Lupin III: A Woman Called MINE Fujiko – 06

LUPIN the Third ~峰不二子という女~
LUPIN the Third – MINE Fujiko to Iu Onna Episode 06
Lupin III: A Woman Called MINE Fujiko – 06

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

Lupin III: A Woman Called MINE Fujiko - 06Fujiko is teaching at an exclusive, all-girls high school and is very popular with the young students, one of whom is also popular and who confesses her love for Fujiko, only to have Fujiko reject her with a passionate kiss. This is noticed by transfer student Isolde Brach, who also appears to be attracted to Fujiko and for whom Fujiko shows great interest, especially in Isolde’s pendent. The other girls get jealous of Isolde and punish her by cutting her hair. She flees to Fujiko’s residence, where Fujiko proceeds to seduce the girl to get what she wants. However, the girl turns out to be Oscar in drag, who’s there because he wants to nail her and Lupin for Zenigata as the thieves are after Isolde’s late father’s research. As such, he knocks her out and ties her to the bed, naked.

Lupin III: A Woman Called MINE Fujiko - 06Oscar, as Isolde, sets his trap for Lupin, who takes the bait and comes in like a knight to save “her.” While “Isolde” tells Lupin about Fujiko, the gang of girls who’d assaulted Isolde show up with guns, forcing Lupin to flee with “Isolde,” who take Lupin to a greenhouse, where Oscar traps him. He makes a report to Zenigata, only to discover Fujiko has escaped and apparently has Zenigata captured and is torturing him. As such, Oscar gives Fujiko the combination to the locket to save Zenigata, only to discover later that Zenigata was never held as Lupin had not only escaped, but had previously helped Fujiko escape. Thus, Fujiko promises to share the loot with Lupin, and reveals that she had sex with Zenigata a second time, made an audio recording of it, and used clips of Zenigata saying things to fool Oscar.

Thoughts/Review:

Of the episodes so far, this one was probably my least favorite, though it did provide some intriguing clues about Fujiko and Oscar.

Lupin III: A Woman Called MINE Fujiko - 06

If it wasn’t clear already, it should be now that Fujiko will do anything, including having sex with underaged girls, to get what she wants. I put up the humorous image of Fujiko trying to sex Detective Conan, but what makes it funny is that after watching this anime series, you know it is true. Fujiko is clearly someone with no self respect, thus she does what she does.

Lupin III: A Woman Called MINE Fujiko - 06

It is also clear that the writers are slowly attempting to establish a notion that Fujiko is likely an abused, rich girl, thus giving Fujiko the excuse to justify her behavior today, and her lack of self respect.  I’m not a fan of the excuse route, especially since when one becomes an adult, one should take responsibility for ones actions.  Looking to the past to discover how one fell into whatever negative element as an adult (drinking problems, sex problems, abusive problems, etc.) is fine.  Using that knowledge to change course and get out of the trap is even better.  Using the past as an excuse to continue the ugliness of the present isn’t.

Lupin III: A Woman Called MINE Fujiko - 06

The butterfly symbolism was quite strong in this episode, not only with Fujiko apparently having mini flashbacks, but also with Oscar (as Isolde) seeing the butterfly around Fujiko at school, then seeing it crushed in a book by Fujiko.  I rather doubt that the Japanese symbology for butterfly (young maidens and marital bliss) are at work here.  Instead, the notion of the soul is likely part of the symbolism of the butterfly, specifically the Greek term psyche, which means both “butterfly” and “soul.” Psyche is also the name of the female human lover of the Greek god, Eros (aka: Cupid by the Romans).

Lupin III: A Woman Called MINE Fujiko - 06

As to Oscar, I wonder why he sees the butterfly around Fujiko and himself. I think it is pretty clear that he wants to jackhammer Zenigata’s arse, despite knowing that Zenigata is straight.  He’s obsessed with Fujiko because Fujiko banged Zenigata twice.  He’s clearly off his rocker, but it wouldn’t surprise me if the writers decide to explore his past more and give him some tragic element to explain his current behavior.

Lupin III: A Woman Called MINE Fujiko - 06

This apparent, unfolding tragedy would be fine in and of itself were it not for the exploitative aspects of the series. Fujiko’s nudity, sexual moanings, and deep kissing of a high school girl are couched in an artistic cloak, but serve only one purpose — cheap ratings scam.  However, because of the artistic cloak, otaku on both sides of the Pacific can “enjoy” the moments in the name of art.  It is a nice, tidy package, filled with smarm.  I expected Oscar to rape Fujiko, but I guess that was a bridge too far for the production team.

Lupin III: A Woman Called MINE Fujiko - 06

One thing that really stuck out with me is Fujiko’s partnering with Lupin at the end of the episode. She agrees to share the loot with Lupin, something that is most certainly a lie, but I doubt the series ever shows us if she did or not. If they did show her keeping her promise and sharing the loot with Lupin, it would make things a bit more interesting because if she keeps her word, then one never knows when she’s lying and when she’s telling the truth.

Lupin III: A Woman Called MINE Fujiko - 06

I am puzzled by why the girls that bullied “Isolde” suddenly started worshiping “her” and calling her “Isolde-sama” (a fact ignored by the translators, but hey, that’s not being lazy or anything). I don’t think they knew Oscar was in drag, so the sudden change of heart makes no sense to me other than the production team thought that high school girls with guns were cool, and rich ojousama’s bowing to a crossdresser was funny.

Lupin III: A Woman Called MINE Fujiko - 06

Hopefully, Goemon or Jigen show up again soon to show Lupin forming his gang as episodes sometimes feel amiss without those two, even if this is supposed to be featuring Fujiko.

Lupin III: A Woman Called MINE Fujiko - 06
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5 Responses to “Lupin III: A Woman Called MINE Fujiko – 06”

  1. Lan says:

    Not the best episode in the world this one :/

  2. O-chan says:

    From a narrative perspective this episode did a few things that were just convoluted, but once again, the thing that makes this series stand out for me is the artistic license and how the characters are written. Everything from Fujiko seducing high school girls to Oscar’s crossdressing and Zenigata obsession made this episode very interesting to watch. This is a problem I had with the 2nd TV series is just that it didn’t do anything controversial, or exploitive despite the manga’s origins of things in the Lupin-verse having a very mature context. As I’ve stated before, not to knock the good writing of the Miyazaki-directed episodes and movie, or the consistent sense of action and fun of the specials, I’m just loving how this series carries the spirit of the original manga and pushes the envelope it interesting (albeit not exactly coherent) ways. Much like Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo it seems Fujiko’s odd jobs give each episode a different feel. They don’t always set the bar in quality but it prevents the series getting repetitive.

    • AstroNerdBoy says:

      I only read the first Lupin III manga volume, but something about it irritated me (something TokyoPop related, as I recall), so I never read more. Maybe had I read more, I’d be more prepared for the stuff here.

  3. Son Gohan says:

    I think that Fujiko recorded that one time she had sex with Zenigata at the police station. She didn’t screw him a second time.

    The only thing that I didn’t like in this episode was the high school girls with machine guns and suddenly idolizing Oscar. Yeah, that made no sense and was way over the top even for this show.

    I think Fujiko shared the loot with Lupin this time since Lupin freed her from the bed. It is implied that Fujiko helped Lupin escape the greenhouse.

    • AstroNerdBoy says:

      The impression I got was that before Fujiko started her current task, she went back to Zenigata and banged him again. I could be wrong, of course.

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