I'm a big fan of the adult-audience aimed Lupin the IIIrd series of shows and ONAs. Starting with The Woman Called Fujiko Mine, each of these has told the early adventures of our antiheroes with a large helping of ultraviolence on the side. Moreover, each iteration of this series has been focused on one character or another. With Zenigata and the Two Lupins, it's finally Zenigata's turn.

When it comes down to it, this mystery thriller set within a fictional proxy of Soviet Russia is the story of how Lupin and Zenigata's relationship went from cop and criminal to the more complicated frenemy relationship we see in Lupin III proper.

Simply put, Lupin comes to respect Zenigata throughout this story. Unlike so many other police, Zengata talks the talk and walks the walk. And more importantly, while he cares about law and order, what he's truly committed to is his views of justice and what's right and wrong. We see this throughout the ONA. Zengata follows the Roviet Union's laws but does everything he can within those bounds to stop the secret police from simply shooting Lupin on sight—even when it earns him a punch to the face.

In Lupin's eyes, this marks Zenigata as a kindred spirit—a person who is unwaveringly committed to an ideal. The fact that these ideals are opposed—i.e., the ideal cop versus the ideal thief—means little. Lupin truly wants no lasting harm to come to Zenigata—and finds himself helping the policeman in life-or-death situations.

It is Lupin's commitment to who he is that makes him the world's greatest thief—and it is Zenigata's commitment to justice that makes him the only one capable of truly stopping him. After all, time and again, it's not Zenigata's fault that Lupin gets away. Rather, it's the incompetence of local police and/or the fact that Lupin has a gang to back him up.

This compulsion to be the ideal thief also comes into play in how Lupin reacts to the appearance of the Fake Lupin. Lupin ultimately chooses to go after the fake, not because of moral objections to the bombings or even because the fake has set him up to take the fall for them. Instead, it's because the Fake Lupin stole from him—he stole the Lupin name and identity. And as the greatest thief in the world, his pride compels him to steal the identity back by exposing the fake.

While the ONA is centered on Zenigata and Lupin, Fujiko and Jigen also have their parts to play. For Fujiko, her role is connecting the Fake Lupin mystery to the wider political situation in the Roviet Union. For Jigen, it's basically to be someone for Lupin to play off of when he and Zenigata are separated.

Visually, this ONA is wonderfully directed. The numerous bombing scenes are both graphic and hauntingly beautiful in their use of ultra-slow motion. The sound design is likewise fantastic for both these scenes and their immediate aftermaths. Likewise, the action scenes in general are great. There are rarely-used camera angles and quick cuts—yet, the action is always easy to follow.

The music, far from the bombastic big band jazz of the main series, is incredibly understated in this ONA. Much of the time, there isn't so much music as ambient sound. And when there is music, it's usually something slow performed by acoustic instruments. It's one of those cases where less does more, as it gives the ONA a serious tone rather than a playful one.

All in all, Zenigata and the Two Lupins is well worth a watch—even if you know next to nothing about Lupin III. It is both a fantastically directed political spy thriller and an exploration of Zenigata and Lupin's odd-yet-enduring relationship. More than that, it also serves as a pseudo-prologue to the upcoming Lupin the IIIrd: The Immortal Bloodline—which is both the first 2D animated Lupin III movie in 29 years and the first movie in the Lupin the IIIrd sub-series. These past few years have been a great time to be a Lupin III fan. And with entries like Zenigata and the Two Lupins, it feels like this will continue to be true for the foreseeable future.