History Recap / OperationReturnTheTreasure

''Operation: Return the Treasure''[[note]]''Otakara Henkyaku Dai-sakusen''[[/note]] is the fifteenth ''Manga/LupinIII'' MadeForTVMovie. It was originally shown on August 1, 2003, and has yet to have an English language release.

Famous thief Mark Williams has passed on, but still asks one favor of his longtime rival Lupin III. Using Fujiko as a proxy, he wants his peer to return six priceless treasures he stole to their original places within seven days. If Lupin does so, he will be told the hiding place of the Trick Diamond, a mysterious meteorite with ties to the Sagrida Familia in Barcelona; combined, the two are said to be the key to an unimaginable treasure.

Naturally, Lupin is not the only interested party. Ruthless Russian mafioso Ian "Rats" Krochvich is also interested in acquiring the Trick Diamond and its secrets. His gang, lead by his violent and ruthless girlfriend Misha and TheDragon Tokarev, follow Lupin’s every move, hoping to stop the thief from succeeding in snagging the diamond first. As time runs down, Lupin is deprived of his allies and his enemies become more desperate. Will the master thief survive long enough to get his hands on the Trick Diamond, let alone the fantastic treasure it hides?

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!!This TV movie features examples of:
* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: Mark’s test to see if Lupin is the one accessing the location of the Trick Diamond. The question is what treasure did Lupin and Mark once compete to steal in New York. The choices are A) Cash, B) Gold bars, and C) Toilet paper. [[spoiler:The correct answer is the two raced to steal the toilet paper from Donald Trump’s penthouse. Mark won.]]
* ATeamFiring: All of Keln’s shots miss the completely still Misha. She picks him off with BoomHeadshot.
* AxCrazy: Misha’s solution to almost any problem? Kill ‘em.
* BloodFromTheMouth: After Jigen is beaten and interrogated by Tokarev.
* BottledHeroicResolve: Goemon calls on this [[spoiler:to finish off Misha]]. Afterwards, he’s so weak Jigen has to help him out of the cathedral.
* ByWallThatIsHoley: Each time Lupin uses his explosion to escape. The first two times, it falls around Zenigata. The third time, Totssan triggered the explosion early, and both Zenigata and Lupin will be crushed. Both think their luck will save them. [[Lupin is luckier]]
* CameraSpoofing: Of the Slice and Dice variety at the beginning; Lupin’s gang takes advantage of the power blink to run footage of an untampered safe while Lupin works on the real one. Zenigata eventually finds an error, but naturally it’s too late.
* DarkActionGirl: Misha lives for violence and guns.
* DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife: Anita seems to have lost her passion for creating innovative architectural designs and is fired. She’s wondering what to do with her life when Lupin comes along, and her encounter with the gang inspires her to try again.
* DisguisedInDrag: Lupin’s plan to return the original gowns to the Moulin Rouge is to have Jigen, Goemon, and him simply wear them in. It rather disturbingly works.
* TheDoorSlamsYou: Fujiko does this to Goemon when she storms into Lupin’s hotel room.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: In the end, [[spoiler:Rats takes a bullet for the dying Misha]].
* ImplausibleFencingPowers: Goemon’s up to his usual tricks until his injury forces him into using his left hand instead of his right. He’s not as good with it, but he’s still ridiculously superhuman.
* TheMafiya: It is implied Rats is part of this.
* MineralMacGuffin: The Trick Diamond, a specially cut meteorite that absorbs light but never lets it escape. This special property is needed to unlock the treasure of Sagrida Familia.
* OnlyAFleshWound: Averted; after Goemon is shot, he nearly bleeds to death and his right arm and shoulder are rendered essentially useless for the rest of the film.
* OrphansPlotTrinket: Anita’s [[spoiler:teddy bear from Mark]], given after her parents' deaths, turns out to hide a very important secret.
* ShootTheRope: Jigen does this one better by shooting through a power cable.
* StolenGoodReturnedBetter: For everything Mark asks Lupin to return, he left a replica, probably to prevent his targets from noticing the theft before he got away. The replicas Mark left after his thefts were good enough to fool most folks, but imagine how thrilled his former targets are to get the real things back! Poor Zenigata, however, is ''very'' confused at first.
* UnexpectedInheritance: Anita didn’t know her beloved "uncle" was a world-class thief, and has no clue as to what he left her.
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* StolenGoodReturnedBetter: For everything Mark asks Lupin to return, he left a replica, probably to prevent his targets from noticing the theft before he got away. The replicas Mark left after his thefts were good enough to fool most folks, but imagine how thrilled his former targets are to get the real things back! Poor Zenigata, however, is VERY confused at first.

''Operation: Return the Treasure''[[hottip:*:''Otakara Henkyaku Dai-sakusen'']] is the fifteenth ''Manga/LupinIII'' MadeForTVMovie. It was originally shown on August 1, 2003, and has yet to have an English language release.

* ByWallThatIsHoley: Lupin succeeds twice. Zenigata only wishes he could.

* StolenGoodReturnedBetter: The replicas Mark left after his thefts were good enough to fool most folks, but imagine how thrilled his former targets are to get the real things back!

Naturally, Lupin is not the only interested party. Ruthless Russian mafioso Ian "Rats" Krochvich is also interested in acquiring the Trick Diamond and its secrets. His gang, lead by his violent and ruthless girlfriend Misha and TheDragon Tokarev, follow Lupin’s every move, hoping to stop the thief from succeeding in snagging on the diamond first. As time runs down, Lupin is deprived of his allies and his enemies become more desperate. Will the master thief survive long enough to get his hands on the Trick Diamond, let alone the fantastic treasure it hides?

Naturally, Lupin is not the only interested party. Ruthless Russian mafioso Ian “Rats” Krochvich is also interested in acquiring the Trick Diamond and its secrets, and his gang, lead by his violent and ruthless girlfriend Misha and TheDragon Tokarev, follow Lupin’s every move, hoping to stop the thief from succeeding in snagging on the diamond first. As time runs down, Lupin is deprived of his allies and his enemies become more desperate. Will the master thief survive long enough to get his hands on the Trick Diamond, let alone the fantastic treasure it hides?

* UnexpectedInheritance: Anita didn’t know her beloved "uncle" was a world-class thief, and has no clue as to what he left her.