Edward Snowden Reacts to His Surprise Cameo in Lupin III

If you were to look up Edward Snowden, you would find tons of information about the guy. His controversial status as a whistleblower continues to rile debates but it would take a bit more digging to learn of Snowden’s otaku leanings. The activist is an anime lover, and regardless of his reputation, fans can relate to how surprised Snowden was after being included in an anime.

For those who do not know, Lupin III: Goodbye Partner came out last year, and the heist special included a nod to Snowden. The hacktivist appeared as Edward Znoden, and it seems the man himself learned about the cameo the other day.

Thanks to the special’s English dub, Snowden was informed of his cameo after a fan tweeted a screen shot to him. It left him asking “is this real” to which followers said yes.

Apparently, Lupin III remains one of Snowden’s favorite series, so he was humbled by the cameo.

“It’s like a lifetime achievement award. Lupin is one of my favorite series,” he shared (via ANN). “Let us give thanks that anime is a thing now.”

For anyone wanting to see this cameo for themselves, they can find the English dub on iTunes, Google Play, and more. The version made its debut at Anime NYC last month long after the Lupin III special premiered in Japan. Originally, the long-awaited Lupin III special hit up overseas fans in late January. As for Snowden, the hacker is currently living in Russia after his U.S. passport was revoked following his dissemination of highly classified NSA documents.

Did you ever expect a cameo like this to pop up in Lupin III? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!

For those unfamiliar with Lupin the Third, the series was originally created by Monkey Punch. The story follows the adventures of Arsene Lupin, a master thief from Maurice Leblanc’s series of novels. First appearing in Weekly Manga Action in 1967, the series has since spawned multiple manga series, six anime series, six OVAs, two live-action film, 25 TV specials, two musicals, music and drama CDs. The copyright for the series was previously wrapped in a suit with Maurice Leblanc, but has since expired meaning the series no longer has to go by other names in territories outside of Japan and the United States.