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NEWS: Osamu Akimoto's Black Tiger Manga Moves to Regular Serialization

Obviously, I wouldn't expect us to even see anywhere near the 200 volumes of that series, but I've always wanted to see a "Best of" style release for Kochikame, similar to what Golgo 13 received.

There's no demand for Kochikame though. Sure, there are some people who think it's be nice to get some of it, but there isn't really anyone begging for it. It will always be remembered as simply a novelty series that had an insanely long run.

AutoOps007 wrote:

There's no demand for Kochikame though. Sure, there are some people who think it's be nice to get some of it, but there isn't really anyone begging for it. It will always be remembered as simply a novelty series that had an insanely long run.

That's a silly excuse, because we've received plenty of manga from Viz from out of nowhere. Were there people clamoring for Hoshin Engi, which didn't come out until literally years after ADV first released the Soul Hunter anime (& years before the Hakyu Hoshin Engi anime happened)? How many people were begging Viz to put out Oishinbo's "a la carté" release? Was Dr. Slump a fan-wishing force that Viz had no choice but to respond to? Were Golgo 13 fans threatening Viz to put out a "Best of" release of the manga, "or else"?

Of course not, but Viz still felt that they all had merit to them, because they are all iconic & important series, in their own rights. By your logic, Viz should have never released Oishinbo, FUNimation shouldn't have bothered with Momotaro: Sacred Sailors, Hidive shouldn't be working with Tatsunoko like it is right now, & Discotek shouldn't have put out ~70% of the anime it has released or will be releasing, because "no one's demanding it". Viz theoretically releasing Kochikame in some form, even if only a couple of volumes, because it's an important part of Shonen Jump's history wouldn't exactly hurt the company in the long run; they've had plenty of bombs, yet are still the biggest name in manga over here.

Also, calling Kochikame a "novelty series" is pretty damn disrespectful, because if it was nothing more than a novelty then it certainly wouldn't have run for 40 years, getting 200 volumes of manga, over 350+ episodes of anime, two anime movies, a 40th anniversary TV special (that hired Akira freaking Kamiya to voice the villain), literal statues of its main character all throughout Tokyo, & even a book which had the likes of Monkey Punch & Takao Saito draw their own crossover stories which saw Lupin the 3rd & Golgo 13 interact with the Kochikame crew.

"There's no demand for Kochikame", because it's literally never been given a chance in North America; it's a Catch-22. The people who work in the Shonen Jump division of Viz have admitted that they'd love to release Kochikame, because of its importance to the magazine, but its length has always been the problem. Unlike Golgo 13 or Oishinbo, there is no "Best of" or themed release for Kochikame, so Viz would either have to wait for Shueisha to make one first, or they'd have to coordinate with Akimoto to produce one specifically for English release.

Unlike Golgo 13 or Oishinbo, there is no "Best of" or themed release for Kochikame, so Viz would either have to wait for Shueisha to make one first, or they'd have to coordinate with Akimoto to produce one specifically for English release.