Lupin the 3rd: From Siberia with Love (special)

The first Lupin III TV special to not feature Mitsuaki Hoshino as the voice of any of the characters.

Takashi TAGUCHI's first role in a Lupin III anime in 13 years.

The last of the three 1990's Lupin III TV Specials to not be dub in English.

Wasn't officially released in the US until 23 years after its original release in Japan.

Due to "From Russia With Love" being a copyrighted James Bond title, the TV special was renamed as "From Siberia with Love" in the US.

Despite the panhandler claiming that the New York Public Library has great air conditioning and Jigen remarking that the AV room is like an ice box. In reality, the New York Public Library doesn’t have the best air conditioning.

When Jigen remark that Judy smelled like Aramis upon first meeting her. He is referring to a name of men’s fragrance that was first introduced by Estee Lauder in 1964. It was the first of its type to be sold in department stores. It’s not clear if Judy was wearing this fragrance, if Jigen was just being snarky by suggesting it, or if the writer of the TV special was not aware it was a brand of men’s cologne.

Yurovsky was mentioned to of been the one who brought the 500 tons of gold bars to America and started a new life as an entrepreneur. In reality Yurovsky remained living in Russia until he died at the age of 60 in Moscow.

The scene in which President Butch told Rasputon that he should of taken his advice and cancelled his trip to Japan at the beginning of the year. This is based on a real life incident in which President George H.W. Bush(whom President Butch was based on) went on a trip to Japan at the beginning of the year 1992. On January 8th, he played a doubles tennis match with a former Japan ambassador against the Emperor of Japan and his son. Bush & the ambassador lost the match, when dining with the Emperor & his son later that day, Bush suddenly started to vomit. Causing his wife Barbara to try to catch the vomit with a napkin. Later on President Bush reported the cause of his vomiting to a case of the 24 hour flu. This incident became a serious comedy fodder especially within Japan, where the term “Bushu-suru” (doing the Bush thing) was used in conversation whenever someone vomits.

Rasputon’s accusation of President Butch having an affair with an actress was based on the previous Lupin TV special where it was mentioned that the President had an affair with Madonna.

The coin on a string trick that Lupin uses to find the entrance to the underground vault of the bank is a form of pendulum dowsing. Dowsing is considered a pseudoscience, more in line with supernatural items like Ouija boards than a tool which could reliably work.

The crown found under the bank in which Lupin claims is Napoleon I’s crown that was stolen in 1956, is in reality a little less ornate and bulbous than the one shown in this TV special. The real crown is still on display at the Louvre.

Picasso’s Portrait of Jacqueline found under the bank by Lupin in which he claims is a lost piece by Picasso is in reality not a lost piece. It was made in 1957 and is on display at the Picasso Museum in Barcelona, Spain. The original has a large false frame painted into the image.

The pile of counterfeit bills found by Lupin under the bank are Japanese 10,000 yen denominations. This is a similar concept to the Goth Bills from “Castle of Cagliostro” when Lupin mentions the bills were illegally printed from Hong Kong.

The distances between each of the mid western towns are separated at much greater lengths than how they were depicted in this TV special. The drive from San Antonio, Texas to Monument Valley(near the Four Corners) is a 16 hour drive. When Lupin looks at his GPS that displays where Fujiko & the gold bars are, the marker on the GPS is the New England area. The distance between Monument Valley and New England is at least over 2500 miles apart. Finally the Hangin Neck Hill Ranch is located in Denver, Colorado which is 500 miles from Monument Valley.

The Super-Convoy SP-601 is a fictional aircraft not based on any real aircrafts from Russia.

The man who meets Rasputon at his Siberian temple is Mikhail Gorbachev, the final head of the Soviet Union. The “Federation disbanding” that he was whinning about was the Soviet Union which was then recently been dissolved. The Yeltsin he’s referring to was Boris Yeltsin, the then elected President of the post-communist Russia. He was in office from 1991 to 1999. The “CIS”, that Gorbachev also whine about is the Commonwealth of Independent States, a voluntary gathering of post-breakup USSR nations.

Goof: Gold bars in reality weigh 26 pounds each, so it wouldn’t be possible for Lupin to shuffle the bars so easily with a shovel or Judy to carry three bars up her forearm.