This is the only Lupin media to feature Lupin in a black jacket. Though it prominently appears in the marketing material, he starts off in his traditional red jacket and only wears the black one for part of the special.
Lupin III is up to his usual tricks, notably the theft of a rare clock from a casino in Singapore and aided by steadfast gang members Jigen and Goemon. Things start to take a turn for the weird soon after, though. In Las Vegas, longtime foe Inspector Zenigata is arrested by the police, accused of being a secret accomplice to Lupin's numerous thefts. In order to prove Zenigata is not conspiring with him, Lupin accepts a challenge to steal the Time Crystal, a rare black diamond that was recently smuggled out of the United States by China. Lupin succeeds in his theft and meets up with Jigen, but Jigen suddenly shoots Lupin and incapacitates Goemon, leaving the two of them stranded in the desert and taking the Time Crystal for himself. Combined with a kidnapped teenage piano prodigy, the extremely top secret Area 61 in Colorado, American politician and multi-billionaire Roy Forest, and the works of Fryderyk Chopin, Lupin suddenly finds himself with quite a scheme to unravel if he wants to clear Zenigata's name, retake his prize, and, most pressingly of all, find out what would make one of his oldest and closest allies turn on him.
Spoilers below! Don't read below if you don't want to know how this caper turns out!
This TV movie features examples of:
- 2D Visuals, 3D Effects: When a character is playing the piano, their CG hands can be a bit noticeable, particularly in one shot where Alisa (who is 2D) and her forearms (which are CG) are in the same scene together, making it look like her arms have grown exceptionally long.
- Absurdly Sharp Blade:
- Put to frequent use to get Lupin and Goemon out of the situations they end up stuck in. Items include an underground vault's floor, a jail door, several guns, the quantum supercomputer, and the Time Crystal itself.
- A seemingly gratuitous use of Zantetsuken to slice the lighter that Jigen gave Lupin in half also ends up providing the thief with several clues to what's going on with his ex-partner.
- Unfortunately, Goemon slicing through a blast door is what causes Emilka to treat him as a threat to her security.
- The Ace: The reason why Alisa was kidnapped by Forest, as she can perfectly imitate Chopin's music. This is called back on during the credits, showing her taking part in the competition she was taken from and winning first place.
- Artistic License – Geography: Las Vegas, which is in Nevada, has been depicted as a city in Arizona.
- Become a Real Boy: What Emilka's endgame eventually becomes. Near the end, before she's shut down, we see what seems to be a body for her being made. Later, the quantum computer's OS says that she can't be found in the system. A girl who looks like her virtual avatar is later seen during Alisa's performance during the credits, hinting that she did escape and went to watch Alisa.
- Break Out the Museum Piece: Jigen finds a method to break through Area 61's defensive measures, even if the base's automated system stymies modern missiles, tank shells, and drones. It involves going to the local Air Force boneyard, which happens to have a captured German railway gun and a conveniently intact ammunition reserve. Said ammunition consists of powder charges and projectiles so massive that interception systems can't destroy them.
- Catchphrase:
- As detailed above, so many worthless objects are cut... and Goemon complains every time.
- Delightfully averted later when he cuts the Time Crystal. He smiles and says, "For the first time in ages, I've used my blade against something worthy."
- Chekhov's Gift: The heavy silver lighter that Jigen gives Lupin when they met up after the clock heist. Jigen watches Lupin put it in the breast pocket of his jacket, so he aims there when he "shoots" Lupin later on. The lighter blocks the bullet when Jigen makes his turn.
- Continuity Nod: Jigen tries to pull the same flower trick Lupin used on Clarisse back in Cagliostro. Jigen fumbles the trick, but Alisa doesn't seem to mind.
- Defeat by Modesty: Performed on several occasions by Goemon with the use of Zantetsuken, especially when he and Lupin need to escape something they've snuck into.
- Disarm, Disassemble, Destroy: Lupin throws the pieces of Jigen's lighter at Norman's face, then rips the slide off Norman's Desert Eagle while the guy's trying to recover from the first attack.
- Explosive Leash: Alisa is fitted with an explosive choker to make her cooperate after her kidnapping. Lupin and Jigen pull off a trick with to make sure that it can't detonate.
- Face–Heel Turn: Jigen suddenly shoots his friends and strands them out in the desert, taking the Time Crystal with him. Of course he's faking it, hinted almost immediately by him shooting the lighter in Lupin's pocket instead of Lupin. Alisa was being held hostage to force him to comply.
- Femme Fatale: Fujiko has only cozied up to Roy to get something, as usual. Unlike most of her other schemes, when Lupin becomes involves she doesn't actively try to interfere, because in this case their goals are very different. In the end, she ends up helping him, if for nothing else to safe herself. In the end, she actually gets what she was after... Roy's one-of-a-kind watch.
- Frame-Up: Zenigata gets framed as the mastermind of Lupin's thefts. Lupin is enraged at the very sight of the newspaper and even the UBC newscasters calling him a fraud and he interrupts the UBC broadcast, offering to steal something supposedly impossible to steal upon the request of the studio.
- Gun Struggle: A downplayed example is shown when Lupin is surrounded by ICPO security officers. When one officer approaches and sticks his pistol in Lupin's face, Lupin steals the gun and shoots the officer in the leg. Then he proceeds to shoot the other officers in their nonvital areas. Too bad he runs out of bullets just as reinforcements arrive.
- Hollywood Tactics: Here we go with the usual pattern of "multiplayer online game tactics" or "decisions too stupid to let any commander keep his rank."
- The Chinese Navy orders two destroyers to barrage Lupin with torpedoes when the latter escapes with the Time Crystal. The warships seem not to notice that they're on a collision course until after Lupin detonates some planted explosives to throw off the torpedoes. Then the collision happens, with both ships sinking.
- When ICPO officers surround Lupin in their HQ to prevent him from escaping, they are in position to shoot each other if they dare shoot Lupin. One officer makes the mistake of getting within arm's reach of Lupin. Lupin steals the guy's gun, using it to inflict minor wounds on every officer surrounding him! When reinforcements arrive, they also surround Lupin with guns drawn, positioned to shoot each other if they missed Lupin.
- Sure, the US military does everything short of dropping nukes on Area 61, but every successive wave of saturation strike fails against the base's automated defenses. The attacks are simply repeated again and again with bigger numbers of projectiles and missiles. One would also think that an artillery barrage would be done by the actual field artillery, not by a battalion of tanks.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Jigen does this with Alisa's mother as he realized he could never give her the life she wanted.
- Laser Hallway: Lupin shows off his incredible acrobatic skills while navigating one inside the stronghold where the Time Crystal is. Too bad he didn't know about the pressure plates on the other side.
- Latex Perfection: The usual case of Lupin disguising himself as Zenigata is averted; for once, the Zenigata walking into the ICPO building is actually Zenigata! Lupin and Goemon are actually disguised as each other, so Lupin can go around the building freely as Zenigata's Goemon-looking assistant while Zenigata and Goemon distract ICPO's staff.
- Loophole Abuse: Forest tries to claim Diplomatic Impunity thanks to his connections to the American government when Zenigata comes to arrest him. Zenigata points out that Lupin arranged for Forest's plane to crash in international waters, which means he's now in ICPO territory where there is no diplomatic immunity.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Fujiko tries to escape the computer room when the US Army begins a drone strike on Area 61, only to get blocked by a bulkhead. Goemon slices through the fortified door with ease to let everyone escape, only to get an electroshock attack from a maintenance drone. Emilka asks about Zantetsuken, having failed to comprehend its cutting power. To this, Goemon demands she face him. In response to this "threat", Emilka cuts off access to her command interface and also shuts off the ventilation system.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: An informant named "Edward Znowden" is the one who spills the information about the quantum supercomputer the American government is working on.
- Madame President is clearly meant to be Hilary Clinton.
- Out-of-Character Alert: Jigen's sudden change of gun (switching from a Smith & Wesson Model 19 to a SIG Sauer P229) caused Lupin to suspect something was up. Lupin was right.
- Protectorate: As the child of Jigen's former lover, Alisa is this.
- Rock Beats Laser: Everything that a modern military throws at Area 61 is rendered useless. What gets the job done? A gigantic world-war-vintage German railway gun (namely the 80cm Dora), whose fired projectile is so freakishly massive that interception missiles can't deflect or destroy it!
- Running Gag: Every time Goemon is disguised, he ends up pulling out Zantetsuken from the back of his shirt to help solve the problem he and Lupin end up in.
- Sympathetic Inspector Antagonist: After being arrested, Inspector Zenigata is reluctant to work with Lupin to help him escape and clear his name. But after Lupin explains and presents evidence there's a much more dangerous villain on the loose, he agrees to work with Lupin and Goemon just long enough to stop the bigger threat.
- What Is This Thing You Call "Love"?: Once Emilka is taken out of Roy's influence, she starts undergoing a few changes.
- Emilka's response to Goemon's "threat" of facing Zantetsuken is revoking Kato's access-rights (including producing audio counter-phases to keep Alisa from playing the music needed to override her security) and cutting off air circulation in the entire facility. This can be interpreted as the AI experiencing fear.
- Emilka reprograms several hijacked manufacturing plants into making delivery drones in an attempt to redistribute wealth and resources around the world. She eventually stops after realizing that people aren't going to react to her actions in a logical manner.
- Emilka struggles to understand Alisa and Fujiko's music. Her curiosity soon leads her to start having more emotions of her own. Eventually, instead of counter-phasing the music, Emilka starts singing her own song in response to the pianos.
- The Worf Barrage: Everything the US military throws at Area 61 in the attempt to destroy the quantum computer is useless. Drone strikes, tank attacks, carpet bombing, special force infiltration, and even cruise missile launches get stymied by the facility's rapidly evolving defense system. However, the facility's defenses can't last forever...
