Lupin III (?????, Rupan Sansei) began as a Japanese manga (comic) series written and illustrated by Kazuhiko Kato under the artist handle of “Monkey Punch.” The storyline focuses on a gang of thieves led by Arsène Lupin III, the grandson of Arsène Lupin, the gentleman thief of Maurice Leblanc’s series of novels. Lupin and his gang travel throughout the world to steal treasures and escape from the law. Phew, okay, glad we’ve gotten all that settled!

At any rate, the first Lupin III manga appeared in “Weekly Manga Action,” a series magazine, beginning on 10 August 1967. This led to the creation of a media franchise that includes numerous manga comics, a handful of animated TV shows, feature films, direct-to-video releases, TV specials, music CDs, video games, and a musical. Finally, WhiteLight Entertainment, a production company owned by Gerald R. Molen, purchased the live action theatrical rights to Lupin III in 2003 and the Hollywood production is scheduled to be released in 2009.

So what does any of this have to do with The Black Card you might be asking? Maybe you’re antsy for me to get to the point. Well, if I still haven’t lost you by now: on one of the Lupin III TV episodes, a character reserved her $8,000.00 a night suite at the Waldorf Astoria (pic below). Even Anime, although considered adult cartoons, has been infected. This is not only another example of Black AMEX in popular culture, but goes to show that the AMEX has gone global with the Black AMEX as a status symbol.