Lupin the Third: Part 5

Episode 6

Episode 6 is the much-hyped "throwback" episode of Lupin the Third: Part 5. We knew from last week's preview that this one would be different. Just the appearance of a pink-colored jacket had long-time fans excited, and there was also a significant art shift. All of this suggested a modern homage to Lupin the Third: Part 3, aka the "Pink Jacket" series. Part 3 is known as the weakest of the Lupin III TV series, largely for its animation quality but also for some particularly goofy plots. This episode delivers on that homage, but in a way that works for fans of modern-day Lupin.

This episode revolves around a mysterious safe, designed by the two Hirameki brothers in a contest from the Greater Tokyo Bank. They're looking for a safe that even Lupin can't break into, and the brothers seem to have hit the jackpot by finding one that uses Lupin's intelligence against him. This safe only opens if a person with the bare minimum brainpower—represented on a scale from 0 to 300—has their head scanned by the machine. It just so happens that one of these brothers has that intelligence score (despite being smart enough to build this safe in the first place and land on such an ingenious plan, but maybe that was all his slightly smarter brother's idea?). Lupin has the maximum level intelligence of 300, so he's out of luck. Even if he tries to dumb himself down, he has no hope of opening the safe.

First of all, is Lupin really supposed to be the smartest person in the world? He's pretty crafty for sure, but I don't know if he's even the smartest character in his own TV show or on his own team. He's also shown some incredible levels of stupidity over his 50 years of existence. But aside from having to accept its silly premise, the episode is pretty fun. It's clearly the sort of bizarre nonsense that was a hallmark of much older Lupin series, and it's a good premise for a tribute to Part 3, which was especially known for stories that didn't make much sense. It feels nostalgic in a Saturday morning cartoon kind of way, and it's welcome after the deadly-serious plots of many recent Lupin adventures.

About half of this episode is made up of shenanigans, as Jigen and Fujiko plot to lower Lupin's intelligence to open the safe by bonking him on the head and exhausting him with endless workouts. (Sleep deprivation does indeed lower your brainpower, so that at least is somewhat based in science!) I was a little surprised that we didn't eventually see Fujiko disrobe, which is historically the easiest way to reduce Lupin to his dumbest self, but I guess Fujiko wasn't that interested in the safe's contents.

In the end, Lupin's intelligence is what saves rather than dooms him. Even all of Jigen and Fujiko's efforts, they can only get Lupin as low as 001 level brainpower—still too high to open the safe. However, the elder Hirameki brother is so flattered by his efforts that he thinks they should open the safe for Lupin anyway. This snaps the thief out of his daze to start chowing down on fish for their supposed intelligence-boosting qualities. (This is also somewhat based in science, but no matter how many fish you eat, it wouldn't boost your brainpower that quickly.) Lupin's score zooms off the charts, breaking the system and thus busting open the safe. It's a fitting ending that lets Lupin win without ruining the brothers' brilliant(?) idea. They realize that the intelligence-boosting qualities of the fish offers them a new business opportunity, and all's well that ends well.

In many ways, this is a perfect update of pink-jacket Lupin for a modern audience. The art style fits the older 1980s version of the show, but without the weaker animation and other production issues. The characters are more in line with their sillier versions, particularly Fujiko acting as a clear ally to the gang rather than a mysterious rival. The character models are much rounder, giving them a more "cartoonish" appearance, rather than the sleeker modern designs. The plot is also inexplicably weird in a way that no other recent Lupin series can rival. Both Part 4 and The Woman Called Fujiko Mine have gone some strange places, but they always try to justify them with worldbuilding of some kind. Pink jacket Lupin just lets the weirdness fly, one episode at a time.

It looks like this was just a brief diversion, with the next episode promising a return to form and the blue jacket. Still, this bit of vintage "filler" was so well-executed that I really hope it's not the last one we see for this series. Lupin the Third: Part 5 could make a good formula out of five-episode storylines, followed by one-off tributes to the series' past.

Rating: A

Lupin the Third: Part 5 is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Rose is a Ph.D. student in musicology, who recently released a book about the music of Cowboy Bebop. You can also follow her on Twitter.