Lupin III Part III 07
ルパン三世 – Part III Ep. 07
Lupin the Third Part III 07

SPOILER Summary:

A man gets off a plan and with ease, avoids the rifle bullets shot by Fujiko. She recognizes him as Garb and immediately makes a call to Lupin, who’s driving with Jigen outside of Tokyo. He agrees to meet her but first, he has to lose Zenigata and his cops. Lupin does this by driving his trademark yellow VW Bug off the road into the waters below. Naturally, Zenigata and company follow with Lupin and Jigen on the side of the cliff. Zenigata empties a gun magazine at the two, who then scramble up the side of the cliff.

Lupin arrives at a fancy restaurant for his “date” with Fujiko and is shown to a table by a waiter where Garb is. After a little chit-chat, Lupin goes to take a drink but notices the waiter is about to shoot. The lights go out and gunshots ring out. Garb’s eyes light up and he uses something like infrared to scope out the room. He shoots what he thinks is Lupin, but it is only a blowup doll of Lupin. The waiter makes his escape to a car, only to find Lupin waiting for him there and address him as “Fujiko-chan.” Fujiko recounts how she and Garb raided a mafia vault but during a shootout on the roof, Garb got shot and Fujiko left him. She thought him dead, but no such luck. At the home she’s staying at, she promises Lupin delights to come if he helps her.

Elsewhere Garb confronts Jigen, demanding to be taken to Lupin. Naturally Jigen refuses and the two end up squaring off outside under a train overpass. Jigen discovers that Garb can avoid bullets and that he is about to die when Goemon arrives to save the day. Goemon attacks Garb, but discovers his attack actually misses Garb. With that, Garb departs, leaving a message for Lupin that says he will kill Fujiko. Back at the house, Goemon is preparing mabo tofu for everyone when they start taking fire from the window. However, it is an automated gun emplacement which Lupin takes out. They discover that Fujiko has fled, no doubt hoping that they will deal with Garb for her.

As Fujiko races on her motorcycle, Garb ambushes her, shooting her front tire. Lupin and Jigen come on the scene sometime later, but only find her wrecked bike. Elsewhere, Garb has tied up Fujiko, saying he wants her to sample what he went through before killing her. She professes her faith in Lupin coming to rescue her. At that, Garb finds the transmitter in her makeup case, but not before Lupin has her location. So, Garb puts Fujiko in a bomb vest with a bomb above her as well for good measure. It will go off that evening, so Lupin has until then to free her.

Lupin, Goemon and Jigen arrive and a firefight breaks out. The guys can’t land a hit on Garb, but watching his moves, they come up with a plan. Jigen fires, which Garb easily avoids, but Lupin shoots Jigen’s bullet, forcing it back and Garb can’t avoid it. With Garb out, Goemon uses his sword skills to disarm the bomb and free Fujiko. Lupin tries to score a kiss, but the arrival of Zenigata and his men causes a change of plan. The trio take off in a run, leaving Fujiko behind, and Zenigata gives chase.

Thoughts/Review:

I enjoy it when Fujiko’s treachery bites her in the behind. While I know this series can’t be taken seriously, I still wonder what the heck Fujiko is doing as an assassin. Seriously, that’s just so wrong. Not only that, but she’s trying to assassinate someone and then acts all surprised when she finds out who it is? Ugh. Bad writing to be sure.

Also, just how does one being able to see a bullet in flight enable one to avoid said bullet? Just wondering. Then again, if Goemon can slice bullets, then I suppose it isn’t too much to say that Garb can avoid them. ^_~

Zenigata is again a joke in this one, just doing a couple of cameos to say, “I’m here!” Oh well. I enjoy it more when he has a more substantive role.