Lupin the 3rd: Part 1 03
ルパン三世
Lupin III Episode 03

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis

Fujiko and Lupin are on a boat being romantic when Fujiko pulls his gun. Another boat speeds toward them, so Fujiko fires at it, destroying it. Lupin notices a blonde woman escape the flotsam to make it to a small, rock island. Lupin goes to help her, so Fujiko leaves with the boat. Another, larger boat arrives and attacks. They are saved by Jigen, who’s on the rock. However the girl has vanished.

Despite never seeing the girl, Jigen knows about her and her boss, nuclear fissionist Dr. Heinlein. Jigen and Lupin attempt to infiltrate another rock island, but are repelled by the same military force that attacked them earlier. The military leader lets them escape. Lupin and Jigen arrive on another island, where the woman, Linda, is. Immediately, Lupin and Linda flirt and make out around a tree in a field of flowers.

Sometime later, Lupin and Jigen speak with Dr. Heinlein. He explains that he was forced to make the Third Flower on the island. Further, he had to make his assistant, Linda, a test subject. The flower, in liquid form, is a massive explosive. Further, the flower turned Linda into a witch. Meanwhile, Fujiko attempts to fly to the island to get the flower, but gets shot down by the military force. Lupin saves her and kills many of the military folks, but is then captured.

The military leader, Stern, attempts to make a deal with Lupin, but is refused. Lupin escapes with Jigen and Dr. Heinlein. The doctor wants the flower destroyed, so Lupin obliges. However, he is unable to save Linda after Heinlein kills her. Lupin infiltrates a sub with a missile filled with the explosive. Stern catches him, but Fujiko kills Stern. Lupin tries to get the missile away, but Fujiko stows away, preventing that.

Thoughts/Review

Things just happen ’cause “reasons” in Lupin the 3rd: Part 1 03. This is supposed to be adapted from a chapter in the manga. If that’s true, man, Monkey Punch wrote some serious rubbish. Either that, or it was poorly adapted.

A Series of Random Events

The best way to describe Lupin the 3rd: Part 1 03 is that it is a series of random events that are strung together. Ignoring Fujiko’s weird flirtation with Lupin, using his gun, why did she just arbitrarily decide to shoot an oncoming speedboat? There was no reason for it. Then when Lupin leaves to help Linda, Fujiko decides to bail. Again, why? Jealousy?

For some reason, Jigen just happens to be on the same, tiny, rock island? Why? To provide a deus ex machina moment to save Lupin, silly! But then he never sees Linda because she vanishes. Despite this, he knows all about her. Why? Meaningless exposition! Then it is time to infiltrate some other rock, but Stern lets them go after a number of his men are killed. Why? Not sure. Maybe to find the flower?

Fujiko finds Linda, and they immediately flirt and snog. And I got the impression they may have done more. Then all of the sudden, we are talking to Dr. Heinlein. Talk about whiplash! But he’s there to provide more exposition and to explain that Linda is a witch. How? No clue, just accept it! Then Fujiko meets Linda in plain sight of Stern’s group. Why? Don’t know!

And I could go on and on about this. When Linda is killed, it is supposed to be a tragic moment. But since we didn’t get to know Linda, I felt nothing. I guess Heinlein was trying to destroy all his work, including her. Since she just vanished, maybe she’s still alive.

The end missile thing seemed to be stuck on just to fill time.

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

In the end, Lupin the 3rd: Part 1 03 was a boring episode, filled with a string of random events, attempting to masquerade as a proper story. But with no character development and no proper story structure, the episode makes one wonder how Lupin became so popular.