Lupin III: The Secret of Twilight Gemini
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The Secret of Twilight Gemini is the eighth of the Lupin III Made-For-TV Movies, and was given an English-language release by FUNimation in 2002, and again in 2006 as part of the "First Haul" box set. It tells the tale of the titular diamond, a treasure hidden for centuries, and unravels the past of Lupin's old mob boss, Dalune.
It begins when Lupin pays a late night visit to Dalune, at the aging kingpin's request, where he is presented with half of the Twilight. However, Dalune tells Lupin that the diamond itself is not the gift he has for him. It's merely a key to a much bigger prize: a treasure that has remained hidden for more than three hundred years. When Lupin asks where he can find it, Dalune simply answers, "Morocco."
The legendary thief hops a train, unaware that Inspector Zenagata and an army of Interpol agents are also on board to apprehend him. Plus, a Camp Gay assassin and his mook squad who are also after Lupin and the diamond in his possession. After a near miss by both parties, Lupin ditches the train and leaps into another caper.
Tropes used in Lupin III: The Secret of Twilight Gemini include:
- Action Girl: Fujiko, as always, and Lara.
- Badass Grandpa: The Geltic Tribe's Elder. Check out the Laser-Guided Karma entry below.
- Batman Gambit: When Dalune gives Lupin the Twilight, he's initially lead to believe that Dalune's after the treasure. However, in the process of solving the mystery of the Twilight, Lupin learns about Dalune's past, including his relationship with Lorre, and his oath to the Elder to reunite the two halves of the gem. It ultimately leads to the reveal that Lara is his granddaughter. In other words, Dalune's true motive for giving him the Twilight, was twofold: to fulfill his vow to the Elder, and so Lupin could find his granddaughter for him, since Dalune could no longer search for her himself.
- Barbie Doll Anatomy: Averted hard in the uncut version, which shows everything shy of full frontal nudity.
- Big Bad: Police Commisioner Jean Pierre.
- Big Damn Heroes: Three of 'em.
- First up is Jigen, who saves Lupin's bacon, during his second run-in with Sadachiyo, by nearly running him over (with a jeep!) as he picks up Lupin.
- He comes to Lupin's rescue again during the firefight at the Old Geltic City, by bombarding Jean Pierre's forces with mortar shells!
- Goemon pulls an epic one just as Sadichiyo was moments away from killing Lupin. A flute chord is heard, then the camera pans up, revealing Goemon's form silhouetted against the full moon, just before leaping into the fray!
- Finally, there's Fujiko who pulls hers off, via a motorcycle slide, and mows down a couple of mooks in the process.
- Blush Sticker: Goemon invokes this when he finds Fujiko hanging from the rafters of Jean Pierre's hideout in nothing but a thong! He quickly averts his gaze, out of respect, and offers to cut her down.
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Fujiko: (annoyed) "Goemon, how do you intend to cut me down without looking at me?" |
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- Boom! Headshot!: How Jean Pierre meets his end, curtousey of the Elder.
- But Now I Must Go: Lupin to Lara at the end.
- Camp Gay: Sadachiyo. Long black hair, makeup, nail polish, overly effeminine tone of voice, you get the idea. It's even lampshaded on more than one occasion.
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Sadachiyo: (smug) "You've come all this way just to die." |
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- The Caper: It's a Lupin movie, what'd you expect?
- Chekhov's Gun: In the beginning of the film, Lupin mentions that he's heard rumors of Dalune still pulling strings in the underground syndicate, despite his condition. Might wanna keep that in mind.... see directly below.
- Chessmaster: Dalune, and he does it all from his sickbed! You saw the Batman Gambit entry at the top, right?
- Chivalrous Pervert: Lupin, who else?
- City of Adventure: Morocco: complete with beautiful women, shady characters, and all the thrills, chases, mystery, and intrigue of an Indy flick.
- Cool Old Guy: Inspector Zenagata. Seriously, anyone who can keep up with Lupin for as many years, and come as close to slapping the cuffs on him as many times he has, has earned the distinction. Hell, Lupin has even said so himself!
- Special mention goes to Bultokari for managing to stay hidden in a hostile work environment for so long without being found out!
- Curb Stomp Battle: The war between the Gelts and the Igo Tribe, who had been supplied with tanks and guns by British merchants. Naturally, guns and military weaponry trump swords so it's no surprise the Gelts lost... badly.
- Dead Person Impersonation: Jean Pierre tries to uncover the secret of the Geltic treasure by posing as Galoux.
- Death by Irony: A Camp Gay assassin dies by being pierced from behind by another man's sword. Yeah.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Goemon may have his principals and all, but it seems pretty unreasonable to want to kill Sadachiyo, just because he's made a career out of his skills, rather than HOW he's chosen to use those skills. Sadachiyo even calls him out on it.
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Goemon: "We used to train together, now you've sold your skills to satisfy your greed. I won't allow it." |
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- The Dragon: Sadachiyo.
- Dynamic Entry: Both Goemon and Fujiko during their respective Big Damn Heroes moments.
- Effeminate Misogynistic Guy: Sadachiyo in spades. On top of being Camp Gay, he has neither time, respect, or patience for women. From the moment he learns of Lupin's interest in Lara, he uses her as a means to get to him. Especially during their fifth confrontation, where he holds her at swordpoint both to draw Lupin into a fight and to ensure he wouldn't flee the scene.
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Lupin: (angrily) "Let her go! She's got nothing to do with this!" |
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- Sadachiyo was just as cruel, if not moreso, where Fujiko was concerned. He initially dismissed her, after he and his assassins crashed their hotel room. However, he wasn't as kind when he caught her snooping around Jean Pierre's hideout, having witnessed Zora's murder. Following her capture and subsequent questioning, Jean Pierre gives Sadachiyo the go ahead to torture her.
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Sadachiyo cracks whip, exposing Fujiko's breast |
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- Fantastic Racism: The Igo Tribe towards the Gelts, which is a central plot point of the film.
- Fan Service: The most of any Lupin III related feature. In addition to several topless scenes, there's two discretion shots, and three instances of near full frontal nudity; twice with Fujiko, the other with Lara.
- Gainaxing: Lara does plenty of this during both of her chase scenes, which focus largely on her boobs. Also at the end, when Bultokari saves her with his pick-up truck.
- Gentleman Thief: Lupin as always.
- Interrupted Intimacy: Lupin runs into Fujiko while scoping out the night-life in Morroco. After a bit of small talk, and a copious amount of flirting, they retire upstairs to finish their "conversation" in private. The scene shifts to their room, where Lupin is eagerly awaiting Fujiko, in bed. She plays hard to get for a moment longer, before joining him. Right as they're going at it, Sadachiyo and his squad, crash through the window to assassinate Lupin, forcing him to flee the scene in his undies!
- La Résistance: The Geltic Tribe, who have long been oppressed by the Igo Tribe, who have long sought to claim the Geltic treasure for themselves.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Applied directly to the forehead, by Galoux's father, when Jean Pierre tries to pull his villainous exit.
- MacGuffin: The Twilight, naturally.
- Memento MacGuffin: Since it was originally given to Dalune, by Lorre, as a keepsake.
- Master of Disguise: Lupin, as per usual. He goes through several of them, including impersonating an officer to infiltrate Morroco's police HQ, and passing himself off as one of the townsfolk to milk Zenagata for information.
- The Mole: There's two.
- Police Commisioner Jean Pierre who's not only descended of the Igo Tribe, he's also the Big Bad.
- Bultokari works for the police even though he's secretly a Gelt.
- Ms. Fanservice: Fujiko, who provides two thirds of the T&A in the uncut version, with Lara making up the difference between Gainaxing and an outdoor bathing scene.
- Nice Job Breaking it Villain: Literally. In their final duel, Sadachiyo cuts Goemon's sword in two, sending the broken half into the air. Just as he closes in for the kill, Goemon blocks the attack, right as the broken shard of his sword falls and pierces Sadachiyo in the back, killing him.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: This how Bultokari has played The Mole for so long.
- Outdoor Bath Peeping: After being rescued, from the desert, and finding himself alone in the Elder's tent, Lupin steps outside to search for Lara. He soon finds her bathing in the oasis, which is when he finally sees she has the other half of the Twilight.
- Plucky Girl: Lara. She's an active member of the Geltic Tribe, who fights against the injustices of the Igo Tribe, in order to restore peace to her people and her homeland.
- Posthumous Character: Galoux, who's already dead before the movie even starts.
- Rebellious Princess: Upon solving the mystery of the Twilight, it's revealed that Lara is Lorre's granddaughter. Which makes her a descendant of the Geltic royal family.
- Red Baron: Sadachiyo "The Scorpion".
- Refuge in Audacity: Interpol's most wanted thief and his on-again off-again girlfriend, who happens to be an international jewel thief herself, sneak into a busy police station to steal the same file, and end up having sex in the file room!
- Retired Badass: We learn from the start that Dalune's an underworld kingpin. But Lupin eventually learns that he used to be a member of the French foreign legion, and later, fought alongside the Gelts during the war with the Igo Tribe. Not to mention, the part about Lara being his granddaughter!
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: A rebel leader with royal lineage equals, Lara.
- Schmuck Bait: How does Zenagata lure Lupin into his trap at the start of the film? With a woman, of course. Speaking of which....
- Sex with the Ex: Lupin, twice with Fujiko. Sorta. See directly below for details.
- Sexy Discretion Shot: Two of 'em.
- The first occurs moments before Lupin and Fujiko get started in their hotel room. After she strips down, the scene shifts to the balcony outside, allowing the viewer to hear the remainder of their conversation and the sounds coming from inside once they get around to doing the deed. When Sadachiyo crashes the scene, the motion beneath the covers and Fujiko's moaning makes it fairly obvious what was going on.
- The second one occurs when Lupin sneaks into a Morrocan police station, disguised as an officer, in order to dig up information on Galoux. Fujiko was carrying out a job of her own and was after the same file. They swap notes on what they know so far, during which he accidentally spills the beans about the treasure he's after. That was music to Fujiko's ears, so she gives him her treasure. As she rubs herself against him, the camera pans to the wall next them.
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Lupin: (whispering) "We can't! We're in a police station!" |
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- Sissy Villain: Sadachiyo. As mentioned previously, this guy is simply fabulous. If the long hair and makeup aren't enough to convince you, the sheer number of honeys, darlings, and big boys that permeate his speech pattern ought to do it.
- Star-Crossed Lovers: Dalune and Lorre. He was a former member of the foreign legion, she was a dancer at the royal palace. They met during a time when there was fierce battle between the Gelts and the Igo Tribe. The day the Gelts were forced to flee their ancestral home, was the last time they saw each other.
- Strange Bedfellows: Zenagata with Bultokari, who ends up being the only one to offer Zenagata genuine assisstance in tracking Lupin. Of course, his motives weren't entirely altruistic. The guy's a Gelt after all. Since Lupin (and Lara) were headed for the Ancient Geltic City, and were opposing the Igo Tribe, it stood to reason that, by helping Zenagata, he was also helping himself.
- Tears of Joy: Dalune is overcome with such emotion when Lupin tells him about his granddaughter that he sheds tears, and thanks him for it.
- Unconvincing Instant Ecstasy: See the Sexy Discretion Shot entry below.
- Villain Exit Stage Left: Jean Pierre tries pulling one, after Lupin exposes him and foils his scheme. He even takes Lara and her half of the Twilight as leverage to ensure no one got the Geltic treasure. The Elder wasn't playing that shit.
- Whip It Good: Sadachiyo's method of choice, whether carrying out assassinations or torturing women. At one point, the guy even shreds a boulder Lupin was using for cover, in a matter of seconds!
- Worthless Treasure Twist: Subverted. In the end, Lupin and Lara, along with Zenagata and the others, gather to unearth the long hidden Geltic treasure. Which turns out to be an empty storeroom with an inscription stating that the heart of a people is a treasure unto itself. Lara is overjoyed, taking this to mean that they must unify the Geltic tribe and restore their homeland. Fujiko isn't as idealistic and vents her frustration by kicking the wall; which crumbles, revealing a cache of diamonds! While the others stare, slackjawed, Lara quietly shares the moment with Lupin.
- You Are Worth Hell: At one point, Lara gets stuck in quicksand whilst searching for water in the desert. After Lupin's attempts to save her fail, she pleads with him to keep searching for the Gelts without her. He refuses, and instead chooses to join her. Before they are completely dragged under, Lupin reveals to her that he's also looking for the Geltic treasure, but says he's perfectly happy with sinking into the quicksand because at least he'll be with her.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: The fate of Zora and his friends once Jean Pierre realizes they know nothing about the Geltic treasure. He almost says it verbatim, before fatally shooting each of them.
- Though it isn't shown, he reveals he also killed Galoux, prior to the start of film, for the same reason. After being told about the Geltic treasure, of course.