Rewatching Part 5

[Seroster]

So... I started rewatching part 5! This is only my second watch and it's been several years since I saw it before.

I've watched episodes 1-4 so far and will just try to provide a comment or two for those, going forward maybe a little more, I guess it'll depend.

Episode 1: obviously, good setup and introduction of Ami. I like how Lupin's plan includes Goemon infiltrating as a guard all along, and we don't find out about it until the reveal.
(Side note, through the series so far, Lupin is apparently mispronouncing Ami's name, but how would Amy and Ami be pronounced differently? Long A in Amy, short A in Ami?)

Episode 2: Hurray for Zenigata being here.... cool airplane escape.

Episode 3: Killers Gather In The Wasteland? Classic. We start to see Lupin game the computer system or the game itself, in the sense of pitting assassins against each other.

 

[Seroster]

Episode 4: We could alternatively call this "Zenigata to the Rescue"! Ami is great insofar, as basically a shutin (despite what she said) she questions a lot, so we get sequences like her questioning the relationship between Lupin and Zenigata.

I just have to transcribe this bit.

Zenigata: Love and friendship aren't things you can measure in purely logical terms.
Ami: Do you consider Lupin a friend? Have your irrational actions to help us been your idea of friendship?
Z: Of course not! How could I ever be friends with a lying, law-breaking, womanizing scoundrel?
Lupin: Okay, now tell me how you REALLY feel...
A: Oh, I get it.
Z: You do?
A: Don't worry. I believe that all forms of love are valid.
Z: You've got it all wrong! Uhh, I only came out here because Lupin was... Well y'know...

I can't keep typing because my cat wants attention, but it really was very well done.

OFC this episode ends with Lupin dead... RIP.

 

[Seroster]

Episode 5: A Crook's Resolve

I'm on a train so have time to type a bit as I watch.

Is Part 5 the first time we actually get a long form Lupin story? Part 4 is a bit episodic, even if there are sequels.

I forgot that some time has passed. Odd that only now is Zenigata getting a review, but Fuijko's maid has already forgotten. Maybe a month?

Ofc Zenigata is suspicious if he hasn't seen Lupin's body.

I like how sarcastic Ami can be.

And here we get a semi competent ZENIGATA woohoo.

I wonder where this should be placed in any overall chronology of Lupin. There's nothing any more between him and Fujiko but he's kind of embarrassed about caring for Ami. Generally seems a bit late but before Cagliostro? Or after?

We get the end of one story here and man, this is absolutely the peak as far as I'm concerned. I guess it's not very goofy if that's what you want.

 

[Seroster]

Episode 6: Lupin vs the Smart Safe

Welllll this one as you all know is channelling Part 3 all the way. Personally I didn't like Part 3 overall, but after the seriousness of episodes 1-5 this is a pretty great slapstick interlude. I forgot about the nod to Cagliostro that they snuck into this one.

The Hirameki (?) brothers who create the safe are not from any other anime, are they? It's pretty impressive that they feel like characters from some other anime with their workshop left to them by their dad, etc. They're pretty well realized for a one-off.

The version with subs that I am watching calls the fish that Lupin eats "blueblack fish". I'm not sure what is meant by that - even the Encyclopedia Britannica suggests that it could be herring or sockeye salmon!

PS I like that they did a little colour update to Part 3 costumes. Lupin's jacket is a pale pink, not a hot pink, for instance.

 

[Seroster]

Episode 7: His Name is Albert

Is this the most convoluted plot in a Lupin story? Lupin is asked by an old friend to steal something (and Fujiko isn't involved or being blackmailed or anything) and then other people are trying to steal it, so Lupin tries to set up an exchange in order to get more information and the situation gets more dangerous but he's prepared for it. And then it turns out that his old friend is already dead, and I guess (based on the clue he seeded in the Bible) that it was actually Albert in disguise.

That's some good intrigue there.

Small note: I'd forgotten that when working on a watch, Albert wears a sort of monocle. So they BOTH have monocles... and the original Arsene Lupin (the first) is often shown with one.

 

[Seroster]

Episode 8: Who Has the Black Notebook?

This episode does what I have to consider kind of weak, introducing a character and expecting us to care about that character when they die. And yet, he is portrayed sympathetically and I did kind of care.

Also we get the first 'freaky' character in the series, who wears a mask and fights with two shotgun/tonfas, if that's the right way to describe them. I liked Lupin's concealed extendable cane for fighting with - I don't think we've ever seen that before.

And this episode ends with Lupin seemingly killed (again!?) by Albert, such that I thought maybe it was all a setup and Lupin was faking... but...

 

[Seroster]

Episode 9: The Man Who Abandoned "Lupin"

We finally get Jigen and Goemon showing up (after Goemon was unavailable because he is bad at using a cell phone, a nice touch) and rescuing Lupin, Albert getting defeated by the wild bunch, and Lupin recovering in the sewers. I loved J + G's reaction to Lupin apologizing to them. "You're giving me a rash" lol

This episode has got a lot of great stuff in it. We get the reveal of what is effectively the third faction who want the book - this is the sort of good complexity for intrigue. What if some of the typical TV specials had even two villain groups vying to get the treasure, besides Lupin?

I particularly noted the sequence where Lupin + Jigen + Goemon escape from their attic hideout when guys with machineguns burst in. We get some genuinely goofy moments like Lupin + Jigen running awkwardly to hide behind a chimney, then a bunch of it falling apart and them hiding behind the remainder. And then when they're on their motorbike, the girl with the fishing lines makes them crash in goofy fashion right when they're in the middle of a "look how cool we are" moment.

And we get to understand more about Albert and what he wants.

Great episode, just great.

 

[Seroster]

PS Albert is shown, when he reverts to putting on his thieving clothes, to have a Walther P38 like Lupin. Which is of course a thing they played with for the Walter P38 special, and... yeah, digging around on the fandom site, Becky used one in Stolen Lupin. I guess "has the same gun type as Lupin" is a bit of a trope.

 

[Seroster]

Episode 10: Thief and Thief

I don't know what needs to be said - the big fight climax of struggling against Jose's gang and getting the black book back. Lots of great action. The deaths of Chlo, Revenant, and Araignée are all a bit more bloody or final than we usually see - also there's a bit where Goemon stabs a car driver and we actually see blood spurt from the hole in the car made by his sword. I really like Revenant's character design. RIP.

 

[Seroster]

You know so much of this is good but WHY does Jigen have a shotgun in the intro? I don't recall him ever using one in the show!

 

[Seroster]

11 - Get Pablo's Collection.

With a little domestic scene we go back in time to a red jacket episode! And the characters are drawn differently.

The car race stuff wast just... ok, weird. There's a magic spell (effectively) that lets the cars be real until the sun comes up, or it's noon or something, and then they turn into wrecks? Meh.

Everything from the scene where they have to decide who gets to go in the sub, and on, is just great. A heartwarming little story of the three friends, complete with taking the piss out of each other at the end.

 

[Seroster]

Episode 12 - The Extravangance of Goemon III

A fun little Goemon-focused episode. His extravagance is overspending to protect the potential target of their theft from other robbers. Kinda light - the whole "what if Goemon was mistaken for a cosplayer" seems like the main idea being the episode. No notes.

 

[Seroster]

Aaaand on to another story arc with Episode 13 - The Bow, The Princess, and the Terrorist.

Everyone is pretty good in this. Goemon ought to get a special mention for being able to take people out silently, unless they notice him coming and start shooting. Theoretically Jigen and Lupin could use a silencer but it doesn't seem to happen that often.

Lots of Fujiko time in this one and her method of taking out the terrorists in the principal's office was really good.

And we get the introduction of McGuire at the end, who I remember being important to the whole arc even if I don't remember much about him.

Thematically favorite moment though - Lupin's determined expression, and his words

 

[Hooder]

Not sure how I didn't find your thread until now but I've just started rewatching Part 5 myself, I've only really gone back to watch the episodic ones
I'm also watching this via weekly as I've already got a few shows on the run atm

 

[Seroster]

Looks like we're back! But maybe Tsushi had to go back to a backup and we lost a few posts.

 

[Seroster]

Well, I've watched the whole of arc 3 (Padar) now. I forget if I posted here and posts were lost, or not.

On the plus side, I like how you have the High Priest, and the King, and the CIA, and Shake Hands, and they all kinda want somewhat different things. And that's before you add Lupin or Fujiko to the story.

On the minus side... a king, and a high priest, as competing factions? Like, I remember this sort of story in 1970s Dr Who (set on the planet Peladon) but like where are we going to find anything like this today? It feels kind of outdated... On the plus side, it personalizes power in the secular faction - you can't have Dolma be the inheritor of power if power doesn't devolve to the child of the ruler.

I liked McGuire (original name, I forget) but ... he ends up dead. Great. Might otherwise have been an interesting character to have return if the interests of Padar were involved in another story. And Ami raises the theme of what Fujiko and Lupin are to each other, with Fujiko asking that question and Lupin.... NOT answering it and running off with the jewel. Jerk.

Props to Jigen and Goemon saving the day

All that aside, it's a well-told story.

 

[Seroster]

Episode 17 - Introducing Detective Jim Barnett the Third

A green jacket episode! With Lupin being a nice guy! Shock and horror! Having to solve a murder mystery in a castle locked until dawn!

I like this one. I would be MIGHTILY entertained by Jim Barnett opening up that detective agency he jokes about it at the end. Like, imagine a 5 episode arc of Lupin pretending to be or acting as a P.I. It could be very entertaining.


That said... having the solution to the murder be "one of the suspects has an unknown twin brother" is not good mystery writing, although it does fit with the Sherlock Holmes maxim about how after you eliminate everything else, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.

Now that I think about the fact that this mystery is written in the world of Lupin III, it seems like the solution could just as easily have been "someone was wearing a mask of Lupin III's quality when he disguises himself as someone else."

Still, I like the role reversal and it's fun.

 

[Seroster]

Episode 18 - Fujiko's Gift

Man, this episode is kind of a gift for giving us a slice of life story, with tons of bickering about wearing their disguises, who used the last pair of chopsticks, etc. As the wiki says, Lupin has a red tie like in Part 4, suggesting this takes place earlier than the blue-jacket-with-pink-tie episodes of part 5. Which makes sense because he's his usual horndog as opposed to Fujiko being of less interest. Which is actually an extremely interesting detail, as it suggests this hideout in France was used for years??

I don't think I need to summarize this. It's basically implied that Fujiko came over with some kind of anniversary gift, but anniversary of what exactly? It has to be of something romantic between the two of them, and for ONCE in maybe the history of the ENTIRE series, she seems to actually be genuinely upset that Lupin has forgotten what it was. Which is a bit rich considering how much she plays him for a sucker time and again.

Zenigata showing up was the icing on the cake for this episode, honestly. Too funny. But now I see that it actually raises and doesn't seem to answer a couple of questions. If you've read this - chime with your opinion, please!

 

[Seroster]

Episode 19 - A 7.62mm Mirage

This is a good one. The villain being a rich game playing maniac who INSISTS on playing chess/snipers seems the right of nuts to have come from the manga. Though manga Lupin would I presume not have responded to random people being shot at, as coercive.

Interesting that this is a combined Lupin and Jigen episode with good attention given to both characters. More to Jigen I guess.

Is this the longest gun duel in the franchise?

More specific spoiler territory: Mirage's daughter doesn't get a lot of agency in the finale, does she? Complete with Jigen trying to turn her away from being a sniper by negging her. Idk, but that's not really cool.

Still very good overall.

 

[Hooder]

Episode 6: Lupin vs the Smart Safe

Welllll this one as you all know is channelling Part 3 all the way. Personally I didn't like Part 3 overall, but after the seriousness of episodes 1-5 this is a pretty great slapstick interlude. I forgot about the nod to Cagliostro that they snuck into this one.

The Hirameki (?) brothers who create the safe are not from any other anime, are they? It's pretty impressive that they feel like characters from some other anime with their workshop left to them by their dad, etc. They're pretty well realized for a one-off.

The version with subs that I am watching calls the fish that Lupin eats "blueblack fish". I'm not sure what is meant by that - even the Encyclopedia Britannica suggests that it could be herring or sockeye salmon!

PS I like that they did a little colour update to Part 3 costumes. Lupin's jacket is a pale pink, not a hot pink, for instance.

This happens to be one I've watched one a few times and watched it again yesterday, I used to love it and while I do enjoy the goofy concept. I feel like it misrepresents Part 3 just a tad, P3 is goofy yes but I would argue that wasn't the only thing it had going for it, if anything I think plenty of Part 2 shares it's DNA with it.

still a solid 7/10
I hope Fujiok can become part of the team again in the future like she was here tbh