Lupin III (2015) Episode JP 18 (Italy 19) Review

"The First Supper"

*****SPOILERS*****

Synopsis: Art is never finished, only abandoned! Strange portraits of the Lupin group, and even Rebecca, begin to appear on the side of buildings. Lupin is approached by both Nix and Inspector Zenigata in inquiry, but Lupin has only one idea: go to the Santa Maria delle Grazie Basilica. It is there where a several course feast has been prepared for them and even Nix's boss at the MI6. As the meal is eaten, Lupin pieces together that this has something to do with Uraga's research and British intelligence. But just who is their enigmatic host and what does he have planned for the diners in this holy abode? It'll take a true Renaissance Man to uncover the truth in this matter!
 


Comments:

Things are getting pretty bizarre, I tell you. That little blue douchebag (who is really a giant brain because reasons) Mamo would be interested in the events here.

For one, we learn that Nix has retired, being able to only because he remembered Wataru (really mistranslated, I think his name is supposed to be "Ko") Uraga's research (photographic memory on top of echo location, wow) and passed it along to his boss. Honestly, MI6 agents probably don't have to offer anything before leaving, but I guess he figured since he's some enhanced super agent he's valuable and they might try to stop him from quitting if he didn't offer something valuable in his place. It's weird seeing him in casual clothes for so long in this episode, and Rebecca has not forgiven him for threatening her previously (he seems much more forgiving of her butler threatening his family). But just when he thought he was out, a hundreds of years old artist pulled him back in. Apparently.

If Nix and the MI6 are the reocurring antagonists of the first half of this series, the second half has a real humzinger of a threat in the form of a historical figure who... really was the opposite of villainous, actually. He might have to cite precedence in the case of Sir Isaac Newton v. Sunrise, over the use of his likeness and name as the villain of Vision of Escaflowne (I believe he won that, but was too dead to collect damages). However, in this episode, he's mostly feeling out the cast, since he probably recognizes that they each played some kind of part in his being alive in this era. I, for one, have a pretty leading question about this scenario, though: why the fuck would MI6 clone Leonardo da Vinci? Is MI6 not an intelligence agency, tasked with keeping Great Britain and its interests safe from external threats? Why would they be in the cloning business?

Whatever the case is (I doubt we'll ever really get a satisfying answer, this is Lupin, you just have to roll with it), Da Vinci seems grateful to be in a time period where his inventions can all spring to life, and he wants to use his genius to help shape the world further. In essence, the events of this episode were to thank the participants in his revival. Lupin decoded Uragi's research on the Italian Dream, which allowed scientist to pull information and dreams from people and place it in a cloned body, and he was the one who led Nix to the notes (which Nix memorized before they burned). Rebecca was Uraga's moral support, and her butler is her's. The MI6 gave him life, Lupin's group and Zenigata were all involved in the back-and-forth with the MI6 that led to his revival.

I'm not really sold on Uraga's research being the key to reviving historical figures via... people's dreams, I guess. I thought his book of symbols and writings were all about perserving an after image of his own personality into the text so a person can be triggered into entering a dreamlike state to talk with him. It seems like a pretty large leap from that to "implanting dreams into cloned body of Leonardo da Vinci" and I hope it's elaborated on a little bit in the future, because the Italian Dream was an interesting plot element and I'd hate for it just to be a handwave to how this could occur.

I loved the mystery, action, art detail, historical references, and interesting ideas. However, the show is going to have to do a bit more lifting in the follow-through, or these ideas will seem like pieces to a puzzle nobody should have bothered piecing together.

 



Overall Score:

4 out of 5
 

 


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