ANNIVERSARY REVIEWS: 36 Tsukikagejoo & 38 Sweet Trap of ICPO
Apr 22, 2016 3:17:23 GMT -5
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Post by King Charles’s Butterfly on Apr 22, 2016 3:17:23 GMT -5
36 Expose the Secret of Tsukikagejoo
or, “The Riddle of Tsukikage Castle”
Goemon is a perpetual misfit, both by nature and by circumstance. The latter cause was largely elided in the first series by never being too specific on location and by mostly only using the character when necessary. In this series, where the Lupin gang is more a unit and each episode’s location is a draw in and of itself, Goemon seems more and more the odd one out.
The former cause is, of course, part of Goemon’s appeal. There’s not much honor among these thieves—Lupin and Fujiko’s senses of honor is inconsistent and mixed up with their emotions and Jigen’s more cautious than honorable. Goemon, though, adheres to a strict code, and one gets the sense that he would not be an outlaw if he weren’t born to a family of them. “Tsukikagejoo” gives him the rare opportunity to be excited about a bounty in a way the others usually are—in this episode they’re after a treasure (including a sword) from an eponymous Japanese castle.
This isn’t actually a Goemon-centric episode, though—rather, it’s one of the best-balanced between the three male gang members. Goemon is the originator of the “theft” (actually the rare legitimate claim to a treasure), serves as the group’s functional leader and gets to engage in a lot of nice Japanese-equivalent-of-Wuxia action. Jigen gets to play damsel-in-distress and comic relief against Zenigata, giving them the rare interaction, with Jigen playing it much closer and with a more subtle impishness than Lupin usually does.
Lupin is, as usual, simultaneously the brains and—let’s be charitable and say id—of the situation, but he’s somewhat removed from the main action even if he does decode the secret (a pretty clever one based on visual puns and the Japanese phonetic alphabet). This allows him to be the audience’s gateway into this strange corner of Japan, where traditional martial arts have been refined to such a degree that they compete with modern technology. He gets lost in the castle, teases Goemon about an attractive tea instructor, and his ushers the audience through familiar plot turns that get subverted to Lupin’s detriment and our delight.
The “at home” setting and focus on Goemon make this episode a bit special in an obvious way, but on close examination it gets better and better. Like a traditional piece of craftwerk no detail is overlooked, no detail is superfluous. Tiny things—a flashing neon light, a reaction shot on Fujiko’s eyes—add into the story.
Recommended?
Highly—it’s very well made with a lot of care given to both setting and character, the story manages to subvert a number of worn-in expectations of second series episodes while building to one of the best final acts in televised Lupin III, and it’s a lot of fun to see the characters working outside their typical roles while still remaining very much themselves.
Stray Observations
•We can’t have a Japan-centric episode without a proverb–this week’s saying is “A walking dog finds his stick.”
•After Fujiko explains that she was able to find the guys’ hotel room “because [she] can smell Lupin,” Lupin cracks this super-wide smile that really turns the line into something hilariously vulgar.
•Much credit for having a primary female antagonist who’s just a very skilled ninja—no sexist bullshit here. In another nice touch (and subversion of cliché) Goemon’s not able to deflect all of her attacks, with a few of her throwing stars getting past his swinging blade.
•We get the rare example of Lupin watch porn with the “pepsi bezel” Rolex GMT aviation watch—unlike a dive watch (my bezel experience), the bezel here is for twenty-four hour time (blue night, red day, after PanAm’s colors) not minutes in an hour. It’s also worth noting that at this time the Rolex would have just been a very fine tool watch, not a luxury item in and of itself.
•The clan of ninjas is the Fuma clan, a name which would be reused in for the antagonists of The Fuma Conspiracy about ten years later. Other than that film similarly having a careful approach to location there’s no connection with this episode (unfortunately, since the Fuma in The Fuma Conspiracy were on the generic side of villainy).
38 The Sweet Trap of ICPO
Or, Happy Betrayals to You
This is something of an anniversary post—about a year ago I started doing these reviews (or rather “Lupin III: An Introduction", which I admittedly haven’t looked at since then). One thing I miss most about the first batch of first series episodes, back when Masaaki Ōsumi was still the showrunner, was Fujiko’s role as something of a co-protagonist. She’d often be the locomotive of the episode’s action, spurring the relatively lazy Lupin and Goemon into action, or work in parallel to them towards the same objecting (diverging or converging at the end). This uncompromising Fujiko was either sent to the background or re-characterized once the transition to Miyazaki and Takahata finished, either due to their discomfort with the character’s amorality or, for later producers, the desire for a less threatening Fujiko (and she’d often be pushed in the background later on in favor of a more conventional leading lady).
What a great anniversary gift, then, to see the return of locomotive Fujiko, ass-kicking and name-taking—in particular Lupin’s since she’s working for ICPO now in exchange for wiping her record clean (an echo of “Is Lupin Burning?!”). And she spares no mercy, either, to the point where she’s topping bridges into the Seine to trap Lupin (an echo of “When the Seventh Bridge Falls”).
Fujiko chasing Lupin has a real intensity, especially given Lupin’s disbelief and her zeal. But, as you might expect, there’s somewhat more here than first meets the eye. There is a big twist in “Sweet Trap,” but amazingly on rewatch the episode works even better. Like “Tsukikagejoo” little asides become tells, but they also complicate the relationship (both working and not) between Fujiko and Lupin further. In the first series Fujiko’s internal conflict between her determination and feelings for Lupin led to pangs of doubt; here it’s Lupin’s turn to wonder about how his work and his feelings will work themselves out.
It’s not a large part of the episode (I didn’t notice on first viewing), but it’s nice to see Lupin’s feelings—usually played for laughs—to come across as sensitivity. That they could sneak little bits of pathos in what’s mostly a visceral action ride just speaks to the quality of this installment, and how the best of Lupin can cut a little deeper than you’d expect.
Recommended?
The entire episode is Fujiko ruthlessly pursuing Lupin while rocking that dress.
Stray Observations
•The story’s tone is established early on by a fantasy sequence where Zenigata shoots Lupin, complete with blood. We’re in for a ride.
•Despite Zenigata’s determination to get Lupin, though, he still plays obtuse angle in the triangle, wearing a hilarious, easily-seen-through French waiter disguise early on and straggling along with Fujiko’s pursuit of Lupin. While it doesn’t quite add up to something in the plot (that’s stretching for criticism), it does provide some breathing room.
•A slightly more substantial, though still minor, quibble is that the final objective of the episode isn’t foreshadowed at all—we just get a short exposition dump near the end.
•While the English title is, admittedly, pretty catchy, I’m liking the translated Japanese title more—on first blush it seems to refer to Fujiko, but on further reflection it really refers to something else in the episode’s conclusion—either meaning is rife with irony.
•I did not plan for two excellent episodes for my anniversary, but luckily it turned out that way.
Next week we take two steps back to the first season for episode 7 “Tutankhamen’s 3000-Year Old Curse” (or 6 “Cursed Case Scenario”) and 10 “Steal File M123” (or 9 “ZenigataCon”).
And many thanks to my small-but-not-unnoticed readership—frankly by this point I write these out of an almost Pavlovian response (I intended to stop after “Albatross” and “Farewell, My Beloved Lupin”) but I sincerely like knowing there’s some fellow appreciation of (or at least interest in) all things Lupin.
or, “The Riddle of Tsukikage Castle”
Goemon is a perpetual misfit, both by nature and by circumstance. The latter cause was largely elided in the first series by never being too specific on location and by mostly only using the character when necessary. In this series, where the Lupin gang is more a unit and each episode’s location is a draw in and of itself, Goemon seems more and more the odd one out.
The former cause is, of course, part of Goemon’s appeal. There’s not much honor among these thieves—Lupin and Fujiko’s senses of honor is inconsistent and mixed up with their emotions and Jigen’s more cautious than honorable. Goemon, though, adheres to a strict code, and one gets the sense that he would not be an outlaw if he weren’t born to a family of them. “Tsukikagejoo” gives him the rare opportunity to be excited about a bounty in a way the others usually are—in this episode they’re after a treasure (including a sword) from an eponymous Japanese castle.
This isn’t actually a Goemon-centric episode, though—rather, it’s one of the best-balanced between the three male gang members. Goemon is the originator of the “theft” (actually the rare legitimate claim to a treasure), serves as the group’s functional leader and gets to engage in a lot of nice Japanese-equivalent-of-Wuxia action. Jigen gets to play damsel-in-distress and comic relief against Zenigata, giving them the rare interaction, with Jigen playing it much closer and with a more subtle impishness than Lupin usually does.
Lupin is, as usual, simultaneously the brains and—let’s be charitable and say id—of the situation, but he’s somewhat removed from the main action even if he does decode the secret (a pretty clever one based on visual puns and the Japanese phonetic alphabet). This allows him to be the audience’s gateway into this strange corner of Japan, where traditional martial arts have been refined to such a degree that they compete with modern technology. He gets lost in the castle, teases Goemon about an attractive tea instructor, and his ushers the audience through familiar plot turns that get subverted to Lupin’s detriment and our delight.
The “at home” setting and focus on Goemon make this episode a bit special in an obvious way, but on close examination it gets better and better. Like a traditional piece of craftwerk no detail is overlooked, no detail is superfluous. Tiny things—a flashing neon light, a reaction shot on Fujiko’s eyes—add into the story.
Recommended?
Highly—it’s very well made with a lot of care given to both setting and character, the story manages to subvert a number of worn-in expectations of second series episodes while building to one of the best final acts in televised Lupin III, and it’s a lot of fun to see the characters working outside their typical roles while still remaining very much themselves.
Stray Observations
•We can’t have a Japan-centric episode without a proverb–this week’s saying is “A walking dog finds his stick.”
•After Fujiko explains that she was able to find the guys’ hotel room “because [she] can smell Lupin,” Lupin cracks this super-wide smile that really turns the line into something hilariously vulgar.
•Much credit for having a primary female antagonist who’s just a very skilled ninja—no sexist bullshit here. In another nice touch (and subversion of cliché) Goemon’s not able to deflect all of her attacks, with a few of her throwing stars getting past his swinging blade.
•We get the rare example of Lupin watch porn with the “pepsi bezel” Rolex GMT aviation watch—unlike a dive watch (my bezel experience), the bezel here is for twenty-four hour time (blue night, red day, after PanAm’s colors) not minutes in an hour. It’s also worth noting that at this time the Rolex would have just been a very fine tool watch, not a luxury item in and of itself.
•The clan of ninjas is the Fuma clan, a name which would be reused in for the antagonists of The Fuma Conspiracy about ten years later. Other than that film similarly having a careful approach to location there’s no connection with this episode (unfortunately, since the Fuma in The Fuma Conspiracy were on the generic side of villainy).
38 The Sweet Trap of ICPO
Or, Happy Betrayals to You
This is something of an anniversary post—about a year ago I started doing these reviews (or rather “Lupin III: An Introduction", which I admittedly haven’t looked at since then). One thing I miss most about the first batch of first series episodes, back when Masaaki Ōsumi was still the showrunner, was Fujiko’s role as something of a co-protagonist. She’d often be the locomotive of the episode’s action, spurring the relatively lazy Lupin and Goemon into action, or work in parallel to them towards the same objecting (diverging or converging at the end). This uncompromising Fujiko was either sent to the background or re-characterized once the transition to Miyazaki and Takahata finished, either due to their discomfort with the character’s amorality or, for later producers, the desire for a less threatening Fujiko (and she’d often be pushed in the background later on in favor of a more conventional leading lady).
What a great anniversary gift, then, to see the return of locomotive Fujiko, ass-kicking and name-taking—in particular Lupin’s since she’s working for ICPO now in exchange for wiping her record clean (an echo of “Is Lupin Burning?!”). And she spares no mercy, either, to the point where she’s topping bridges into the Seine to trap Lupin (an echo of “When the Seventh Bridge Falls”).
Fujiko chasing Lupin has a real intensity, especially given Lupin’s disbelief and her zeal. But, as you might expect, there’s somewhat more here than first meets the eye. There is a big twist in “Sweet Trap,” but amazingly on rewatch the episode works even better. Like “Tsukikagejoo” little asides become tells, but they also complicate the relationship (both working and not) between Fujiko and Lupin further. In the first series Fujiko’s internal conflict between her determination and feelings for Lupin led to pangs of doubt; here it’s Lupin’s turn to wonder about how his work and his feelings will work themselves out.
It’s not a large part of the episode (I didn’t notice on first viewing), but it’s nice to see Lupin’s feelings—usually played for laughs—to come across as sensitivity. That they could sneak little bits of pathos in what’s mostly a visceral action ride just speaks to the quality of this installment, and how the best of Lupin can cut a little deeper than you’d expect.
Recommended?
The entire episode is Fujiko ruthlessly pursuing Lupin while rocking that dress.
Stray Observations
•The story’s tone is established early on by a fantasy sequence where Zenigata shoots Lupin, complete with blood. We’re in for a ride.
•Despite Zenigata’s determination to get Lupin, though, he still plays obtuse angle in the triangle, wearing a hilarious, easily-seen-through French waiter disguise early on and straggling along with Fujiko’s pursuit of Lupin. While it doesn’t quite add up to something in the plot (that’s stretching for criticism), it does provide some breathing room.
•A slightly more substantial, though still minor, quibble is that the final objective of the episode isn’t foreshadowed at all—we just get a short exposition dump near the end.
•While the English title is, admittedly, pretty catchy, I’m liking the translated Japanese title more—on first blush it seems to refer to Fujiko, but on further reflection it really refers to something else in the episode’s conclusion—either meaning is rife with irony.
•I did not plan for two excellent episodes for my anniversary, but luckily it turned out that way.
Next week we take two steps back to the first season for episode 7 “Tutankhamen’s 3000-Year Old Curse” (or 6 “Cursed Case Scenario”) and 10 “Steal File M123” (or 9 “ZenigataCon”).
And many thanks to my small-but-not-unnoticed readership—frankly by this point I write these out of an almost Pavlovian response (I intended to stop after “Albatross” and “Farewell, My Beloved Lupin”) but I sincerely like knowing there’s some fellow appreciation of (or at least interest in) all things Lupin.