English Dub Review: Lupin III Part VI “Fakes Attract Lies Part 1”

Overview

On the hunt for information about his long presumed dead mentor, Tomoe. Lupin travels to the country of Cotornica. However, Lupin encounters an unexpected face who was traveling by chance…

Our Take

In previous episodes of Lupin during what I like to call the “Tomoe arc”, there’s been what started as this innocuous subplot involving a flower shop girl named Mattea whom Lupin charmed and was even helped during an incident where she was injured during a heist. Somehow, she just so happens to be popping up wherever Lupin is going. As a character, Mattea is a lot of fun, too. It’s always great seeing “normal” people reacting to Lupin’s antics and skillsets in contrast to how his usual associates who treat all of Lupin’s thrill-seeking aspects like a status quo for them.

During Lupin’s trip, things have started to unravel. As Lupin also interacts with a female politician named Hazel who’s under scrutiny due to her efforts in trying to fix her country’s major issues which is harder than it sounds with sleazy tabloid people and insurgents discovering “deep fake” technology. In the process, we also find out Hazel’s ties to Tomoe and a big secret about her past that not even Lupin knew about…

Overall, aside from Lupin’s discoveries about Tomoe’s past, there’s obviously something major going on behind the scenes, and Zenigata walked straight into some unexpected trouble. However, it remains to be seen if Zenigata’s situation is tied to Tomoe somehow. Though I find it hard to believe that it isn’t tied with Tomoe given the way Zenigata’s situation unfolded…