English Dub Review: Lupin the Third Part IV “Venice of the Dead”

Let’s go to Venice!

Spoilers Below

Lupin pays a visit to Rebecca in order to get her to finally sign their divorce papers. She actually seems to have some regret about it… but just before signing the papers the unthinkable happens… A ZOMBIE APPEARS! The zombie goes on a rampage, but thanks to Rebecca’s quick thinking, not only does she prevent Lupin off the balcony, but grabs his gun from inside his jacket and shoots the zombie! Apparently, Rebecca isn’t too knowledgeable on zombies and shoots the damn thing every where except the head. Come ON, that’s basic “How to kill a zombie” 101! Hilariously, Lupin makes a quick reference to “The Walking Dead” as more zombies appear. Lupin and Rebecca escape into the house and turn on the TV where their worst nightmares are true, as reports confirm of a zombie virus taking over the nation. As the horde of zombies breaks into the house, the two couple makes a break for it. They run to the edge of a cliff and find themselves climbing up a tree to escape the undead. They have no visible means of escape except jumping from the tree, off the cliff and into the ocean below. Before they jump Rebecca realizes just how important Lupin is to her and asks to put off the divorce if they survive. Lupin agrees and as if on cue, three helicopters come to their aid. The two are taken to a cruise ship where they, or rather Lupin by himself, come to find out that the entire thing was staged and Rebecca is actually shooting a movie. Naturally, Lupin feels angry towards Rebecca for manipulating him so and decides to teach her a lesson. Of course, it doesn’t help that his boys Jigen and Goemon tease Lupin about the entire ordeal.

Lupin shows up to the studio to steal the film, but much to his surprise, he’s already stolen the film. Wait, that can’t be right. Lupin immediately notices Rebecca making a break for it out the back door of the studio. He gives pursuit as she jumps onto a gondola and floats down the river. Lupin jumps aboard the gondola and chastises Rebecca, while she tries to convince Lupin to go ahead with the movie. Being in a movie directed by the famous Lippini Brothers, guarantees you become an international celebrity. But Lupin is a master thief by trade and intentionally stays out the eye of the public. What kind of thieving could he possibly do if he is recognized everywhere, by everyone? It probably won’t be a good for his chosen career path. Just as the conversation between the two gets heated, the police show up and Lupin leads them on a chase. It’s gondola versus helicopter in the waterways of Venice! Lupin has to be strong as he quickly outpaces the helicopter and takes shelter under a bridge. The helicopter opens fire upon the two and things look bleak, Rebecca starts spilling out her love for Lupin again, suggesting they run to the end of the world together. At this moment, Lupin realizes that this is just another part of shooting the film. As the two float down the waterway, Rebecca proposes a deal with Lupin, who ends up handing over the film. The two sail into the early morning sunlight together.

At the movie premiere, we see that the film company was able to edit Lupin’s appearance into that of one of the zombies, thereby keeping his identity secret. Watching from the shadows, Goemon and Jigen seem to be having fun watching Lupin’s silver screen debut. The movie is hailed as a major success, as Lupin, Goemon and Jigen leave the theatre. I guess Lupin never got those divorce papers signed after all.

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t really too entertained by this episode of Lupin. Initially, I was genuinely excited to see how Lupin was going to deal with zombies, but that interest quickly faded once the façade was exposed. Instead of being about stealing treasure this episode focused more on the “relationship” between Lupin and Rebecca, and I put money on it most of that dialogue was scripted as well. I guess you could kind of say that the treasure Lupin was after was maintaining the anonymity of his identity in order to continue being a master thief, but I feel like that’s stretching it. Lupin’s identity was never in threat since Rebecca paned on editing him to look like a zombie anyway. The only thing that she wanted from him was his natural reactions to the scenarios that she put him in. Her plan worked, but it didn’t work very well for this episode.