Lupin the Third PART4 24 Review
Lupin the Third (2015) episode 24
Lupin III / ルパン三世

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

After implanting his persona within Rebecca’s mind, Lupin goes to join the real Leonardo Da Vinci to wait to see the outcome. Within Rebecca’s mind, Lupin repeatedly gets close to reaching Rebecca, but the Da Vinci persona constantly changes the rules. Eventually, Da Vinci allows Lupin to reach Rebecca, who has no memory of Lupin. As he retreats with her to the top of the building Da Vinci has created in her mind, based on her memories, Da Vinci realizes that his building is not complete. He appears at the top of the building to demand Lupin reveal what he did. Lupin won’t and steps off the roof with Rebecca.

As they fall, Lupin gives Rebecca the wedding band from their wedding, causing her memories of him to return. He has her recreate the world in her mind, which she does. The affect of this is devastating to the Da Vinci persona. Lupin kills himself and Da Vinci so that Rebecca’s mind is free, allowing her to awaken. Fujiko, Goemon, and Jigen arrive at Lupin’s real location with word of dreaming of Lupin, causing Da Vinci to realize his plans have been destroyed. Since his clone body is failing, Da Vinci dies in Lupin’s arms and is buried by Nyx. Zenigata arrives and shoots Lupin’s Walther P-38 away, then gives chase. Rebecca takes the P-38, but later, Lupin returns to retrieve it. She returns it and gets permission to use the name Mrs. Lupin as a secret code between the two of them if she needs him. With that, Lupin and company leave Italy.

Thoughts/Review:

And so this 2015 incarnation of Lupin III comes to an end, and a good end it is.

The episode didn’t turn out to be quite as surreal as I had thought, which is a good thing. The trip in Rebecca’s mind soon saw things returning to a state of normal after Lupin produced the wedding band, which I thought was a nice touch.

I half expected Bugs Bunny to show up at one point when the Da Vinci persona in Rebecca’s mind kept altering paintings in order to keep Lupin from reaching Rebecca. I wondered if Lupin might pull off a return gag on Da Vinci, à la Warner Brothers. Alas, that didn’t happen.

Da Vinci’s sudden body failure due to him being a clone was poorly handled. We should have had indications that this was going on all along. As it is, this seems like a contrivance when it could have been so much better.

The episode become more sentimental than I expected at the end, but I didn’t mind that. I’ve stated throughout that I’ve like Rebecca as a character, so when Lupin returned to her to retrieve his weapon, it was a touching moment. Rebecca’s promise to become a woman that Lupin found worth stealing was touching, as was the fact that Lupin allowed her to use the name Mrs. Lupin as a code to indicate when she needed him. I really hope future Lupin III titles have Rebecca in them.

I haven’t noticed it much of late, but this episode had a nod to Castle of Cagliostro with Lupin going through the room full of gears to try to reach Rebecca. I liked that, though I would have liked it more if Lupin had made some remark about having done something like this before.

I’ll write a final thoughts review at some point, but for now, Lupin the Third PART4 24 was a fine end to a fine Lupin III series.