- Overview
- Gallery
- Relationships
- Voice Actors
Lupin III[]
| “ | Whenever Lupin III is, Zenigata will be there. | ” |
Zenigata has developed a relationship with Lupin that is both complicated and straightforward. Even though his goal is to arrest Lupin, he also cares about him and both have an unusual friendship to each other despite both being rivals. Originally in the manga, Zenigata just wants to deal with Lupin and has in one occasion wanted him dead- and eventually, at the end of the second manga series, in the chapter Conclusion Edition - Endless... fulfils this wish and has him killed by detonating an island the thief and his gang are on, although he allows time for the grave moment to sink in and seems to give something of a premature eulogy to Lupin before killing him. His obsession with Lupin that would show up in the anime manifested in the manga, but in a slightly different form; in Chapter 85 of World's Most Wanted he muses, "I can't live in a world without Lupin... Who would I have to hate?"
However in the anime, Zenigata does not want to kill Lupin and only to arrest him. In Part 1 Episode 1, Zenigata is so obsessed with arresting Lupin that he gets Fujiko to help him in exchange for her freedom; the first hint of him having some affection for the criminal is in a monologue he makes in his head where he believes that things wouldn't be different if Lupin weren't Arsene Lupin's grandson and he weren't a descendant of Heiji Zenigata. In Part 1 Episode 4 he arrests him and has him put on death row, but over time begins to panic when no-one appears to be breaking him out of prison, the first suggestion in the series that he enjoys the thrill of chasing Lupin more than anything. Jigen even says out loud to Lupin, "If you die, Zenigata will put on a sad face, having lost his life's purpose and all." In Part 1 Episode 8, he respects Lupin, but still gets his squad to shoot at him when he makes a getaway, indirectly tries to light him on fire and stands idly by while Mr. Gold's personal police ambush the gang with clear murderous intent. For Part 1, he was just focused on the job to the point of conflict with the Commissioner and even though Lupin helped him stop art dealers with their beauty contest scam and saved Rie Makita, Zenigata was not interested. In Part 1 Episode 23, he finally realizes how much he actually cares about Lupin and is distraught when he thinks he's been killed in an explosion. From Part II, they talk to each other and had moments where they are forced to work together including when they were trying to escape from the Foreign Legion. Since then when they meet each other, they have some banter between them and, once in a while, he would come to Lupin for help, such as in Part 2 Episode 69. Depending on the episode, he either wants Lupin to serve a prison time, or he's following orders to try and have Lupin executed, even though he doesn't like it and is unhappy about it.
He and Lupin get along very well when they're both off-duty. There were times that Lupin saved Zenigata's life and his job at Interpol as he believes that it is not the same without him.
In Part 2 Episode 97, when Zenigata tried to warn Lupin that someone was out to kill him, Lupin replied by saying that it was too bad he was a police officer. In Part 2 Episode 98 Zenigata is grateful to Lupin for helping him take down Truffaut, who tried to have him killed, even though he hides his gratitude. And throughout the last few episodes of Part 6, he fights to save Lupin from Mattea after he finds out she was the one who killed Hazel, although he made a grave mistake in playing the part of Arianna's recording where she recited the last part of a special poem to Lupin.
Ever since the Red Jacket Series despite featuring the nickname in a few Green Jacket episodes, Lupin has called Zenigata "Pops" ("Tottsan" or "Zazà" in other languages). Zenigata has never complained about the nickname. Only once, in Part 2 Episode 89, he told Lupin to not call him like this because he is not his relative. Based on the big puppy eyes he gives Lupin at times when he seems glad to see him, he may even like the nickname.
Like most of the inspectors in animes, Zenigata has become addicted to arresting Lupin, but Zenigata is different. While others couldn't arrest their target, Zenigata was able to do it few times, but gets depressed when Lupin is in jail and hopes he can break out so he can chase him again. In Part III Episode 32, when he arrests Lupin, the embattled Inspector spends the night in front of the thief's cell, drunk and miserable.
His reactions to Lupin supposedly dying vary wildly. In The Fuma Conspiracy, Zenigata is so upset about the manner in which Lupin supposedly died that he becomes a Buddhist monk. In The Mystery of Mamo he gleefully prepares to run a stake through what he thinks is the thief's corpse, but what turns out to be an exploding dummy, to his chagrin. Similarly in The First he shows little grief for Lupin's apparent death and turns his attention to chasing the rest of Lupin's gang. Often he gets sad and depressed when Lupin few times supposedly dies, but when Lupin turns to be alive Zenigata brightens and starts chasing him again. Now, chasing Lupin has become his only goal in his whole life, without that he doesn't have any job to do.
An extended track of the song "Dangerous Zone" begins with Zenigata worried sick about Lupin. "Lupin, are you really dead?", he says. Lupin says, "Pops, why are you crying?". Zenigata, with a mixture of surprise and relief, says, "Oh, you're Lupin!" Lupin says "That's right." Zenigata says "You're alive?" Lupin says "Why wouldn't I be?" Zenigata says "Right, then you're under arrest." Lupin says "This is it." [4]
His obsession with Lupin borders on suspect and comes across as having elements of unrequited attraction. In The Legend of the Gold of Babylon, Lupin remarks how Zenigata looked so charming with the wind-up monkey on his head that he could just kiss him, and the Inspector asks him why he doesn't just do so. In Seven Days Rhapsody he launches himself at Lupin while he's drifting in mid-air on a parachute, clings to him, nuzzles his face affectionately and declares that they're destined to be together. In Part 4 Episode 1, when he crashes the wedding, Rebecca assumes he's Lupin's jealous ex-boyfriend. In Part 5 Episode 4, he becomes flustered when Ami assumes he's Lupin's lover. In Part 5 Episode 23, he expresses his desire to "arrest Lupin's heart", suggesting that he possibly does harbor feelings for him, which explains why he's either divorced or unable to marry any women he loves. In the English dub of Part 2 Episode 32 and Orders to Assassinate Lupin he outright told Lupin he loved him.
In Dead or Alive, when he thinks he's captured Lupin (Lupin actually disguised a captured bartender as himself), he brags about how he's going to write a memoir, but rejected two titles: War (because he doesn't want to upset his female readers) and Love and War (because he doesn't want people to get the wrong idea about the two of them).
In the Geneon dub of The Mystery of Mamo, Jigen sums up Lupin and Zenigata's relationship as being like the relationship between him and Fujiko, but "without the masochism".
As a sign that in rare moments he does trust Lupin, he secretly conspires with him to expose the Lupin impostor working for Nagata in Part 2 Episode 155, and may have even, for once, consented to allow Lupin to disguise himself as him.
Fujiko Mine[]
In the manga, one of the Fujiko Mines was Zenigata's college girlfriend, and another one was a police officer he had sex with while disguised as Lupin as part of a ploy to arrest the thief. The Fujiko Mine of the second manga was just as much of an enemy of Zenigata as the rest of Lupin's gang.
The Woman Called Fujiko Mine shows that Zenigata has had a past relationship with Fujiko and has had sex with her so she can be released from prison. In Part 1 Episode 1 he has her arrest warrant torn up so he can catch Lupin. Further down the chronological timeline, his relationship with her hasn't been quite as intimate. In Part 1 Episode 8 he starts a fire on an oil slick near her and the rest of Lupin's gang, and doesn't object to having Mr. Gold's henchmen ambush them and shoot at them.
Part 2 Episode 40 has shown that not even he is able to resist her charms. In the episode, he also gratuitously strips her so he can search her for more hidden microphones. In Part 1 Episode 14 he unwittingly danced with her, not knowing that she was using him to distract Lady Catherine while she and Lupin steal an emerald. On a few occasions, he even worked with her, such as in Part 2 Episode 32 where they team up to catch Lupin to protect him from an assassin, and in The Castle of Cagliostro where they team up to expose the Count's counterfeiting operation.
He mistrusts Fujiko as much as Jigen and Goemon do, and feels that as bad as some of Lupin's crimes are, he doesn't like her betraying Lupin and toying with his feelings for her own gain. In Part 2 Episode 41 he still mistrusts her, but allows her to give him a tip on where he is so he can catch him, although he didn't know she was using him so she could steal what she thought was an eternal youth potion; afterwards, when that potion ended up giving her insomnia, she played rock paper scissors with him all night. In Part 5 Episode 4, he ends up having to save Lupin from her when she tries to kill him for a monetary reward.
In Bye-Bye Liberty - Close Call! he compliments her on her resourcefulness when she provides a way for him, Jigen and Goemon to get out of the sewer, although he finds to his disappointment that she won't allow him to escape with them.
There are times when he does stick his neck out for her, such as in Part 2 Episode 110 where he saves her from being tortured.
In the dubbed First, when Zenigata catch up to Lupin, he acknowledges that he is been tricked by Fujiko again despite wanted to capture him, indicating his knowledge of Fujiko's possible tricks to Lupin.
Melon Cop[]
| “ | That little prick! This is my bust! | ” |
In the manga, Zenigata envied Melon Cop for his efficiency and doesn't like the way the smug little weasel muscled in on his territory. However, in the chapter Zenigata on the Inside he was pleased to see who he thought was him when he was disguised as Lupin against his will and put in prison, not knowing that "Melon Cop" was Lupin in disguise, blackmailing him for a code so he can break into a jewelry store. In a later chapter, he was magnanimous to Melon Cop when he confessed that he had gone behind Zenigata's back to capture Lupin.
Other[]
While he has some interest in capturing Jigen, Goemon, and Fujiko with the latter wanted as much as Lupin in the past, he is really after only Lupin. Jigen seems to have a genuine fear of being caught by Zenigata. Like with Lupin, Zenigata will occasionally come to the rest of the gang for help, such as when Lupin was captured in Part 2 Episode 90.
Although he doesn't have much of a relationship with Jigen, in Part 2 Episode 152 he overheard Jigen's decision to face Minnesota Fats alone and was moved to tears.
At times, he treats Goemon with some compassion, even though he views him as as much of an an enemy as the rest of Lupin's gang. In Part 2 Episode 61 he gets Goemon some Japanese food to stop him from starving himself in prison. In Bye-Bye Liberty - Close Call! he magnanimously greets Goemon when he gets sent into a sewer with him.
In the past Zenigata had partners who worked with him to catch Lupin and in the manga such as Starmow , but they were incompetent or betrayed him. This also applies to his bosses at Interpol including Alan Bonaparte and the Commissioner who was promoted to Secretary-General. Since then, he has a subordinate called Lt. Oscar, a young assistant called Vicky Flanagan and an apprentice called Goro Yatagarasu.
Unlike most of the characters, Zenigata is not shown to pursue other women, aside from his aforementioned stand with Fujiko. Like with Jigen, the women Zenigata loved either died on him or betrayed him. In Part 2 Episode 69, he was attracted to Laura Jaws, and developed a gentle, tender relationship with her. He was polite to her and called her "ma'am", though eventually she insisted he call her "Laura". Though he did his best to protect her, she died on him. He was attracted to the new police officer Jasmine in Part 2 Episode 85 , but she lost interest in him when he failed to keep Lupin caught. In Part 2 Episode 114, Nova fell in love with him and called him darling , but she was using him and after he failed to stop Lupin getting The First Supper, she dumped him. In Part III Episode 32 he complains that he can't ever get married because he spends his life pursuing Lupin; In response, Lupin tells Zenigata not to pin the lack of girlfriends on him. Similarly, in Part III Episode 42 he cries about not having a wife and children. The Manga dubs of The Mystery of Mamo and Bye Bye Lady Liberty suggest he is divorced.
The only relationship that survived was with Mariya Isshiki in Tokyo Crisis, although he was disappointed to find that she liked him because he reminded her of her father. Director Alibaba Naibaba had an unhealthy crush on Zenigata, and unfortunately all the personal space awareness of Pepe Le Pew; he leered at Zenigata, made inappropriate comments, groped him and chased after him.
The Geneon dub of Part 2 portrays him as having an unhealthy dependence towards his mother and talking about her constantly.
In the manga, he had a college girlfriend named Fujiko. As an inspector, he had a cop subordinate & assistant named Fujiko. They could be the same person, but the manga functions like a world where all women are clones of the same person.
References[]
- ↑ Part 5: episode 20 - Zenigata's criminal alias
- ↑ Part III: episode 39
- ↑ Lupin III: Dead or Alive
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnCA_8AUKXA