Lupin the 3rd: Part II 16
Lupin III Part 2 16
ルパン三世 – 新シリーズ Ep. 16
Lupin Sansei Shin Series
Lupin III New Series

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis

Lupin, Goemon, and Jigen are in France, where Lupin announces he will steal the Star of Versailles jewel early in the morning. The owner gets worried, but Zenigata assures him that Lupin won’t arrive before the appointed time. However, as soon as Zenigata leaves, a man sounding like Lupin and dressed like him arrives, stealing the jewel and murdering its owner.

This event shocks Zenigata, who’s determined more than ever to catch Lupin. Goemon and Jigen have some doubts on whether Lupin did it. As such, Lupin decides to steal a ruby called the African Queen. Fujiko is also after it, but to her shock, “Lupin” shows up, murders the owner, and attacks Fujiko before retreating with the ruby. Although Lupin protests his innocence, Fujiko decides to cut ties with him.

A psychiatrist named Dr. Nomil decides to assist Jigen and Goemon get to the truth. They observe Lupin looking normal. Then at midnight, Lupin transforms. Nomil tells them that Lupin has Transformation Syndrome and needs treatment. Lupin goes to treatment, but then wakes up with a murdered woman. When Lupin plays back a video recording he made, he sees that he transformed and murdered the woman.

Meanwhile, Nomil shows the proof to Zenigata. Lupin decides to commit suicide, eventually deciding to hang himself. Fujiko stops him. Back at Lupin’s hotel, Fujiko has Lupin tied up. At midnight, Lupin doesn’t transform. As such, Lupin discovers the truth. Disguised as Nomil, Lupin sets Zenigata onto the real Nomil and fake Lupin, who are arrested as the real thing.

Thoughts/Review

You know, I gotta say that Lupin the 3rd: Part II 16 had a pretty interesting premise. Part of that was no doubt due to the fact that unlike many Lupin III episodes, this one was an actual adaptation of Monkey Punch’s manga work.

In order to fool the audience, the story has various “film” players run so that someone looking through binoculars (as an example) sees a fiction. In the moment, it works because we as the viewer are disoriented. However, in hindsight, this doesn’t hold up to scrutiny. There’s just no believable way that any of this could happen, especially with binoculars.

Next up is Lupin’s supposed condition. For a start, Goemon and Jigen don’t react quite right to the “proof” that their friend and partner is a cold blooded murderer. (Well, after the initial reaction.) Further, Lupin’s Transformation Syndrome supposedly only struck at midnight. During the day, Lupin was “normal.” Yet there was footage of the fake Lupin doing crimes in the middle of the day and no one questioned it.

I kinda wish Zenigata had been more doubtful after the first reported murder, only to be convinced after the doctor visited him. Oh well.

On the other hand, I did like that Fujiko planned to commit a murder-suicide if Lupin turned out to be a killer. I wish there had been more of a positive payoff in that regard, but instead, we get Fujiko slapping Lupin for getting to “friendly” and storming off.

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

In the end, Lupin the 3rd: Part II 16 has an interesting premise, and is an episode that keeps the viewer off balance. But then in hindsight, the episode does not hold up to any logical scrutiny. Still, it was a fun watch.