Lupin's Gourmet Heaven note , also released in English as "Lupin's Gourmet World". Original air date of August 13, 1979.
A party is being held in a dark castle, where masked men are taking part to a gourmet dinner presented by a small masked chef, who proceed to introduce a series of incredibly weird and unconventional dishes, like the live brain of a small monkey. However he’s soon interrupted by the owner of the castle, Baron Gourmet. This massive ogre of a man claims that he’s bored with everyday delicacies and rare food, and so has decided to try a new, unique dish: Lupin’s brain, fresh from the owner’s skull! In his hunger, the Baron claims that he’ll even give away his collection of precious gems for the thief’s life, and we see that among the masked minions, one of them has taken him on the word: Fujiko.
Back in Lupin’s hideout, Jigen and Goemon are preparing to enjoy a modest dinner of baked beans with bacon and instant noodles respectively when they’re interrupted by Lupin, who has been invited to an expensive restaurant by Fujiko and mocks them for their uncouth culinary tastes, while Jigen replies that he should be wary of Fujiko instead. In the restaurant, Lupin is admiring Fujiko’s latest outfit while chatting amiably about Baron Gourmet and his supposed hidden collection of gemstones, collection which was offered as a reward to whoever would bring him Lupin. In fact, the thief is immediately attacked by the Baron’s minions with oversized cutlery, but is escape is cut short when he’s caught in a net and drugged by Fujiko, who apologies as she does so. When Lupin is taken out, Zenigata takes notice and tries to follow him inside the van, but he’s frozen solid with the thief when the refrigeration system is activated to preserve Lupin. As the "main course" is delivered to the castle, Fujiko asks the Baron to keep his word and give her the jewels, but the massive gourmand claims that he doesn’t remember this deal, as he never explicitly promised to actually give the gemstones collection away as a reward. Fujiko, scorned, tries to pull a gun on him but is quickly surrounded, and the loathsome Gourmet tells her that she’s free to look for the collection in the castle, but if she doesn’t leave immediately he’ll eat her too.
Lupin is then separated by Zenigata and undergoes series of treatment to make him taste better: he’s bathed in beer, stimulated by both kisses and mallet strikes, force fed fattening food and trained to run to not spoil his tissues with excessive fat, and soon becomes an obese, placid slob. Meanwhile Baron Gourmet cannot wait, so the chef tries to offer him an appetizer in the form of Zenigata’s brain, introducing the massive machine which will pluck out his brains; when the chef tries to make him taste better with lemon juice and pepper, the inspector awakes and, upon seeing the situation he’s in, comprehensibly freaks out and makes the Baron loose his appetite. The noble then tries to feed Zenigata to his pet gorilla female, which promptly falls for him and proceed to chase Zenigata around the castle. In the meanwhile, Fujiko hasn’t found the stones, but runs into the room where the now obese Lupin is resting, and tries to flee with him. But, the thief is now too lethargic and lazy to do anything at all, forcing a desperate Fujiko to seek another way out.
Soon enough, in a parody of a cooking show, Lupin is declared ready to be served and consumed, and is brought before Baron Gourmet’s throne and introduced to the giant skull cracker machine which will crack his skull open and allow the Baron to taste his delicious brains. As Lupin is put in the gruesome device, Fujiko is driving a large van at the castle with Jigen and Goemon, disguised as chefs, and a load of white pies. Back in the dining room, the Baron decided to switch his denture for something more suited for the upcoming feast and is given a new set of suspiciously shiny dentures... meanwhile in the Baron's own kitchen, Fujiko, Jigen and Goemon are baking the pies in the gigantic ovens, with both Jigen and Goemon puzzled about their purpose.
In the dining room, the skull cracker finishes his job and Lupin lies motionless: the loathsome Baron greedily approaches the thief and proceed to take a spoonful of the delicious gray matter... only to be disappointed! It’s like soup, with stones mixed in to boot! Then Lupin’s voice is heard, stating that he has found Gourmet’s secret and the master thief removes his fat disguise, revealing that the "head" of the puppet contained a can of soup and rocks. He's also figured out that Gourmet’s secret collection of gemstones was used to make the Baron's special fake teeth. Furious, the Baron and his underlings attack the thief, but suddenly sticky white pies are thrown from above, incapacitating them... the result of Fujiko’s own special sticky pies. What follows is a comical pie fight where ultimately the massive Baron is taken down for good along with his henchmen. Then, it’s Lupin’s turn to host a cooking show about how to "cook" Baron Gourmet, with Jigen and Goemon still more interested in their beans and noodles, and manage to recover the gemstone teeth from the Baron’s mouth, leaving him toothless. The thief then ends the "episode" by telling the viewers to not forget to balance their diet and both the cooking show and the episode proper come to an end.
This episode contains examples of
- Abhorrent Admirer: Just like in Chase the Gorilla Gang, a female gorilla falls for Zenigata and proceeds to pursue him around the Baron's castle.
- Ambiguously Human: Baron Gourmet is a huge, green-skinned man with a taste for exotic dishes and even human brains.
- Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: While Fujiko does deliver Lupin to the Baron, she also tries to bail him out and ultimately saves him after being backstabbed herself.
- Denser and Wackier: Compared to the standard formula, this really stands out in terms of plot. It helps that, at moments, looks like the parody of a cooking show.
- Eating the Eye Candy: While dining with Fujiko, Lupin (and the camera) eyes her cleavage.
- Fat Bastard: Baron Gourmet is enormous, surely thanks to his pantagruelic meals.
- Fed to the Beast: After judging Zenigata a poor meal, Gourmet has him thrown to his pet gorilla... who averts the trop by taking a liking to Zenigata and trying to make out with him.
- Hidden in Plain Sight: The Baron's diamond collection? Right in his mouth!
- Human Popsicle: Happens to Lupin and Zenigata when they're locked inside the freezer van.
- I Am a Humanitarian: The Baron has tried thousands of odd dishes and wants to try human brains for a change. He also openly threatens to eat Fujiko.
- I Lied: The Baron, when Fujiko tries to make him hold his part of the deal.
- Improbable Weapon User: Gourmet's henchmen are armed with oversized cutlery. The final battle involves lots of sticky pies.
- Laser-Guided Karma: The Baron is subjected to a similar "cooking show" as Lupin and has his fake teeth removed.
- Pie in the Face: The Baron and his men are defeated by Fujiko's super sticky pies. The whole combat is quite farcesque.
- Training Montage: Parodied when Lupin is being prepared for the main course: he's bathed in beer, forced to drink and eat a lot, stimulated with kisses from pretty women and mallet strikes and forced to run on a tapis roulant chased by Zenigata.
- Villainous Glutton: Baron Gourmet obviously enjoys eating a lot, and rare and disgusting things to boot.
- Your Brain Won't Be Much of a Meal: Non-Zombie example, the Baron remarks that Zenigata doesn't look very tasty to eat.
