Lupin III/Recap/S2/E1

"The Dashing Entrance of Lupin III", with the English title "The Return of Lupin III". Released in 2003 by Geneon on Volume 1: The World's Most Wanted.

The first episode of the second series opens with an invitation to Fujiko, Jigen, and Goemon from Lupin to reunite with him on board a luxury cruise ship five years after the gang's previous adventure. Lupin, of course makes a grand (slightly failed) entrance via parachute. Later, as the gang dines together, Lupin presents the fact that he did not send the others their invitations, and that his own was sent in Fujiko's name. Zenigata, tipped off to the gang's reunion and recently promoted to the ICPO, also makes his presence known. Shortly thereafter, dinner is interrupted by a booby trap that crushes the table. The gang decides to investigate further.

Shipboard activities thereafter are laced with hazards. Jigen goes to the ship's dentist to have a sore tooth looked at, only for another patient to interrupt his exam and accidentally take the venomous snake meant for him. Goemon's massage is given by a burly thug who seems only interested in killing him, and Fujiko's swim in the ship's pool takes a deadly turn, with Lupin pulling her out of the jaws of a shark only just in time. The gang discusses the death traps, and Lupin finally puts two and two together: their foe is the Scorpion Gang, wanting revenge for their defeat in the first episode of the first series.

As the group attends a fancy dinner, their table is spirited away to a hidden hold. There, the leader of the Scorpion Gang, now healed and rebuilt into an invincible superman, promises revenge and challenges the gang to defeat him, providing them with weapons, guns, cars, and other implements of death. Jigen and Goemon are quickly defeated, but Lupin takes advantage of their distraction to think up a plan with Fujiko; Lupin uses one car to knock down a set of electric lights, while Fujiko uses another to start a fire, triggering the ship's sprinkler system. The hold fills with water, and Lupin shoots the damaged lights down to zap the Scorpion leader with electricity. The gang escapes while the wounded Scorpion decides to take out the whole ship, and hopefully Lupin's gang with it. The ship self-destructs.

Lupin and his friends are not so easily taken out, however, escaping on a raft made of various scraps from the ship's ruins. As they sail away, Zenigata, who managed to escape the explosion via sea turtle, finds them in the ocean, and the chase begins anew...

This episode features examples of:

 * Abridged Series: One of eight second series episodes that made it into Lupin III: The Abridged Series.
 * Achilles' Heel: Scorpion's seemingly metal body is immune to impact, fire, bullets, and even Goemon's blade...but not electricity. You think he would've learned from last time.
 * Breakable Weapons: Zantetsuken in this episode, when is used on Scorpion's body.
 * Breaking the Fellowship: Something unknown happened that caused the gang to split up for five years. They still seem fairly amiable with one another when they reunite.
 * Chrome Champion: What has seemingly happened to Scorpion.
 * Electrified Bathtub: A much larger version is how Scorpion is defeated, mirroring the first encounter.
 * Explaining Your Power to the Enemy: Scorpion, who seems to love his voice and detailed explanations about what's going on.
 * Putting the Band Back Together: The beginning of the episode.
 * Revenge Before Reason: Heaven only knows how much money Scorpion spent on his revenge plot. And when he doesn't win, he just blows up the boat instead.
 * Shoot the Rope: Or in this case, wire attached to a charged lighting rig.
 * Sore Loser: Scorpion: he started with a huge advantage over Lupin and co (he was even capable of breaking the Zantetsuken), but when he was bested by his rival he decides to take him with him by blowing up the boat he's on.
 * You Fail Physics Forever: As soon as Lupin shoots the lighting rig, cutting the wire, there should have been no power in it. So how did it still manage to fry Scorpion? Slow Electricity?