Kochikame (short for
Kochira Katsushika-ku Kameari Koen Mae Hashutsujo, which translates to
This Is the Police Station in Front of Kameari Park in Katsushika Ward) is a comedy manga in
Weekly Shonen Jump written by Osamu Akimoto. The main character is Kankichi Ryotsu, a lazy, street-wise cop with
salaryman tendencies, like playing Pachinko, betting at the horses or trying his luck at custom get-rich-quick schemes. Some times, he even does police work.
Worthy to mention is that the manga
does not have numbered chapters and
is almost never considered to participate for the regular popularity polls in
WSJ * Shonen Jump's popularity polls determine which series are likely to be kept/cancelled
, basically meaning Mr. Akimoto can continue the series as long as he wants. The series' heavy anti-cancellation armor shows: It's been running weekly since 1976, with over 1600 chapters and counting. There have been more than 170 volumes (175 as of now) produced and more than 360 episodes aired on Japanese TV), making
Kochikame the longest-running manga series in history *.
The series owes its longevity (and lack of chapter numbers) to the fact that it hardly ever uses continuing plots. Instead, each chapter is a self-contained comedy tale, usually involving Ryotsu trying to get rich via some sort of scheme, which invariably backfires horribly. The straightforward plots mean that generations of Japanese kids have been able to enjoy the series without prior knowledge of previous stories. The series has remained fresh by taking most of its humor from pop culture and real world events: often Ryo's latest scheme involves capitalizing on some current fad or event in the news.
In its 30th anniversary (2006), Mr. Akimoto was awarded with many Shueshia's (and other publishers as well) artists making
Crossovers with his series, such a event being legendary since when artists are invited to pay a homage to
Long Running series in Jump, said artist will likely draw a character from the series with his own artstyle and not much else;
Kochikame got
actual crossovers,
full self-contained stories and appearing in
other Jump series as a
Cameo, it also made some artists who were working in
nothing at all to get off their seats and make a story just for this ongoing legend.
Kochikame provides examples of:
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