#monkey punch

From the beginning I wanted to make something rather complex. The theme of the zine bought a great breeding ground of ideas in my head... How do I see the gang?

A lot of it has to do with the ending of the manga. It drastically altered the way I saw their dynamic. It was one of those moments in the story where it practically explains everything the characters did in the past or bought a whole new meaning to.

The manga never tries to get you to believe that what the Lupgang does is good. They don't think highly of themselves either, yet they continue to pursue this life. Why? It's because of Lupin.

It's a pretty common idea that Lupin is the center of the wheel. He connects everyone together, he drives the story forward with everyone following his tracks. The difference in the manga is that Lupin is in no way a good person. It's not the wholesome polycule that people conjure up, it is someone dragging all their friends into the pits of hell.

Lupin purposely continues this path and never thinks to go back because it's too late. I believe everyone else; Jigen, Goemon, Fujiko, Zenigata, share this belief some way or another. That's why they keep spinning that wheel. They know it's bad, but there's no point in stopping.

Deep down they want to keep being criminals, pursuing the forbidden path. Zenigata himself becomes corrupted and uses the likes of criminals to arrest Lupin. He despises him yet they aren't too different deep down. They both pursue what they want, no matter what means.

Lupin offers that delicious freedom that they all desire so much. In Goemon's case, Lupin literally frees him from the abuse of his master. Perhaps it is indebtedness that keeps them moving forward, the hunger for free will.

They know deep down when Lupin is gone, their life will never have that spark again. Things go back to normal, and that's what they can't stand. They'd pursue their perverted desires until it leads to their death. Hence why this drawing is rather perverted too. I feel like sex and masochism is a really apt way of showing this relationship, not just of how horny the manga gets, but for some people, they get pleasure out of getting hurt/hurting back. It's an exercise of free will!

In a non romantic content however, the gang's relationship in the manga is just textbook abusive and manipulative relationship. The victims can't help but stay in it due to the safety it offers them (mentally) or believing that it can get better.

Er, back to canonical events. All of what I said ties to the events leading to the ending, Lupin kind of... gets manic? He gets noticeably antsy and pulls very risky heists, all of which don't really jive well with Jigen and Goemon.

The lack of logic that Lupin is operating on messes with the dynamic of the gang heavily. Jigen, who normally wrangles him back to reality, gives up and just follows commands. He becomes very apathetic to everything that happens and shuts down practically.

Goemon now becomes the brain of the team. He ends up trying to reason with Lupin (failing) and pulls the team out of death. Having so much burden on him, he noticeably becomes frustrated and cold. There's also the thing about him being suicidal.. but i can't confirm it.

Fujiko and Lupin's relationship, who was mostly an equal game of cat and mouse, now becomes one sided as Lupin tugs her into any scheme he thinks of. While their relationship was rocky at the beginning, Fujiko still gets her ways sometimes, which isnt the case at the end.

Zenigata, which I've touched on a bit, becomes a corrupted cop. He despises Lupin and wants to do anything to get him not just arrested, but killed. He ignores his morals and partners up with criminals which ends up working. He finally gets to kill all of them, but at what cost?

Hopefully all of this is represented in the piece I made. I really really love the manga and the gang offers so much interesting thoughts about relationships and psychology.