Review: Fujiko's Lie
Takeshi Koike’s Fujiko’s Lie is the third and most recent entry into the Lupin the IIIRD spin-off series.
Fujiko Mine is on the run. A deadly assassin, named Bincam, is hot on her tail as he attempts to repossess a treasure worth $500 million. That treasure is the knowledge of a sick young boy - Gene.
Characters and above image owned by TMS and NTV.
Gene, a scrawny kid around the age of nine or ten, has been made aware of the location of a large sum of stolen money from his now deceased father. Gene’s father came into possession of the $500 million by stealing it from his place of work, a shady organization named Godfrey Mining.
The CEO of Godfrey Mining now wants the reclaim the cash at all costs - even if that means sending an assassin to retrieve it by force. Upset, Gene is hooked on the idea of avenging his fathers death and soon requests the aid of a visiting Lupin III and Daisuke Jigen to assist in taking down their opponent. The two thieves cannot help but accept the wish of the child - not out of goodwill, but on the promise that they will inherit the money if they are to succeed.
True to her character, Fujiko at first appears to be in it for the money. If Gene spills the beans on the location of the cash to Godfrey Mining's goons, it will no longer be within her grasp. As the film goes on, Fujiko gives the impression that she genuinely cares for the child, protecting him and acting like a mother figure.
Lupin, likely echoing the thoughts of the viewer, questions her motives only for her to dismiss the theory of her wanting the dough. If that isn’t the case, then what are her motives? Is this an act of pure sympathy and compassion - or is it all a ruse? Even Gene isn’t so sure.
Characters and above image owned by TMS and NTV.
Bincam has the ability to manipulate his opponents. The fearless assassin has been manufactured with the potential to emit poison spores from his sweat glands, which quite bizarrely allows him to bend peoples will on demand. He is able to disarm people, interrogate them and ultimately kill them using this power.
Despite this, Fujiko still gets the upper hand. While not quite flawlessly executed, her plan mostly succeeds and in the process, she manages to manipulates the manipulator. Her character shines here; she uses all of her strengths to her advantage in a way that's both entertaining and admirable.
The story to Fujiko’s Lie is slightly more complex than the previous two films. It is full of twists and turns, much like Fujiko’s character and personality itself.
While the core narrative does primarily revolve around Gene, Fujiko and Bincam, there's a pair of characters here we just could not draw our attention away from - and that’s Lupin and Jigen.
Characters and above image owned by TMS and NTV.
The duo have never looked this good - a comment that is not just limited the Lupin the IIIRD spin-off films, but across the entire franchise to date.
While Lupin does not once wear his typical light blue jacket, the monkey faced thief is still looking sharp. He's consistently on model, and can comfortably transition from cool to goofy in the space of a few seconds without it ever feeling jarring.
Jigen's main outfit oozes style. He is rocking a smart but casual appearance, and his design absolutely blows his most recent look in the Prison of the Past TV special out of the water.
Both are in and out of disguises multiple times - all of which are fun to see, be them slightly less ridiculous than usual.
In terms of their writing, there is an excellent dynamic between the two that just was not quite there in the previous two films. This is Lupin and Jigen at their best.
Characters and above image owned by TMS and NTV.
It's easy to notice that each story in the trilogy of Koike spin-off films features an assassin. While at first this reoccurring theme may seem like lazy script writing, Fujiko’s Lie reveals that they are all related.
Jael, Hawk and Bincam - the three assassins have been “manufactured” by the same individual for a particular purpose.
While the mystery manufacturer is never directly revealed, we can hazard a guess at who this may be, and if correct this creates an incredibly exciting and interesting scenario for future entries in the series. The theory is related to the post-credits sequence of Jigen’s Gravestone, which is an absolute must see if you are a fan of the show.
As was the case with Jigen's Gravestone, both Ishikawa Goemon and Inspector Zenigata are absent from Fujiko's Lie.
The pair featured heavily in Goemon's Bloodspray, and as a result of this their disappearance here is a little more bearable. With that said, Zenigata was especially entertaining to watch in the previous film, and we would even go as far to say he was the strongest characters. His lack of screen time here is still disappointing.
Characters and above image owned by TMS and NTV.
James Shimoji's familiar dark and cool sounding backing track features here once again. While it takes a little time to get going, with little to no backing music in the first ten minutes or so, what does feature is fitting enough. With that said, when compared to the soundtracks from the previous two films, Fujiko's Lie is perhaps the weakest overall.
Bincam's backing theme is suitably strange and there are some jazzed up versions of previous tracks from Jigen's Gravestone and Goemon's Bloodspray, but nothing really stands out. They don't quite have the same effect as when we heard them for the first time, and we are now three films on. The ending theme, Innocent Deceiver is borderline terrible. The lyrics and vocal performance are incredibly cringe-worthy, and not in a charming good way, like with Revolver Fires. It is hard to listen to, and really lets the gorgeous looking artwork in the end credits down.
Overall, Fujiko’s Lie is still a fantastic third entry into the Lupin the IIIRD spin-off film series.
Fujiko herself comes off as an incredibly confident, strong and fascinating character. Bincam is a worthy opponent and out of all three films, one of the most interesting antagonists - and not just for his sweet sense of style (flared trousers and bright yellow shoes - the perfect look for a bloodthirsty assassin)!
We cannot help but get excited at the thought of where the Lupin the IIIRD series may end up. If the story of this film is anything to go by, more entries are planned. Maybe we will see some familiar faces make a return? All we do know is - we would happily take more of this stylish Takeshi Koike art any day!
Characters and above image owned by TMS and NTV.
Tune in next week, on Thursday the 28th of November for a flick through our image gallery of 2012’s The Woman Called Fujiko Mine. In the meantime, if you missed our review of Daisuke Jigen’s Gravestone, be sure to give it a read here. If you also wish to check out our review of the second film, Goemon’s Bloodspray, click here.
If you would like to watch along with the site, all Lupin the IIIRD films are available in the U.S. by online streaming on Amazon Video. Both Daisuke Jigen’s Gravestone and The Bloodspray of Ishikawa Goemon can be purchased on DVD / Blu-ray from Right Stuf Anime. Fingers crossed a U.S. home video release of Fujiko’s Lie comes sometime during 2020.
Please note that availability may vary depending on your country of residence.
