I watch in one setting, the more they just…fall apart. I know what wear and tear from overuse looks like on all kinds of formats, and this isn’t any of them. This is…something else entirely.
Something in my gut is telling me it's related to Heaven’s Tower. I think I’m gonna try and finish it up soon. I want answers.
Lupin VIII
6/31/2007
I figured I'd ease myself back into posting with something a little simpler/more well-known: the scrapped Lupin VIII series. Yes, you read that right, Lupin the Eighth.
Intended to be released in 1982, Lupin VIII was supposed to be a spinoff set in the 22nd century featuring Lupin's great-great-great-great-great grandson, who broke the family lineage and was instead a detective trained by Sherlock Holmes VIII. Hmph, some people just can't appreciate a talent for thievery even when it's right in front of them, can they?
The anime already sanded off a lot of the manga's fun edge, but when they tried to pitch this and ship it over to the West, they out and out made it a kid's show- aside from the career change, Jigen’s cigarettes were replaced with lollipops and the same goes for Zenigata's pipe. Look I'm all for getting em in on the family business young, but this ain't how ya do it! I will say that laser sword Goemon has is pretty snazzy though.
They made a pilot episode but then ran into our old friend copyright - the LeBlanc estate still owned the Lupin name, so they just panicked and dropped the whole thing. Honestly probably for the better - who wants to see him be such a goody-goody?
Still, can't deny the idea of a sci-fi Lupin show is fun - imagine the kind of things I could steal!
The TRUTH Behind Heaven’s Tower (Probably)
7/05/2007
Okay, so after some mulling it over, I have a theory on just WHAT is up with Heaven’s Tower.
So, we all probably know that Green vs. Red is coming out early next year. It's all about the two different Lupins, it's a celebration of 40 years of the series, and it's got a LOT of eyes on it. So they're definitely gonna do something big for it. But how big? Well, as a celebration of the entire franchise, we're probably going to see references to every era of the series, hell the title is just the two eras.
But that's just two of the big three- what about Pink Jacket? Sure, it wasn't super well received, but it's still a part of the series. I know I might be biased, but I think there’s some pretty fine work in there if I do say so myself! If there's no references to it in this, they’d just be ignoring a pretty sizable part of the series’ history. So I started thinking - what if Pink Jacket is in this film, and we just haven't seen him yet?
I mean, think about it - a third act wild card surprise villain that forces both of the Lupins to work together, turning his off the wall zaniness and charm into something twisted and psychotic - he’d be quite a threat AND a blast to watch! So why not raise hype and intrigue by dropping this secret Pink Jacket project that's had a ton of mystery around it, as well as plant the seeds of a more sinister Pink Jacket in people’s minds? I mean, it makes PERFECT sense, doesn’t it? - two birds with one stone!
Sure the cards are kinda weird, but they have my address because I bought the tape, they probably just included some in the box and I missed it or they sent some later and they just slipped through the mail slot when I wasn’t looking. Admittedly I don’t know why they stopped marking them as calling cards and why they got so sinister…but that’ll probably be answered by the movie! Everything happening with my old recordings is probably just an unfortunate coincidence- I mean, everything has to wear down and give one day, right?
Still, this IS just a theory, even if I think it’s the only option that really makes sense. So tell people to take this with a grain of salt or two if they wanted to know what was going on with this blog.
Heaven’s Tower Review FINALE!
7/06/2007
I'm not feeling too hot ngl- whatever it is that's been making me sick has gotten really bad lately, but the silver lining is sick days means I get to watch more TV, so I figured why not finish up Heaven’s Tower finally? I've been putting it off for long enough, anyways.
But we’re finally back to Lupin! Or well, we kinda are - we actually cut back to Jigen and Goemon, with them starting to worry because it’s been about an hour since he entered, and they haven’t heard from him in ages. Jigen and Goemon are trying to call him, but for some reason their walkie-talkies aren't working. The only person he can talk to is Lilith, who’s reassuring him to keep going. She decides to motivate Lupin, who’s halfway up the tower, by telling him the actual story of the angel’s fossil:
The fall of Lucifer went as most people know it, with him attempting to challenge God for the throne of Heaven and being banished as a result. However, Lucifer wasn’t sentenced to the fire and brimstone version of Hell we all know. He was made mortal and condemned to walk to Earth, eventually dying sad and alone. His bones are what’s being held in the top of the tower, an object both sacred and blasphemous at once. She ends the conversation with this weird line: “That’s the thing: this Earth is essentially a Hell made for all of us to suffer. None of this is real, after all.” Lupin has no idea what she means by that, but carries on - he’s almost at the top anyways, so he can steal the fossil and get this all over with.
Something I didn’t tell you is while Lilith is telling the story of Lucifer, Fujiko is doing more investigation regarding the fossil and the angel it supposedly came from, and she’s now in Italy, talking to a bunch of religious historians - one of which brings her inside to show her something. After looking around Fujiko looks up and sees this mural - it’s AMAZING looking, and it shows this angel woman, each wing taking up a wall and made out of this amazing shining material. Underneath her feet is a plaque describing the piece - an angel who uses their amazing beauty to lure humans to their death. An angel named Lilith.
Yea, turns out the architect lured the angel in here by promising to return the fossil to it, only to trap it inside and kill himself so it couldn’t force him to free it. He’d placed sigils around the room and built them into the tower itself - if Lupin opens the door, it’s free to do whatever it wants. And guess who just made it to the top of the tower?
He swings the door open and she grins, a new light filling her eyes. She heaps sappy praise onto Lupin, telling him how happy she’d be to be with him forever…right after he gets that fossil and secures himself as the greatest thief ever, of course. He walks over to the glass case it’s in, cuts it open, reaches inside…
And…that’s it. I know there’s supposed to be more- in my original post I went on about that whole “Lupin steals reality” thing but…it’s too dark to see anything and the sound is just this horrible static. I hope it’s just unfinished and not destroyed, I’d hate for something as valuable as this to be lost forever…plus it’s important to preserve these things, obviously.
There’s something honestly kinda weirdly poetic about this - Lupin’s greatest heist will never come to fruition.
At least not in the way he thought it would.
Esso Commercials
7/10/2007
A bit more of a recent product all things considered, these are a pair of two commercials for gas station franchise Esso (which is an…international name for Exxon I think? I’m not entirely sure- I looked it up but the text was so dense it made my head spin XD) and WOW they lookAMAZING! Japan doesn’t do this type of Roger Rabbit stuff a ton butI think this is the best I’ve ever seen it done.
I mean, just LOOK at this! Ilook absolutely AMAZING like this, Don't I? I know people say they look like they’re reallythere in Roger Rabbit, but they look HONEST-TO-GODREAL! Apparently they got the guys behind Space Jam to animate it and I think its the best I'veever looked! Plus, it’s just FUN! Who doesn’t love a good old fashioned scene of yours truly foiling another of the old man’s plans?
Just goes to show ya can’t keep a good thief down even after 40 years!
7/15/2007
7/24/2007
8/02/2007
8/04/2007
8/12/2007
Farewell!
5/28/2022
The greatest thief of all time has committed the heist that ensures he will be remembered for centuries to come - stealing away his reality itself!- I'd like to bid you all adieu and thank you for watching the show- it’s only possible because of viewers like you, after all!
