Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. Have I ever talked about Lupin the Third on this show?
(AI girls): YES!
(Nitsuj): Okay, I talked about him a lot. I mean, how can I not talk about Lupin? He’s one of the most iconic anime characters of all time. He’s a timeless character who anyone from any generation of anime watchers can watch and enjoy. Which is why it’s sad that our generation never got an official Lupin anime. While it’s true we got the Woman Named Fujiko anime which was good I wouldn’t count that as a Lupin anime but rather a spinoff. Well somebody at TMS must have realized this and so they fixed that giving us Lupin the Third 2015. Also known as the Italian Adventure or Part IV this would be the fifth incarnation of the long-running series. Produced by TMS (Detective Conan and of course Lupin) this series was being marketed as a new beginning and entry point for the Lupin series. They were so dedicated to making this a new entry point that they actually gave Lupin a new jacket, blue. They also changed up the setting and instead have Lupin worked primarily in Italy. Because of this, Italy was actually the first country who got to watch the series followed by Japan a few months later. Let’s take a trip to little Italy and see what kind of adventures Lupin and the others get into.
Openings and Ending Theme
Now this series had a number of openings. In Italy, instead of using the traditional Lupin theme due to international copyright laws, they instead made a Lupin rap called “Lupin, un ladro in vacanza” which roughly translates to “Lupin, a thief on vacation”. The song was sung by fellow Italian singers Moreno and Giorgio Vanni and the song is hated quite a bit in Italy. The song is catchy and Moreno isn’t all that bad. I don’t understand that much Italian but I can tell he’s really doing his best here. The problem is the song doesn’t fit at all. It doesn’t match up with the opening visuals and feels out of place in the Lupin series. The Lupin series is known for their jazz and orchestra music, not rap or hip-hop. This choice of giving the series a rap opening just made no sense at all. Like I said before Italian fans hated this opening but from an outsider’s perspective the song is catchy, just not the best song for this series. The American version also got a different opening due once again to copyright laws. We got the instrumental version of “Nobody’s Like Lupin” by Papik which is from the original soundtrack. I have to admit this is way better than the Italian opening. For starters, it’s jazz and good jazz at that. The song is smooth, catchy, and actually feels like a James Bond song. This adds a whole new layer of coolness to the Lupin series and gives us something new to enjoy along with the original theme. Speaking of original theme, the Japanese used the traditional Lupin theme called “THEME FROM LUPIN III 2015” by You & Explosion Band. It’s the timeless Lupin theme that still remains to be my favorite opening theme to this day. They do tweak the song up a little bit in the middle to make it sound different and give it that Italian feel but other than that nothing much has changed.
The ending is “Chanto Iwanakya Aisanai” by Sayuri Ishikawa. While it may not be Love Squall I still think this is a good song. I love the slow and relaxing jazz, the atmosphere the song creates, and Sayuri is a very good and talented singer. While I would love to hear an updated version of Love Squall (which is on the original soundtrack) this is a good substitute and was actually one of my favorite endings from 2015.
Episodes 1-4
So the anime starts off in San Marino, Italy with Lupin getting married not to Fujiko (https://youtu.be/MdSH0l9NMek) but instead to this girl named Rebecca heir to the biggest hotel chains in the region as well as being a model, stylist, actress, singer, and world class athlete (wow she does it all). The two met about a month ago but she fell in love with Lupin at first sight and decided to marry him a month later. Everyone is there for the wedding even Zenigata is there who doesn’t believe this marriage (he’s not the only one). We find out later that Lupin’s goal is to steal the Royal Crown of Liberty the national treasure of San Marino. This treasure is so rare that only the 9 administrators of the country know its location (sounds like a quest from an RPG) however the crown is bought out and worn by the bride of the one of the administrator’s family the day after their marriage and wouldn’t you know it Rebecca is from one of the 9 families (so the marriage was a scam). Lupin and Jigen go to the venue of the crown where Zenigata and the police show up thanks to a fake notice letter someone gave the authorities. This forces Lupin to abandon the heist but Fujiko gets her hands on the crown so Lupin hunts her down and gets it. However, she gets captured by Zenigata (leave her, you’re married now) and Lupin gives up the crown to save her (you are a fool). The crown gets taken back and put in the hands of the police chief who we find out is really Rebecca in disguise (woah, she really is Lupin’s wife). It turns out she’s a risk seeker and marrying Lupin was just for fun and to get the crown. This leads to a very well animated chase scene with Rebecca escaping with the crown and her still married to Lupin (well at least it’s a better marriage than half the celebrity couples out there).
In episode 2 a soccer player by the name of Brozzi is in trouble. Brozzi is a drug addict and his soccer team is set to play in the championship match but the opposing team’s owner and oil rig giant Modini has pictures and medical files that prove Brozzi is a drug addict and threatens to expose him to the media unless he drops out of championship match (and watch the whole city riot because of the loss? I think not). Having somehow met Fujiko she introduces him to Lupin and begs him to steak the medical files, but in return Lupin wants him to score three goals in the match (from a guy who doesn’t play soccer that’s asking for a lot). Lupin manages to sneak into Modini’s mansion, finds the documents and escape. Lupin returns the documents to Brozzi and we find out that he’s actually blind in one eye which is why he was taking the dangerous drugs in the first place. He wanted to keep his eyesight to help the team who believed in him even when he was a good-for-nothing. The day of the game arrives and Brozzi keeps his promise and scores 3 goals winning the championship for his team (and he did it drug free. Hopefully).
Episode 3 opens up with Lupin stealing this necklace fragment from the museum. While that’s going on Jigen gets captured by some secret agent named Nix a man who works for the British government (first they tried to invade America now they’re trying to invade Italy. And they will fail again) and is a member of MI6 (basically the CIA of the United Kingdom). Nix interrogates Jigen using shock torture while Fujiko is also being withheld in another location where they’re treating her properly (well this isn’t sexist at all). In another part of town the prince of England has arrived to secure the necklace fragment and we see that he’s a friend of Rebecca (is there any man in this anime she hasn’t dated yet?). Nix with the help of KITT (or KITT 2 or 3.0) manages to find Lupin in the sewers where he’s there to catch Lupin the minute he emerges from the sewers. Lupin gives him the slip but every time he does Nix is there to catch him again because of some sonar device he has in his ear (gotta give the people of England credit. When it comes to spy work they cut no corners). When Lupin figures out his trick he manages to outsmart him and rescue Jigen but Nix figures out his mistake and has them cornered in a room. Before Nix can kill Lupin he receives a call from his superiors telling him that the prince is under attack at the hotel by fireworks. They order him to drop the mission and go rescue him (he has the greatest thief in the world cornered and you want him to drop what he’s doing to rescue the prince from some fireworks? Am I the only one seeing anything wrong with this picture?). Because Nix can’t ignore an order from his superiors he lets Lupin go and saves the prince only to find out that this was Lupin’s ace to get away. Lupin sent a warning card to Rebecca saying he was going to kidnap the prince at 4pm in her hotel so she played along with his plan and got the prince at her hotel not realizing that she was just a pawn in Lupin’s plans (that’s payback from the first episode). Nix accepts his defeat and moves on to his next mission operation: Italian Dream.
Episode 4 focuses on Jigen the man with the pistol. While trying to get painkillers at a hospital, Jigen discovers that a string of bodies has been coming in all thanks to a man named Eric aka nonlethal Eric (aka Fat E) a gangster who controls the area and doesn’t kill people but instead has his men shoot them up in nonlethal areas causing them to suffer great pain (any man can kill a man. But inflicting pain beyond their understanding is something only a true sadist could do). He also has a law that says anybody who has a gun and isn’t in his gang is to get shot up no matter what (well at least he’s trying to keep guns off the streets). Eric hears about Jigen and raids the hospital looking for the gun only to find out it’s been taken by an old man named Nino trying to get revenge for a young friend of his (not a bad motive. Too bad the gun isn’t loaded). Nino gets the execution treatment but somehow manages to get back to the hospital, survive surgery, and on his way to a full recovery (toughest old man I know). Jigen goes to get his pistol back from Eric where he tries to execute Jigen but Jigen manages to dodge all 9 shooters and have them kill each other (I would call BS but it’s Jigen he can totally do this). This leaves only Jigen and Eric where Jigen just takes his pistol and leaves not killing Eric as long as he promises not to do something like this again. However, Eric double crosses Jigen and tries to kill him only to get killed by Jigen in return by having a chandelier fall on him. Jigen gets picked up by Lupin and leaves without saying goodbye to the cute doctor.
Episodes 5-8
Episode 5 is a rather good episode. The episode centers around a young circus boy named Luca who as a child inherited the recipes of Tony Belcastro said to be the greatest magician the world has ever known. Luca inherited the recipes at a young age in his mind and since then has told nobody about them not even the other circus folks. He hasn’t even told the ringmaster the recipes who just happens to be Tony’s son (oh shit even daddy didn’t trust you to carry on his legacy). Because of this all the circus folks treat Luca badly and even call him the Magician Killer seeing as how he’s the one responsible for Tony’s death (you live by magic you die by magic). Luca always said that one day he would become a world class magician and keep Tony’s legacy alive but the day never came until Fujiko entered the scene and gave Luca the confidence he needed to make his dreams come true (take it from me man don’t get close to her, she will destroy you just like the other men before you). With Fujiko’s help and support Luca gained the confidence to start doing magic and wanted to show his skills off to Fujiko only to see that she was taken hostage by the circus folks (damn circus folks). They threaten to feed her to the tiger unless Luca writes down the recipes so he writes one down but they want the rest. Fujiko escapes the tiger den (Tiger: Damn. I really wanted to enjoy her) and tries to escape with Luca but he gets knocked out and winds up in the hospital with a head injury where Lupin and Jigen are there to question him and show him that Fujiko played him (told you man. That woman is dangerous). He says they have to hurry and stop the performance because the recipe he gave them is a fake with the outcome being death for the assistant (you couldn’t give them a non-fatal recipe you dumbass?). They go to the performance but are too late as Fujiko is burning at the stake (surprisingly a fitting in for a witch such as her). But she escapes as she figured out that the recipe was a fake because he wrote it with his left hand (the right is for trust. The left is for trickery). Luca goes after the ringmaster where we find out he’s the one who killed Tony (obviously) because he was going to give the circus to Luca (he earned it). Just as Luca is about to kill him Fujiko stops him where she says they should runaway together and the idiot blinded by love agrees with her. He signs a contract to join another circus and Fujiko ditches him for a large sum of money (https://youtu.be/PfsTk5i7mPw).
In episode 6 Lupin and the gang are after the treasure of Elena Gotti the widow of Roberto Gotti who hid his fortune and the only person who knows where it is Elena (way to put your wife at risk Roberto). Lupin tries to kidnap her which would be easy if Zenigata wasn’t her bodyguard. Lupin says he’ll steal her treasure by the night of the full moon so Zenigata gets her out of the mansion and to safety. Elena tells Zenigata there is no treasure but he doesn’t believe her and she doesn’t trust him. They go to a secret villa in the mountains where Elena tells Zenigata that when she was younger she grew up in a bad neighborhood where her father forced her into prostitution (https://youtu.be/EYWbatgKN4g). Her life changed when she met Roberto who took her out of the slums and made her his wife (she got her Cinderella ending). Zenigata calls the police to tell them that something is wrong and that something is that the Elena with them is really Fujiko in disguise (WHAT). That’s right, the real Elena is still in her mansion protected by the police. Lupin was trying to distract Zenigata while he and Jigen tried to get information out of the real Elena but Zenigata figured out she was a fake. Fujiko gets picked up by Lupin and Jigen in a helicopter but Zenigata somehow latches onto the helicopter and tries to apprehend Lupin only to crash the helicopter. Back at the mansion the detective Cesare reveals himself to be a thief who’s after the treasure (can no man be trusted?) and demands to know where it is. He holds Elena at gunpoint but Zenigata busts in (by God he ain’t human) and takes him down. Zenigata then figures out that there really is no treasure and that it was all a lie set up by Roberto to get back at Elena for cheating on him in the past (wow that’s pretty messed up man). Zenigata has a plan to get her out of this mess and that’s to have Lupin pretend he stole her treasure and escaped. The plan works and everyone goes home but we find out Elena was lying all this time and there is in fact a treasure hidden in the mansion (stop doing this). But Lupin and Zenigata both figure out she was lying and when she unlocks the vault to treasure which is gold ingot Lupin and the others show up to steal it but Zenigata is there to get in their way. When the full moon sets in Lupin retreats saying he lost (no! steal that gold! I’m tired of all the lies) and Zenigata leaves as well telling her to do whatever she wants with the gold. Inspired by Zenigata, Elena goes into politics using the gold to finance her campaign and her goal is to end poverty and destroy the mafia.
Episode 7 is a Nix episode (hey it’s been a while Nix) where we discover that he has a family with 3 daughters and everything (totally unexpected, didn’t really seem like the marrying type). We see that his real name is Justin (for some reason I like that name) and his family is under the impression that he’s a councilmen for the city (instead of the second Night Rider). At dinner his oldest daughter Brigitte talks about Rebecca being in town and wants to know if her dad can get her an autograph since she’s a big fan of her (Rebecca. Making those good girls go bad since episode 1). Of course Nix says no and says that she should focus on studying which upsets Brigitte quite a bit. The next day comes and while Brigitte is out she runs into Rebecca in the bathroom (not the most pleasant of meetings to say the least) where Rebecca pulls a prank on the child and leaves her purse behind which contains her thief outfit. Brigitte tries to return the purse but gets kidnapped by some thieves who are involved in the sex slave ring which is what Nix is currently investigating. To make the story even more interesting while Lupin and Jigen are trying to escape from Zenigata after robbing a store, they steal the car Brigitte was put in (wow, three stories woven together so masterfully). While trying to infiltrate the sex slave operation Nix sees the picture of his daughter and snaps (I don’t blame him, if it was my daughter I be on the war path too). He goes rogue and abandons the mission to find his daughter who is now with Lupin and Jigen and after she finds out that he and Rebecca are married (the divorce papers were never signed) she decides that she too likes Lupin because Rebecca likes him (man she takes her fandom up to a whole new level). Nix spots them and in a series of misunderstandings they all believe each party is trying to kidnap Brigitte (only one episode and this girl is already so popular). We get a chase scene where Nix corners all of them in an abandoned warehouse with Rebecca and her butler following them. Jigen and Lupin get Brigitte to safety and go to face Nix where they figure out that Brigitte is his daughter (I know, shocking right?) and he’s prepared to do anything to save her (hey I just realized something. This is like Taken, only with Lupin). Rebecca comes in to tell him that Brigitte is safe and that she’s out shopping at one of Rebecca’s stores in order to make sure she stays quiet about the contents of her purse. Once Nix learns that Brigitte is safe he calms down and takes his leave but not before warning them to never mess with his family (you don’t mess with another man’s family and live long to talk about it). At the end Nix manages to get Rebecca’s autograph for Brigitte and we end with Lupin becoming interested in the Italian Dream that Nix is after.
In episode 8 Lupin and Jigen are on the hunt for treasure in a hotel which belonged to this elite family whose origins date all the way back to the Renaissance era. The family was a part of this secret society but when the head of the family violated the code he, along with his entire family were killed however they left valuable treasure behind in their castle which is now a hotel. The only catch is the castle is haunted by the ghost of the family’s daughter Adele who scares anyone away who comes looking for the treasure (you’re gonna need a vacuum Lupin). Lupin and Jigen enter the hotel/castle where they’re greeted by the manager (who is a creepy bastard by the way) and we also see that another group of thieves are there to steal the treasure as well. Once Lupin and Jigen settle in Jigen quickly spots the ghost of Adele and begins to freak out (I’m surprised he didn’t pull his gun out). Lupin quickly figures out that the whole ghost thing is an act setup by the manager to attract more guests (you really think people are interested in spending the night at a haunted house?). After Jigen gets drunk and almost pees in the hallway Lupin discovers a secret passage way which leads to a maze beneath the hotel. After a bit of exploring he runs into a small girl named Carla who Lupin believes is the youngest daughter of the hotel manager. She says she’ll lead him to the treasure and after handling the other thieves they go to the treasure which is located in the hotel’s tower all along (the tower didn’t have any stairs?). Once in the tower Carla reveals that all this time she was a ghost who was charged with protecting the family treasure by Adele back when they were both young. Lupin decides not to take the treasure and leaves feeling good that he helped a spirit pass on.
Episodes 9-12
Episode 9 is a Goemon episode (well at least we know they’ll be plenty of action). It starts off with some skilled sniper killing a number of people who we find out are assassins. We then cut to Goemon going to visit a girl named Belladonna where he tells her Zora is back and he’s coming for them. We get a flashback where Goemon and Belladonna along with a bunch of other assassins were hired by an Italian politician named Faga to assassinate the evil dictator of this country in Africa (please be more specific). The only problem is he’s guarded by this skilled sniper named Zora and the only way to get to the dictator is to go through Zora. Goemon and Belladonna develop a friendship with each other and with their combined skills are able to kill the dictator and beat Zora with Belladonna taking a bullet for Goemon who vowed that he would never abandon her in her time of need. It’s now years later and Zora the person they thought was dead has returned for revenge and killing off the remaining assassins. When Goemon and Belladonna are the only two left remaining they go to Zora’s where he passed away and was crippled. Belladonna pulls her gun out on Goemon and reveals that she’s the one who killed the other assassins because Faga ordered her to do it. Faga is running for President of Italy and doesn’t want the assassination traced by to him so she hired Belladonna a girl who he picked up off the streets and trained to be a killing machine (a very cute one mind you) who was loyal to him and only him. Belladonna can’t bring herself to kill Goemon (not that you could pull it off in the first place) so she just knocks him out and tells him to never show his face to her again. But Goemon can’t leave a friend behind (tis the code of the samurai) and goes to rescue Belladonna from Faga. He storms Faga’s office and manages to reach Faga on the roof of the building (I’m surprised the people from below can’t see this) where he’s holding Belladonna hostage saying that she has a tiny bomb planted in her heart which will explode within 1 minute once activated. Faga threatens to set it off unless Goemon allows Belladonna to shoot him but Belladonna flips the script and shoots Faga instead (yeah, he should’ve seen this coming). Belladonna activates the bomb herself saying that she’s committed too many sins and doesn’t deserve to live (all people deserve to live. Except for Hitler, the people in ISIS, and other terrorists. These guys are assholes who deserve to burn in Hell). Goemon says he’s going to save her so he pierces her chest and destroys the bomb (don’t know how that’s possible without killing her but it’s Goemon I’m sure he found a way). In the end Goemon becomes a wanted criminal for killing Faga and somehow Belladonna survived and moved to a small village to live a life of solitude and peace.
It’s a battle of the women in episode 10. Fujiko and Rebecca are both out to steal this rare wine called Nectar of Love a wine created by this couple which will make you fall in love with the first person you see (yes, but the hangover is terrible) and they each want Lupin’s help to get it (who will he chose? His adventurous hot wife or cocktease mistress?). Lupin does the manly thing and takes both of them to the wine auction (this can only end badly for him) where at first it seems like it’s going to be your typical cliché double-date scenario, but the ladies quickly find out what’s going on and confront Lupin (thank you). After the double-date gets exposed it becomes a race to see who can steal the wine first for their own motives. Fujiko wants to sell it for money while Rebecca just wants to steal it for the thrill (one’s all about the money the other is all about the thrills. Makes you wonder what Lupin sees in them). They each manage to reach the cellar when something happens to them. Rather than take the wine they both go after Lupin because they want him (alright Lupin’s dream come true). Lupin figures out that the wine they drank at the party was the Nectar of Love in disguise set up by the creepy server who is actually the owner of the mansion and wine. He tries to escape with a barrel of the wine but gets stopped by Rebecca and Fujiko where we find out that the contents of the barrel contains the remains of his dead wife who he killed after she decided to stop making the wine. He felt bad about what he did and wanted to give her a proper burial. After that’s exposed Lupin tries to enjoy his time with the ladies but the wine wears off and he gets kicked by both of them (even when he wins he loses).
In episode 11 Rebecca is studying the journal of Wataru the only man in the world who Rebecca loved but died some time ago (then what does that make Lupin? Sloppy seconds?). Wataru is the man who created the Italian Dream but he hid his research from the world and the only way to find it is to decipher his journal. She thinks she deciphered it and heads to the location of where his research might be but when she arrives at the location she gets captured by MI6 and taken to their base which is impenetrable (https://youtu.be/6nSKkwzwdW4?t=3s). Rebecca’s loyal butler Robson goes to Lupin and the gang for help where Lupin mimics the voice of their superior and turns all the agents against one another (the man of a million voices). Lupin tricks Nix into escorting Rebecca outside the building where Lupin and the others save her however the rest of the agents catch on to Lupin’s trick and surround him and the others (and here I thought Italy was a peaceful country. So much violence and in the streets of all places). In order to protect his master Robson threatens to blow up Nix’s family (oh big mistake Robson). This causes Nix to go berserk on everyone attacking his own companions who try to calm him down. In the confusion Lupin and the others escape and Nix goes on a manhunt trying to find them. Back at Lupin’s hideout he decides to take a crack at deciphering’s Wataru’s book to end the episode (anything to make your wife happy huh Lupin?)
In episode 12 Lupin manages to decipher Wataru’s book (https://youtu.be/uvUL28Skt6E) and falls into a dream like state where (you might want to prepare yourself or sit down for this next part because it’s pretty stupid) he meets Wataru who somehow implanted his own ego into the book (. . .okay, the Lupin series has always had one foot in reality and another foot in fantasy but even by that logic hell even anime logic this whole thing is stupid). So after you force yourself to buy into this bullshit Wataru tells him that someone wanted to know the secrets of his research and killed him (you could’ve just kidnapped Rebecca and forced him to tell you the secrets of the Italian Dream but then again I’m smart). He tells Lupin that the Italian Dream is a technique which allows anyone to manipulate and alter the memories of anyone they chose, and he wants Lupin to destroy his research before it falls into the wrong hands. Lupin takes Rebecca with him to destroy the research which is in San Marino inside that cabin Rebecca went to in episode 11. They unlock a secret passageway which leads to the research and Lupin burns it just in time before Nix shows up however he uses his abilities to memorize all the notes and goes after Lupin where he plans to kill him. Lupin gets Rebecca to safety and he fights Nix where they both get shot and captured by MI6. The next day Zenigata negotiates with MI6 to get Lupin where they give him Lupin as long as he stays out of their business (so after all these years Zenigata finally captures Lupin. Never thought I see the day). As for Nix he exchanges Wataru’s research for his life and family’s safety.
And that was the first part of Lupin the Third Part IV. Tune in next week when we take a look at the second where things really get interesting. Grazie per aver letto, ci vediamo la prossima volta Project Nitsuj.
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