Hardly any anime series I value so high. For now, I have not been disappointed yet at Lupine and rated every watched series at least at 8/10. "The Italian Adventure" is just as outstanding, although I liked the least. His biggest flaw is just the pretty Mine Fujiko. "Only pretty" because other incantations of this femme fatale are in my opinion better. It also happened that it was not exactly drawn, as well as a little exaggerated with fan service. The rest of the problems are trivial, irrelevant from this perspective.
As the above subtitle indicates, the 4th season is happening in Italy. They practically do not leave this country, and most of the threads revolve around the wife of Lupine, the mysterious treasure of Italy, paranormal threads, also known to us Leonardo Da Vinci. As if that was not enough, MI6 agents and their champion - Nyx also get involved in the whole story. There is no shortage of standard, looser episodes in which our heroes and their interactions sparkle. How does it compare with season 5? It's not much weaker. In fact, there were more episodes in the 4th section, which I liked more, but taking into account the whole, the directing, script, and threads of the fifth appealed to me more.
Just as in the 5th part we were shown some examples of CIA activities (including that they can overturn almost any government on Earth, if the appropriate political and social conditions are met), so "The Italian Adventure" shows us a fragment of special services on the example of MI6. It is known that these are not things that cannot be learned in one way or another, but I am happy every time the creators of series/movies/anime raise such topics in their creations. Sure, they certainly colored some things, but I didn't see themes that were completely made up. The army and services use drugs not only to facilitate interrogation but also to increase combat effectiveness. After all, the right dose of the drug can strengthen your senses, improve your reaction time, or calm your nerves. Similarly, from time to time there are decisive actions - and this is an assault on a diplomatic mission of another country, and this is a "photo" of an important man, or military operations in a foreign country. By chance, one of the threads in 4th pressure is very much possible and it looks more or less like in the reality we know.
I mentioned Nyx, this one is a butcher - one of the best police / military characters I've seen in anime. And although at the end of the screenwriters began to write him a little for one hoof, it is impossible to take away his earlier merits. This is probably the first guy (or so I got the impression), who Lupine is a bit afraid. It's hard not to be afraid of him, he is extremely stubborn, ruthless and cunning type. It is also not worth threatening his family. And there is something to be afraid of - not only that his body is strengthened thanks to pharmacology, but he also has his own superhuman powers that make him a killing machine.
While I have some allegations about the supernatural powers of Nyx (or rather the way they were used by the writers at the end), the main characters, as usual, did not disappoint me. Lupine is prepared for every occasion, just like Batman. Need to decrypt some old document that was written in a difficult way in several languages (including Etruscan)? No problem, our hero will grab a magnifying glass and can take care of it on the march. The arrangement of the laid-back gull, along with the monkey's head, are a perfect curtain for a diabolically clever, confident, and wise protagonist. He suffers a bit from plot-shield and excess happiness, but thanks to his consistent creation and skillful screenwriters, he didn't completely irritate me.
Goemon is a master at using melee weapons. Under the guise of courtesy and calmness lies a warrior who is prepared to grab a sword at any time. His stunts do not differ much from what we could see at the beginning of "Bleach". He got a charming thread in one of the episodes - the pup called Goemon-chan permanently stuck in my memory. Master firearms, Jigen is consistently awesome (the guy is certified by the reinforcement championship from Da Vinci himself!). I did not expect anything else to surprise me. He is quite shy when it comes to relationships with women, but when it comes to everything else - I have no complaints. Sagittarius can adapt emotions to the situation, like not many of the characters I know in anime. He knows when it's better to sit quietly, and when he can afford a scream or a more violent reaction. He also knows his abilities and limitations, and until something surprises him, he can usually deal with the threat alone. And I would forget - knew Ultra Instinct before Goku ;).
This season there is a strong female representation. Mine Fujiko and Rebecca Rossellini - both remarkably beautiful, charming, clever, self-sufficient, cunning, entertaining, able to use feminine. Although they exhibit similar personality traits and external appearance, they have different characters. I met Rebecca for the first time and I even liked her. Not like Ami, Nyx, or the permanent heroes of "Lupine" (except Zenigata), but I liked it. At first, she seemed to me a fairly simple character, but when we were shown a piece of her past, I changed my mind about her. Nice creation, I hope that if the second season of the fairy tale about Mine arises, Rebecca will join him. By the way, Fujiko, he boobs too often. In the fifth season, all scenes of this type were more subtle. Although she wore leather leggings and T-shirts highlighting her large breasts at the time, she did not exude sex as much. It probably would bother me if it was the inconsistency of the authors or definitely overtaken with fan service, but Mine Fujiko loves to flirt and likes casual sex, so you can justify some forced "gags".
When it comes to the line and everything associated with it, as well as animation, then by default I have no major complaints against Lupine - this is a level that I will not experience when watching most fairy tales. The only thing that bothered me a bit was minor shortcomings, such as the unfinished contours of the characters (or at least I had such an impression), or their overly simplified models that stood in the background. I wouldn't even mention it, if it wasn't for the fact that I didn't see it in season 5. These are trifles with such beautifully drawn scenery, streets, restaurants, tenements, or ordinary-buildings, both from inside and outside. I don't know much about these aspects, but I rarely come across such reverence in TV series. The drawings are rich in colors and details. I do not know if I am not exaggerating this claim, but I think that the audio-visual quality of the 4th season of Lupine does not differ from the cinema level. In the sense that if the episodes were properly assembled (which in total was done in the "Italian Game") to the format of the film, then rather no one would get stuck.
Yuji Ohno is one of the better composers when it comes to anime and in "The Italian Adventure" he showed it once again. Many songs bring to mind retro anime from three decades ago, which flew in various European countries in the '90s and a few years later. Some of them, such as opening or jingles are remixes from the old parts of "Lupine". The classic instruments that Yuji Ohno used perfectly complement the exploits of cartoonists, graphic artists or animators, underlining comedy fragments or expanding the fairy-tale atmosphere of the mystical recesses of this series. Opening is simply a championship! I watched it every time, not only for the catchy song but also for great animation. If it goes on like this, David Production will stop being the studio that I think is making the best intros.
Shortening the above review to one paragraph - it's worth giving this cartoon a chance, even like videos from YT or screenshots do not buy you completely. I do not know how it is with other fairy tales from the TMS studio, but in the case of the "Lupin III" brand, they maintain the highest standards of anime creation from the technical, musical, and feature side. The script is not only easily absorbed but also can move threads that a more mature series would not be ashamed of and makes it with exceptional lightness. I highly recommend, great entertainment for both demanding and casual viewers.