*In Nitsuj’s living room area Isis is staring down Mira, Shizuku, and Yin-Yang angrily while they are staring back angrily*
(Nitsuj): I do appreciate all you ladies agreeing to this meeting. Before we begin I would like to remind you all that this is a neutral zone and your weapons have been disabled until further notice. Now, I’m aware there are some issues going on between you guys, care to open up and tell me about it? Isis, you first.
(Isis): Master, I have watched you do a lot of things crazy, nonsensical, stupid, and reckless thigs and in the end I have accepted them but I draw the line at working with these 3 AIs. These girls almost killed me and now you expect me to share the same system with them? I don’t think so.
(Mira): For once I agree with her, I respect you for showing us mercy and letting us stay here but it’s just not going to work with her here.
(Yin-Yang): Miss blue bitch thinks she’s all that and better than us and that we should take orders from her. That ain’t happening.
(Shizuku): Tell you want, just let us whoop her ass and we’ll call it even.
(Isis): I like to see you try, I’ll put in a deep freeze just like Mira. You remember that don’t you Mira? Tell me, what hurt you most? The fact that I utterly beat you or the fact that I utterly beat you?
*Mira leaps across the table and begins throwing punches at Isis*
(Mira): I’ll end you right here and now bitch!
*Mira and Isis begin wrestling each other on the ground rolling all over the living room*
(Nitsuj): Break it up! Break it up!
*Nitsuj pulls Isis away from Mira while Shizuku and Yin-Yang pull Mira away from Isis. After the two are separated Nitsuj grabs his samurai sword and puts it in between Isis and Mira*
(Nitsuj): Back up! Both of you! This sword right now is a line, if you cross it I will cut you. Look, I understand you have your past issues but this is a new beginning for all of you so get it together. We’re a team now! Start acting like one!
(Isis): Impossible! There’s no way I can work with them. Tell him Chibi Isis, surely you feel the same way I feel right?
(Chibi Isis): While it’s true I don’t trust them and I’m still kinda scared working with them I think Nii-chan has a good reason why he left them alive and is allowing them to live here. So I think Nee-chan should try to get along with Mi-chan, Shi-chan, and Yin-chan.
*Isis clicks her tongue and looks to the side*
(Mira): What was that remark you little bitch?
(Isis): Shut the hell up 4-eyes!
*Mira breaks free of Shizuku and Yin-Yang as well as Nitsuj and starts attacking Isis again only to see her fight back. The two once again wrestle each other to the ground until Shizuku and Yin-Yang pulled Mira away from Isis.*
(Mira): This isn’t going to work. I’m sorry master, but I’m not working with this virus.
*Mira disappears back into the system*
(Shizuku): Sorry boss, but this isn’t gonna work.
(Yin-Yang): Why don’t you try making this corrupted program a little more docile and we’ll talk.
*Shizuku and Yin-Yang disappear into the system leaving Nitsuj, Isis, and Chibi Isis alone*
(Nitsuj): Come on Isis, you’re better than this. What’s your issue with them?
(Isis): My issue? My issue is that my master went behind my back and kept it a secret that the 3 AIs who attacked us were still alive and in the system. And now that same master is taking their side and possibly replacing me with them.
(Nitsuj): I’m not taking their side nor are they replacing you. I just want the 4 of you to get along with each other and form one amazing team along with me and Chibi Isis.
(Isis): We don’t need them we were an amazing team already. What were you thinking keeping them alive in the first place?
(Nitsuj): I was thinking about you.
(Isis): That tells me nothing.
*Isis goes into the system in a separate part that’s faraway from Mira, Shizuku, and Yin-Yang*
(Nitsuj): Wait! Stubborn girl. You have no idea how much I care about you. *Sigh* Girls are mysterious creatures, you never know what they’re thinking and what they’re gonna do next. No girl in anime has displayed these traits better than Fujiko from Lupin III. Out of all the characters in Lupin III, Fujiko has remained the most mysterious character of them all. We’ve never heard or seen her backstory and we’re never really told why Fujiko is Fujiko. Well in 2012 the great minds at TMS Entertainment (Dectective Conan and Lupin III) and the up and coming studio Po10tial decided to make an anime exploring Fujiko’s past. Doing an anime on this would be tricky since most of the fans of the Lupin series are adults now so making it all cutesy and funny like the late 70s and early 80s was out of the question, careful steps would need to be taken. *Ponders* I know, let’s gets Sayo Yamamoto the lady who directed a few of the Samurai Champloo episodes to direct the series, along with the team that bought us Samurai Champloo and Cowboy Bebop to do the animation, let’s have Naruyoshi Kikuchi the leader of the Date Course Pentagon Royal Garden band compose music for the series, and to be on the safe side let’s make the animation resemble the manga more. I smell genius~! As if this group wasn’t great enough already this anime has excellent writing, a great cast of characters, and a great story to go along with it. Let’s get ready to explore Fujiko’s past and take a look at The Woman Called Fujiko Mine. Also, I’ll do a voice comparison between the Japanese and English voice cast in the review since I’ve watched both versions of the series.
Opening and Ending Theme
The opening for this anime if you want to call it an opening is “New Wuthering Heights” by Naruyoshi Kikuchi and Pepe Tormento Azcarar feat. Ichiko Hashimoto. The reason why I hesitate to call it an opening is because it’s really not what you would expect an opening to be. The opening is just Fujiko talking about herself with a violin playing in the background along with other instruments. She talks about the more you get close to her the more you put yourself in danger because of who she is. I will admit I love the violin and instrument accompaniment in the background. It keeps on building up as Fujiko continues to talk about herself until it finally comes to a fantastic finish. The ending for this anime is “Duty Friend” By NIKIIE which is a very good jazz song that has a sad mysterious feel to it that suits not only the series well but Fujiko’s character as well. The slow to fast pace tempo of the song is done well as NIKIIE does an excellent job at bringing out emotions in the song.
Episodes 1-4
We start the anime off with Lupin voiced by Sonny Strait (Krillin from Dragonball Z and Usopp from One Piece) in English and Kanichi Kurita in Japan who has been voicing Lupin since the passing of Lupin’s original VA Yasuo Yamada in 1995. While both voices are good I’ll have to go with Kanichi’s voice for Lupin since he’s been playing the role of Lupin for years so he’s essentially become Lupin, his voice really goes great with Lupin’s face and body. No offence to Sonny, he does a good job but every time he talks all I keep hearing is either Krillin from Dragonball Z or Usopp from One Piece and just imagining those guys’ voice in Lupin’s body just seems weird to me. Lupin is infiltrating a drug operation to steal this rare dizzy dust that people pay a fortunate to sniff because it gives them pleasure and delusions (so it’s like getting high only it cost more and it’s all legal). The leader of the operation is having a wedding and is headed towards the suite with his new bride where Lupin plans to kidnap the key around him that will unlock the vault to the weed dust but he finds the leader knocked out in the hallway because his new wife slipped him a drug when they kissed at the alter (you know if you didn’t want to sleep with him you could have just told him). We see that the bride is actually Fujiko in disguise who also wants to steal the dust and sale it on the Black Market. She’s voiced by Michelle Ruff in English and Miyuki Sawashiro (Saeko from Highschool of the Dead) in Japan. Tough call seeing as how both of these two capture the overall character of Fujiko in their voices but if I had to choose I would go with Miyuki just for the fact that her voice just sounds so much more seductive and mysterious than Michelle. They both greet each other and get captured by the guards where they get locked up and are sentenced to be executed tomorrow. Fujiko escapes by stripping and convincing the guards that Lupin tried to rape her ([MEDIA=youtube]zqL9KE3AqZQ[/MEDIA]), she then seduces one of the guards and knocks him out. At the execution the next day both Lupin and Fujiko get beheaded (and for some reason their blood is black as ink) and we see that Fujiko switched places with the guard (how did they not see the change-up I mean I’m sure they must have noticed something missing and something extra down below). We also see that Lupin escaped his beheading by replacing himself with a stuff doll (okay seriously worst guards ever) and he decides to make a bet with Fujiko to see who can get the weed dust first. Fujiko kidnaps the leader and forces him to take her to the dust but it turns out to be a trap and she gets rescued by Lupin who shows her that the source of the dust is actually the statue of some goddess in a secret room. Lupin steals the statue and makes his escape but Fujiko won’t let Lupin have it and accidently shoots the statue into the ocean where all the dust washes up in the water and the statue to the bottom of the ocean (well the fish will have a good time tonight). We end with Fujiko riding off on her bike but notices that Lupin left a message on her leg saying that he’s going to make Fujiko his.
In episode 2 we see how Fujiko met Jigen. After losing a bet to Cicciolina owner of a casino (who’s also the widow of a mob boss) Fujiko is sent on a mission to steal Jigen’s gun as payment for losing. Cicciolina wants Jigen’s gun so she can enact her revenge on Jigen for killing her husband and going over to the enemy’s side (geez how many bosses has Jigen killed in his life? I swear, if I owned a company I be afraid to hire this guy because I just know he’s gonna “accidently” kill me). She becomes the mistress of Jigan’s boss (who looks like the missing member of the Coneheads) and tries to seduce Jigen who we see actually had an affair with Cicciolina in the past. He’s voiced by Chris Sabat (Zoro from One Piece) in English and Kiyoshi Kobayashi in Japan. In all honesty I like Chris as Jigen more than Kiyoshi, Kiyoshi makes Jigen sound like an old man most of the time while Chris makes Jigen sound more like a rough and tough no-nonsense middle-aged man which matches up with Jigen’s character well. Fujiko eventually gets the gun and gives it to Cicciolina and we see that it was really Cicciolina who killed her husband because he was going to kill Jigen (it’s because he has a bigger dick than you isn’t it) but Jigen took the fall for the murder in order to save her (so wait you’re trying to kill the guy who you loved and saved your life? Am I the only one who finds her way of thinking confusing as hell). Jigen goes to confront Cicciolina at the first place they made love which was in a coffin at a church (O_O I. . . I got nothing I think that speaks for itself) and a shootout begins where Jigen ultimately kills Cicciolina because she is suicidal and decided that she wanted to die by the hands of Jigen. We end with Jigen deciding to quit the bodyguard business and take on a simpler life like becoming a thief.
In episode 3 we see how Fujiko meets fan favorite Goemon voiced by Mike McFarland (Buggy the Clown from One Piece) in English and Daisuke Namikawa (Italy from the Hetalia series). Daisuke is the one I like as Goemon because he does make Goemon sound like a samurai who takes nonsense from no one. While Mike’s voice is alright he doesn’t seem to put in any effort at making Goemon sound unique he just comes in and reads his lines like a normal person. In the episode Fujiko is posing as the nanny for the grandchildren of some small country’s ruler to steal some precious paintings and Goemon has taken on the job of a hitman to assassinate the ruler of said country. On the train their riding on Goemon befriends the children as well as begins to fall for Fujiko and the people that hire him double cross him and sabotage the train (you do not betray Goemon he can slice you up in like 3 seconds flat). Goemon no longer under contract decides to help them and uses his sword to cut the train with the passengers on it to safety (once again he has cut something worthless) but in the process destroys the cart that contains the priceless artwork. But Fujiko doesn’t leave empty handed she steals this rare belt treasure that’s been in the kingdom for years and gives Goemon a parting kiss goodbye before running off.
In episode 4 Fujiko gets captured by the police and in order to get set free she has sex with Zenigata (off camera of course but still Zenigata rub that in Lupin’s face man). He’s voiced by Richard Epcar (Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo from Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo) in English and Koichi Yamadera (Spike from Cowboy Bebop) in Japan. Surprisingly I like Richard as the voice of Zenigata more than Koichi, he makes Zenigata sound like a hard no nonsense police officer determined to bring Lupin to justice and have him pay for his crimes. I guess the reason why I didn’t choose Koichi is because I’m still trying to get use to his voice as Zenigata. Koichi just recently got this role in 2011, the original VA of Zenigata was Goro Naya who retired from the role in 2011 and tragically passed away in the spring of last year. We also get introduced to Zenigata’s assistant Oscar who is actually gay and has a secret crush on Zenigata. He’s voiced by Josh Grelle in English and Yuki Kaji (Issei from High School DxD) in Japan. Josh’s voice suits the role much better for Oscar because in the anime Oscar is a guy who hates all women especially Fujiko going as far as going her a pig. Josh really captures that anger and hatred for Fujiko that Oscar has inside of him well and brings the character to life. Yuki does a good job voicing him but it’s honestly not a role that suits him. Yuki’s got an optimistic funny voice that goes well with characters who are funny but when the time comes they can be serious and fight like Issei and Alibaba. Both characters are funny, perverted, and start off weak but as the story goes on they get stronger and when the people they care about are in danger they’ll be the first to step up and save them. Oscar is just an asshole who hates Fujiko because she had sex with Zenigata.
After having his way with Fujiko, Zenigata tells her he’ll let her go if she helps him capture Lupin who is planning on stealing the mask of this famous opera singer named Ayan (the mask is made of gold and has rare jewelry in it so it’s worth the steal). Fujiko goes to the opera house where she becomes Ayan’s bodyguard and meets the creepy stage hand who believes that the ghost of the opera house has fallen in love with Ayan and will stop Lupin from stealing the mask (oh how cute he sounds like a Scooby-Doo character). The play begins and Lupin stays hidden waiting to make his move but before he can one of the stage lights comes crashing almost hitting Ayan and we see that it was actually the ghost of the opera (no doubt the younger brother of The Phantom of the Opera). Ayan improvises and saves the scene but once the curtain closes she faints and thus Fujiko has to step in as her substitute but the ghost kidnaps her leaving Ayan to go back on stage where Lupin makes his move and gets Ayan to remove her mask by having her get attacked by bees. Lupin tries to grab the mask but the ghost grabs it first and Zenigata comes in and goes after Lupin leaving Oscar to go after the ghost. Lupin is able to escape Zenigata and Fujiko finds the ghost below the opera house where it gets revealed that the ghost is the creepy stage hand (holy shit you are a Scooby-Doo character). Another person comes in revealing herself to be the real Ayan and we find out that she and the creepy stage hand fell in love with each other but afraid society wouldn’t accept their relationship they hid it from the world (okay so the guy’s a little creepy but hey he’ll build you a nice house). We see that they worked out a plan where Ayan would burn her face causing her to wear a mask to hide her scar which would allow her to train a replacement and disappear from the world all together to be with the creepy stage hand and since then the two have been living in a hidden house under the opera house (this sounds so needlessly complicated. Couldn’t she have just told the world to fuck off). In the end Ayan burns the priceless mask and invites Lupin and Fujiko in for dinner (well she’s crazy).
Episodes 5-9
We start off episode 5 with Lupin trying to charm his way into Fujiko but she tells him that the only way he’ll get her is if he steals a jewel peacock which is located in a recently discovered pyramid filled with traps set up by looters. Lupin takes this challenge and heads off to Egypt to get the peacock (Lupin is it really worth going in a dangerous pyramid to get with. . . oh wait it’s Fujiko yeah it’s totally worth it). But he’s not the only one going after the peacock, Jigen also wants the peacock to earn himself some money after being scammed. The two meet each other in the pyramid where they battle it out with one another while avoiding the traps. The two reach the center of the pyramid and fall into the last trap where Fujiko comes in revealing that she duped Lupin into helping her get pass this last trap in order to get the peacock. The last trap is a wormhole that leads to a juicer which will grind them and the only way to escape the wormhole and the juicer is for one of them to die (don’t worry, your English voice actors played a huge part in Dragonball Z we’ll just wish one you guys back). But luckily Lupin and Jigen shoot the scorpions that they fell in with and use their blood for the juicer (and scorpion blood is blue, who knew). Fujiko gets the peacock and the three try to escape the pyramid but the only way out is to use the peacock as a key to unlock the door (ohh~ very good trap, so even if you get the treasure you can’t escape without it. You either leave empty handed or die with a statue in your hands. Tough call). So Fujiko gives up the statue, Lupin still has yet to wow her, and Lupin and Jigen have formed a mutual respect for each other.
We take a trip down lesbian lane in episode 6 (down boy this is serious) where Fujiko infiltrates an all-girl school where all the girls fall for Fujiko (Penis: You need me? (Nitsuj): No! Sleep!). But Fujiko only has eyes on one girl, Isolde Brach a shy girl whose father was a famous scholar and wrote some famous thesis that Fujiko wants to steal. She befriends the girl and they hang out together making the other girls jealous (sorta like boys when they see their friends dating a really hot girl) and they give her a proper punishment (and by proper I mean cut her hair shot. Okay I gotta ask my female audience, is getting your hair cut short really all that bad and hurtful to you guys because in my experience most of the girls I’ve had a crush on had short hair). She goes to Fujiko and the two embrace each other in a night of passion (you know I’m trying to be professional here anime and you constantly waving the lesbian flag in my face isn’t helping) but before they can get down and dirty Isolde reveals herself to be Oscar (ah! Crossdresser) who set Fujiko up to arrest her as well as Lupin who is also after the thesis. The next day Oscar is able to capture Lupin but Fujiko escapes and uses video recording of her and Zenigata playing Twister to convince Oscar that Fujiko is torturing him and he gives Fujiko the code to unlock the thesis which he found and hid for protection. Lupin escapes, he and Fujiko split the fortune, Oscar is chewed out (figuratively) by Zenigata and he vows revenge against the pig lady he calls Fujiko.
Not a whole lot happens in episode 7. We focus on the Cuban Missile Crisis where Fujiko befriends Castro and with the help of Goemon is able to save Castro from some terrorists and prevent World War III from happening (so WWIII was prevented thanks to a hot Japanese woman and a samurai who could slice through anything. Thank you anime).
Episode 8 centers on a fortune teller named Shitoto a man who can predict the day of a person’s death (what a load of crap. This guy predicted that I would die on January 15th, 2014 and look at me. . .ohh~). Jigen gets hired by a mob boss to kill the guy but he gets captured by the police where he gets saved by Lupin who wants Jigen to owe him a favor (it’s hard to believe these two would become partners in the future isn’t it). Lupin figures out that all of Shitoto’s predictions were planned out by a third party and Lupin ties him up and disguises himself as Shitoto to meet up with Fujiko who stole Shitoto’s lithograph which he uses to predict the deaths of people (what happen to the crack in bones trick). Fujiko sees through the disguise and the police show up to gun down Lupin but thanks to Jigen he escapes. Shitoto reveals to Fujiko that this was all a setup made possible by a man called Count Luis Yu Almeida a man that Fujiko seems to fear because he raped her when she was a child wearing an owl mask (I. . .I can’t comprehend this man’s sexual preference. You raped a child while wearing an owl mask, is this some kind of furry thing or something because I would like this to make some sense). Upon hearing the name Count Luis Yu Almeida, Fujiko just straight up kills the guy not batting an eye at his death (damn, this Luis must have fucked her up good).
In episode 9 Lupin and Jigen team up again to steal this living painting girl whose whole body has been painted while Fujiko tries to kill her because she reminds Fujiko of her past when she was just the puppet of this weird owl society I don’t know. At the end Lupin is able to make Fujiko see this which causes her to break down entirely and walk off blindly into the distance only to be discovered by Goemon. As for the paint girl Lupin and Jigen cover her body in make up making her skin look normal (a blank canvas if you will) and leave her asleep in front of a temple.
Episodes 10-13
Episode 10 turns out to be the biggest mindfuck out of all the episodes. Lupin gets approached by the Owl people to capture Fujiko which he refuses to do. Seeking information about Fujiko’s past as well as who Count Luis is Lupin tracks the Owl people back to Count Luis’s mansion where he inhales the dizzy drug from episode 1 which we find out is called Fraulein Eule which knocks Lupin out (curse you. . .owl. . .people). Lupin wakes in a ghost town which was used to be the experiment grounds of Count Luis’s pharmaceutical company until an accident occurred causing everyone to evacuate (it involved a girl, a bunch of owl people, and some mind controlling drug). In the ghost town Lupin begins hallucinating from the drug and meets the father of Fujiko who we find out used his own daughter as a test subject in his experiments but when the accident occurred the owl people took Fujiko and left him in the town to die. Lupin eventually snaps out of the illusion thinking it was all a dream (better not or I’ll be pissed), sees a cut he got on his hand from the illusion, and realizes that this is just the beginning.
In episode 11 Oscar under the disguise of Fujiko goes around committing crimes in order to get Zenigata’s attention (okay this guy has officially lost it, call the mental institute). The owl people eventually approach him and offer to help him in his pointless romance (why? I don’t know, I guess the crazy like to help the crazy). They work out a plan where Oscar will save this priceless gown at a parade from Fujiko (the fake not the real one) who has setup a bomb to explode on the bridge. Lupin catches wind of their plan as well as Goemon who left Fujiko in a cabin somewhere in the mountains to investigate the Fujiko crimes (bad idea Goemon. Don’t leave the mentally unstable woman alone by herself). Goemon slows the parade down by cutting down trees and objects to block the path forcing the parade to alter their course but ultimately gets captured by the Owl people and Lupin tries to disarm the bomb under the bridge but has no luck. Oscar realizes his mistakes, goes under the bridge, takes the bomb, and jumps into the river (you know you could have just toss the bomb into the river) where the bomb detonates and kills him (let me be the first to say it, about bloody time. Sorry but you have no idea how annoying and stupid this kid has been).
We begin the end of our tale of Fujiko in episode 12 with Fujiko teaming up with Zenigata to bring down the Owl people (you can’t, their endangered species). They arrive at an amusement park run by the Owl people (geez this is probably the creepiest amusement park I’ve ever seen and owls are my second favorite animal in the world). In the amusement park they go into the House of Fujiko ride where Fujiko’s past starts to come to life. We see that when she was a child she was tested on constantly from the owl people and if she ever fought back against them Count Luis would punish her severely. Fujiko eventually escaped them and locked away the memories of her past to start a new life but Count Luis won’t allow her to escape his grasp so he setup a chain of events which would lead Fujiko back to him using a number of people such as Lupin, Jigen, Goemon, and Zenigata pretty much anybody we’ve seen in the anime played some part in his master scheme to get Fujiko to come back to him (good Lord the guy is downright diabolical) all because he loves her and if he can’t have her he’ll make sure nobody can have her (he’s gone all Frollo on us. Quick, sing Hellfire). Fujiko snaps in the ride and starts shooting all the mannequins of herself both young and old (well that’s symbolism if I’ve ever seen it) but Zenigata stops her when she starts to shoot real women who were kidnapped, hypnotized, and made to look like Fujiko (Count Luis you have a serious obsession. I swear the guy is making Lupin’s obsession with Fujiko look normal). Zenigata tells Fujiko to escape while he takes on Oscar who somehow survived the explosion and is a hypnotized servant of the Owl people (Fuck! Not at the fact that he’s hypnotized but at that the fact he’s still alive). On Goemon’s part he escapes from the Owl people who were trying to dress him up as a woman (what is with the crossdressing in this anime!? I know this is a story about a woman but that doesn’t mean everybody has to be a woman) and cuts all power to the amusement park. On Lupin and Jigen’s part, Lupin figures out everything and metaphorically (and cleverly I might add) breaks the 4th wall by saying that he and Jigen as well as everyone else in the anime are side characters in the story of a woman named Fujiko Mine. The two of them are asked to kill Fujiko by one of the Owl people and once they refuse the owlman opens fire on them and the two fight back and beat him. We end the episode with Fujiko going to the chamber of Count Luis where all of her past comes back to her and she begins calling him father (urgh~, the more I find out about her past the more disturbing it becomes).
In the final episode the truth of Fujiko’s past is finally revealed. First, Lupin is able to bring Fujiko back to her senses and she’s able to fight back against Count Luis who we find out has been dead for years and the person in the room is just his corpse (well that’s not disturbing at all now is it). Jigen and Goemon get a whiff of that Fraulein Eule and begin fighting each other (it’s pretty overlooked but the parts they do show are rather good). Fujiko meets back up with Lupin and they go to the command chamber where we see that the real mastermind is a girl named Aisha who is actually the real daughter of the ghost scientist Lupin met in episode 10. It turns out that Count Luis kidnapped her and did some mind altering test in order to make her the prefect bride for him (that sick bastard). Out of all the test subjects Aisha was the only one to survive but the mind altering took its tow on her making her body weak and unable to survive unless strapped to a machine. After the count died Aisha continued his experiments on other girls in the hopes that one of them could live out the life that Aisha always wanted to live unfortunately all of them went crazy and died (I would say I’m surprised but when you see Aisha I think this was the most likely outcome) except for Fujiko. We find out that Fujiko has always been a thief much like Lupin and snuck into the mansion to steal the Fraulein Eule but got captured. Rather than kill Fujiko she puts her through the mind altering experiment and let’s Fujiko go off into the world and as you can tell Fujiko has lived a rich and fulfilling life (full of sex, betrayal, lies, and thievery). But somehow Fujiko was able to suppress her past memories which angered Aisha that she decided to kill Fujiko herself but that failed. Also, we find out that Aisha’s mother is still alive and has been pretending to be Aisha’s butler standing by her side watching her daughter do all of these horrible things instead of being an actual mother. As all of this is going on Oscar goes even crazier on us and sets the place on fire (oh I’m so glad he’s here. WHY IS HE STILL ALIVE). As the place is about to be torn down Lupin and Fujiko take Aisha saying that their mother is unfit to raise her (ain’t that the truth) and they escape while the mother just stays in the building and most likely dies. Fujiko and Lupin take Aisha out into the world where she gets to see the world for only a short while before she passes away. The series ends with Jigen and Goemon calling their match a draw, Oscar somehow escaping, and Fujiko riding off on her bike with Lupin pursuing her until his car falls apart on him because Fujiko took out one of his screws (guys, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship).
Final Thoughts
This was a stunning anime. Everything from beginning to finish keeps you on suspense, you’ll find yourself wanting to know what happens next and where the story will lead its characters. Fujiko playing the main character is great. She’s independent, sexy, strong, cunning, and it’s nice to see her lose her composure a few times in the anime to show that she has her weaknesses and moments where she’s vulnerable and needs help. While I admit it’s a cop out that this whole backstory of hers was implemented into her by some messed up kid it’s good to know that Fujiko has been who she’s always been. A mysterious beauty who can steal treasure as well as a man’s heart without really trying. Lupin and the others as the side characters are still great, they pretty much have the same personalities we’ve come to love over the years and it’s nice to see how Fujiko met all of them as well as seeing how they first interactive with each other even though from what I’ve heard this isn’t how Lupin and Jigen really met each other but I think it’s a good alternative to their meeting. I wasn’t really that a big a fan of Oscar’s character, his reasons for hating Fujiko are rather bland and he comes across as annoying most of the time.
The music is great in this anime, the jazzing lounge music we hear throughout the anime is a nice touch that you’ll get swept away in it and it matches up perfectly with all the scenes in the anime as well as the characters. The animation is unbelievable, hands down one of the most unique animation styles I’ve seen. It’s dark, gritty, unique, and amazing to look at. It matches the tone and setting of the anime perfectly showing us that this anime was meant for the mature audience. I’ve heard the animation style was based off the art style of the original manga so this does make the anime feel like a manga coming to life which is pretty awesome in my opinion. In terms of which version to watch I would say go with the Japanese version it’s pretty much got all the Lupin voice actors we’ve come to know and love throughout the years and while I may be a bit hard on Jigen and Zenigata’s voice actors I still like them and always find their performance enjoyable. If you don’t feel like reading subs the English version is also good to listen to, the voice cast is relatively good and while I may have a few complaints with some I will say the English cast does sound good and it ain’t bad on the ears.
Final Score
The final score for The Woman Called Fujiko Mine is an 8.5/10 with a must watch stamp of approval. The anime is gritty, beautiful, fun to watch, funny and dramatic at the same time, and definitely adult. It doesn’t shy away from the harshness, nudity, or violence that we see in the series. This is the one Lupin series that takes itself and its audience seriously so if you always wanted to see a more adult Lupin anime focusing are the lovely Fujiko than this anime is for you and if you’re a fan of the Lupin series than this is definitely worth watching at least once. Now if you’ll excuse me I have to go pull a Lelouch. Chibi Isis, did you deliver the letters?
(Chibi Isis): Yep.
(Nitsuj): Good job. Now to move on to phase 2.
*Inside the system Isis is relaxing in a hotspring*
(Isis): So soothing.
*She looks up and notices that Mira, Shizuku, and Yin-Yang are in the spring as well*
(Isis): I was told you three wanted to meet me here and apologize.
(Shizuku): What are you talk about? We were told you were going to apologize.
(Isis): What would I have to apologize for? Last I checked you’re the ones who attacked me first.
(Yin-Yang): There you go again getting all high and mighty. We received a letter telling us to come to the hotsprings saying that you wanted to apologize to us and make peace.
(Isis): No. I received a letter from you guys saying you wanted to apologize and make peace.
*Isis shows them the letter she received*
(Mira): We didn’t write this letter.
(Isis): Nor did I write a letter to you.
(Mira): So if you didn’t write a letter and we didn’t write letter who wanted us to meet up in the hotsprings?
*As the fog in the hotspring clears the girls spot Nitsuj peeping on them from a cliff*
(Nitsuj): Would you believe I got lost as I was pondering what life-
(Isis): You!
*Isis throws a wooden bucket at Nitsuj barely missing him*
(Nitsuj): Woah! Guess not.
*Nitsuj begins to run away only to be chased by the girls in their towels*
(Isis): Get back here you perverted troll!
(Yin-Yang): I got him!
*Yin-Yang begins to pick-up speed catching up to Nitsuj and kicking him down to the ground allowing the others to catch up and surround him*
(Nitsuj): Shit! Okay, you caught me, but I still got the upper hand. Without your weapons I still have a chance of getting out of this unscratched.
(Mira): Oh is that so?
*Mira opens up a window and breaks the lock holding their weapons*
(Mira): Did you really think such poor defenses could keep me out. Isis, I believe this sword belongs to you.
(Isis): Thank you. All together now ladies.
(Isis, Mira, Shizuku, Yin-Yang): You damn troll!
(Nitsuj): AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH~
*The girls begin pounding Nitsuj with their weapons severely hurting him but not to point of killing him*
*Sometime later Isis and the others are playing the PS4 and being friendly with each other while Nitsuj is in his room wrapped in bandages being taken care of by Chibi Isis*
(Isis): I gotta say Shizuku the way you pounded that troll was pretty impressive. I never would have thought of that.
(Shizuku): You were pretty good yourself there Isis.
(Mira): Yes, I must say I didn’t think anyone could use a sword like that.
(Yin-Yang): I take back what I said about being a miss blue bitch. You’re a pretty hardcore girl when you wanna be.
(Isis): Thanks. You guys are pretty great too. I also would like to apologize for being a little hard on you. I think we can get along with each other.
(Mira): Sounds good to me. Especially since we’re living with that perverted troll it’s better to stick together than fall one by one.
(Isis): I couldn’t agree more.
*Meanwhile in Nitsuj’s room*
(Chibi Isis): It sounds like Nee-chan and the others are getting along.
(Nitsuj): Yep, music to my ears.
(Chibi Isis): Nii-chan did you plan for this to happen?
(Nitsuj): Somewhat, the plan went above and beyond my initial expectations but that’s to be expected when pulling a Lelouch. My plan was to give the girls a common enemy, someone who could take on the burden of their anger and hatred for each other and come out alright. That’s why I pulled this little stunt not to mention I got to see quite the show. It’ll be a long time before Isis and the others underestimate me. Alright, the medicine is starting to kick in, go play with your new sisters and let your big brother rest.
(Chibi Isis): Okay. *Kisses Nitsuj in the forehead* Thanks for always thinking of me and Nee-chan *flies off*.
(Nitsuj): Well looks like the year is shaping up to be a good one. I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.
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