Lupin the Third Part 6 – 19
Lupin III Part 6 19
ルパン三世 PART6

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

Yata are Ari are angry with the local police for arresting Zenigata. As such, they sneak to the crime scene, but find nothing of interest. Upon returning to their hotel, the two are assaulted by thugs. They cite Zenigata’s suspected murder of Hazel as the reason. Yata shows he has fighting skills, but another thug snags Ari. The thugs beat Yata until Ari gets the drop on her attacker and shoots the thugs.

After a trip to the hospital, Yata and Ari visit Hazel’s political party’s HQ. They pour though documents for hours. Ari notes that Hazel had a kimono-wearing tutor named Tomoe, the same as Ari. A female member of the political party passes info that party official Selim was involved somehow. Yata and Ari return to the police station, where they discover Selim in in custody.

The pair pass the information to Zenigata, including the fact that Selim used a paparazzi photographer. Zenigata sends the pair to find the photographer. They obtain evidence of someone else going to Hazel’s residents prior to Zenigata. As such, Zenigata is released. He heads to be and allows Ari and Yata to have an evening together.

The next day, Ari goes on her own to interview Mattea again. Yata contacts Ari, who lets them know where she is. The pair race to Mattea’s hotel. Inside Mattea’s room, Ari and Mattea talk. Ari senses something is wrong and suspects Mattea may be the assassin. She pulls a gun on Mattea, but is too slow. By the time Zenigata and Yata arrive, Ari is dying with a recording for Lupin.

Thoughts/Review:

You know, when writers aren’t just doing things in random fashion ’cause “reasons”, a good product can be produced. Such was the case with Lupin the Third Part 6 – 19.

An Unexpected Change of Leads

I don’t think Fujiko showed up at all in Lupin the Third Part 6 – 19. Lupin, Jigen, and Goemon get a couple of cameos. Zenigata gets a bit more time. However, the rest of the episode has Yata and Ari in the lead. And frankly, I didn’t mind one bit.

Yata has been an addition to the Lupin III franchise for quite some time now. However, other than be Zenigata’s young and often impatient sidekick, Yata has had no substance as a character. As such, I liked seeing him step out from Zenigata’s shadow to actually show what he can do. And we see that he does have an ability to fight as well as be a detective.

I wasn’t surprised when Ari ended up being the one to save Yata. The whole scene was cliched. Yata kicks arse. Ari gets captured. Yata takes a beating. Ari breaks free and kicks more arse. But at least Ari’s actions were believable. She took her captor by surprise. And the other thugs, she shot with a gun rather than fight them like a man. So that was good.

I also wasn’t surprised to learn of her connection with Tomoe. The story arc of the second half of Lupin the Third Part 6 is all about Tomoe and the girls connected to her. That’s to say nothing of Lupin’s connection to her. That aside, I did like Ari and Yata taking the lead, even if Ari is dead.

Mattea Twist

I noted in the previous episode review that the writers seemed keen on making Mattea fall for Lupin. And in the back of my noggin, I thought it possible that Mattea had some connection to Tomoe. What I didn’t expect was that Lupin the Third Part 6 – 19 revealed Mattea to be an assassin, and a highly skilled one at that.

So now we have a reason for Mattea getting close to Lupin. However, if Lupin is a target for her, then I don’t understand what the delay is. Then again, Mattea’s orders may be to just observe Lupin but otherwise do nothing. It will be interesting to learn what info Ari recorded for Lupin to hear.

Nevertheless, I did notice that Mattea did seem to be under some form of conditioned response. The director of the episode made sure to zero on on Mattea’s eyes going dull, indicating a programed response was taking over. Or even some kind of mind control. Mattea may be an innocent flower girl who had a secondary personality implanted in them. But we’ll see where the writers go.

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

In the end, Lupin the Third Part 6 – 19 was a very enjoyable episode. I liked how Yata and Ari were given focus. I am bummed that Ari is apparently dead, thus ending their romance. Also, the plot twist with Mattea was interesting as well.