After the briefest of distractions, Lupin is gearing up to cross swords—this time literally—with Ishikawa Goemon XIII once again. In particular, he has his eye on a trio of scrolls that divulge the secrets of Zantetsuken, Goemon's mighty sword that cuts through steel. Lupin has a very specific reason for wanting to get his mitts on these, though: his grandfather went for the same prize. It's a matter of Lupin family pride, so he disguises himself as one of five challengers preparing to face Goemon in battle.

Lupin is not the only one who's had this idea: Fujiko is there as well, and makes quick work of Goemon's champion with a shortsword. She and Lupin, both in disguise, are the only ones to fight their way up the ranks to earn the honor of facing Goemon personally. But Fujiko bet on Lupin being there, and is prepared for him in more ways than one. (Before you go making assumptions, one of those ways is a floor full of caltrops.)

Despite Fujiko's best plans, and warnings from Goemon's mentor that Lupin might be in the ranks of his challengers, our antihero makes his way to the hiding place of the scrolls. After a round or two of bait-and-switch, we learn that yet another Lupin had designs on the treasure: The Second dueled Goemon's mentor. To bring things back around, Lupin and Goemon's mentor battle it out. Lupin wins the day with a simple pit trap, and Goemon hands over the scrolls... but he's not done.

See, Goemon still wants to duel Lupin. The two do eventually meet to face off, but gosh darn it, they make friends instead. They're both having a great damn time, and Jigen closes out the episode with the realization that their weird little gang has gotten weirder and less little.

Lupin the 3rd The First DVD - $13.50
from: Right Stuf, Inc.

Lupin and Goemon's friendly rivalry is one of the series's more fascinating dynamics. They clearly have mutual respect. Over time, they become more similar, but initially start out as quite different. While Goemon is a staunch traditionalist, Lupin kicks off his existence by taking the "gentleman" straight out of "gentleman thief." (That will eventually come back, but we're getting there.)

All that said, there's a recurring point on Goemon's side of this scenario, even in the scant two episodes we've seen him in so far. Both here and in his first episode, he's looked down on for not killing Lupin on sight. More than one mentor has called him soft for refusing to do away with the rival thief, and even Lupin himself did away with one of said mentors with exceptional dramatic timing.

Of course, there's some narrative causality there: you can't kill the star of the show. But it's also an interesting early sign of this mutual respect they have for each other. Lupin makes no secret of his when Goemon hands over the scrolls as promised. Goemon never outright admits his respect, but it's pretty obvious by the end when their "duel" ends with the pair of them laughing and having a grand day out.

We'll see Goemon finally bring this rivalry to bear again in Part 5, as pretty much every player does as regards their relationship with Lupin. For now, it's interesting to see where it all began, and how Goemon's own feelings went from murderous ire to cheerful respect.

Lupin The 3rd The Castle of Cagliostro Collectors Edition 4K HDR Blu-ray - $26.21
from: Right Stuf, Inc.

For those less familiar with the timeline of Miyazaki's work, The Castle of Cagliostro came before Studio Ghibli was even a thing—six years before, as a matter of fact. It was partly Miyazaki's responsibilities with his new studio that led to the 1985 Pink Jacket film Legend of the Gold of Babylon, the Part 6 episode "Darwin's Bird," and Mamoru Oshii's film Angel's Egg, but that's for another time.

What's important to note is that Miyazaki will, in the very near future of the series as I'm covering it, make traceable changes to Lupin as a character. You can almost see those changes starting to hit here. When Lupin attempts to sneak into Fujiko's bedroom, he gets a foot full of spikes. We've already seen several examples of his more lecherous manga self either getting toned down or taking serious pain for his attempted actions. 

As of episode 7, Green Jacket Lupin still hasn't become the more gentlemanly version of himself we're familiar with. That will take time, and most of it will hit in Cagliostro. But as we go forward in these blog posts, keep your eyes peeled for the sort of person Lupin becomes.

Next time, it's a proper heist with the whole gang!