Lupin the 3rd: Part II 08
Lupin III Part 2 08
ルパン三世 – 新シリーズ Ep. 08
Lupin Sansei Shin Series
Lupin III New Series

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis

Lupin’s gang is in Venice, Italy to target Don Martino. On the surface, he’s a legitimate businessman, but in reality, runs a murderous, criminal organization. Martino is taking his prized race horse to France for a race. However, on the same train, he’s smuggling loot out of Italy. Unfortunately, Zenigata arrives, forcing them to abandon their hideout and leaving behind a map.

Jigen and Goemon take an eighteen wheeler to run in parallel with the train. Lupin disguises himself as a typical 70’s man and boards the train, where he encounters Zenigata in one of the cars. After the train starts, Zenigata starts opening all doors to see if Lupin is inside, receiving a lot of punishment as a result.

Meanwhile, the disguised Lupin joins the disguised Fujiko in the dining car. They are joined by Zenigata, who hits on Fujiko after apologizing to her for busting into her roomette. The disguised Fujiko leaves to pay a visit to Don Martino’s private car. They let her in as she tries to work her magic on the Don. However, they quickly realize she’s not what she claims to be.

Zenigata shows up, looking for Lupin, so Fujiko takes the opportunity to leave with him. As they depart, the real Zenigata appears. After kicking him off the train, Fujiko and Lupin detach Martino’s car and the treasure car. However, he’s prepared for them as his car has its own drive. Unfortunately, another train comes, forcing Jigen and Goemon to rescue Fujiko. Lupin escapes on the horse and enters it into the race, only to have Zenigata there.

Thoughts/Review

We get a mixed bag with Lupin the 3rd: Part II 08. I found the most of the episode to be kinda interesting. I liked that Lupin’s target was a mafia boss of sorts. The heist plan was mostly solid. And while Zenigata showing up at their hideout was a plot contrivance, I could believe that in their haste to escape, they might leave the map behind, allowing Zenigata to board the same train as them.

Fujiko’s disguise worked for me since I didn’t even recognize her at the start. It wasn’t until Lupin came to her table in the dining car that I realized who she was. Lupin’s disguise worked on a surface level in that though I knew immediately it was him, I could see others not recognizing him.

I give kudos to the writers for even fooling me on Lupin re-disguising himself as Zenigata. Indeed, getting rid of Zenigata, the detaching of Martino’s cars from the train, and Martino pulling one over on Lupin all worked for me.

Unfortunately, the writers ran out of time to make an interesting ending. As such, things fall apart rapidly once Fujiko gets rescued and the peril of the other train approaches. Martino suddenly going insane smacked of plot contrivance. Lupin escaping the train falling by leaping out on the back of the race horse made my eyes roll. Not only that, but at that moment, I knew Lupin would enter the horse in the race and that Zenigata would be there as well. Ugh. Terrible ending.

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

In the end, Lupin the 3rd: Part II 08 has a good run, then literally falls off the track at the end due to the need to wrap things up quickly. Shame, really.