News: Kochikame Manga to Release New One-Shot on July 10th

Shueisha revealed on Wednesday that Osamu Akimoto will draw a new 46-page one-shot chapter for his Osamu Akimoto‘s Kochikame manga titled “Kibō no Entotsu (Natsu) -1963- Kankichi-tachi no Natsuyasumi” (Chimney of Hope (Summer) -1963- The Summer Vacation of Kankichi and Company) in this year’s 32nd issue of the Weekly Shonen Jump magazine on July 10. The one-shot will have a color opening page.

The one-shot will be the first chapter of the manga in 11 months. (Akimoto previously drew a chapter in August 2022.) The one-shot is the third story in the manga’s “Kibō no Entotsu” (Chimney of Hope) story line, which centers on the character Rin Akatsuki (unrelated to the real life singer), a singer and worker in the Senju Thermal Power Station, a notable power station that existed in Tokyo from 1926 to 1963. The station’s chimneys are often used in various media to signal the time period to the audience.

The first story in the running storyline debuted in Weekly Shonen Jump in 2004. The chapter, titled “Kibō no Entotsu no Maki” (The Story of the Chimneys of Hope), was set in 1955, and showed Rin meeting a young Kankichi. The second story, titled “Kibō no Entotsu -Hashima-” (Chimneys of Hope -Hashima-) is set in Rin’s birthplace of Hashima Island, the well-known “Battleship Island.” That story debuted in December 2012.

The new “Kibō no Entotsu (Natsu) -1963- Kankichi-tacho no Natsuyasumi” story is set in 1963, and centers on Kankichi and others traveling to Hashima to meet Rin.

Kochikame ended in September 2016 after 40 years of serialization, although Akimoto has published several extra chapters for the manga since then. The manga series had approximately 150 million copies in print as of June 2016 when the 199th volume shipped. The manga’s 201st volume shipped in October 2021.

The manga has inspired a television anime series, anime films, anime specials, live-action films, a live-action series, and several stage plays.

Source: Comic Natalie