English Dub Review: Lupin the Third: Part V “Zenigata, Gentleman Thief”

 

 

Overview (Spoilers Below)

Russia is home to a new thief named Monety, who is fixing to challenge Lupin for the title of World’s Greatest Thief. He and a pair of goons pull off a number of robberies in a similar style to that of the Lupin gang, much to the chagrin of the Russia mafia, their most-frequented target.

Despite having hit this particular town not long before, the Lupin gang shows up just in time to hear rumors about this new master thief. However, they don’t truly believe the hype until Lupin is one-upped in a hang glider robbery by Monety who possesses a much better hang glider that always seems to fly upward. In the blink of an eye, Lupin catches a glimpse of the new thief in town and immediately recognizes him as Inspector Zenigata.

What is going on here? Jigen and Goemon are confused until they discern the reason Lupin wanted to go back to Russia. The old softy was worried about Zenigata. Lately, their capers hadn’t been as difficult because the inspector had gone missing and the last time they saw him was in this very town. But whatever Zenigata is playing at, Lupin takes it personally and won’t let the aging policeman beat him at his own game.

Lupin dons a mask to pull a jewel heist and gets into the illegal chop shop even though they just admitted Zenigata who was wearing the exact same mask. When the gang gets locked in the vault seconds after Monety’s gang retreats, Lupin thinks the inspector set him up—it was actually an employee who secretly pulled the trip switch.

The final heist Lupin plans involves getting his hands on a miniature sculpture of the “one-winged Venus.” Again, Zenigata’s crew beats them to the punch, but this time Lupin catches up to Zenigata and discovers that he lost his memory. An interesting ripple.

After his goons are arrested, Zenigata retreats to the hideout and we’re treated to a flashback of how the inspector got into this predicament. It turns out the two goons hit Zenigata with their car and hid his Interpol badge from him as they nursed him back to health. Without his memories, the goons realize he’s quite an efficient thief and invite him to join the gang. Now a solo act, Monety goes after one final item, a pair of jewels known as the Eye of the Romanovs.

Lupin and Zenigata both manage to steal one of the jewels as they chase each other through the snow-fallen woods. A bit of prat-falling wackiness leads to Zenigata accidentally handcuffing Lupin, a familiar image that brings the old man’s memories soaring back. Unfortunately, in the time it takes the inspector to regain his bearings, Lupin fastens the handcuffs around Zenigata’s ankles. This allows the master thief to get away with both jewels, reclaiming his title of World’s Greatest Thief.

 

Our Take

This wasn’t as bad as some of the stand-alone episodes this season, but it did suffer from a massive lack of stakes. Early in the episode, we’re introduced to the Russian mafia and a bunch of crooked cops who never really do anything. The cops resurface for a brief moment to arrest Zenigata’s goons, but they don’t pose a threat to any of our main characters. And aside from shooting at and missing Lupin on his hang glider, the Russian mafia doesn’t seem to care that they’re being ripped off—you know, because the mafia is so good at letting things go.

Amnesia plots almost never work because they ask the audience to suspend their disbelief way too far. Yes, this is an animated television show, so we’re not expecting extreme realism, but Lupin has given us so many realistic episodes that such a “silly” plot doesn’t feel authentic. Seriously, Lupin didn’t even get amnesia in that dreadful “Smart Safe” episode when Jigen and Fujiko kept pounding on him for the entire half hour. And wasn’t it a little too convenient for Zenigata to get run over by two established thieves? What kind of mafia town allows a bunch of petty burglars to profit so heartily?

Following last week’s Jigen episode, we didn’t get much out of the quiet marksman this week. I guess that’s par for the course for a quiet marksman. However, even though Goemon wasn’t around much either, he stole every scene he was in. First he theorized that Zenigata was fired from Interpol and forced to wander the land as a modern Ronin. Then he gets paranoid thinking Zenigata will beat them to every heist for all eternity. And finally, he goes ballistic, slicing through metal doors, snowmobiles, and an entire fleet of police cars like they’re lines of paper dolls. What a pip this guy is!

Anyway, we’re back to the regular story arc next week, and it’s about damn time.