LUPIN the Third ～峰不二子という女～
LUPIN the Third – MINE Fujiko to Iu Onna Episode 11

Oscar recalls being a street urchin, protecting a coin from other kids trying to steal it, when he’s saved by Zenigata, leading Oscar to become a police officer. In the present day, a series of crimes are being committed and attributed to Fujiko due to calling cards being left like Lupin would do. Zenigata is put on the Fujiko case and lets Oscar handle it, though he doesn’t seem to believe it is Fujiko. Lupin also hears of these crimes supposedly being committed by Fujiko and believes the crimes are being done by the police. Elsewhere, Goemon is tending to a frustrated Fujiko when he hears of her supposed crimes and leaves to investigate.

Oscar is frustrated by Zenigata’s apparent lack of interest, so he follows an “Owl’s” advice and kills someone in his Fujiko disguise so that Zenigata takes Fujiko more seriously. Fujiko hears of her supposed crimes on the radio and has a flashback, deciding she needs to kill MINE Fujiko, which is observed by the Owls. Meanwhile, Oscar briefs his officers on an attempt to steal a unique dress during a parade, and is dismayed when Zenigata says this isn’t Fujiko. As such, Oscar follows the Owls’ advice and plants a bomb on a bridge in the parade path. However, both Lupin and Goemon hear this, so Goemon slows the parade as Lupin attempts to defuse the bomb. Oscar gets the parade going again, but when Zenigata says things that suggests he knows of Oscar’s involvement in the crimes, Oscar races to the bomb, pushing Lupin aside, and taking it to the river and his death.

Man, does the weirdness ever stop? *_*  The Owl-men were supposed to be the results of being exposed to the Fräulein Eule drug, so why are others, like Goemon, seeing them? Masks, maybe? Weird.

I’m disappointed that Jigen isn’t around to assist Lupin, but oh well. We came closer to having Goemon and Lupin meet by having them at the same food vendor withing seconds of each other.

Speaking of Goemon, could he have worked for the Owls before?

If the Owls are so keen on killing Fujiko, then why haven’t they already done it, considering how they’ve manage to record so much of her life?

As to Zenigata, I really like him in this series.  He’s not a buffoon, which is awesome.  He’s a smart cookie, and he appears to have known from the start that Oscar was the one behind the Fujiko crimes. He tried to give his protégée chances to get on the right track.  Too bad Oscar didn’t figure it out until it was too late, then paid for his crimes with his life.

While there are certainly elements I’ve liked in this series, mostly dealing with Lupin, the Fujiko stuff is losing steam, mainly due to the way the series is portrayed. Well, we’ll see where things go.