The talent behind this new entry in the voluminous Lupin III canon gives it a head start when it comes to acceptance. For many, Lupin III will be the critical darling The Castle of Cagilsotro directed by Miyazaki, others the original manga series. Then there's those with no prior exposure to Lupin at all who have to accept that with Takeshii Koike (Redline) on character design, Shinichiro Watanabe (Cowboy Bebop) on music and Sayo Yamamoto (Michiko to Hatchin) in the director's chair - maybe there's something special going on with Mine Fujiko to Iu Onna.

You'd be forgiven for believing from the first three episodes that it was inventive ways of the titular Fujiko Mine appearing naked within an episode. At the risk of plunging recklessly into sexism and feminism: it's refreshing to see a female character so fully in control of her sexuality and not playing the coy and chaste purity-Sues that are the norm for most anime. It's telling though that the of the first three, the episode with the least gratuitous nudity is the most effective.

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In contrast to the earlier showing of Summer Wars, the Cowboy Bebop movie was evidently from a traditional film reel rather than high-definition digital – grain and all it seemed somewhat more fitting, especially when the film itself pokes fun at the low quality, black and white westerns of old. Without any fanfare, there was a brief introduction by Andrew Partridge, one of the festival organisers, and then after a brief wait, straight into the feature. The only other element of note was the translation which unfortunately seemed a little slapdash, continually calling “Ed” “Edo” for instance, or completely ignoring the on-screen descriptions of companies such as “Tortoise Cleaning”.

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