A living painting sends Fujiko over the edge, and only Lupin’s shot to the heart can stop her.
What They Say:
Magical realism plus human trafficking plus Lupin and Daisuke Jigen plus a spa vacation plus Fujiko off the deep end equals… Well, you’ll just have to find out.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
After last episode’s big reveal, Fujiko is sent further over the edge, when she spies a woman on sale as a living painting. Her goal is to kill the woman, but Lupin has other plans for the living painting. Or does he? The episode is classic Lupin – action and comedy from start to finish as Fujiko chases Lupin, Jigen, and the woman around a hot spring resort.
But is Lupin really after the woman as some sort of heist? He confronts Fujiko at the end and provides some quick psychoanalysis. Fujiko is really trying to destroy herself; the woman is a reflection of her past, a past where others controlled her destiny. Just how much he knows about Fujiko he will not even to reveal to Jigen; Lupin holds those cards close to his jacket, as Fujiko and apparently her past are just the thing to spice up his life.
The artwork for this episode compliments the plot to match Fujiko’s mood. During the chase, she has a fire in her eyes, and her artwork matches that. As she walks away from Lupin’s spot-on analysis, she begins to feel helpless, lost; and her character design creeps slowly to a child-like appearance that resembles her younger self in the flashbacks. I had to rewatch the final scene a few times to convince myself I was not imagining it and then to appreciate the attention to detail.
In Summary:
This was a fantastic follow-up to the previous episode and its rather dreary reveal. Classic Lupin action and comedy are punctuated at the end by another poignant reveal that develops Fujiko’s character further. She is on some level aware of what has been done to her and feels helpless and frustrated by her inability to do anything about it. Add in artwork to perfectly accentuate Fujiko’s mood, and this was an episode to delight fans of the series along with old school Lupin fans.
Grade: B+
Streamed By: FUNimation
Review Equipment:
24” iMac booted into Windows XP Home, using FF11.
