Lupin III/Recap/S2 E101

Shin Lupin III: "Versailles Burned with Love"

Flying over France with Jigen, Lupin has received a letter, challenging him to find Marie Antionette's lost treasure and asking for a meeting at the Palace of Versailles. Jigen drops him on the palace roof, but when he attempts to enter he sets off the palace alarms, drawing Zenigata's attention. He manages to elude both the palace guards and Zenigata's men long enough to meet up with Oscar, the one who sent him the letter. Zenigata catches up, and Lupin is forced to fake a duel with Oscar long enough for the aristocrat to tell Lupin to meet him at Normandy the next day. He then helps Lupin escape the palace by "accidentally" knocking him out of a window.

Lupin, Jigen, and Goemon head for Oscar's meeting place the next day, arriving at the statue of an aristocrat named Andre. A carriage nearby contains Oscar and a gentleman who heads a group of aristocrats called the Black Lilly Society, who wants to restore the aristocracy to France. He reminds Oscar that as part of the group, he has a job to do and he is not to betray them. Oscar meets with Lupin as promised, asking the thief to help find Marie Antoinette's lost treasure. As soon as Lupin looks into Oscar's eyes he falls for the aristocrat and eagerly leaps into the carriage promising his help, to the great confusing of Jigen and Goemon!

At Versailles, Oscar takes Lupin into the Hall of Mirrors and informs Lupin that the treasure is hidden behind one of the mirrors, but if a single one is broken, the room will explode. The only clue appears to be a ruby ring that once belonged to the queen. Lupin asks Oscar to leave and give him some time to think. As he questions himself as to why he has fallen for Oscar, he drops the ring, accidentally activating a beam of light hidden in the setting. The red light from the ruby bounces around the room until it shines through a specially made mirror, revealing the lost crown of Marie Antoinette behind it.

Lupin and Oscar depart with the crown in the carriage, but Oscar apologizes to Lupin before gassing him and sending the carriage careening towards a cliff. Lupin wakes up, but is unable to stop in time and falls into the sea; luckily, Jigen and Goemon are on a nearby boat and rescue him. Meanwhile, Oscar calls the head of Black Lilly and tells him that he's not giving them the crown; he murmurs something about he finally being able to be with his Andre. He takes off in a rickety old plane. Lupin spots the plane take off and has Jigen and Goemon help him rig the boats sail into an impromptu hang glider, which he uses to catch up with Oscar. The thief calls him out on his betrayal, but before Oscar can shake him off, three black planes, sent by the Black Lilly, are in pursuit. Lupin takes over the controls and uses his remarkable piloting skills to take out the enemy aircraft before deciding to pay a personal visit to the head of the Black Society by crashing Oscar's plane into his office at the top of the Eiffel Tower. Getting the message, the Black Lilly decides to leave Oscar alone.

Oscar arranges one last meeting at the statue at Normandy with Lupin to settle the ownership of the stolen crown honorably through a duel. During the battle, Lupin has his sword knocked away; Goemon throws him Zantetsuken, which Lupin uses to slice Oscar's sword in half and then cut Oscar's clothes away. To everyone's surprise, Oscar is a woman. She admits defeat and tells Lupin he can have the crown, but asks if she can have a single diamond as a souvineer. Lupin agrees; Oscar goes over to the crown and promptly dislodges one of the gems. The stone is actually a vial full of a special potion that will turn whoever drinks it to stone. Oscar takes the potion and leaps up on the pedestal, hugging her beloved Andre, who was cursed to turn to stone. She cannot break the curse, but she can now be at his side forever.

After her transformation, Lupin and his gang contemplate that there are some things that science can never explain before hearing sirens. They rush away, leaving Oscar and Andre together in peace.

This episode features examples of:

 * Absentee Actor: Fujiko doesn't even get a mention in the episode.
 * Artistic License History: The anime says Marie Antionette was guillotined at Normandy. She was killed in Paris.
 * Barbie Doll Anatomy: Oscar after Lupin reveals her as a woman.
 * Bifauxnen: Oscar, naturally.
 * Chivalrous Pervert: After he strips her and Oscar asks for a diamond, Lupin happily tells her she can have two or three!
 * Defeat by Modesty: Lupin to Oscar, unveiling her as a woman. Oddly, he's using Zantetsuken at the time. Perhaps they should change the name to "Clothes-Removing Sword".
 * Give Me a Sword: After Lupin loses his rapier to Oscar, Goemon tosses him Zantetsuken.
 * Homage: Of Rose of Versailles, to the point it could almost be called a Crossover; only the modern setting technically keeps it from being such, but even that gets explained. The fact that TMS Entertainment did the animation for both Shin Lupin III and Rose only makes the line tougher to determine.
 * Improbable Piloting Skills: Lupin manages to fly a plane a few feet over the streets of Paris without hitting anything.
 * Monumental Damage: Lupin gets rid of the last enemy plane by crashing it into the Arc de Triomphe, and then crashes Oscar's plane into the Eiffel Tower to take care of the head of Black Lilly.
 * Nobody Here but Us Statues: Lupin hides from Zenigata in a suit of armor.
 * Official Fan Submitted Content: The second of four episodes based on fan suggestions to celebrate Shin Lupin III's 100th episode.
 * Sweet on Polly Oliver: Lupin falls hard for Oscar. Even he can't help questioning his attraction to her at one point.
 * Taken for Granite: The potion Oscar takes from the crown turns her into a statue so she can be with her cursed but beloved Andre.