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KochiKame Manga Gets Infinity Volume With Mini Scroll
posted on by Jennifer Sherman
The ∞ (mugen, or "infinity") volume of Osamu Akimoto's Kochira Katsushika-ku Kamearikouen-mae Hashutsujo ("Kochikame") police comedy manga shipped in Japan on Friday. The special book retails at 2,700 yen (about US$26) and bundles a 3.8-meter (about 12-foot) mini picture scroll.
A KochiKame scroll that stands more than 8 meters (about 26 feet) tall was dedicated at Tokyo's Kanda Shrine on September 3. The picture scroll bundled with the manga volume is a miniature version of the giant scroll. The scroll starts by illustrating the postwar Asakusa area of Tokyo that the manga's protagonist Kankichi Ryōtsu was born in. The scroll then highlights various eras, places, and cultural events from the state of Japan during the postwar Showa era to the start of the manga's serialization in 1976 to the present day.
The special manga volume features short manga written by Akimoto. It includes ten episodes, personally selected by Akimoto, related to images on the scroll. The volume also includes a "Project K" article that chronicles the start of the picture scroll project through to its dedication, a "Ryōtsu Kankichi ga Ayunda Nihon Gendaishi" (Contemporary History of the Japan That Kankichi Ryōtsu Walked) section that discusses historical events pictured on the scroll, and a full interview with Akimoto.
The retrospective volume celebrates the end of Akimoto's manga after its 40-year run concluded on September 17. The series' 200th and final volume shipped in Japan on the same day. The manga has earned the Guinness World Record for "most volumes published for a single manga series."
Other tributes to the manga's end have included an anniversary bash, collaborations with 11 other Shonen Jump series, a display at the real-life Kamaeri Station, comments from Golgo 13 creator Takao Saito, and a special "Kochikame Jump" issue of Weekly Shonen Jump. The magazine is reprinting its 42nd issue and the "Kochikame Jump" issue as the first reprint in its history.
Source: Comic Natalie
