Post by Jean-Luc Lemur on Jan 8, 2016 22:48:02 GMT -5
35 Gorilla Tactics
Or, Chase After the Gorilla Gang
One of the big attractions of the second series is that it is truly globe-trotting in a way the first wasn’t—while the first was certainly cosmopolitan, it seldom went for much in terms of evoking a specific sense of place. For the second series the touristic aspect is a large part of the appeal, even if it doesn’t get things quite right. Thus we get the very strange Africa of this episode—it mostly looks like East Africa in the establishing shots, but has Central Africa-esque jungles. There are also Greek ruins by the sea, bringing to mind North Africa, though perhaps these are just neoclassical. And everyone is white, giving this episode a distinctly Rhodesian feel. it also allows for more caricatures of grotesque, wealthy white people, which are always fun.
Unfortunately this feels less like callback and more like retread. There’s really nothing new or of note in this episode—the action isn’t especially well done (the sense of dimension that elevated a lot of the first series is totally missing), the mystery’s telegraphed early, and there’s not much in the way of humor (or at least humor that will appeal to those over five). Even the second half is a straight lift from the past series. This was inevitable given that the series pumped out 155 episodes in about three or four years, and excusable in an era before home video, but ultimately there’s little to recommend here but minor variations on a theme.
Recommended?
No—you’ve seen this all before in different settings, and the African location, while rendered attractively, doesn’t add much.
Stray Observations
•Fujiko’s ready for 1990 with her look here.
•The Gorilla Gang drives an old Land Rover Series I or II, which works for the African setting. The pink paint, on the other hand, does not work quite so well.
45 Diamonds & Minx
Or, Killing Smells Like Wine
Although I mentioned last week that the Lupin’s gang, as a unit, is generally more cohesive here, but Fujiko does remain a free agent to some extent. In “Hell Toupee” this plays in Lupin’s favor as she stays behind for him; in both of these episodes it doesn’t as she operates at Lupin’s expense. Yet to some extent she feels neutered. In part that’s because she’s a much blanker antagonist in both these episodes, with less characterization and fewer undertones of doubt than during Ōsumi’s run, and partly it’s because Lupin simply isn’t as difficult an adversary.
“Diamonds & Minx” features Lupin at his worst, and not in a good, transgressive criminal thrills way. Rather, Lupin’s “weakness for pretty girls” goes from being something that humanizes and rounds out his character to a cartoonish liability, blinding him to the obvious. This isn’t an unusual take on Lupin, but it’s one I find both contrived (Lupin has to be made stupid for the story to be set in motion) and just annoying to watch. If this is anyone’s episode it’s Jigen’s—he takes the lead, even dispatching Lupin with knock-out gas at one point (hooray!).We also discovery that Jigen—already established as the character most likely to take a drink—is a true œnophile, and prefers to spend his winnings on his wine cellar (hence the subtitle).
Jigen doesn’t get that much of a chance to shine, though, because the episode’s so scattershot. It has all the ingredients of a nice, tight little multi-faceted gem of an episode—Lupin and Jigen facing off against competing adversaries while their own partnership’s in tension—it ultimately never comes together.
Recommended?
Not really—there’s a lot of odd, quasi-interesting little stuff in here, and a lot of nice little moments, but it’s less than the sum of its parts.
Stray Observations
•While Zenigata’s skill as a policeman varies wildly (and generally he’s seen to be more on the incompetent side in the second series), so far I’m relatively impressed with him. I’m also surprised there’s not more comment on how Lupin can be similarly dumbed-down.
•One of the oddest touches is that Lupin and Jigen are pursued by an apparently undead assassin, apparently cursed to kill but never be killed. It’s a strange conceit and made me wonder whether he was a recurring character (apparently not, though maybe he appeared in the comics somewhere). It also made me wonder why Lupin never developed a rogue’s gallery. In part it might be because he has a permanent antagonist in Zenigata, and maybe it’s because Lupin’s mainly a thief—he usually doesn’t have to kill to win, and Lupin will usually have taken all he has an interest in anyway. Still, I’m surprised ancillary characters don’t recur—given how bland Lupin’s antagonists often are, it would be nice to see some which display actual character come back.
Next week I’ll actually be reviewing the current series, Lupin the 3rd Part 4, now streaming on Crunchyroll. I’m not decided on what exactly I’ll do—it depends on their release schedule (and my schedule), but I’ll probably review the first half. I might throw in a quick review of the (mostly, and that’s a big qualifier) fun-and-pulpy Jigen’s Gravestone, the epilogue to The Woman Named Fujiko Mine[/b], for the sake of comparison.
Or, Chase After the Gorilla Gang
One of the big attractions of the second series is that it is truly globe-trotting in a way the first wasn’t—while the first was certainly cosmopolitan, it seldom went for much in terms of evoking a specific sense of place. For the second series the touristic aspect is a large part of the appeal, even if it doesn’t get things quite right. Thus we get the very strange Africa of this episode—it mostly looks like East Africa in the establishing shots, but has Central Africa-esque jungles. There are also Greek ruins by the sea, bringing to mind North Africa, though perhaps these are just neoclassical. And everyone is white, giving this episode a distinctly Rhodesian feel. it also allows for more caricatures of grotesque, wealthy white people, which are always fun.
Unfortunately this feels less like callback and more like retread. There’s really nothing new or of note in this episode—the action isn’t especially well done (the sense of dimension that elevated a lot of the first series is totally missing), the mystery’s telegraphed early, and there’s not much in the way of humor (or at least humor that will appeal to those over five). Even the second half is a straight lift from the past series. This was inevitable given that the series pumped out 155 episodes in about three or four years, and excusable in an era before home video, but ultimately there’s little to recommend here but minor variations on a theme.
Recommended?
No—you’ve seen this all before in different settings, and the African location, while rendered attractively, doesn’t add much.
Stray Observations
•Fujiko’s ready for 1990 with her look here.
•The Gorilla Gang drives an old Land Rover Series I or II, which works for the African setting. The pink paint, on the other hand, does not work quite so well.
45 Diamonds & Minx
Or, Killing Smells Like Wine
Although I mentioned last week that the Lupin’s gang, as a unit, is generally more cohesive here, but Fujiko does remain a free agent to some extent. In “Hell Toupee” this plays in Lupin’s favor as she stays behind for him; in both of these episodes it doesn’t as she operates at Lupin’s expense. Yet to some extent she feels neutered. In part that’s because she’s a much blanker antagonist in both these episodes, with less characterization and fewer undertones of doubt than during Ōsumi’s run, and partly it’s because Lupin simply isn’t as difficult an adversary.
“Diamonds & Minx” features Lupin at his worst, and not in a good, transgressive criminal thrills way. Rather, Lupin’s “weakness for pretty girls” goes from being something that humanizes and rounds out his character to a cartoonish liability, blinding him to the obvious. This isn’t an unusual take on Lupin, but it’s one I find both contrived (Lupin has to be made stupid for the story to be set in motion) and just annoying to watch. If this is anyone’s episode it’s Jigen’s—he takes the lead, even dispatching Lupin with knock-out gas at one point (hooray!).We also discovery that Jigen—already established as the character most likely to take a drink—is a true œnophile, and prefers to spend his winnings on his wine cellar (hence the subtitle).
Jigen doesn’t get that much of a chance to shine, though, because the episode’s so scattershot. It has all the ingredients of a nice, tight little multi-faceted gem of an episode—Lupin and Jigen facing off against competing adversaries while their own partnership’s in tension—it ultimately never comes together.
Recommended?
Not really—there’s a lot of odd, quasi-interesting little stuff in here, and a lot of nice little moments, but it’s less than the sum of its parts.
Stray Observations
•While Zenigata’s skill as a policeman varies wildly (and generally he’s seen to be more on the incompetent side in the second series), so far I’m relatively impressed with him. I’m also surprised there’s not more comment on how Lupin can be similarly dumbed-down.
•One of the oddest touches is that Lupin and Jigen are pursued by an apparently undead assassin, apparently cursed to kill but never be killed. It’s a strange conceit and made me wonder whether he was a recurring character (apparently not, though maybe he appeared in the comics somewhere). It also made me wonder why Lupin never developed a rogue’s gallery. In part it might be because he has a permanent antagonist in Zenigata, and maybe it’s because Lupin’s mainly a thief—he usually doesn’t have to kill to win, and Lupin will usually have taken all he has an interest in anyway. Still, I’m surprised ancillary characters don’t recur—given how bland Lupin’s antagonists often are, it would be nice to see some which display actual character come back.
Next week I’ll actually be reviewing the current series, Lupin the 3rd Part 4, now streaming on Crunchyroll. I’m not decided on what exactly I’ll do—it depends on their release schedule (and my schedule), but I’ll probably review the first half. I might throw in a quick review of the (mostly, and that’s a big qualifier) fun-and-pulpy Jigen’s Gravestone, the epilogue to The Woman Named Fujiko Mine[/b], for the sake of comparison.