Daisuke Jigen

Daisuke Jigen
Lupin III character
Jigen drawn by Monkey Punch
First appearance	Lupin III chapter 7: "Magician"
Created by	Monkey Punch
Voiced by	See Voice actors
Portrayed by	Kunie Tanaka (1974) Tetsuji Tamayama (2014)
Profile
Aliases	Dan Dunn (Toho/Frontier dub of The Mystery of Mamo, TMS subtitled print of The Castle of Cagliostro) Jeff (Cliff Hanger)
Nationality	Japanese[1]

Daisuke Jigen (Japanese: 次元 大介, Hepburn: Jigen Daisuke) is a fictional character created by Monkey Punch for his manga series Lupin III, which debuted in Weekly Manga Action on August 10, 1967. Jigen is the marksman, aide-de-camp and close friend of Arsène Lupin III. Along with colleague Goemon Ishikawa XIII, he joins Lupin in pursuit of riches acquired typically by theft. Traveling across the globe, Jigen has garnered fame as a gunman with a wildly capable speed and accuracy.

Creation and conception

According to Monkey Punch, the character was created as a possible American gangster based on actor James Coburn, especially his role in The Magnificent Seven.^[2][3] When the series was adapted into animation, the role was portrayed by Kiyoshi Kobayashi, the voice actor responsible for dubbing many of Coburn's roles into Japanese.^[4]

Skills

Jigen is master thief Arsène Lupin III's right-hand man and sharpshooter. He can perform a 0.3-second quick-draw, providing accuracy that borders on superhuman. With ease he can shoot skeet with a handgun, explode a missile before it hits by targeting the warhead, and deflect another bullet by shooting it in mid-flight.

Known by his trademark broad-brimmed fedora and short chin curtain beard, Jigen's favorite ploy is the trick shot. Jolting a large object into the air with gunfire and using it to clobber an enemy or shooting overhanging deco such as a chandelier to drop and encumber a group are just two of his many non-lethal tactics. In the second anime series, a non-canonic story implies he uses a notch on the hat for aiming; actually he can fire accurately without the hat and has done so several times.

A master of many different firearms, Jigen's armory includes revolvers, machine guns, sniper rifles, and even a PTRS Anti-Tank Rifle. His preferred carry-around is a Smith & Wesson Model 19 Combat revolver usually tucked in the back of his pants or housed in a fabric belt holster. He prefers the Model 19 due to its stopping power and reliability against misfire. He feels quite not himself without a gun: in 1987's The Fuma Conspiracy Jigen was voluntarily unarmed during Goemon's wedding yet when an gang attacked he instinctively reached, pulled nothing, and humorously aimed his empty hand before realizing what he was doing.

Personality

In the original manga series, Jigen is not always at Lupin's side, but lurking in the background til needed. The anime series, however, shows Jigen as extremely loyal to Lupin and willing to partner up anytime for a given heist.

Jigen is noted for his quick temper; enemy and friend alike have been victim to his need to repay violence for insult. Both Lupin and Goemon have been on the receiving end of his blows in his response to their frank or comical criticism.

Despite Jigen's gruff facade, he has an ironic sense of humor and genuinely enjoys participating in each caper with his partners. He is, by far, the more pragmatic of the group, with a cynical streak founded in failed romances (his luck with women runs from bad to worse, with love interests often betraying him or dying). He is always distrustful of Fujiko Mine and becomes irritated when Lupin goes along with one of her plans. Among Lupin's group, Jigen is the least apprehensive at taking human life. While he considers killing women and children taboo, he is willing to put down any age or gender who offers a life threat.

Where Lupin and Goemon Ishikawa XIII both have unique sartorial tastes, Jigen is pure basics. His typical wardrobe is a dark grey or black business suit, along with a white or light blue colored dress shirt, a black tie, and his ever-present dark grey or black broad-brimmed fedora; the hat ranks as his most prized possession outside of his weaponry. During the third anime series, Jigen's outfit is more light colored and his hatband has a herringbone design (similar to the original manga interpretation of the character); however the black look is most applied for OVA productions and TV specials. Jigen's thick hair is typically collar-length and unevenly cut. His chin curtain beard varies from an inch to three inches long and is also unruly.

Jigen is the "big brother" of the group, and often serves as the voice of reason to Lupin's impulsiveness, as he must because of his friendship with Lupin as well as out of sheer professionalism. However, he has long since resigned himself to having to go along with the craziest of schemes. Jigen, like the rest of the Lupin gang, is adept with disguises and can pilot virtually any motorized vehicle, including planes and tanks. He has even controlled a NASA Space Shuttle. He is also a tough hand-to-hand opponent, capable of knocking out an attacker with one blow.

While his racial origins may be in question, Jigen was at one time a famed bodyguard and assassin for many US criminal mobs. Of several stories regarding his past, the most popular has him a US citizen mobster who moved to Japan on the lam; there he adopted a Japanese identity and name ("Jigen" is the conventional Japanese word for "dimension", not a name). According to Lupin, Jigen's hobbies are limited due to his stay-at-home preference. When he does go out, he usually attends target practice, visits a favorite bar, plays poker, enjoys a boxing match or eats at a chop house-style restaurant. He also has a weakness for Spaghetti Westerns, lounging and hearty American food, like pizza and steak.

Jigen's most obvious pastime is smoking; there is hardly a time when he not seen with a cigarette, usually one bent in a number of directions. His preferred brands have been Pall Mall Filter Longs or Marlboro Red (boxed). He is also seen occasionally smoking a briar pipe. As well, Jigen enjoys drinking scotch, bourbon, beer and occasionally fine wines; he has a "heavyweight's" resistance to intoxication.

The Tokyo Pop releases of the original Lupin manga note in their preface that Jigen's appearance and temperament are based on the actor James Coburn, especially Coburn's role in The Magnificent Seven.In a television documentary celebrating the manga's history, Monkey Punch stated he bases the Jigen/Lupin relationship on Alain Delon and Charles Bronson's teaming in the 1968 film Adieu l'ami.

Appearances

Anime

Jigen as seen in Dragon of Doom

In the anime series, Jigen is an expert gunman who can shoot in 0.3 seconds with his Smith & Wesson Model 19.^[6] Although his M19 is his preferred weapon, he is skilled in a number of different firearms.^[7]

Voice actors

Daisuke Jigen was first voiced by Kiyoshi Kobayashi in both versions of the 1969 pilot film for the first anime,^[9] and he continues to voice the character to this day, with one exception. Due to budget concerns, TMS decided not to employ the regular voice cast for the 1987 original video animation The Fuma Conspiracy,^[10] with Jigen voiced by Banjō Ginga.

Due to a lack of localization credits on any known prints, Daisuke Jigen's English voice actor in the 1979 Toho dub of The Mystery of Mamo, where the character's name was changed to "Dan Dunn", remains unknown.^[11] Steve Bulen voiced the character in several dubs produced by Streamline Pictures.^[11] Sean P. O'Connell (1995, AnimEigo). Eric Meyers (1996, Manga UK). John Snyder (2000, Animaze/Manga). Christopher Sabat voiced the character for Funimation Entertainment's dubs of several TV specials and theatrical films between 2002 and 2005, and for their 2013 dub of The Woman Called Fujiko Mine.^[12] Richard Epcar voiced Jigen in the Phuuz dub for Pioneer/Geneon's release of the second anime between 2003 and 2006, and reprises the role for Discotek Media's 2017 dub of the fifth anime.^[13] Dan Woren voiced Jigen in the Bang Zoom! Entertainment dub for Discotek's 2015 release of the Jigen's Gravestone film.

Reception

Jigen has been referred to in other anime and manga such as Excel Saga.^[14] Anime historian Carl Horn has described Jigen as "The epitome of cool".^[14]

References