Lupin the 3rd: Part II 11
Lupin III Part 2 11
ルパン三世 – 新シリーズ Ep. 11
Lupin Sansei Shin Series
Lupin III New Series

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis

Lupin takes his new Formula 1 Grand Prix car for a trial run. His times indicate he can beat the speed record for the Grand Prix race in Monaco. Meanwhile, Fujiko comes to the city to visit underworld boss Socrates Nexus, who wants Lupin’s car and the Grand Prix prize money.

That night, Jigen talks Lupin and Goemon into going to the casino. Lupin has a massive win streak at poker. However, Nexus arrives with Fujiko and challenges him. This causes Lupin to be irritated, so that Nexus can cheat and clean Lupin out of his money, clothes, and car.

Back at the hotel, Fujiko visits Lupin to explain what happened. Lupin is expected to drive for Nexus. Lupin isn’t keen on allowing Nexus to win big on him. However, Fujiko has a plan to steal all of the betting money, providing Lupin enters the race. He agrees, so she informs Nexus.

On the day of the race, Lupin is out in front of the race. Elsewhere, Fujiko, Goemon, and Jigen pull off the robbery. One of Nexus’s henchmen IDs Fujiko and lets him know. As such, the trio cannot escape Monaco and radio Lupin. He has an alternate plan. As such, they stuff the money into tires and have Lupin pit. The money tires are put on, then Lupin drives off a cliff to the ocean, where Goemon gets the cash.

Nexus is ruined. Meanwhile, Lupin, Jigen, and Goemon gamble away all the stolen money, leaving themselves without anything.

Thoughts/Review

One nice thing about Lupin the 3rd: Part II 11 is that it remembers Lupin’s Grand Prix racing ability. During Zenigata’s pointless cameo, he remarked on how he knew Lupin would be there, considering Lupin’s love of the sport.

In regards to the race, the one thing the episode doesn’t properly deal with is the pit crew. The writers treat the pit crew as if it were some neutral element rather than part of the race car driver’s team. I would have liked to have seen the crew while Lupin did his test runs.

That aside, the story here is fairly average. It is just entertaining enough to not be boring. The plot required Lupin to get owned by getting upset. However, I found I could buy into this notion. Then at the end when Lupin got all the loot, but then blew it on gambling, I wasn’t surprised.

Beyond that, I struggle to find much to say about the episode. As a side note, I did learn that Niki Lauda, the driver who won the race, was a real Formula One driver from the time the episode came out. So clearly, the production team were capitalizing on a popular Grand Prix of the day.

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

In the end, Lupin the 3rd: Part II 11 is just an average episode that will provide some level of entertainment.