Lupin the 3rd: Part III 21
Lupin III Part 3 21
ルパン三世 – Part III Ep. 21

Note: I will be using the CORRECT character names and not the renamed ones from the hideous, official subtitles.

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis

Chinese archeologist Yang-sensei shows Zenigata and a Japanese TV crew his work on the tomb of Prince Nishido. With the aid of a fiber optic cable, Yang discovers a crystal eye, which with its two counterparts, is supposed to reveal the location of a Golden Paradise city. Lupin, disguised as a Japanese TV engineer, steals the jewel. Together with Jigen, they kidnap Yang and take him to Lupin’s boat. Fujiko butters Yang up so that he’s willing to help them.

Unfortunately, a large, Chinese navy submarine surfaces. The head of Chinese intelligence, CHIN Yorei, forces them to hand over Yang and Fujiko, then has the sub sink Lupin’s boat. Chin takes them to a location, where he already has the second jewel. Yang doesn’t want to help the Chinese. However, Singapore underground boss O Taizen already knows that the golden paradise city of Kong Rong is in the Gobi desert.

The Chinese military take them to a location in Tibet. Corporal Li is ordered to take a squad in. Lupin infiltrates the squad, and only he and the corporal are left alive when they find the last jewel. Lupin disguises himself as Li and makes off with all three jewels with Jigen, Goemon, Fujiko, and Yang in tow.

They arrive at an oasis, where Lupin takes the three jewels down to a resting Buddha statue. This causes the statue to rise and open up, revealing the entrance to Kong Rong. Inside, Lupin finds an even larger ball jewel. Yang betrays Lupin, as the ball will grant the user the power to rule. Chin and Taizen arrive and betray Yang, but in the struggle, the city is destroyed and the oasis buried in the desert.

Thoughts/Review

After some recent duds, Lupin the 3rd: Part III 21 was actually kinda interesting, even if the hidden city concept has been done in the franchise one or two other times, at least.

Take Me Down to Paradise City

Although there are betrayals in Lupin the 3rd: Part III 21, the fact that Fujiko wasn’t involved in them was a welcome relief. I’ll be honest, I never suspected Yang-sensei of betraying them. And the writers of the episode keep this aspect until late in the episode. As I think back on things, I’m not sure why Yang waited until the end, other than the plot demanded it. Once they were onboard the Chinese submarine, and Lupin presumed dead, there’s no reason for him to pretend, not even for Fujiko’s sake.

That aside, the episode does have a lot of dumb stuff. For example, what is Zenigata doing at the public reveal of the inside of Prince Nishido’s tomb? I didn’t catch anywhere that he was there to try to thwart Lupin. Indeed, when Lupin and Jigen reveal themselves, he’s shocked  by it. I guess the writers just needed a reason for Zenigata to be there, and for there to be a wacky chase. Frankly, I thought Zenigata would be Lupin in disguise.

Having Lupin go up against the head of Chinese intelligence and the Chinese military was a nice touch. Yes, there were cliched elements to the Chinese characters. However, the use of the Chinese military and Chinese intelligence gave the episode more meaningful stakes to me.

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

In the end, Lupin the 3rd: Part III 21 had an interesting story, even if filled with many of the flaws I’ve come to expect from this series. And as usual, the official subtitles are trash.