Lupin the 3rd: Part III 23
Lupin III Part 3 23
ルパン三世 – Part III Ep. 23

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis

Lupin, Jigen, and Goemon case a Swiss bank in war torn Beirut, Lebanon.  When the fighting comes to the street the special metal bank is on, the bank’s treads move it to a safer location. Later, Zenigata meets with the bank’s manager, Banco. Despite Zenigata’s pleas, Banco is not concerned about Lupin robbing the bank as no one has ever succeeded in the past. Further, it has an AI computer system that’s not to be beat.

Meanwhile, Lupin, disguised as an Arab customer, makes a $10,000 deposit in the bank. The computer immediately detects that the deposit is a dollar short. Lupin hands over the dollar, and the money is sent via conveyor to another location. However, the lone dollar catches fire, thus causing a fault in the system as the computer detects it is missing a dollar.

Jigen intercepts the call for technical help. Inside, Lupin changes into the computer technician and reports to Banco. The manager takes Lupin to the vault, where the fault supposedly is. The computer grants Lupin 5 minute access to the vault as Fujiko, who’d infiltrated the bank as Banco’s secretary, puts him to sleep with gas. The two start work on emptying the vault while fooling the computer. Outside, Jigen and Goemon receive the “trash” from the bank.

However, the war causes the bank to flee again. Zenigata shows up and causes Lupin and himself to be trapped in the vault. The computer is going to execute them, but when Lupin sets fire to the cash, it prioritizes saving the money over everything else. Outside, Jigen discovers the treads are the bank’s weakness, so Goemon removes them with Zantetsuken. The gang escape, and Lupin decides to leave his deposit in the bank to earn interest.

Thoughts/Review

On one hand, Lupin the 3rd: Part III 23 is another silly affair. Having a bank that is made of a metal that can’t be harmed by a nuke or Zantetsuken is rather remarkable. Making the bank mobile (which is supposed to be a reference to the Crimson Permanent Assurance skit from Monty Python & the Meaning of Life movie) is rather silly and obviously not practical. But, we’re supposed to forget things like the utilities a large building would need (water, electricity, sewage, gas, phone).

However, once one gets past the ridiculous notion of a mobile bank, Lupin’s heist is actually cleverly done. I liked the fact that Lupin made a massive deposit into the bank just to cause the AI to fault after one of the bills goes up in smoke. We already know that Lupin is a master of disguise. So it wasn’t a surprise for him to disguise himself as the technician. But I loved that Lupin actually had Banco escort him to the loot. Then when it came time for the computer to grant Lupin access, he uses his real name. And there were other elements I liked as well.

On the other hand, there were some rubbish elements. For a start, Zenigata shows up because the plot needs Lupin to be delayed. Then the computer’s security system locks them in the vault. Apparently, the computer has instructions to execute folks who overstay their welcome. BUT, the computer gives the people several minutes to do whatever before carrying out the execution. Stuff like this is where the episode has its weaknesses.

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

Let me wrap up my review of this episode with some final thoughts.

• I found it rather interesting that this story was set in Beirut. Back when this episode came out, civil war ravaged the city. So it seems an odd choice for a setting, but I suppose it works.
• Amazingly, Fujiko disguises herself for a rare change.
• I liked that Lupin decided to leave his $10,000 at that branch of the bank.

In the end, Lupin the 3rd: Part III 23 was pretty enjoyable as the heist aspects came off as very plausible for the most part. But the episode does suffer from “needs of the plot” at times as well.