Lupin III Part VI Episode 01 Review

Episode 01, "Enter Sherlock Holmes"

 

Lupin with binocularsHolmes explaining


*****SPOILERS*****

Synopsis:  In London, Lupin's former rival, Albert d'Andrésy, is arrested for attempting to steal a movie poster, the treasure of a man connected to the mysterious Raven organization. Lupin assists in Albert's escape in return for the half of the poster he got away with. The other half is in the custody of Scotland Yard, but before Lupin can get it, Inspector Zenigata from the ICPO steps in and gives chase. In the midst of all this, the great detective Sherlock Holmes and his charge Lily spot our sideburned swindler and there appears to be a shared past between them!

 

Albert is injuredSherlock and Lily

Comments:

Now that we've started things proper, it's time to get into a new Lupin III storyline! And this one apparently features some old and new faces.

There was a lot going on in this episode. The heist of the poster and Holmes' takedown of Albert, the mystery of the Raven organization and Lord Faulknor's unfortuante run-in with them at Scotland Yard, Holmes' relationship with Lily, Zenigata's interference, and the chase scenes! It was almost too much to keep up with.

It was good seeing Albert, from Part V, again. The last time we saw him, he was taking Ling, Enzo from Shake Hand's right hand man, into custody, for some reason. Whether or not we'll see what happened with that remains to be seen, but we can see that he's still pretty clever, even if he can't quite match wits with the likes of Sherlock Holmes. I'm hoping this isn't just a brief cameo and that he sticks around at least for a few more episodes as Lupin tries to decipher the riddle of the movie poster and its connection to Raven. At the same time, I don't want Albert to be so connected to the last series that newcomers to this one can't figure out who he is without going back and watching it (though they should, Part V is great). Obviously, whatever Albert was after was vital enough to get the organization moving, and he was willing to end his own life rather than be captured. I wonder if France knows one of its officials is out stealing things in England. Or was he doing for France? Seems unlikely.

Of course, the big draw of the episode is Holmes himself, sporting a beard and spending time picking up pocket change with small cases when he's not working with Scotland Yard, probably so he can afford to send Lily (who I'm guessing is... what, Watson's daughter?) to school. This is an obviously much more sensitive and likable Sherlock than we're used to in media. Maybe bringing up Lily has changed his perspective on life. Whatever the case is, he's still capable of some great deductions, and I wonder what things will be like when/if he teams up with Zenigata, or if they'll end up as rivals to capture Lupin. We see that Holmes isn't above lying to Lily, though, about the bookstore lead and getting her out of the way with the fake message to Lestrade. He's probably trying to shield her from the business he's in. After all, who wants to get a little girl wrapped up in crime-stopping and the like? But something tells me she's not so bad at the game, herself.

It's interesting how they approached Lupin in this episode. Very little of it is from his POV, he does a lot of lurking around in the margins of things and is treated like this interloper who breezes into town and causes chaos. Obviously he and Holmes, much like he and Albert, have some kind of past, and the great detective is no fan of our favorite thief. The way Homes and Lily reacted to spotting Lupin, you'd think they were staring at the devil himself. Something big went down and I'm sure we'll find out later.

I'm not a big fan of all the CG cars, but otherwise, the episode looked really good, owing partially to the backgrounds actually being based on real areas of London. The art style is a little less like the previous two shows and more like some of the more recent TV specials, which has me on the fence, but the animation seems pretty decent and Yuji Ohno's music is on point, as usual. I'm looking forward to seeing where this is all going.

 

ChaseLupin says hello

Overall Score:

4 out of 5

 


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