Lupin the 3rd: Part II 02
Lupin III Part 2 02
ルパン三世 – 新シリーズ Ep. 02
Lupin Sansei Shin Series
Lupin III New Series

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis

Lupin, Jigen, and Goemon fly to Rio de Janeiro with the plan to steal ¥2B in proceeds from a soccer match between Brazil and America. For the first part of their plan, they drive a crane into the Christ the Redeemer statue. They are arrested for drunk driving and placed into the medical ward of prison. Zenigata shows up and gloats. However, when he has dinner with the warden, Zenigata feels Lupin is up to something.

On the day of the soccer match, Fujiko shows up in an ambulance as a nurse with bedding. She’s let in to change the sheets and apparently, prison uniforms. The guards are more interested in the soccer match, so they allow Fujiko to put a sheet up so that Lupin, Jigen, and Goemon can change in private while Fujiko changes the sheets.

They set up a projector and film to depict them in bed while Fujiko wheels them out in her cart. This allows them to steal the cash and escape. When Zenigata learns of this, he decides to inspect the cell and discovers Lupin and company aren’t there. This throws off Lupin’s timing as the cash is now in the damaged Christ the Redeemer statue.

Zenigata again forces Lupin to move out of schedule, and they use a helicopter to fly the statue away. Unfortunately, the cash inside falls out, leaving them only with the heavy statue.

Thoughts/Review

Lupin the 3rd: Part II 02 is another one of those episodes where folks have to be incompetent for Lupin’s scheme to work. For a start, Lupin, Jigen, and Goemon are clearly not injured, yet they are all bandaged up and placed into the medical ward of the Rio prison. Obviously, this means the doctors or other medical folks were incompetent. If Lupin had folks on the inside, it would have made sense.

Next is the system for changing sheets and clothing. Why would a nurse from a local hospital come to the prison just to change sheets? The prison should have its own medical staff to change sheets and provide fresh clothing. However, the plot required a way for Fujiko to easily get the trio out the front door, so…

Then there are the prison guards. The writers weakly attempt to make the guards semi-competent. However, they don’t inspect Fujiko’s cart either when coming in or leaving. And they allow her to block the camera in the room.

The only competent person is Zenigata. Frankly, I’m glad to see this. Sure, he does his typical, “I’ll pursue you to the ends of the world” rubbish, but at least the writers made him suspicious. And ultimately, he thwarted Lupin.

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

In the end, Lupin the 3rd: Part II 02 is a dumb but harmless episode.