"Episode 0" of Lupin the Third: Part 6 marked the final performance of veteran voice actor Kiyoshi Kobayashi in the role of Daisuke Jigen. It was announced last month that the 88-year old actor would be retiring from the role he originated in 1969, with his replacement confirmed to be Akio Ōtsuka, most famous for his role as Metal Gear's Solid Snake.
Kobayashi is the longest-serving member of Lupin the Third's cast, starting in 1969 with the series' initial pilot film. Kobayashi is notable in this regard as nearly every other member of the main cast would be recast when the first season of the show debuted in 1971, but his gruff yet tender performance as Lupin's eternally suffering righthand man earned him the role for the long haul. Since then, Kobayashi has outlasted many of his other cast members, with Jigen being the only main character to have never once been recast -- until now.
While the rest of Lupin the Third: Part 6 promises a serialized narrative (featuring Sherlock Holmes), the debut "Episode 0" tells a standalone tale about Jigen, giving viewers a chance to say goodbye to Kobayashi's take on the character. The episode opens with narration from Jigen himself, bemoaning the fact that only narcissists bother to reflect on their own lives, and that he prefers to live moment-to-moment. It's a perfectly in-character sentiment for the fedora-clad marksman, but it also serves as a deliberately ironic way to open an episode designed to celebrate and reflect on both Jigen and Kobayashi's fifty-two year stint in the role.
The episode proper begins with the main trio - Lupin, Jigen, and Goemon - locked up in prison, courtesy of an encounter with some flying police drones. Jigen laments being unable to keep up with the modern world and all its scary new technology, proclaiming that he "can't go around getting into bed with every era as it comes", to Lupin and Goemon's protestations.
Whether intentional or not, it's a fitting dilemma for Kobayashi's final episode -- after all, the veteran voice actor has portrayed the character from the age of cel animation and broadcast television up to the present day of digital animation and online streaming. Jigen has remained so doggedly loyal to Lupin through thick and thin that seeing him even consider quitting lends the episode the weight of finality, even if we know that the character himself will be back on board by next week.
Throughout the rest of the episode, Jigen shares heartfelt, one-on-one scenes with the rest of the main cast - even nemeses Fujiko Mine and Inspector Zenigata. It's an opportunity to reflect on the character and what he means to the rest of the crew, but it's also an opportunity for Kobayashi to share scenes with his fellow castmates one last time.
There's also a scene of Lupin confiding in Goemon exactly why he needs Jigen, and how his lifelong partner is the only person to have never judged him for being himself. The episode ends with Jigen reaffirming his desire to be with Lupin, but they don't reunite in the episode proper. The final scene instead shows Lupin staring wistfully into the sunset, hoping he'll see his friend again. While the audience knows that Jigen will return, thanks to the next episode preview showing him back in the passenger's seat of the famous yellow Fiat 500, the final scenes of "Episode 0" give us the opportunity to definitively say farewell to the Jigen we've known and loved for five decades.
Lupin the Third: Part 6 is simulcasting on Sentai Filmworks' HIDIVE, where viewers can watch "Episode 0" right now. Lupin the Third fans across the globe wish Mr. Kobayashi a happy, healthy retirement.
