English Dub Review: Lupin the Third: Part V “Lupin vs. The Smart Safe”

Jigen and Fukicakes are some creepy-ass sadists

Overview (Spoilers Below)

This very cartoony episode begins with a pair of brothers called Hirameki. Referred to only as “Older” and “Younger,” these supposed orphans (or maybe the parents just took off) somehow found themselves in charge of their father’s invention store. Yep, they own an invention store; that’s the world this strange version of Lupin exists within.

Anyway, Older brother is very dumb, and Younger is thirteen years old at most, so it comes as no surprise that the bank has foreclosed upon their entire business because of a series of outstanding debts. In a last-ditch attempt to save their crumbling enterprise, the brothers invent KINKO, a super safe that only dumb people can open. We’re talking extremely dumb folk with “zero” brainpower. So far, only Older Hirameki has managed to open it. And so, a big bank president procures the safe and challenges Lupin—who apparently has “300” brainpower—to rob the safe. Zenigata is also involved, so he can arrest Lupin if he fails—or succeeds.

Lupin doesn’t take requests and ignores the dare. However, he relents when his friends start asking for money the master thief doesn’t have. When he tries to rob the safe by playing dumb, he can only force his intelligence to drop to 35. After his public failure, the bank turns in record profits, and the brothers’ luck begins to improve.

Meanwhile, the defeated Lupin wants to try again. To help him, Jigen and Fujiko attempt to beat, disgust, and exhaust the smarts straight out of his head. After many days of torture, Lupin’s intellect drops to a single point, but that’s still too high to open the safe. However, a pep talk from Older Hirameki skyrockets Lupin’s intelligence back to 300, at which point he gobbles down a bunch of raw blueback fish. The fatty acids pull his score over 300 which shorts out the machine, momentarily fries Lupin’s brain, and opens the safe. Before brain-drained Lupin can steal the money, Zenigata approaches him, forcing Jigen to hit the cop on the head with a frying pan (ugh), and carry his buddy away.

Lucky for the brothers, the crowd loves their antics and they become local celebrities. Instead of inventions, they begin to sell canned blueback herring, the profits of which go toward paying off their debts. Maybe they’ll save their father’s store after all—but who cares because they’re terrible characters.

 

Our Take

Everything was off about this episode, including the color palette. We saw Lupin in a pink coat, Zenigata wearing dull grays, and Fujiko’s hair practically looked brown. In the spirit of the manga in which the anime is based, this appeared to be a supplemental or side story. In the manga, these stories are often separate from the overall plot and tend to be written and drawn by different artists. They also lack the level of emotional stakes of the primary storylines.

Similar to your average supplemental story, this episode did not measure up to the stunning caliber of the five episodes that started this season. That mini-arc had its share of rich storytelling, compelling character connections, and a lack of hitting anybody in the head with a frying pan. And even if Jigen hit somebody in the head earlier this season, they wouldn’t have immediately recovered as Zenigata did here. The stakes were nonexistent in this tale.

The characters also behaved too much like cartoonish stereotypes. While the Lupin supporting cast can be animated and a little over-the-top, they’re usually grounded in reality. But here we had Zenigata behaving like the undignified Steve Martin version of Inspector Clouseau whose only obsession was catching his villain. The brothers resembled a couple of fast-talking Speed Racer rejects and the bank president was an unholy cross between Santa Claus and Montgomery Burns.

The biggest offense came from Jigen and Fujiko—but especially Ms. Mine because we expect so much more from her. While the gang is always jovial and not above busting each other’s chops, these two took it to a whole new level this week. To make their friend dumb (which isn’t really a thing), they slapped him around for many days as if they were living in a real-life Punch and Judy show. Besides, with a world of riches to steal, why venture to the exact place you know Zenigata will be when you can go anywhere else without having to abuse Lupin?

Lastly, a lot of Lupin fans are familiar with his supposed origins. Legend says he’s the grandson of the fictional French gentleman thief, Arsene Lupin. Not everybody knows that, but they certainly don’t need it exposited by the Younger Hirameki and Fujiko within ten minutes. Then again, this was a side story aimed at people with intelligence levels below “300.”

Please get better next week, Lupin. You started out so strong and have limitless potential. Don’t let us down.