Lupin the Third: Part 5

Episode 9

This is one of the best episodes of Lupin the Third: Part 5 so far, but it starts in a pretty frustrating place with yet another fake-out "death." It's established pretty quickly that Lupin is gonna be just fine. I'm not shocked, but I am a little disappointed. If Lupin III wants to keep returning to such a familiar well, it should start meaning something slightly more. I hope they find another flavor of cliffhanger in the future. Of course, this is a nitpick in an otherwise stellar episode of Lupin III. Episode 9 seriously amps up the stakes of this arc and even adds in some attempts at social commentary. It's a smart, well-balanced, utterly thrilling twenty minutes of anime. Even if you lose track of all the little details, you won't be bored for a moment.

One of the first revelations we get after Lupin's survival is the arrival of yet another adversary. As the Lupin gang gets jumped by another couple of bad guys, we follow them to a lair where others are discussing Lupin and Camille. The blonde woman in the Carmen Sandiego outfit is recovering there, and we learn her name is Revenant. It isn't yet clear what these people want yet other than the notebook, but we learn enough to be wary of them. However, the beating heart of this episode comes from the titular "man who abandoned Lupin": Albert. This week, we learn much more about his history with Lupin.

It's not hard to get a "spiteful exes" vibe from Lupin and Albert's flashbacks. It's certainly less shameless than the jokes about Lupin/Jigen and Lupin/Zenigata earlier, but this is obviously a more serious arc. As it turns out, Albert abandoned "Lupin" the title rather than "Lupin" the person. The traditional origin story for Lupin III is that he's the grandson of famous French "gentleman thief" Arsène Lupin, but Part 5 may be putting a twist on that mythology. Did Lupin have to prove himself worthy of his family's thievery tradition beyond blood relation? It makes sense in retrospect, and it could definitely tease an interesting twist out of a fifty-year-old series' mythology.

Then there's the other big elephant in the room this week: the political overtones. Albert and José turn out to be staging a coup to take over the French government, with the help of an actual presidential candidate, Mr. Calvess. It would be easy for Lupin III to present him as a generic corrupt politician without mentioning his actual positions, but this episode specifically mentions him leading a far-right party with anti-immigration rhetoric, while his opponents are closer to the political left or center. Calvess also capitalizes on terrorist activities in order to further his campaign, stirring up people's fear of outsiders to present himself as the best man for the job. So this makes it all the more troubling that he's the one behind these terrorist attacks.

This has a lot of political resonance given recent events both in France (which closely avoided electing a far-right president, Marine Le Pen, in 2017) and where it was created, Japan (which has seen a more general rise in far-right political activity in recent years). I can't imagine that this is coincidental on the show's part, when it goes out of its way to frame anti-immigration rhetoric as a kind of evil that profits on violence and misery. This probably won't be the last we hear of this conflict, since it ties back to the mysterious black notebook in some way. The notebook's disappearance makes Calvess and José more hesitant to carry out their plan for a coup, so it must include some information they don't want getting out to the public. Additionally, this ideological turn causes Albert to go rogue, linking up with Lupin for the time being.

Sure, we don't know the exact reason that Albert strays off on his own, and it doesn't exactly seem like his intentions are altruistic. It's likely that he thought he would play a bigger role in this takeover than their plan indicates. (Or as he puts it: "France is mine, I'm not going to let them take it.") Albert's whole storyline raises lots of questions: Why does Albert want to take over France so badly—enough to turn down the "Lupin" title for not being ambitious enough? Does he just want power, or does he have some political plan of his own? And if so, how does it differ from what Calvess has in mind?

I liked Albert a lot already, but seeing him team up with our hero again gives me even more reason to feel that way, so I hope the answers to all those questions are satisfying. In the meantime, it will be fun to watch these old teammates get the drop on everyone around them and kick some butt. It's not just Calvess and José they have to double-cross, either. They also need to figure out exactly what is going on with Revenant's group, since their own agenda is not quite clear yet.

With "The Man Who Abandoned Lupin," Lupin the Third: Part 5 delivers a super-cool episode that also raises lots of important questions. It challenges viewers not just with the current puzzle-box mystery, but with larger questions about the series' world—something you don't often get from the Lupin III franchise. The series is traditionally an action-comedy, but it can get pretty serious when necessary. After the first arc's comedic social commentary on social media and technology, hopes were high that the second arc would have its own intriguing message to match, so I'm glad to see it exceed expectations.

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.