Lupin III/Recap/S2 E110

Shin Lupin III: "Hot Shot: This is Fujiko!"

In the country of Malda, Inspector Zenigata has been summoned to a meeting with the country's brutal premier, Boss Marco, police chief Dr. Goebel, and other heads of state. As he enters, he trips over a cleaning lady's mop; when she helps him up, she plants a bug on him. It is Fujiko, of course, and she listens in on a meeting. A camera has been stolen from a scientist, Dr. Heidelburg, and it is believed Lupin is responsible. Zenigata is confused by this, since the camera is supposedly nothing special or expensive, but the premier orders Zenigata to go after the master thief.

Funnily enough, Lupin and his gang are in the country, at one of the local race tracks. Lupin and Jigen have had rotten luck, and are envious of a couple of men who have won three races in a row. Puzzled, they watch the men take a picture of the empty finish line before running off to place another bet. Lupin, Jigen, and Goemon bet on the next race themselves, Goemon choosing a horse that happens to share his name. Lupin heads off and places the bets, but on the way back is accosted by Zenigata, who chases him through the stands as the race goes on. Lupin finally eludes the detective just as Goemon (the horse) places first, to the joy of the constantly winning men and Goemon (the Samurai). Goemon waits for Lupin and Jigen outside while the two go to collect their winnings, only to discover the woman at the counter is a disguised Zenigata. Backed up by Maldan police, Lupin and Jigen are captured and taken into custody.

The two winners with the camera head down the road in their car, exalting at their good fortune and wishing they had a pretty lady friend to share it with. One turns up along side the road, and the men stop and pick her up, unaware she is actually a disguised Fujiko. At the first opportunity, she drugs their drinks and slips away with their camera.

Meanwhile, Lupin and Jigen are in the hands of the sinister Goebel, who uses rather horrific scientific methods to determine each suspect's greatest fear and then torture them with it. Lupin and Jigen are subjected to this for hours, much to the protests of Zenigata, who not only believes the torture cruel, but also the two thieves claims that they know nothing about the missing camera. Finally, Goebel throws them in a cell, promising to renew the torture tomorrow, but luckily Goemon manages to slip into the prison and free them.

Infuriated by their treatment, Lupin decides to find this mystery camera to figure out why its so special. Jigen recalls the two men at the track and their weird behavior, but before they can start investigating, Goemon finds an article in the paper about a very lucky woman who has won several contests...none other than Fujiko. Sure enough, at a local casino, Fujiko is present with the special camera, taking pictures of betting tables before the bets are placed. After winning a round of roulette, a waiter -- actually Lupin in disguise -- slips up behind Fujiko and swaps her camera for another without her noticing. When she reaches for her chips, however, Goebel and the police show up, arresting her and taking the swapped camera with them.

Back at their hideout, Lupin inspects the camera, finding nothing abnormal hidden in it. He takes a picture of Jigen, who is about to head into the shower, only to be flabbergasted and slightly disturbed when the picture that pops out is one of Jigen in the shower. While the thieves puzzle over the picture, Goemon notices a time indicator on the camera, showing it set to "3 minutes later". As an experiment, Lupin sets it to "100 years later" and flashing a cheesy grin, has Goemon take his picture. What emerges is a disturbing image of an ancient, toothless Lupin in a decayed, rotting room. The gang quickly realizes the camera takes pictures of the future, which is how Fujiko and the two men kept winning their bets; they'd take a picture of the event after it finished, showing them the winner and allowing them to bet on the results.

Rather than do the same, Lupin and his friends seem content to instead go around Malda and take pictures of things and people to see what they'll look like in the future. As they travel around, they then spot two armored cars chasing and firing guns at a regular one, which Jigen recognizes as being driven by Heidelberg. The thieves spring to the rescue, doing a Cagliostro-esque cliff drive to pass the armored cars. Goemon then leaps out, and as the armored cars drive at him, he cuts them in half, ending the chase.

Back at Lupin's hideout, Heidelberg confesses that the Maldan government wanted him to create a camera that could see into the past, so they could take pictures of people accused of crimes to see if they committed them or not. Instead, courtesy of tachyon particles, he accidentally created a camera that could see into the future. Heidelberg then adds that Fujiko is in danger since she is now being interrogated about the missing camera. Sure enough, at the prison, Zenigata watches horrified, via monitor, as she is about to be crushed by a falling ceiling. He orders the interrogation to stop, but Goebel insists that she knows the truth and persists. Trying to appeal to Marco instead and failing, Zenigata finally loses his temper and throws the premier himself at the control panel, breaking it and keeping Fujiko from being crushed under the falling ceiling. As the premier stands up, however, Zenigata realizes, to his horror, that the premier is not a human, but a robot! Goebel tries to shoot Zenigata when he finds out the truth, but the detective throws the robot's head as a distraction and manages to escape.

Zenigata finds the unconscious Fujiko and carries her out of the torture chamber, just in time to spot Lupin and his gang flying overhead in a helicopter. But before they can meet, the Marco robot blocks his path; Zenigata attempts to fight it, but it nearly beats and chokes him to death. Luckily, Goebel orders Marco to stop, declaring they will finish things after finding the missing camera.

On the roof, Lupin and his gang attempt to trade the camera and Heidelberg for Fujiko and Zenigata. Heidelberg refuses to go back to Goebel, but Lupin successfully trades the camera for Fujiko. Goebel decides to take a picture with the camera to see if it is the real thing, but when he presses the shutter button, a rat (Goebel's greatest fear, according to Heidelberg) springs out. As Goebel drops the camera in fright, Lupin warns Zenigata to run for it; Zenigata pushes the Marco robot out of his way, in the process knocking its head off. While the robot blindly takes out its own men, Zenigata makes it to the helicopter. Alas, the robot also tramples the much sought-after camera, destroying it for good. It makes one last grab for Zenigata, but only succeeds in pulling off the detective's trousers as he and the gang escape in the copter.

Unfortunately, between the robot's last leap and the helicopter being overloaded, the gang is in danger of crashing. Fujiko spots a nearby island; in spite of the danger, Goemon seems reluctant to land there, but Lupin informs him that they have no choice. The place turns out to be a nudist camp. While some ladies try to convince Zenigata to strip down, the rest of the gang relaxes and contemplates the loss of the camera. Lupin points out its for the best, since if you know the future, nothing will be surprising anymore.

This episode features examples of:

 * Absurdly Sharp Blade: Goemon cuts two armored cars in half.
 * AI Is a Crapshoot: Marco accidentally attacks his own side after losing his head.
 * Artificial Human: Boss Marco.
 * Barbie Doll Anatomy: The nudist camp at the end.
 * Claustrophobia: Fujiko's fear, which the interrogators exploit.
 * Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Zenigata, who throws the country's ruler, rescues Fujiko himself, and tries to take on a robot (twice!).
 * Disguised in Drag: Zenigata, as the woman at the betting counter.
 * Fan Service: For everyone!
 * Man Child: Lupin, Jigen, and Goemon giggling at pictures of a pretty woman after she shows in their picture as an ugly old maid.
 * Naked People Are Funny: Jigen's picture of him in the shower, the episode ending.
 * One Steve Limit: Averted with Goemon the racehorse, which Goemon the samurai takes as an omen.
 * Prescience Is Predictable: Lupin's reason for being glad the camera was destroyed.
 * Scenery Censor: Everyone at the nudist camp has a fig leaf over the lower bits, except for Fujiko.
 * Tickle Torture: How Lupin is tortured, according to his scientifically-found weakness.