Lupin the 3rd: Part 1 23
ルパン三世
Lupin III Episode 23

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis

Construction workers unearth a large quantity of gold coins. While ownership of said coins gets debated, Lupin summons Fujiko and Jigen to steal the coins. Meanwhile, the police have stored the coins in the Bank of Tokyo’s vault. The police commissioner takes issue with Zenigata’s lackadaisical attitude over the gold. After the two argue, Zenigata reveals that he plans to take preemptive action and nail Lupin in his hideout.

To that end, Zenigata takes a hoard of police to storm Lupin’s apartment hideout. However, Lupin, Jigen, and Fujiko disguise themselves as cops and manage to get away. The trio make it to another hideout of Lupin’s, full of treasures he no longer cares about. With that, Goemon joins them and tunnels to the vault location. Fujiko and Jigen arrived disguised as a bento delivery, causing the police to eat food laced with sleeping agents. As such, Lupin makes off with the gold.

However, Zenigata has laced a large percentage of the gold with fake coins carrying transmitters. To that end, he’s able to track Lupin’s location. Meanwhile, Lupin feels something is off and after checking a gold coin, discovers the transmitters. As such, he and the gang throw the fake ones into garbage trucks. Zenigata no longer has the ability to track their movements.

Lupin and crew head to the dump, where Lupin has another hideaway. However, the garbage trucks all start going there, so Zenigata has the police follow. Lupin realizes his mistake and tells Zenigata he’s going to blow himself and the gold up. To that end, the gang dive into the refrigerator entrance of the hideout and blow it. Zenigata mourns, but Lupin and company have again escaped. However, Zenigata has them, but his boat blows up. The gang swim away with Zenigata in pursuit.

Thoughts/Review

I have to say, Lupin the 3rd: Part 1 23 was a fun way to wrap up the first Lupin III TV series. Not that it was a perfect episode, mind you.

Battle of Wits

The thing I enjoyed most about Lupin the 3rd: Part 1 23 is that it was a battle of wits between Zenigata and Lupin. I appreciated Zenigata using a different approach when trying to nail Lupin. As he pointed out to his boss, Zenigata caught Lupin two previous times. Frankly, I like seeing Zenigata be a competent police officer rather than a simpleminded gimboid. Zenigata should be Lupin’s near equal, only coming up just short. He shouldn’t be relegated to comic relief.

Still, some of the battle of wits relied on plot. For example, while I had no problem with how Lupin, Jigen, and Fujiko escaped Zenigata’s trap, the whole garbage truck element was dumb. Honestly, ANY vehicle would suffice, and that would make Zenigata’s attempt to track down Lupin impossible. BUT, the plot demands Zenigata get lucky. That means that Lupin not only has to be stupid, he has to be doubly stupid.

The episode makes it seem as if Lupin forgetting that garbage trucks would come back to the dump, where he has another hideout, was real. To me, it just smacked of the plot insisting that Zenigata confront Lupin one last time. The fact that Lupin had a hideout in the garbage dump was a coincidence. For all Zenigata knew, Lupin could have been hiding anywhere.

Finally, there’s a big disconnect between the moment when it seems that Lupin has blown himself up and Zenigata suddenly appearing on the scene ’cause “plot”. I didn’t mind Zenigata mourning to loss of the man he’d pursued for so long. But for Zenigata to suddenly show up at the end just made me roll my eyes, even though it is a typical plot device in the franchise.

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

Let me wrap up my review of Lupin the 3rd: Part 1 23 with some final thoughts.

• We got to see one of Lupin’s treasure troves in this episode. I know there was a more recent series (or the like) showing another treasure trove. I get that for Lupin, the treasure means nothing, only the theft of it. However, a part of me feels like Lupin wouldn’t be dismissive of classic, valuable airplanes in his collection getting destroyed.
• Fujiko looked pretty cute with her short haircut. And she was written to be a normal character, not some traitor. It amused me to see she had a job at a jewelry store.
• While Fujiko, Jigen, and Goemon are in the episode, they don’t have a lot to do. Still, the anime writers do their best to give each of the characters something.

In the end, Lupin the 3rd: Part 1 23 was a fun episode, even if many things happened because “plot”. I’ll try to write up a series review in the near future.