Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. Well guys I’ve got the itch. (Isis): Shall I call the doctor, master? (Nitsuj): No not that inch, I’ve got the Lupin itch, I’ve got to review something that’s Lupin the Third. (Mira): What are you talking about? Didn’t you already review the Fujiko anime like a month ago? (Shizuku): Yeah, and then you tricked all of us into the virtual hotsprings to spy on us. (Yin-Yang): And then we beat you within an inch of your life. Good times. (Nitsuj): Yes, yes, and yes. But that was an anime entirely focusing on Fujiko, I need to review something that focuses on Lupin and luckily for me there are a number of specials to choose from. Just like there are a number of specials for One Piece, Dragonball Z, and Detective Conan, Lupin has a number of specials that remind everyone that this thief is here to stay and be remembered, even those who aren’t familiar with the Lupin series can find these specials enjoyable and today I’ve looking at the Lupin special Orders to Assassinate Lupin/ Voyage to Danger. This is the fifth Lupin special that came out in 1993, it was directed by Masaaki Osumi who was the original director of the Lupin television series before being fired because he refused to adapt the series for a children’s audience. Yeah, you’ve got to remember Lupin came out in the 70s when anime was still getting started, it was mostly geared towards children and not adults back then. Lupin was one of the first animes that tried to appeal to an adult audience rather than a children’s audience and because of that the series got poor ratings. But as time went on and anime started to expand its horizon and became open to all audiences and not just children everyone started to see how good of a series Lupin was which earned it a lot of popularity and fame. But I digress, this special follows Lupin and the gang on the run from a guy who’s been given the orders to kill them. How does the gang overcome this challenge well let’s find out and take a look at Orders to Assassinate Lupin/ Voyage to Danger. Also, I’m looking at the English version of this special.
So the special starts off with Lupin voiced by Sonny Strait (Hughes from FMA: Brotherhood) and Jigen voiced Chris Sabat (Zoro from One Piece) successfully pulling off a heist and are now being chased by the cops because Lupin tripped the alarm (Jigen: Lupiiiiiiin~, //youtu.be/e31RdfalrQA). They chase the duo back to their apartment where Zenigata voiced by Phillip Wilburn (Android 19 from Dragonball Z) tells them to leave saying he’ll take it from here (you sure you wanna do that, this guy has escaped from you a number of times in the past. What makes you think this’ll be any different). He goes into the building and instead of arresting Lupin he instead wants to have a drink with him much to Lupin’s surprise (careful Lupin that stuff could be poisoned or roofied). It turns out that Zenigata has been officially removed off the Lupin case meaning he no longer has any right to chase Lupin or his gang (but he’s an officer of the law, are you seriously telling me that if Lupin was robbing a jewelry store right in front of him all he can do is just call the cops and do nothing. Our tax dollars at work folks). Instead, they’re replacing Zenigata with some big, strong mercenary who Jigen knows about by the name of Keith Hayden voiced by Dameon Clarke (Younger Toguro from Yu Yu Hakusho) who’s been given the green light to kill Lupin and his gang by any means necessary. The next day Lupin and Jigen take the drunk Zenigata in their car and steal his letter which says he’s been given orders to shut down the weapon smuggling organization known as Shot Shell (I’m guessing these guys are fans of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) and Lupin decides he’ll steal all their money and help Zenigata get his job back. They round up a few supplies for the job and get Goemon voiced by Mike McFarland (Buggy the Clown from One Piece) and Fujiko voiced by Meredith McCoy (Android 18 from Dragonball Z).
After the opening sequence Fujiko and Goemon rescue a Russian nuclear scientist named Karen from the clutches of Shot Shell by slicing up their car (I bet that shocked their shells) and capturing Karen for themselves (in Soviet Russia kidnappers kidnap you from kidnappers). While that’s going on Lupin, Jigen, and Zenigata sneak on board a nuclear sub filled with warheads (oh well that’s pleasant) and take control of the ship just in time for Fujiko and Goemon to jump on board with Karen. Their plan is to use the sub as bait to get Shot Shell to come to them. After hearing their story Karen agrees to help but only if they disarm the warheads in the sub which they agree with (in Soviet Russia warheads disarm you). They arrive at the artic and while Jigen is teaching Karen how to fire a gun she turns the gun on Jigen because in the past he killed her father (I swear they could make a 24 episode series if not more about Jigen’s past. The guy is a walking book). Before she can fire Keith shows up in a helicopter trying to take them down. They quickly escape him and wait around for Shot Shell to contact them. While their waiting other countries try to get them to sell the sub to their country including America (hey in today’s economy I wouldn’t be surprise). Shot Shell’s leader John Klauss (man even the name sounds evil) finally makes contact with them and makes arrangements to meet them in person. Before going to the meeting spot they drop Karen off at Maui for her safety and send Goemon and Zenigata with her as bodyguards (bye Russian scientist). They make it to the meeting where they form a partnership with John who just wants to use the sub to fire warheads (well duh, it’s a nuclear sub, what else would he use it for). He tells them to go steal these things known as atomic piles from the US military located in the Arizona desert (Area 61, a subsidiary of Area 51). They easily steal the piles and make their way to Russia where they steal more subs (wow, two major robberies, I think it’s time Russia took a hard look at their military). While that’s going on, Karen escapes Goemon and Zengiata (slice the car) only to be caught by Keith who found them somehow. He forces Zenigata off a cliff and shoots Goemon thinking he killed him (nooo~ he was the only character all always did something cool).
Back on Lupin’s side Fujiko puts the moves on John earning his trust and attention (Fujiko Klauss? Still sounds evil but I like the way it rolls off the tongue). She eventually finds the safe where all the money is and they work out a plan to extract the money with Fujiko keeping John distracted with dinner (and one-half of a movie). We also find out that Keith is secretly working with John (I’m sure it was obvious but for that 1% of you out there who didn’t know now you know and knowing is half the battle //youtu.be/pele5vptVgc?t=3s). That night Lupin and Jigen set their plan in motion by connecting a vacuum pipe to the pipe of the house safe and sucking the money out of the building (have these people ever heard of banks? Also when did they start making 1000 dollar bills). John catches on to their plans and locks Fujiko in a room with no escape and sets a trap for Lupin using hologram technology (ironic how we only imagined this happening in the 90s but now it’s totally possible) but he escapes using explosive gum (we’re still working on that). He meets back up with Jigen where Keith arrives and begins gunning them down with Karen by his side. Lupin steers Keith away from Jigen leaving him alone with Karen where they can finally have a talk. Lupin manages to escape in a sub but not before Keith fires two missiles damaging it. Jigen admits that he did shoot Karen’s dad but only on instinct because he heard the sound of someone getting their gun ready (Karen: Jigeeeeeen~,//youtu.be/e31RdfalrQA). He gives his gun to Karen saying that if she wants to shoot him to go ahead but before she can decide Keith rushes in, fires at Jigen forcing him to take shelter in a cabin, where he throws a grenade destroying the cabin along with Jigen (and then there was two).
The damage done to the sub takes hold and the sub stops functioning leaving Lupin stranded in the ocean. John and Keith haul the sub out but Lupin launches a rocket with him on board escaping and landing back on Maui where he meets up with Zenigata and they find out Goemon survived the knife to the heart thanks to his trusty sword and the trio make their way back to John’s island. Back on the island Fujiko has teamed up with Karen to try and escape the island. Lupin, Goemon, and Zenigata make it back to the island using an old airplane where they bomb Shot Shell’s factory destroying all of their merchandise (you break it you buy it). Zenigata goes after John and Lupin has a show down with Keith where he gets saved by Jigen who survived the grenade blast by ducting out in a bomb shelter that was inside the cabin (what are the odds). Karen sees that Jigen is still alive and the two have their stand off for the third time (make it count this time). But just like the first two it gets interrupted by Keith (goddamnit) who starts firing at them but the others fire back at him killing him once and for fall (okay so when the bad guy fires he misses but the heroes fire at him they always hit. Makes sense to me). But unfortunately Karen gets shot and dies (in Soviet Russia you kill bullet). John and the rest of Shot Shell escape on the sub with the money and the warheads but Jigen pulls a trigger activating the warheads killing John and the rest of Shot Shell while also destroying the sub (well there goes a good 401k plan). We end the special with Fujiko telling Lupin that all of John’s money is really in space, Zenigata is back on the Lupin task force, and the gang going into space and finding John’s money which was in a satellite.
Final Thoughts
As far as Lupin specials go this special is alright. The story is relatively good, and there’s plenty of action and chase scenes to keep you entertained. The animation is typical TV special animation but for its time it’s pretty good to look at and as always the music is great and what you would come to expect from Lupin III. Lupin and the gang are still their usual money-loving shelves who are likable and make you laugh. I didn’t find myself liking what they did with Zenigata in this special, he was pretty much down played here barely doing anything. I didn’t like how he just took being off the Lupin task force so easily and didn’t just stick to his guns and gone after Lupin and the gang himself. I will say I do like how Lupin tries to help Zenigata showing that he does respect Zenigata a lot and that he rather have Zenigata chase and capture him rather than have some random mercenary do it. I also didn’t find myself all that interested in the subplot going on between Jigen and Karen. The payoff was predictable, and there wasn’t nearly enough back story or build up to this plot to really get invested in. It’s just a girl holding a grudge against a man who accidently killed her father who might or might not have been planning to kill Jigen himself. They also don’t do that much with John or Keith. John is just a businessman who wants more money. Nothing else, they don’t make him crazy, sinister, or diabolic he’s just a businessman who easily gets fooled by Fujiko and just owns an illegal arms dealer organization. Keith was a little better, I do give him credit for really going after Lupin and the gang and almost killing some of them. I wished they would have had more confrontations with each other earlier in the special to build him up more. We never really get a chance to know all that much about him such as what his hobbies are or how he got into this line of work. I was hoping the major twist of the special was he was the guy in charge of Shot Shell and was just using ICPO to cover his actions and make better deals. That totally would have made the special better and I think he would had made a much stronger villain than John.
Final Score
Orders to Assassinate Lupin earns a 6/10. If it would have worked more on the villain and the subplot a little more this special would have received an even higher score but as I said before the special is alright and if you’re a fan of Lupin I think you’ll enjoy it. It may not be one of the best specials I’ve seen for the series but I’m glad I saw it. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next on Project Nitsuj.
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