Lupin the 3rd: Part 1 06
ルパン三世
Lupin III Episode 06

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis

One rainy day, Lupin gets summoned from his mansion by a man named Okosama Ranchi (Kid’s Meal).  Okosama drives Lupin to another mansion, where Fujiko is employed as a maid. Her boss has amnesia. A such, Fujiko wants Lupin to investigate. Lupin and Jigen walk back home, only to be the target of a drive-by shooting. Lupin is minorly injured and visits a doctor to be treated. The doctor recognizes Lupin’s client from a photo and IDs him as Kamaitachi (Phantom Weasel), a crime boss.

Based on the info from the doctor, Lupin and Jigen return to Kamaitachi’s mansion. Fujiko reports the man died of a heart attack overnight. Kamaitachi’s henchman, MANDALA Tatsu (Mandala’s Dragon) listens in and is busted by Lupin. He recounts how his boss planned to give himself amnesia after having surgery. After six months, the amnesia would be reversed. Tatsu was ordered to kill anyone attempting to learn Kamaitachi’s secret, which is why he did the drive-by the day before.

Lupin “hires” Tatsu as well as Gan-Testsu Hammer (Rock-Iron Hammer) to join his gang for a new heist. However, Jigen turns out to be Okosama in disguise and is killed. Lupin confronts Fujiko with this and arranges for the real Jigen to be returned to him. However, Fujiko reveals that Zenigata is on the case over Kamaitachi’s death. Lupin comes up with a plan to temporarily steal the body in transport, then have it returned without Zenigata being the wiser.

During the heist, Lupin discovers Kamaitachi has The Star of Killamanjaro diamond in his chest. Lupin retrieves the gem, but Tatsu betrays them, giving the stone to Fujiko. Jigen kills him as a result. Zenigata attempts to nail Lupin, Jigen, and Hammer, but fails. Meanwhile, Fujiko bathes with her loot.

Thoughts/Review

One of the things I notice about this first Lupin III adaptation is that proper story structure just isn’t a thing. And that continues in Lupin the 3rd: Part 1 06.

Convoluted Plot

Let me see if I can make sense of the convoluted plot that makes up Lupin the 3rd: Part 1 06. Crime boss Kamaitachi decides to have a valuable diamond stolen. He needs to “lay low” for six months until the heat is off. But in case he gets questioned by the cops, he needs to not know anything. As such, he gives himself amnesia. But before that, he has the stone implanted within himself. None of this is stated in the anime, but it is the only reason I could come up with for the absolutely convoluted plan from the crime boss.

Fujiko somehow knows more than she should. Perhaps she seduced Okosama and Tatsu to get the information, but then how would she even know to do that much? But that aside, as I see it, Fujiko learned that Kamaitachi had the diamond in his body. So as his maid, she “arranged” for him to have a heart attack. But she had hired Lupin under false pretenses so he’d do the dirty work for her.

Fujiko plants a fake Jigen (Okosama) with Lupin’s gang. And I’m guessing that Tatsu was the backup. Okosama gets eliminated, but Lupin goes forward with the plan even though Fujiko has been jacking with him. And in the end, Tatsu betrays them, gets killed, but not before making sure Fujiko gets the goods.

None of the above is spelled out. As seen in my summary, we just have a series of linked things that happen. The audience is supposed to fill in the blanks. It isn’t that I need to be spoon fed. However, a smooth plot structure would have made things more enjoyable. As it was, things felt very tedious, more so as I had to then work things out.

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

Let me wrap up my review of Lupin the 3rd: Part 1 06 with some final thoughts.

• No Goemon in this episode. I was rather hoping for him to return to try to kill Lupin again.
• Once again, Lupin attempts to sleep with Fujiko and is rejected. I don’t need to see sex, but it would be nice if we knew that sometimes Lupin and Fujiko are intimate.
• The road aspect of the plot is one of pure, eye-rolling convenience. Gotta love those roads that intersect, run parallel for a bit, then intersect again.
• Zenigata’s appearance in the episode was more like an extended cameo.
• Finally, it is humorous seeing Lupin have other people in his gang. Hammer didn’t die at the end, so I wonder if he’ll show up again?

In the end, Lupin the 3rd: Part 1 06 continues the rough way of telling a story, making viewing jarring and thus less interesting.