Lupin the 3rd: Part III 43
Lupin III Part 3 43
ルパン三世 – Part III Ep. 43

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis

Queen Gretchen discovers her car brakes aren’t working, causing her to drive off a cliff to her death. Fujiko, a friend of Gretchen’s, goes to the funeral with Lupin. She suspects the king killed his wife since she wouldn’t divorce him. Lupin doesn’t think so, but agrees to help Fujiko in her scheme to get revenge on the king. Meanwhile, the king has a diamond shoe remade for his girlfriend, Julia, who sold flowers at the funeral.

While the King of Monaca spends an evening with Julie, the “ghost” of his wife appears. It turns out to be Fujiko in disguise. Upon discovery, Fujiko flees, causing the king to challenge Fujiko and Lupin to do their worst. Fujiko and Lupin go in disguise to check out the diamond shoe and are nearly discovered by Zenigata. Lupin returns as the king’s servant, Casim and steals the shoe from under Zenigata’s nose.

During the getaway, the shoe turns out to be a bomb. Lupin’s failure amuses the king. However, he concedes to Zenigata’s demands to improve security. Lupin intercepts the call to Security Systems and disguises himself as the installer. After placing the new laser grid in, he leaves. That night, he returns with Fujiko, only to discover himself trapped by security doors.

Jigen and Goemon, who’d initially sat out this mission, come in to save them. They get all of the kingdom’s treasure after destroying the computers controlling the kingdom’s casinos. Julie leaves the now poor king. Gretchen returns with Fujiko. The two of them leave with the treasure, abandoning Lupin, Jigen, and Goemon.

Thoughts/Review

Lupin the 3rd: Part III 43 was another one of those oddball episodes. It certainly had a more cartoonish feel, due to a bit of slapstick humor. I admit, I did laugh the second time the security system’s metal prison box ejected Zenigata from the palace. And I couldn’t help but grin at the obvious Scrooge McDuck reference when the king and his bird were swimming in a pool filled with gold coins. Lupin’s attire at one point looks like one of the Beagle Boys.

As to the rest of the episode, the kingdom of Monaca is a parody of Monaco. As such, Queen Gretchen and her car accident is a reference to Princess Grace of Monaco, who had a cerebral hemorrhage that caused her to drive off a cliff. But that’s where the similarities end. Well, there is the casino as well.

Regardless, beyond the over the top elements described earlier, the episode was pretty much by the numbers. The moment Goemon and Jigen bailed on Lupin, I knew they’d be back for the deus ex machina moment. That fact that the queen never died, and it was all an elaborate scam by her and Fujiko didn’t surprise me. So when she bails with all the loot, I had Lupin’s “whatever” attitude.

Finally, as an aside, Lupin played a real console game in the episode. I never heard of it, but it was called Xevious. I thought that was pretty cool.

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

In the end, Lupin the 3rd: Part III 43 doesn’t quite know what it wants to be. But it did have a laugh out loud moment, and I liked the parody reference to Scrooge McDuck. Beyond that, the story is “meh.”