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Live-Action Zenigata Keibu Show's Visual Previews Ryohei Suzuki in Title Role

NTV's official website for the Zenigata Keibu (Inspector Zenigata) live-action television series, based on the character from Monkey Punch's Lupin III franchise, unveiled a poster visual on Monday that previews Ryōhei Suzuki as the title character. NTV also began streaming a promotional video for the series, though it is region-locked to Japan.

The show will debut on February 10 on NTV's Kinyō Roadshow! programming block, which often airs anime films and live-action adaptations of manga. Hulu will begin streaming all four episodes of the Zenigata Keibu Shinku no Sōsa File (Inspector Zenigata: Crimson Investigation Files) live-action series that same day. WOWOW will begin airing all four episodes of the Renzoku Drama W Zenigata Keibu Shikkoku no Hanzai File (Drama Series Double: Inspector Zenigata Jet-Black Crime Files) drama series on February 19.

NTV, WOWOW, and Hulu Japan are collaborating on the project, with NTV showing the main story, and WOWOW and Hulu Japan showing different stories after the NTV airing.

The project stars:

Ryōhei Suzuki as Kōichi Zenigata, a serious and obstinate detective who is usually dedicated to tracking down international thief Lupin III. He is part of the Metropolitan Police Department CID, as well as Interpol.

Former AKB48 idol Atsuko Maeda as Natsuki Sakuraba, a young detective at the Metropolitan Police Department CID Division 1 who values order and organization. Her father was a policeman who died in the line of duty, and she followed his path to become a policeman as well.

Takahiro Miura as Shintarō Kunikida, a detective at the Metropolitan Police Department CID Division 1 who has not yet managed to find success in his career. He can't hold his liquor and easily cries, often thinking that he is not cut out to be a detective. When he and Zenigata move to solve the case of a mysterious explosion, he begins to learn many things from the stubborn detective.

Tarō Ōtani (NTV) and Hitoshi Iwamoto (AXON) are directing the series, while Masahiro Yamaura, Tetsuya Ōishi, Naoya Takayama, Junpei Yamaoka, and others pen the scripts.

The Inspector Zenigata character is a recurring character of the Lupin III franchise, and appears in the original manga, as well as subsequent television anime, films, and other media in the franchise. He is the rival of the titular character, constantly trying and failing to capture Lupin III.

Source: Yahoo! News Japan via 0takomu