Fifty years after it first hit the pages of Weekly Shonen Jump, Kochikame is still finding ways to surprise its fans. Osamu Akimoto's beloved series about the hapless, big-hearted Tokyo police officer Kankichi Ryotsu just got a brand-new one-shot chapter, published in Shueisha's 36th issue of Weekly Shonen Jump, on sale August 3.
A Milestone Worth Celebrating
Kochikame — full title Kochira Katsushika-ku Kameari Koen-mae Hashutsujo — began serialization in 1976 and ran for 40 uninterrupted years before wrapping up in September 2016, making it the longest-running manga series in Weekly Shonen Jump history. Over its original run it racked up roughly 150 million copies in print and 200 collected volumes, along with a long list of adaptations: a hit TV anime that ran for over 300 episodes from 1996 to 2004, anime films and specials, live-action movies, a live-action series, and even stage plays.
Even after the main series ended, Akimoto never fully put down his pen. He's continued publishing occasional extra one-shots over the years, and this new chapter is the latest of those — arriving just in time for the franchise's 50th serialization anniversary this September.
What's in the Anniversary Issue
This week's issue isn't just delivering a new chapter — it's a full anniversary package. Alongside the one-shot, the magazine includes a six-page retrospective feature on the series, supervised by horror novelist Sesuji, plus a bonus insert card featuring new artwork drawn by Akimoto himself.
The anniversary celebrations don't stop there. Fans have plenty more to look forward to:
- Two new tankobon volumes — Volumes 202 and 203, shipping in September and October respectively, marking the first new print volumes since Volume 201 came out back in 2021.
- A new anime project — announced at Jump Festa as Shin Kochira Katsushika-ku Kameari Koen-mae Hashutsujo ("New Kochikame"), once again animated by Gallop.
- A "Full Panel Search" tool on the official 50th-anniversary website, letting fans search the manga by dialogue or keyword and pull up the exact panel — currently covering Volumes 1 through 100, with the eventual goal of digitizing the entire series.
- English-subtitled release of the original anime — REMOW is bringing all 373 episodes of the classic TV series to North America via the It's Anime YouTube channel.
Why It Still Matters
It's rare for a manga to stay this present in fans' minds a decade after its official ending, but Kochikame's slice-of-life humor and its uncanny knack for "predicting" future technology and trends have kept it firmly in the cultural conversation. Half a century in, Ryotsu and the Kameari police box crew are proving they're not ready to be filed away as just a nostalgia piece — there's clearly still story left to tell.
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