Lupin III/Recap/S2 E26

"The Rose and the Pistol", released in English as "Shot Through the Heart". Released in 2004 by Geneon on Volume 5: Mission Irresistible.

Inspector Zenigata arrives at the Madrid Airport, having heard Lupin and his gang are about. As he disembarks, he demonstrates to the local police chief his new super-small handcuffs and his updated, secretive throwing style. Watching from a nearby window, Lupin and Jigen are bemused by Zenigata's new skills, especially when he's also managed to accidentally cuff his own two feet together.

That evening, as a Japanese-food deprived Goemon remains behind, Jigen and Lupin set off for a local cafe, where they watch a beautiful flamenco dancer and Lupin competes for her affections. She instead tosses her rose to Jigen, who is stunned by the gesture. Things are interrupted when a group of men storm in, lobbing sleeping gas grenades just as Zenigata, who has been hiding in the stage wings, ensnares Lupin's pinky with a finger-cuff. Jigen and Lupin use special filters to remain awake, faking being knocked out and watch as the men make off with the flamenco dancer. Jigen tears off after them, but Lupin is held back by Zenigata's trap.

Storming ahead, Jigen follows the kidnappers to the mansion of Herbert Von Meyer, a name Jigen recognizes but can't place at first. He raids the mansion, eluding a trap laid out for him, taking Meyer hostage, and demanding the girl, Linda, after taunting Meyer who he finally remembers as a "bottom-feeding" crook who crossed paths with Lupin's gang before and lost as a result. Meyer re-captured Linda because she tried to flee his organization, but after further "persuasion" from Jigen, Myer releases her, grinning as she and Jigen drive off into the night. Meanwhile, Linda awakens in Jigen's car, and gives him a kiss on the cheek in gratitude for her rescue, nearly causing the gunman to drive off the road.

Back at the hideout, Lupin is annoyed he couldn't find any keys to remove the remaining finger-cuff from his pinky. Goemon attempts to slice it off of Lupin's hand, and is annoyed when Lupin pranks him by pretending the samurai also removed the finger. They are interrupted by the arrival of Fujiko, bringing Goemon's long-desired Japanese food. Goemon senses something is amiss, however, and is correct when Fujiko enters the room and explodes! Asploded Fujiko was a robot sent by Meyer, who he sent to warn the thieves that he has kidnapped the real one, and if Lupin wants her back he needs to be at the Sagrada Família in Barcelona by midnight.

Rather conveniently, Jigen and Linda's path of travel has also taken them to Barcelona, Jigen still wearing the rose she gave him at the cafe. As they dine, and Jigen confesses his love for Linda, she spots one of Meyer's thugs outside the restaurant. Jigen chases him off, but when he returns to the restaurant, he finds the place trashed, Linda bound, and a dagger thrust into the table, just at her throat. She tells Jigen that Meyer has issued a challenge for the gunman at the Sagrada Família at midnight, or else he will track her down and kill her. She also warns Jigen that Meyer is probably going to be in disguise to throw him off during the fight. Jigen promises to keep her safe.

Midnight comes. Lupin arrives alone, as much to the Goemon's annoyance, there was no Japanese food in Barcelona either; he decided to sit out Lupin's challenge on account of hunger. Jigen is there, waiting in the courtyard. As the last chime fades, the two thieves enter into a deadly battle, each thinking the other is Meyer in disguise. As the two reload after the initial volley, Lupin decides to test his foe. He tosses a coin into the center of the courtyard, which Jigen hits with perfect accuracy and sets spinning; Lupin answers by doing the same. The two fire at the coin back and forth until they are out of bullets again. They each reload again with a single bullet, leap out at the count of three, and fire at each other, this time taking each other out.

As the thieves lie dead on the ground, Meyer steps, gloating, out of the shadows with Linda on his arm. After they leave, Lupin and Jigen stand up, revealing the dummy rounds they each fired at each other. Jigen is stonily silent as the they leap into Lupin's car and drive off after Meyer and Linda. As the sun rises over the Spanish coast, Lupin and Jigen catch up with the crooks. With images of Linda dancing running through his head, Jigen takes the tire off of Meyer's car in a single shot. Out of control, it careens over the cliffside and into the sea. As Lupin and Jigen look over the wreckage, Jigen takes Linda's rose, tosses it over the cliff, and blows it apart with several bullets.

Later, at a bullfight, Lupin applauds the matador before finding his pinkies cuffed together yet again. Jigen chuckles and flees as Zenigata pops up out of the crowd and literally covers Lupin in handcuffs. The thief still slips away, and Zenigata pursues him across the ring and to a door on the other side, which he opens to promptly cuff an angry bull. The bull chases and butts Pops as Lupin and the crowd cheer it on.

This episode features examples of:

 * Batman Gambit: Meyer tricking Lupin and Jigen into fighting one another. It fails, because in the end they still find a way to recognize the other one.
 * Falling Chandelier of Doom: Jigen uses one on Meyer's men.
 * Femme Fatale: Linda, and for once not Fujiko.
 * Gas Mask Mooks: Meyer's men in the cafe.
 * Go Seduce My Arch-Nemesis: Meyer and Linda.
 * Implausible Fencing Powers: Parodied, when Lupin pretends Goemon cut his finger off removing the finger-cuff. And then cranked up to eleven when Goemon cuts a shooting star in half.
 * Knockout Gas: Gets thrown in the cafe at the beginning.
 * Latex Perfection: Subverted, since that's what Meyer wants Lupin and Jigen to think about each other.
 * Let's You and Him Fight: Lupin and Jigen are tricked into fighting one another.
 * Mood Whiplash: Jigen's heart has been ripped out and smashed to pieces. So now...here's some more wacky Zenigata antics!
 * Over-the-Shoulder Carry: How Jigen rescues Linda.
 * Picky Eater: Goemon, who would rather starve than eat something other than Japanese food.
 * Sexy Coat Flashing: By Robot Fujiko.
 * Skeleton Key: Averted by Zenigata's enormous keyring, containing a different key to every pair of handcuffs he has.
 * Stock Footage: The audience at the bullfight is the same as the crowd at the Gehenian rally in "Hell Toupee".
 * What Happened to the Mouse?: Guess Fujiko got comfy in the glass prison Meyer put her in...