English Dub Review: Lupin the Third: Part V “An Outdated Master Thief”

 

 

Overview (Spoilers Below)

We begin with Zenigata and his meek partner who is attending a Ted Talk by the CEO of ShakeHanz. The megalomaniac introduces his new app called People-Log. While this guy is basically a slightly less shady version of Mark Zuckerberg, his new app is way more obtrusive than Facebook. First, it has face-recognition software that can even see through masks with near-perfect certainty. Once it has your face, it treats the user to all your personal information: politics, religion, sex life, diet, medical history, and it can even tell when you’re lying. While the sheeple is fawning over this ridiculously evasive piece of tech, Zenigata is the only one who sees what it truly is—bullshit spyware.

So Lupin and crew plan a heist—it’s an unimportant Madonna and child statue or something—but their theft is disrupted by some bloke who just got outed as an adulterer by his wife. And the only reason she found out was that People-Log listed him as having two significant others. The crowd around them can’t help but be degenerates as they take pics and post them all over social media.

But that’s not the worst of it for our gang. It’s now impossible for them to go out in public without getting noticed by fans and the police. The software is so advanced it even predicts where they’ll escape to, based on their past escapades. Even when they manage to outrun the cops, their hideout is swarming with assassins still pissed off over losing the Lupin Game back in Bwanda.

Seems as if Lupin has become a test case for Mr. ShakeHanz to prove his technology is flawless. A win for him would mean the end of thieving as we know it—forever. In a semi-panic, Lupin takes a call from Ami and attempts to elicit her expertise. She’s happy, even flattered that the master thief would ask for her help.

Little does Lupin know, he’s been outed at his favorite hideout—the one where he and Jigen dress up like the grumpy old men. An unruly mob bombards the place and demands the thief’s blood, and they even accuse the nice waitress/owner of being a Lupin stooge. Acting fast, Lupin rips off his disguise and takes the girl hostage at gunpoint. At first, she’s scared, but she soon realizes he did it to draw suspicion away from her.

The trio—minus Goemon who isn’t even safe from People-Log on his secret, secluded mountain—drive away to a mysterious rendezvous spot. There, they meet Zenigata who, for once, isn’t looking to arrest our heroes. Instead, he wants to work together to take down People-Log and ShakeHanz.

But wait, what was the catalyst for the inspector’s unprecedented turn? Why it’s because the CEO kidnapped Fujiko and stripped her naked to exposit his master plan. I mean, what else would it be?

 

Our Take

Lupin and Zenigata working together! In my opinion, the entire crux of the 50+ year franchise has led to this moment. And it’s not going to be a comedic little road movie where the duo has to work together to keep Ami alive. This time they are legitimately going to work as partners with the same noble and desperate goals in mind. People-Log not only has the juice to end thievery, but it could also crumble governments and make old Koichi’s job at Interpol very difficult or even obsolete.

Can I just say how brilliant it is when Zenigata shows earnest concern for the people he’s gotten close with over the years? He and Fujiko don’t generally get along, but he’s not about to let her suffer simply because the two professionals have differing ideologies. I’d venture a guess that even if it were Lupin in hot water, the great detective would put aside years of petty squabbles in order to save his little buddy.

Speaking of pettiness, how funny is it that the only reason Goemon has for leaving his sanctum sanctorum is that he’s peeved over being called Lupin’s henchman? That being said, such an error just might be the slight imperfection that leads to a significant crack in the software’s AI. Nah, it’s probably just a gag meant to set Goemon up for his role in the final act.

The business with Albert mansplaining the dangers of People-Log to his country’s most powerful people and the bombardment of online Lupin-hate were clever nods to us savvy fans. Almost everybody our team wronged (and left alive) this season came back to throw some shade on the master thief. At least my time spent watching those putrid standalone episodes now have a smidgen of purpose.

With only a handful of Lupin’s left, it looks as if we’re going to take a bullet train to the finish line. We’re going to see some very bad people go down, while other bad people might face more ambiguous ends. And once the dust settles, Lupin and company will go back to doing what they do best—ripping off museums and snobby collectors.

The only ingredient missing is a whole lot more Ami. See you soon, kid!