"Tutankhamen's 3000-Year Curse"note with the English title Cursed Case Scenario. Released in 2003 by Geneon on Volume 1: The World's Most Wanted.
In the ancient lands of Egypt, the Museum of Ancient History is playing host to a visit from Lupin and his gang. Naturally, they're not there to learn about the Old Kingdom, but to steal the centerpiece of the collection: Tutankhamen's gold burial mask. Well, Fujiko and Lupin are eager to get going. A shadow of death is fogging Goemon's Zantetsuken, warning him of danger if they continue, and Jigen's feet, which only itch badly when something is about to go wrong, seem to confirm things. Add in Tut's legendary curse, and the two opt out, leaving Lupin and Fujiko alone for the heist.
Posing as a museum custodian, Lupin plants a device that airlifts the case with Tutankhamen's mask over the security lasers. One of the balloons springs a leak, nearly scuttling the plan and seeming as a final warning, but Lupin pulls the loot to him via fishing pole, and Fujiko arrives with the getaway helicopter. Needless to say, Zenigata, who Lupin managed to trick into going to Israel instead, is furious his nemesis has made of with one of the world's most famous treasures.
Meanwhile, Lupin and Fujiko celebrate their victory in front of their wary friends. Lupin decides to put on the mask to impress Fujiko, and notes he hears music, much to Goemon and Jigen's concern, since they can't! Even more concerning, he begins dancing out-of-control and ranting about how he hasn't heard this tune for thousands of years! Worse, from Lupin's point of view, he sees hieroglyphs and images of ancient Egypt floating in front of his eyes. It takes a well-placed strike from Goemon to knock the wind out of him and get him under control, but when his friend's take the mask off, Lupin's eyes are wild and dilated.
As Lupin rests in the next room with the mask next to him, the rest of the gang discusses Tut's famous curse. While Fujiko is still dismissive, even she can't argue that something is really wrong with Lupin. Jigen and Goemon suggest that Fujiko return the mask, hoping it will placate whatever's possessed Lupin, but she can't bring herself to do it after all the trouble the two of them went to. Goemon grimly notices the shadow on Zantetsuken has darkened, and then a loud noise sounds from Lupin's bedroom. The three rush in to find Lupin and the mask gone, escaped out the window and nowhere in sight.
Jigen gets an idea and the three race off to Giza, where sure enough Lupin, wearing Tut's mask, stands atop one of the pyramids. Now fully believing himself to be Tut, he demands the confused onlookers below, who he sees as his loyal subjects of old, bow down before him. As Jigen and Goemon try to think of a plan, Zenigata breaks in on the whole thing with the Egyptian police, ordering Lupin down from the pyramid. Barely able to wait, Zenigata begins scaling the pyramid himself. As everyone looks on, Lupin suddenly begins to lift from the ground and fly through the air like magic! The crowd and Zenigata are astounded, some of them beginning to bow down, but Goemon spots the trick; Fujiko ran off, managed to get hold of a transparent glider and ensnare Lupin.
With the glider tied to the back of their jeep, she drives off with Lupin in tow. Zenigata quickly spots her and figures out the whole thing, in his fury shooting down the glider and causing Lupin to plummet to the ground. Jigen and Goemon manage to catch him before he can go splat, and the three quickly board the jeep to speed off. The Egyptian police give chase, but between Jigen's shooting, Goemon blocking the bullets with Zantetsuken, and Fujiko's driving skills, the police end up crashing into themselves and allow the thieves to escape. Furious, Zenigata loses his balance and topples off of the pyramid, but luckily, most of the damage only seems to be to his ego and buttocks.
The gang decide the only way to properly end things is to return the mask back to the museum. With Lupin finally sleeping peacefully, Fujiko manages to wrest the mask away from him and agrees it needs to be put back where it belongs. She hands it over to Jigen and Goemon to have them do the deed. As they travel ahead, Lupin wakes up and freaks out that the mask in missing, screaming about how he can't find his face anymore. Fujiko is forced to handcuff him to the hotel bed so he doesn't rush off looking for it. As he gets worse, babbling in ancient Egyptian, she goes downstairs to find sleeping pills, only to run into Zenigata looking for Lupin. As he runs upstairs to arrest his foe, Fujiko tries to explain the curse and pleads with the detective to leave the master thief alone because he's not himself anymore. But when they arrive in the hotel room, Lupin is gone again, and Fujiko notes how bad things have gotten. Instead of slipping out of them as usual, there's blood on them. showing he forced his way out. Confronted with the evidence and what happened earlier, even Zenigata is forced to concede something is very wrong. Fujiko lets it slip in his addled state he's probably headed for the Valley of the Kings, and both she and Zenigata rush off in pursuit of Lupin.
As the sun rises, Jigen and Goemon sprint from the museum, the mask of King Tutankhamen returned to its proper spot. Goemon checks his sword, and notes with the relief the shadow of death has completely disappeared. In the Valley of the Kings, Fujiko has fallen asleep in exhaustion searching for Lupin when he wakes her up, his completely normal self again. Luckily, he has no memory of the whole thing, so he and Fujiko walk back to the city discussing his behavior as Zenigata, wanders around one of the tombs in a futile search for his nemesis.
This episode features examples of:
- Abridged Series: Serves as one of the handful of Lupin III: The Abridged Series. The Abridged version replaces King Tut's hypnotic tune was replaced with something even worse... Raffi's "Bananaphone."
- Absurdly Sharp Blade: A rare Aversion, especially for an episode in which Zantetsuken plays an important role! The only damage Goemon does with the sword is with the end of the handle to knock the wind out of Lupin when he's under hypnosis.
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: In the end, Fujiko doesn't care about the Mask of Tutankhamen... she just wants Lupin safe and back to his normal genius self. She even admits being ashamed at putting the treasure over the Lupin's sanity.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: In the Japanese version, Jigen grumbles, "This is why I don't like cartoons," as Lupin floats around the pyramid without explanation.
- Cursed Item: King Tut's mask; both Goemon and Jigen notice bad omens surrounding the idea of stealing it, capped when Jigen recites the inscription found on a pot in King Tut's tomb, warning of the curse. Jigen fills Fujiko in later on the extent of the curse following Lupin's possession.
- Everyone Has Standards: Jigen and Goemon opt out of stealing the Mask of Tutankhamen because they both have a foreboding sense that this case is bad luck. When Lupin puts the Mask on and starts dancing around in it, they both feel he's going too far to the point of sacrilege.
- Eyecatch: The eyecatch appears to be normal, but instead of his usual "Hai!" when he lands, Lupin moans, "Tatarri ja!" note
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: While handcuffed to the bed and screaming for his mask, Lupin's profile casts a shadow on the nearby wall. But it's not his face in sihouette, it's King Tut's.
- Hypno Trinket: The golden mask hypnotizes Lupin into believing he is King Tut reborn, causing no end of issues for the rest of the gang as he causes havoc under its spell.
- Implausible Fencing Powers: Goemon uses his sword to block the bullets fired at the gang by the police as they make their escape from Giza.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Fujiko realizes things have gone too far when instead of cuddling up to her in his usual amorous fashion after being rescued, Lupin instead curls up to her sick and crying. Things get worse when Lupin leaves blood on the handcuffs he escapes from, brute forcing his way out instead of casually slipping out of them.
- Pun: Jigen talks about the warning his itchy feet given him around bad luck, and when Fujiko scoffs, adds, "I'd be careful what I say around them. They're very sensitive soles."
- Shout-Out: Possibly unintentional, but in the English version, as Lupin is fully possessed and demanding everyone bow down, Goemon says, "I have a bad feeling about this."
- Spider-Sense: Goemon's sword displays the shadow of death for the first time in the Lupin series, warning him that the gang should leave Tut's mask alone. Lupin's makes a casual joke about wiping the dark fog of off the blade. After this episode, the gang takes things much more seriously when the shadow appears.
- Spinning Paper: To tell the world of Lupin's capers... specifically that the "Gold-Mask of Tuotankhamon Stollen!"
