I don't have a lot of interesting meta bits to discuss when it comes to this special when it appeared on TMS' YouTube channel. Just some interesting things about the dub in which this is yet another Lupin Funimation dub. They still call Lupin "Loop in" and the Mine is said as "Mine" instead of "Me - Neigh" like how it's pronounced in Japanese. A pretty crazy thing considering this special is one of a few that takes place in Japan. Specifically, as the title mentions, it's modern late 90's Tokyo. But I did like this dub because just like the other Funimation dubs, it's still well acted and each of the voices fit the characters. That's about it and I think that's enough.
As you would expect, the film starts with Lupin fooling Zenigata once again. This is a Zenigata who has a special case and is about to fly on a plane to Tokyo from an undisclosed location. Of course, that in itself turned into a ruse of the airplane never taking off and being simulated as crashing on its way back to the Narita airport. The main point is that Zenigata and Lupin barely make it back home to Tokyo with their tails tucked in between their legs. That is where the story begins as well as the mysterious Aquapolis being put together by the billionaire and art dealer Mr. Suzuki. A guy collecting Tokugawa portraits like the one Zenigata had for some reason.
So in a lot of ways, this is the classic middle party of Mr. Suzuki pitting Lupin and his gang against the police for these portraits. Mr. Suzuki is just the billionaire orchestrating the heists and playing as the victim. Of course in reality, this is a billionaire who is using his public image to casually gain more money by creating the perfect super soldier through tons and tons of genetic engineering. As far as Lupin villain plots go, that is only mildly crazy because no one can really defeat Mamo and ancient cults planning on taking over the world itself. At the end of it all, the paintings were only there to put Mr. Suzuki into the plot and didn't result in anything else.
What makes this special different is Zenigata having an attractive reporter named Maria following him with a camera for some reason and the situation of the Lupin gang itself. Moving to the Lupin gang first, I'm kind of shocked by how a billionaire could even be threatened by a guy living in a small, cramped Apartment in Tokyo. Or that Goemon had his sword stolen from him which really weighed him down until he got it back or Jigen having a toothache which ruined his aim until his tooth was punched out. Only Fujiko was in a good position as a chief editor of a newspaper which Maria works at. It really is like a flea taking down a giant and yet it happens.
The most interesting relationship that kept me going when watching this was Zenigata and Maria. There was a profound mystery of why Maria was following this failing policeman who was obsessed with Lupin. Yet she constantly placed herself in dangerous situations as the movements and plots against Lupin and Suzuki got more and more dangerous. Like semi truck actions in a tunnel like the Dark Knight and it was frightening. But the more she got involved, Maria became the plot herself. It was the connection to her father that Suzuki wanted and is w because of her seeing her father in Zenigata that she stuck around to.
Visually stunning, this special was generally ok and that's about it. The chase scenes and heists looked great and I loved the constantly cramped feeling that the film gave while taking place in Tokyo. So, it's worth watching for all of these things alone. The plot was very simple and obvious for a Lupin story with slight variations. I also don't enjoy Jigen and Goemon not being themselves by having their abilities taken away from them. It was amazing at first, but got really old after a while and felt very lazy like most of this special because they learned nothing from that at all. There were some good ideas here, but it was a Lupin story put on autopilot.
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