Lupin III The Woman Called Fujiko Mine – 2 [.357 Magnum]

Its time for another episode of The Woman Called Fujiko Mine! I have to say, its nice to not be on a rigid schedule for once. No weekly showings or anything, just watching and writing when I have the time. Enough about me though, you came here for some Lupin, so lets dive right into it!

Getting into the actual episode, this week we meet Jigen Daisuke, the gunman! I was a bit surprised it wasn’t a follow up involving Lupin in some way. However it looks like rather than following Lupin and Fujiko as a pair, Fujiko Mine is more geared towards Fujiko herself. So she is going to be running the show as we run around meeting all of the core characters of the Lupin III franchise. I am curious then if next week we are going to meet Goemon, or if it will stick to this core trio. We still have plenty of show left to meet the rest of the cast, we are only 2 episodes in. So I think it would be best if Fujiko Mine focused on fleshing out the ones we have now. Either way though I am looking forward to it.

As for the story itself, I really liked it. Fujiko Mine did a great job this week of simultaneously introducing a new character while still fleshing out our lead. Yes the episode was focused on Jigen, his past and his relationship with Cicciolina. However Fujiko Mine also used Cicciolina’s character to contrast and expand on Fujiko herself. Tying her into their story and the episodes themes of trust and growth. We can see this in the episodes ending, where both Jigen and Fujiko both literally and metaphorically go their separate ways. Fujiko attempting to “outrun any past that tries to kill [her]” while Jigen seems to accept and grow from his. His past with Cicciolina caught up, he faced it, and he grew such that he is retiring as a killer. As cliche as it all is, Fujiko Mine executes on these cliches really well, making for a satisfying episode.

Meanwhile the episodes self-contained plot was itself rather good. Yes, as I said it was filled with standard cliches. The whole revenge-plot-turned-turgid-romance shtick has been played out a lot in western spy thrillers. However just because something has been done before doesn’t mean Fujiko Mine can’t still do it well. Throughout the episode we were left questioning Jigen’s character. Is he a good but hard man, or perhaps just as heartless as the show implies? Early on Fujiko Mine shows us Jigen killing 2 men as if they were nothing, no reaction at all. Only later to show us it was a conscious choice on his part. That you can’t survive in the business without hardening your heart and that just isn’t something he is willing to do anymore. I guessed most of the twists as they came, but Fujiko Mine presented them with enough style to still be entertaining.

I quite enjoyed the flip on his backstory. Early on Cicciolina explains that Jigen was “always weak to women”, implying he was a bit of a womanizer. Either that or he looked down on them and considered them not worth concern. And while the latter is partly true, based on his late recognition of Fujiko as an equal and Cicciolina as “a woman worth killing”, overall he is much more loyal than is implied. As his weakness wasn’t for “women” but rather Cicciolina herself, so much so that they cheated on her husband at a funeral. So loyal in fact he was willing to take the fall for her. Meanwhile this seemed to be reciprocated on her part, as not only did she kill her husband for him but she didn’t even load her gun when preparing to shoot him. As if some of those feelings still lingered.

As a bit of a counterpoint to that though, Fujiko Mine also shows us how despairing Cicciolina’s life was. She was emotionless, fearless and ultimately uninterested in life. Only feeling alive when her life was in danger, either by her own hands or someone else’s. We both hear this through the dialogue that implies she has tried to kill herself before and through her actions. The entire bit of not arming herself when facing Jigen could have been another attempt at suicide, rather than based in love. Some might say this lack of distinction is lazy on Fujiko Mine’s part, but I quite enjoyed it. It makes the whole final scenario much more ambiguous, is it a tragedy, is it not? It’s something to think about, to argue over and ultimately have your own take on. And while it was a little confusing and cliched at times, I enjoyed it.

The one thing I did have some issue with, and this is no doubt odd considering the show, were his skills. Don’t get me wrong, I am enjoying how over the top this is. And Jigen’s skills fit well within the cast in terms of just how ridiculous everyone is. But I think for the “serious” nature of the episode’s story he was just a bit to much. Running, gunning and never missing, Jigen feels a tad to invincible right now. So unless Fujiko Mine has him go up against Lupin or Fujiko we all know he isn’t going to lose. That all said though, this is a show about fantastic people doing fantastic things. “Losing” isn’t really in their wheel house so I don’t expect it to drag the story down much, if at all. Its just a slight concern for the moment.

So all in all, how was this weeks episode of Fujiko Mine? Across the board I think it was a step up from last week. Not only is Jigen a more interesting character than Lupin for Fujiko to interact with, but the story was tighter to. Its hard to believe they managed to pack so much into a single episode without it feeling bloated, yet they did. And because Fujiko was introduced last week they were able to focus a lot more on Jigen than they were able for Lupin. My one concern regarding balance exists, but overall I am really enjoying Fujiko Mine and am looking forward to finding more time to watch it. Now I just need work and life to calm down and maybe we can get these out a bit quicker.