LUPIN the Third ～峰不二子という女～
LUPIN the Third – MINE Fujiko to Iu Onna Episode 03
Lupin III: A Woman Called MINE Fujiko – 03

A Japanese samurai named Goemon is hired to assassinate King Tranc Goerb of Astria in order to establish himself with the underground. Meanwhile, Fujiko is posing as Maria, a tutor and nanny for the King’s three young, orphaned grandchildren, the male (Marco) of whom is in line for the throne over his aunt.  After a visit to a museum were some of their grandfather’s art is being exhibited, the group return via a steam train, along with guards and staff. Marco loves samurai, so when he crashes by accident into Goemon on the train, Goemon puts on a show for him as part of his cover as a traveling entertainer. With the King visiting with his grandchildren, Goemon puts off killing him and ends up having a chat with Fujiko, who realizes that Goemon isn’t just a performer.

In the meantime, the engineer of the steam train is killed so that the King and Goemon will be killed in a train accident. When this is discovered, Goemon comes forward and reveals himself to be an assassin. After demonstrating his skills in a nonlethal way, he offers his services to the King since his contract is now void. Fujiko gets the kids and passengers to the rear train car while Goemon cuts it free, saving all. Goemon leaves without saying goodby to the kids, but later is near the palace when Fujiko makes an escape with the King’s very valuable belt. Goemon’s sword antics cause Fujiko to become naked, and after she reveals that this belt was why she was here at all, she presses her naked breasts into Goeomon’s chest and kisses him before leaving on her motorcycle.

Have you ever noticed how the Japanese aren’t scared pantless by English honorifics, unlike official English anime adaptations, who ARE scared pantless AND crapless by Japanese honorifics.  But I digress… ^_~

Anyway, this episode  brought a different element of style to the series. in addition to the art and animation styles, we had a weird era style element added. The episode felt like it took place in the 1940’s with the clothing style.

Near the very end, a bunch of Huey helicopters were shown, giving it a more 60’s to 70’s feel due to how they were drawn.  So, I’m going to assume that any time period setting for the series is out the door.

As to the episode, I did like how Fujiko was handled for the most part. Much like her counterpart in Castle of Cagliostro, Fujiko in this episode isn’t trying to bang King Tranc, but instead is the tutor for his grandkids. As such, this is Fujiko using her brains, not her breasts, to get what she wants.  That’s the Fujiko I like, and that’s the Fujiko that made the score.

That being said, Fujiko’s goods had to be shown off at the end of the episode. That’s because a bone had to be tossed to the otaku who’d patiently been sitting through the entire episode with their pants around their ankles, waiting for the erotic scenes to happen. *_*  Her meeting with Goemon could have gone off with the same results with her clothed.

Good thing people riding motorcycles don’t need a stitch of clothing, eh? Only sissies wear helmets, clothing, and leathers OVER their clothing. Real bikers, like Fujiko, are stark naked. Frack the wind, dirt, bugs, etc. *_*

As to Goemon, I’m not remembering him being used as an assassin before. It didn’t feel right somehow.  Defending his friends and doing things as a matter of honor, yes. Indeed, I always figured he owned Lupin his life, thus he was part of Lupin’s gang of thieves.  However, being an assassin just doesn’t fit for me, even though it was interesting.

The runaway train bit was rather cliched for me, and the weakest part of the otherwise solid story. In and of itself, it was fine, but I guess at my age, I’ve seen WAY to many of these runaway train bits done.

Finally, was the train map an Indiana Jones reference of sorts?  It certainly felt like it.

In the end, we had a solid story, a Fujiko who got what she wanted using her brains rather than boobs, and Goemon was introduced. Despite the titillation of a naked Fujiko at the end, and the stylistic elements, I did like this episode a lot.