Lupin the 3rd: Part II 21
Lupin III Part 2 21
ルパン三世 – 新シリーズ Ep. 21
Lupin Sansei Shin Series
Lupin III New Series

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis

Goemon returns to visit his sensei, only to find the elderly man’s shack ransacked and his sword master nearly dead. Before dying in the shack explosion, Jinen-sensei hands Goemon a torn scroll.

Meanwhile in Hong Kong, Lupin, Jigen, and Fujiko discuss Goemon visiting his old master. They wonder if Goemon will get the Iga-ninpo scroll, containing the secret Ninja arts of the Iga clan. Back in Japan, Goemon’s fellow student Jinkuro challenges him. Jinkuro claims Goemon killed their teacher. As such, he uses dirty tactics to defeat Goemon. However, Jigen and Lupin arrive to force him to retreat.

Jigen learns that Zenigata arrested Jinkuro for Jinen-sensei’s murder. Jigen and Lupin feel it is a trap, but Goemon takes the bait. However, before Zenigata can nail the injured Goemon, Lupin saves him. Lupin comes up with a plan to get Jinkuro out from under Zenigata’s protection so that Goemon can have his revenge. As such, Lupin disguises himself as the judge in the trial. All of the prosecution’s evidence is replaced with joke material. Thus Jinkuro is set free.

As Jigen and Lupin observe, Jinkuro and Goemon fight in a storm. Jinkuro uses trickery to drug Goemon. As such, Goemon uses his sword to direct lightning at Jinkuro, killing him. Using the map in the scroll, Lupin finds the location of the treasure in a tree stump. Upon opening the box, there’s only an old proverb inside. Goemon recalls the words of his deceased teacher and laughs.

Thoughts/Review

Apparently, Lupin the 3rd: Part II 21 is ranked #50 of the Lupin III Part 2 episodes. To me, it was boring and predictable. Unfortunately, Goemon-focused episodes tend to be very similar. He’s in Japan and has to avenge someone close to him. He’ll initially fail in his mission for revenge, but with Jigen’s and Lupin’s assistance, Goemon will rise to the occasion and win.

The only surprise element of the episode came from Zenigata. First, he showed up disguised as a Chinese peasant looking to sell trinkets to Lupin. I thought for sure this person would be someone tied to Jinkuro, or even Jinkuro himself, since we’d not met him at this point. So that was a fun surprise.

Next is Zenigata arresting Jinkuro for the murder. Striking a deal with Jinkuro in order to bait Goemon, and subsequently Lupin, was a good move. And it also protected Jinkuro, who clearly felt inferior to Goemon. Otherwise, he wouldn’t want to be in safe in jail so as not to fight Goemon. That’s on top of the dirty tricks Jinkuro uses to fight Goemon in their two clashes.

Finally, we lose Fujiko in the episode. In Hong Kong, she flees Zenigata with Lupin and Jigen. However, that’s the last we see of her as she does not return to Japan with them. One would have thought she’d do that to get the treasure.

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

In the end, Lupin the 3rd: Part II 21 didn’t do a whole lot for me. But it certainly wasn’t the worst Lupin III stuff I’ve watched.