Apr 5, 2023 1:32 PM
Lupin III Part 1 Episode 23: The Great Gold Showdown!
Anime Relations:
Lupin III
The day I was dreading... The final episode of part 1. I really did have a blast going down memory lane to my first exposure to Lupin and I am glad I could appreciate it so much more from the perspective of a fan now. It really is a shame that part 1 never found its audience while airing, and got canceled before it got to go anywhere. From what we did get, this was a great way to conclude the series, they put their all into this, and it shows.
The energy of both was excellent. The sub actors were screaming even more like psychopaths than usual, and the dub had great line deliveries. The way Zenigata says "Lupin just lives in a basic apartment" was funnier in the dub. I also love that even in the dub, Goemon says "Kanpai!" when they cheer. Obviously, they would all say that in the sub, but it's such a good touch to his character to keep him saying that.
Lupin's planning to steal a ton of gold and Zenigata has decided that if he can't nab him now, he'll quit the police force. Zenigata sets up the elaborate plan to destroy all of Lupin's hideouts and bases, so he has nowhere left to run, and Lupin will lead him right to them, with the trackers he's planted in the fake gold. A trick like that isn't tough for Lupin to figure out, so he throws the trackers into a bunch of garbage trucks across the city, stumping Pops yet again. After he realizes they're all heading to the dump, where Lupin and his gang are they finally meet. Lupin admits defeat, and with nowhere else to go, they all decide to blow themselves up. AS IF! They all just hid in barrels that landed in the ocean. As if Zenigata was going to believe they were actually dead too, so he was right behind them. And they all go swimming off into the sunset.
Every second of this episode was so exciting and full of fun, crazy, goofy moments. It might be simple as most part 1 plots are, but at the same time, I think the ending is nice, and we got a super solid little adventure out of it. The humor was great as well, definitely the most I've laughed in a part 1 episode. If it hasn't been made obvious I love Lupin most when we get a light-hearted adventure with the whole gang.
I'm so glad everyone was here, all working together and being crazy. Zenigata definitely stole the show for this episode. He was going crazy, trying his very hardest to get Lupin. You really gotta respect this man's determination. Not only that, but he was hilarious in this episode, super-expressive, and yelling like crazy. I'm also glad Goemon is back and helping out as much as he did. I do wish we got more of Goemon for part 1, like they introduced him, and shoved him to the side after that. But seeing him helping out and tagging along was good to see. It was nice just seeing the four celebrate their victory, nothing beats seeing the four of them getting along.
Just with everything else, they went all out with the animation. Everything was super-expressive, the best we've seen from part 1. When subtle things, like the way Pops slams his resignation on the desk, there's so much emotion in it. The car scene was great as always. If it wasn't obvious, Lupin car scenes are one of my absolute favorite parts of the series.
I did not remember Jigen with bangs so early on, and honestly, I've never been a fan of it. I'm a strong proponent for hair back Jigen. The entire part, Jigen's had his hair like that too, I don't know why he doesn't here. I will say it looks better here than it has in later Lupin parts, probably because this just looks like a common hairstyle back then and not necessarily the weird thing going on with Jigen's bangs later on.
I want this phone thing so bad. I want to get my dad to call me every day so I can use it.
The car scene! This quick turn alone is great and very fluid. This was the start of making the car almost operate like a cockroach rather than a vehicle, it really is cool how much personality you can put into something like this.
The whole scene was so funny. Vruh why were they completely wrecking the commissioner's office đź’€
I haven't really commented on it yet, but I've always liked the police pile-ups Lupin always does. It's so full of energy and just adds another element of chaos to any chase.
Again with the expressiveness, like Pops probably broke his legs just now. Really went all out cartoony, couldn't ask for more.
This face...I can't put it into words...
(He was talking about Zenigata while making this face hehehehe)
Lmao Goemon literally just joined this heist and he's already done.
I'm such a sucker for cool, highly detailed city backgrounds, this is a cool shot.
This is very important, silly Goemon face. We don't get a whole lot of this, so these moments are extremely precious to my heart.
Might seem like a minor point, but even just animating all these hands moving at once is impressive. Very smooth animation.
Pops crying and getting upset like this will forever tug at my heartstrings. I do not want to see my man like this‼️
I will always love the relationship Pops has with the gang. Look at that giant smile he can't wipe off his face as he goes chasing after Lupin, it's great, he's having so much fun.
They all swim like frogs. This is an amazing visual to end the series.
Quite the collection, it's cool, feels like we got a bit of everything. At least this isn't the last we'll be hearing of these songs.
Rewatching this series as a fan now was great, and I think necessary for me. I didn't care for part 1 when I went through the series the first time, but this was my introduction to the series. So, now that I know and love the characters, I think there's so much more to appreciate about it. It's not perfect, definitely not, but this was the series's humble beginning. This part alone would be the jump start of many well-known people and the inspiration for many others, and that alone makes it great. I decided to rank all the episodes from best to worst, here they are:
Sub vs. Dub
The energy of both was excellent. The sub actors were screaming even more like psychopaths than usual, and the dub had great line deliveries. The way Zenigata says "Lupin just lives in a basic apartment" was funnier in the dub. I also love that even in the dub, Goemon says "Kanpai!" when they cheer. Obviously, they would all say that in the sub, but it's such a good touch to his character to keep him saying that.
Story
Lupin's planning to steal a ton of gold and Zenigata has decided that if he can't nab him now, he'll quit the police force. Zenigata sets up the elaborate plan to destroy all of Lupin's hideouts and bases, so he has nowhere left to run, and Lupin will lead him right to them, with the trackers he's planted in the fake gold. A trick like that isn't tough for Lupin to figure out, so he throws the trackers into a bunch of garbage trucks across the city, stumping Pops yet again. After he realizes they're all heading to the dump, where Lupin and his gang are they finally meet. Lupin admits defeat, and with nowhere else to go, they all decide to blow themselves up. AS IF! They all just hid in barrels that landed in the ocean. As if Zenigata was going to believe they were actually dead too, so he was right behind them. And they all go swimming off into the sunset.
Every second of this episode was so exciting and full of fun, crazy, goofy moments. It might be simple as most part 1 plots are, but at the same time, I think the ending is nice, and we got a super solid little adventure out of it. The humor was great as well, definitely the most I've laughed in a part 1 episode. If it hasn't been made obvious I love Lupin most when we get a light-hearted adventure with the whole gang.
Characters
I'm so glad everyone was here, all working together and being crazy. Zenigata definitely stole the show for this episode. He was going crazy, trying his very hardest to get Lupin. You really gotta respect this man's determination. Not only that, but he was hilarious in this episode, super-expressive, and yelling like crazy. I'm also glad Goemon is back and helping out as much as he did. I do wish we got more of Goemon for part 1, like they introduced him, and shoved him to the side after that. But seeing him helping out and tagging along was good to see. It was nice just seeing the four celebrate their victory, nothing beats seeing the four of them getting along.
Art/Animation
Just with everything else, they went all out with the animation. Everything was super-expressive, the best we've seen from part 1. When subtle things, like the way Pops slams his resignation on the desk, there's so much emotion in it. The car scene was great as always. If it wasn't obvious, Lupin car scenes are one of my absolute favorite parts of the series.
I did not remember Jigen with bangs so early on, and honestly, I've never been a fan of it. I'm a strong proponent for hair back Jigen. The entire part, Jigen's had his hair like that too, I don't know why he doesn't here. I will say it looks better here than it has in later Lupin parts, probably because this just looks like a common hairstyle back then and not necessarily the weird thing going on with Jigen's bangs later on.
I want this phone thing so bad. I want to get my dad to call me every day so I can use it.
The car scene! This quick turn alone is great and very fluid. This was the start of making the car almost operate like a cockroach rather than a vehicle, it really is cool how much personality you can put into something like this.
The whole scene was so funny. Vruh why were they completely wrecking the commissioner's office đź’€
I haven't really commented on it yet, but I've always liked the police pile-ups Lupin always does. It's so full of energy and just adds another element of chaos to any chase.
Again with the expressiveness, like Pops probably broke his legs just now. Really went all out cartoony, couldn't ask for more.
This face...I can't put it into words...
(He was talking about Zenigata while making this face hehehehe)
Lmao Goemon literally just joined this heist and he's already done.
I'm such a sucker for cool, highly detailed city backgrounds, this is a cool shot.
This is very important, silly Goemon face. We don't get a whole lot of this, so these moments are extremely precious to my heart.
Might seem like a minor point, but even just animating all these hands moving at once is impressive. Very smooth animation.
Pops crying and getting upset like this will forever tug at my heartstrings. I do not want to see my man like this‼️
I will always love the relationship Pops has with the gang. Look at that giant smile he can't wipe off his face as he goes chasing after Lupin, it's great, he's having so much fun.
They all swim like frogs. This is an amazing visual to end the series.
Music
Quite the collection, it's cool, feels like we got a bit of everything. At least this isn't the last we'll be hearing of these songs.
Final Thoughts
Rewatching this series as a fan now was great, and I think necessary for me. I didn't care for part 1 when I went through the series the first time, but this was my introduction to the series. So, now that I know and love the characters, I think there's so much more to appreciate about it. It's not perfect, definitely not, but this was the series's humble beginning. This part alone would be the jump start of many well-known people and the inspiration for many others, and that alone makes it great. I decided to rank all the episodes from best to worst, here they are:
- Let's Catch Lupin and Go to Europe!
- Beware the Time Machine!
- The Great Gold Showdown
- The Emerald's Secret
- Once Chance to Breakout
- Lupin Caught in a Trap
- Keep an Eye on the Beauty Contest
- The Gang's-all-here Playing Card Strategy
- A Wolf Calls a Wolf
- Which Third-Generation Will Win!
- The Coming of Goemon the Thirteenth
- Catch the Phony Lupin!
- The First Move Computer Operation
- Rescue the Shrewish Girl
- Operation Jewel Snatch
- Killer Sings the Blues
- The Man they Called a Magician
- Farewell My Beloved Witch
- Is Lupin Still Burnin...?!
- Hunt Down the Counterfeiter!
- Who Had the Last Laugh?
- Rainy Afternoons are Dangerous
- When the Seventh Bridge Falls
Posted by
Worm_Death
| Apr 5, 2023 1:32 PM |
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