Lupin III/Recap/S2 E59

"The Mysterious World of Madame X", with the English title "Madame Prefers Them Hand-Dipped". Released in 2005 by Geneon on Volume 12: The Flying Sword.

Lupin is on the run from Inspector Zenigata and the police. Zenigata commands his men to fire on the thief; a bomb full of glue is sent flying that spreads over the road just in front of Lupin's car. When the thief attempts to drive through, he becomes stuck. Zenigata begins to gloat, but Lupin has already prepared his escape; by flipping the gear shift on his car just so, the outside of the vehicle falls away to reveal a tiny go-kart underneath the driver's seat. Lupin drives over the outer shell of the car, avoiding the glue and making his way to freedom, leaving the fuming Zenigata. Both are unaware that they are being watched from a nearby car, whose occupants include a beautiful woman, a scientist, and a small boy with a big lollipop. The woman tells the scientist to begin preparations immediately.

Continuing down the road, Lupin is brought to a sudden halt by an enormous object blocking the road ahead. Preparing to go around it, a familiar voice calls out for him to say. The thief suddenly realizes that the obstacle is a gigantic Fujiko lounging across the entire road. He tries to flee, but Giganti-Fujiko easily picks up Lupin and places him down the front of her blouse to carry him off.

Later that evening, in a dark and mysterious castle, Lupin awakens in an unfamiliar room. A butler shows him to the dining room, where he enjoys a meal in the company of the beautiful woman from the car, Madame X. Lupin demands she explain the giant Fujiko, but Madame X claims her to be the real thing; when he calls the whole thing a joke, she responds by removing her own head and warning Lupin she has powers that are far beyond the normal realms of existence. Reattaching everything, the tells Lupin she has brought him here because she wants him and his gang as part of her collection of wax figures. Instead of just sculpting them, though, she intends to kill them and coat their bodies in wax to create the finished product.

Her assistant, Doctor, reveals he has a special formula that keeps bodies from rotting away. In his lab to act as his next victim is an unconscious Fujiko. Lupin tries to escape with her, but he can't break the glass prison and bullets he fires at Madame X have no effect. Amused at Lupin's escape attempt, Madame X calls on a gigantic troll named Mars to hold on to the thief. Lupin is forced to run, escaping into the caverns below the castle. However, he falls into an illusory world that disorients him and keeps him from escaping. In the end, Mars catches up to him and snags him for good.

Back at the hideout, Jigen and Goemon worry over the missing Lupin; it's been two days, and they are especially concerned since Zenigata, usually on the ball, is keeping watch on them from outside since he does not appear to know where their friend is either. A helicopter suddenly appears, firing a capsule into the hideout with a note from Madame X: if Jigen and Goemon want to see their friend again, they should go to the Foreigners' Cemetery at midnight. Knowing it is likely a trap, but having no other leads, the gunman and samurai head for the meeting place, Zenigata sneaking along behind them. Sure enough, when they arrive at the cemetery, the three are ensnared in a patch of wild sentient grass and pulled underground. As their cries fade away, the young boy with the lollipop appears, giving a sinister laugh.

Jigen, Goemon, and Zenigata find themselves in a dungeon cell with Lupin. Lupin's spirit is broken; he's completely confounded by Madame X's illusions and sees nowhere to escape to. The three dismiss his concerns, but when Zenigata tries to open the door, he sinks into the stone floor. Goemon's carefully trained senses detect a powerful telepathy at work; if the gang is to escape, they need to find Madame X and put a stop to her powers. Jigen shoots the door open, and the four men make their way though the caverns to find Madame X. Suddenly, a wall of water appears in front of them and they are forced to run for their lives. Spying an open door, the group makes a dive for it and shuts it behind them just as the water thunders into it.

Relieved to escape, their fears return when they see they have managed to land in the waxworks lab, and Doctor is ready to work. Madame X taunts them while Goemon meditates on the source of the telepathy; suddenly, he realizes that Madame X isn't the source of the illusions after all! As he refocuses on trying to find the true source, Zenigata is snared in a glass tube and becomes the first to be coated in wax. Furious, Jigen and Lupin try to take Madame X and the machines; she responds by trying to trap them in tubes of their own. She succeeds with Lupin and the meditating Goemon. Doctor turns on the machine, and Lupin's tube begins to fill with hot wax.

Just then, Goemon detects the source of the telepathic powers: a mirror on the wall, containing the form of the young boy seen in Madame X's company. With a burst of determination, he slices open his tube and charges at the mirror, running it and the demon child inside through. The mirror shatters, Doctor's machines begin to self-destruct, and the castle starts to collapse. Goemon frees Lupin, Fujiko, and Zenigata, and together the gang tears out of the castle as it falls. Madame X remains behind with her beloved wax figures, laughing wildly as the last of the stones descend.

As they look over the remains of the castle, the three men and the now conscious Fujiko speculate on who Madame X and the mysterious psychic boy really were. They then turn their attention to the still wax-encased Zenigata, debating leaving him as is. Deciding that fate is too cruel, Goemon slices away the wax from the top half of Zenigata's body. The gang departs, though Zenigata, legs still encased, still manages to attempt pursuit.

This episode features examples of:
"Lupin: I can't believe I'm about to say this, but...you might want to consider a reduction."
 * Absurdly Sharp Blade: Zantetsuken cuts through glass like it was warm butter.
 * Art Major Biology: Lupin and Zenigata are not injured, even though they are both coated in liquid hot wax.
 * Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Lupin's roadblock turns out to be a gigantic Fujiko!
 * BLAM Episode: The episode is confusing, plot elements appear at random, and nothing is ever really explained. The episode is indeed a Mind Screw, but probably not in the way the writers intended it to be. Lampshaded in the English version of the episode preview.
 * Children Are Innocent: The gang comes to the conclusion for all the damage he did, the psychic child was being manipulated and tricked by Madame X.
 * Damsel in Distress: Fujiko, who spends pretty much the entire episode unconscious.
 * Disney Acid Sequence: After Lupin attempts to run away into the caverns, time and space seem to be irrelevant.
 * Enfant Terrible: The psychic boy who helps Madame X with her illusions and actively seems to be trying to kill Lupin and his friends. It is hinted that he may not even be a real child.
 * Hot Potato: Jigen and Goemon play this with what appears to be a bomb, but turns out to be a warning note from Madame X.
 * Implausible Fencing Powers: Goemon removes the wax coating from Zenigata and Lupin without harming them.
 * Losing Your Head: Madame X does this to demonstrate her powers to Lupin.
 * Mad Scientist: Madame X's assistant, Doctor, is a blend between this and The Igor; he helps her create her wax figures, but he also created the formula to preserve them.
 * Marshmallow Hell: Lupin is tucked into the enormous Fujiko's Victoria's Secret Compartment:


 * Master of Illusion: Madame X, though it is later revealed to be the young boy in her care.
 * Mind Screw: Boy, does Madame X have this one down!
 * Mirror Monster: The true source of the psychic boy's powers, until Goemon smashes it.
 * Oral Fixation Fixation: The young boy is almost always seen with a giant lollipop.
 * Shout-Out: The practice of using corpses to create wax figures is a tribute to House of Wax.
 * Sticky Situation: Zenigata tries to trap Lupin by gluing his car to the road. Lupin is, as always, Crazy Prepared for just such a situation.
 * Wax Museum Morgue: Madame X has one, and she wants Lupin's gang as part of it next!