Lupin the 3rd: Part III 28 (Meandering Part 2 #LupinIII)

July 12th, 2024

AstroNerdBoy

Lupin the 3rd: Part III 28
Lupin III Part 3 28
ルパン三世 – Part III Ep. 28

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis

The sniper’s bullet hits Barbara’s pendant, sparing her life. Lupin and company get her to safety. Barbara recounts her last conversation with her husband, Joe, who stole the special wheat seed in the Star of Alaska ring. Fujiko uses a mini-drone to spy on them to try to get the ring first. The arrival of Zenigata and the CIA thwart Lupin’s plans to chase Fujiko. As such, he has to stage an escape for himself, Jigen, and Goemon.

Meanwhile, Fujiko gets snagged by the KGB. They reveal that the downed airliner had a bomb on board, meaning someone planned to destroy it. Elsewhere, Lupin and company get to his stashed, Osprey helicopter. However, the sniper is onto them, as is the CIA, who phone in an airstrike. As such, Lupin and company are forced to hike through the snow to the church where Joe left his ring. They find it in the fountain with other wedding rings.

Thanks to Fujiko, the KGB finds Lupin’s party. While they hide in the church, the CIA arrive. However, Lupin deduces that the wheat seed isn’t in the Star of Alaska ring. As such, he tosses it back so that the CIA and KGB can fight over it. The group, with Fujiko, ski to safety. At the hotel, the sniper again targets Barbara. Jigen gets the drop on him. It is Joe, her estranged husband.

With Lupin and Goemon present, Joe and Jigen have a chat that ends in a gun fight. Jigen wins, but doesn’t kill Joe. He tells Jigen that Barbara should have married Jigen. Later, Jigen meets Barbara on a bridge. She turns to follow after Joe despite knowing he won’t return to her. Barbara points out to Jigen that he wouldn’t return to her either and leaves.

Thoughts/Review

For what is effectively the second part of a story, Lupin the 3rd: Part III 28 was rather boring. That’s because there wasn’t much of a story here. The only plot elements were learning a bit more about Joe and where the Star of Alaska was actually hidden. Then at the end, we get the showdown between the very much alive Joe and Jigen. And the result? The status quo returns as the writers turn Barbara into someone who’d pursue the man who left her and tried to kill her. No romance for Jigen. If the writers had done some character stuff here, things would have worked better.

Beyond that, most of the episode was filler of sorts. We burn time on Zenigata again failing to get Lupin. Then more time is burned while the KGB chase Fujiko. Following that, even more time gets sunk with the CIA and KGB chasing Lupin’s party. And of course, there’s the big, anti-climatic showdown where Lupin suddenly figures out things and leaves the CIA and KGB to duke it out (literally).

These action sequences are boring because we know Lupin is going to “magic” his way out of things. When the writers put some effort into the escape, it is fine. Here, it was just, “Not sure how any of this could have happened, but whatever. Spin on!”