E8: The Gang's-All-Here Playing Card Strategy

Lupin blends with the crowd at a party.

Win For The Gays?

Nice casual look, going for an understated nerdy thing. Cute. Worst I can say is just that it's over pretty quick.

E9: Killer Sings the Blues

Fujiko disguises herself as Lupin to play distraction for his heist.

Win For The Gays?

Oh my god, she looks so good. Miss Fujiko, ma'am, please wear suits more often. No complaints.

E13: Beware the Time Machine!

Jigen infiltrates the mark's mansion as a maid.

Win For The Gays?

YEAH BABY. He looks great AND Lupin takes the time to tell him so. My kingdom for the return of this energy.

E15: The Great Detectives Take to the Sky, or, E14: The Case of the Risible Dirigible

Fujiko poses as the mark's butler.

Win For The Gays?

There's no on-screen unmasking, so we don't actually get to see how she fits under this weird little man. But listen, I'm just glad I get to add her to the list again.

E16: Two-Faced Lupin, or, E15: Crude Reproduction, Perfect Frame

Lupin disguises himself to eavesdrop.

Win For The Gays?

It's a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment, although I do like when it's this casual and the earrings and wig are both very cute.

E19: Can the 10-Year Vault Be Broken?, or, E18: A Safe Bet

Lupin infiltrates the house of his latest mark by posing as a rowdily drunk lady, then fucks the guy's wife.

Win For The Gays?

I simply can't get over how Lupin seduces this woman, leaves her in bed dazedly moaning his name, and THEN takes the disguise off on his way out. Either the animators didn't think this sequence of events through or they ABSOLUTELY thought it through. Yes.

E28: Female Detective Melon, or, Revenge of La Nerd

Goemon misdirects the cops disguised as Detective Melon.

Win For The Gays?

No. Goemon is very rude about it. The Geneon dub at least toned down his disgust with a different joke.

E30: The Wind is Hot in Morocco, or, Morocco Horror Picture Show

Lupin and Zenigata, chained together at the neck, pose as husband and wife.

Win For The Gays?

I'm glad that Zenigata is such a beautiful and desirable wife, but this segment and indeed this whole episode are pretty racist, so no.

E42: Lupin has Become A Bride, or, Cruisin' in Drag

Lupin infiltrates a cruise ship that's only letting beautiful women on board to get at a collection of paintings, and the owner falls hard for "Miss Marie."

Win For The Gays?

Ehhhhn... So, because Lupin spends almost the entire episode like this, and because it's part of the dub run that introduced a bunch of English-speakers to the series in the 00's, this one has a big fandom footprint, which is important. Jigen, the world's most homophobic gay man, is an ass about it all (in the Japanese, softened in the dub), & there's a 'Miss Marie is caught using the urinal' gag and so on. So I don't love it, but I will acknowledge its fame and also that Lupin makes it work.

E62: The Sound of the Devil's Bell Calls Lupin, or, Church of the Poison Mind

Lupin disguises himself as the evil nun/psychologist villain of the episode to rescue brainwashed Jigen and Goemon.

Win For The Gays?

I'm into it. This is not about the drag itself, but: the JiGoe shippers love this episode and they're right. I'm 100% convinced that if you pitched this episode in the modern day, Jigen and Goemon would live in separate houses and get assigned oneoff tradwives by the cult. Instead they get to be each others' tradwives and I eat that domestic shit for breakfast.

E69: The Woman Pops Fell in Love With, or, Zenigata Getcha Into My Life

Lupin poses as Fujiko to get intel.

Win For The Gays?

I frown disapprovingly on one thing: the reveal that this is Lupin is a wordless pan down Fujiko's legs showing how hairy they are. Once we're past that, the outfit and posing are pretty cute.

E133: Keep Your Hands Off the Hot Treasure

To sneak past Zenigata, Lupin &co. bribe a Muslim guy to let them pose as his wives.

Win For The Gays?

No. Uncomfortably racist jokes again.
Reluctantly amused that once they're in the clear from Zeni but very much still in public they take off the niqābs & nothing else.

E7: Garve, the Grim Reaper

Fujiko disguises herself for safety when one of her exes is in town.

Win For The Gays?

Hell yeah. She looks extremely cute (for a Pink Jacket value of cute, I know...) and nobody makes it weird.

E13: Musical Variation of Monkey Business

Lupin sneaks into a party of rich women, and then everything goes hard off the rails.

Win For The Gays?

I gave this episode a quick skim because I saw Lupin dressed like this in the preview and I think I actually know less about it after than when I went in. So IDFK but signs point to 'no.'

E25: We're No Angels

A quick imagination-spot of the gang in angel costumes after they're tricked into some charity work.

Win For The Gays?

Honestly this barely counts and it's maybe three seconds long, right at the end, but I think it's cute and the episode is cute.

E44: Our Papa is a Thief

The gang pose as store mannequins to throw Zenigata off the scent for a bit.

Win For The Gays?

Pink Jacket artstyle makes some choices as ever but I can respect them for being bold ones. It's a shame that Goemon curtly tells him to shut up but I'm just so proud of Jigen for shooting his shot. Taking "hey, you look good..." together with Jigen's assertion that there's no chance he has biokids really strengthens the evidence for both.

Legend of the Gold of Babylon (1985)

Lupin disguises himself as Fujiko for intel.

Win For The Gays?

I'm glad he got to look sexy in the pool. I think he actually fulfilled Fujiko's contractual obligation to have a shower/bath/pool scene in absolutely everyfuckingthing so she herself didn't have to, good of him to step up. I wish the unmasking did not look like a nude 'Fujiko' inflating big and round like a balloon and then popping to reveal that Lupin was inside. But I wish for a lot of things.

Farewell to Nostradamus (1995)

Lupin and Zenigata, ahem, run into each other to kick off the opening chase sequence.

Win For The Gays?

Yeah, you know what, why not. I'm not 100% comfy with the emphasis on hairiness (like, Pops is not this stubbly most of the time) and so on, I don't think the animator was coming from a good place, but like... own it, work it, love the confidence.

Island of Assassins (1997)

Lupin disguises himself as the female lead of the film to do some spying.

Win For The Gays?

Sure. I like that with the big cloak this is quite plausible and I like seeing him actually change clothes and tie his shoes instead of leaping bodily out of his entire outfit when he's done. Obviously the latter is great but this fits the more grounded tone of this film.

Operation: Return the Treasure! (2003)

The gang have some dresses to give back to the Moulin Rouge, so they wear them in.

Win For The Gays?

Yeah, this one is cute. I like that they went with speed over masks.

Zenigata then gets shoved into a dress and dragged on stage to do a kick-line.

Win For The Gays?

This gets a separate entry because I do think it's mean. Pros: Lupin promises to send him a bouquet. Cons: Zenigata cries about it and generally has a bad time.

Alcatraz Connection (2001)

As an opening sequence gag, some guys pursue Lupin into a room and are taken aback when the person they find there is a woman in a bathrobe shrieking for them to get out. Then they're extremely taken aback when the woman is Lupin using sleeping gas canisters for tits.

Win For The Gays?

A slightly eyerolly one from me but still yes. He's having a great time and obviously the Studio Trigger animation bangs.

First Contact (2002)

At Lupin and Jigen's first meeting, Lupin is in disguise to get at Jigen's boss's safe.

Win For The Gays?

Yes. Lupin picked out sexy lingerie and everything. I also want to shoutout to all the women's clothing he apparently has ready to go in his closet (when offering a change of clothes to Fujiko), including this translucent pink negligée.

Lupin Family All-Stars! (2012)

The gang come to a meeting in disguise as each other; Fujiko is posing as Jigen, and Lupin as Fujiko.

Win For The Gays?

I don't enjoy the double standard that Fujiko gets these lingering lingerie shots and Lupin gets to goofily eat one of the apples off his chest, but, this is Lupin III. We already knew this. There's no partial/transitional state for either of them - these two disguises come off all at once, while Jigen gets to go around in a kimono for the rest of the special, and that is also a shame. But! Still fun.

In Search of the Queen's Necklace! (2015)

The stage musical performed by the Takarazuka Revue, an all-women ensemble.

Win For The Gays?

This is an honorable mention only, since this is actor-level drag and not within the world of the show. But like, look at them. My heart flutters.

E6: Prison of Love

Oscar swaps places with a schoolgirl as a ploy to capture both Lupin & Fujiko.

Win For The Gays???

Oh, lordy, I will not know what to say here for any of these, just warning you now. It's certainly a really direct commentary on same-sex attraction, inflected by a healthy leavening of Utena references, and you are just not going to get that anywhere else in this franchise. Watch this whole series with caution, though, you know?

E11: Feast of Fools

Oscar disguises himself as Fujiko and attempts to steal an ornate bridal gown out of increasingly desperate grasping for Zenigata's attention.

Win For The Gays???

It's ultimately not clear whether Oscar is grappling with gender directly (or even in which direction, if you believe he was part of the experiments), or more with sexuality and gender-nonconformity in a 60s-era society that is not encouraging either one, which I ultimately like better than laying out any one interpretation. I think it's interesting thematically that the owls, avatars of watchful societal/audience pressure, tell Oscar that the thing he wants is something only women and men can have between them. I am cautiously willing to trust that's on purpose and not like, author-endorsed; a work can do that. It does make me gnash my teeth though. In general, I think Oscar is really fascinating and still ultimately flawed, I just don't feel like the potential queer audience was, even considered really. The generous interpretation is of recapitulating a stereotypical story in order to refute it in the end, and that means... you are still telling me that story...

E12 & 13: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine parts 1 & 2

The owls at the House of Fujiko dress captives as ersatz copies of Fujiko, including Oscar and Goemon.

Win For The Gays???

I do think that Oscar surviving to the end, even with an ultimately unknown fate, is the best choice that got made with him. Also, Goemon taking this, how do I put it, narratively feminine role where none of his actions ultimately mean that much for the core plot (he turns the power off, the power gets turned back on, and then he and Jigen basically just keep each other busy) is thematically strong and also funny.

Lupin III: Chapter 16: Behind the Manga (TokyoPop)

Lupin disguises himself so convincingly his own mangaka tries to fuck him.

Win For The Gays?

Listen. I'm not gonna question this. All I can do is stand aside in awe.

Lupin III: Chapter 102: A Safe Bet, Part 1 (TokyoPop)

The manga issue that was adapted into Part 2 episode "A Safe Bet," above.

Win For The Gays?

Basically the same setup as the anime adaptation, although the manga doesn't have the same fun ambiguity about when exactly he took the disguise off.

Lupin III: Chapter 109.5: Lupin Tells All (TokyoPop)

Fujiko disguises herself as Lupin and attempts to spill his secrets.

Win For The Gays?

Yeah, it's just a quick one but it's cute.
Props to her for somehow overpowering Jigen and Goemon offscreen.

Shin Lupin III: Chapter 1: Lupin Family Reunion (TokyoPop)

Same deal as the "Lupin Family All-Stars!" OVA, above; this was adapted into that.

Win For The Gays?

Basically all the stuff I said before still applies, it's genuinely almost a shot-for-shot remake (more titties in the manga though. This IS Monkey Punch.) It's pretty fun.

Shin Lupin III: Chapter 134: Overdressed (Oranges)

Zenigata lures Lupin to a certain place with a coded message; both of them arrive to the location in disguise.

Win For The Gays?

Not to be a five-year-old but the dick snip kills me. He did that expressly to fuck with Jigen AND it's another layer of obfuscation re: his actual configuration under the constant disguises, win-win. Yeah, this is pretty good. Zenigata gets stuck with something unflattering again but apart from the visual itself nobody makes a fuss. Also, check out his magnificent buttstrength.

Lupin III Y: Chapter 29: 男なら走り抜け!! (no scanlation)

The gang dress up as the "Rolling Peaches," Ai-chan (Lupin, the schoolgirl), Ringo-chan (Jigen, the nurse), and Yumi-chan (Goemon, the maid), to get into the mansion of a rich old pervert.

Win For The Gays?

Jigen and Goemon complain about the disguises and accuse Lupin of enjoying himself a bit too much. I still like it. Lots of fun expressions. The bit that really gets people hollering is the detail that Goemon isn't wearing a mask, only a wig. It's also pretty cute that he's using Zantetsuken as a broom handle.

Lupin III T: Chapter 2: Reverse Chaser (Shikiganai)

Jigen tries to retrieve stolen goods from Fujiko; she takes his clothes.

Win For The Gays?

I love Jigen and it is with love that I say, LMAO, get owned. As always Fujiko looks great in a suit, and I love the implication that these two are somehow basically the same size. She didn't have a full Jigen disguise handy, she took his actual clothes! It's probably a tailored suit?! Unfortunately the rest of this issue is deeply heterosexual dreck; this is basically the best part.

Part 2, E139 - Steal Everything from Lupin

As usual, Zenigata extremely overdoes it, but I can't be mad at the handcuffs in the garter.

Part 2, E135 - The Poison Trio

I got nothin'. This is more coordinated and classy of an outfit than Zenigata usually gets, though, it's really not bad.

Thanks, Xavid, for the tips on where to find these two eps! I'll get them into the main body as soon as I get a chance to watch them.

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Sorry about the image quality. This one floats around unsourced on Twitter; there's an outside chance that it's fanart that's just nailed the style, actually? But it's cute and it's funny and obviously Fujiko kills it.

Part 3?

This one fascinates me because the chest & arm hair is so clearly PART of the disguise. I know odds are the animators just didn't care but, from the Watsonian perspective, the deliberateness this implies on Lupin's part suddenly elevates it a lot.