LUPIN III: FROM SIBERIA WITH LOVE (1992)

 

PHENOMENALITY: *marvelous*
MYTHICITY: *fair*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *comedy*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTIONS: *psychological, sociological*

This TV-special apparently aired in Japan with the subtitle "From Russia with Love," but to lessen confusion I'll go with the less Bond-derived version.

This is a solid comedy-adventure that's distinguished from most Lupin III tales by having a fairly formidable villain. This time Goemon pursues a separate course than the other members of the regular ensemble (Lupin, Jigen, and Fujiko), though he ends up uniting with the other three toward the end of the story.

As often happens, Lupin's passion for finding new scores puts him on the trail of a legendary store of gold sent to the U.S. from Russia during the final Czarist years. Lupin's research in a public library involves a dalliance with a busty librarian, but this is soon broken up by the relentless Inspector Zenigata. Lupin and Jigen escape the dauntless detective and seek out a young woman, Judy, who has further info on the gold cache's location. I confess I didn't follow exactly how the gold, which was given to a Russian emigre to the U.S., ended up in the hands of a very special bank whose depositors are all underworld figures. However, once Lupin enlists the aid of his inamorata Fujiko, the plan to rob the bank of its Russian gold begins to come together.

There are, of course, other crooked types conspiring to get the prize before Lupin. Two thugs are sent by the Mafia to monitor the situation (what, the Family couldn't spare more than two mooks?) A more formidable foe is Rasputon, supposedly a descendant of the Mad Monk of Czarist Russia. Goemon gets involved with Rasputon when the villain steals the samurai's precious sword, compelling Goemon to obey his will. Further, Rasputon possesses the power to read minds and anticipate what any enemy intends to do against him, making it difficult for the samurai to request help from his posse.

Though Zenigata doesn't appear as often as in other Lupins, the writers contrive a lot of good comic action for the resourceful thieves, including a couple of double-crosses. There are some involved set-pieces involved in the concealment of the huge gold cache, and these strain credulity after all the relatively naturalistic heist explanations. But compared to many Lupins, SIBERIA is fairly restrained, with Rasputon's psychic talent furnishing the narrative's only marvelous content.