Happy New Year! A turn of the calendar always means new opportunities and new challenges, but 2025 is already off to an exciting start in Weekly Shonen Jump. Alongside standout chapters for Sakamoto Days and Blue Box, this week’s issue saw Super Psychic Policeman Chojo team up with none other than Kochira Katsushikaku Kameari Kouenmae Hashutsujo (most commonly known as KochiKame) for a special collaborative story. Far from just a simple crossover, however, this meeting holds significant meaning for both series.
Despite ending regular serialization in 2016, KochiKame has returned to the magazine pretty much every year in one form or another since then. It first did so in 2017 with a story about robots and AI, while it also made an appearance in 2019 to celebrate series author Osamu Akimoto’s recent Medal of Honor for artistic achievement. Before this week’s issue, the last time the series published a chapter was in August 2024 concerning the Paris Olympics: this is important as it relates to the Chojo crossover story, mainly through the character of Neruo Higurashi.
For those of you who haven't read or watched any KochiKame, Neruo is probably one of the series’ most iconic characters. Alongside his frail and sickly appearance, what makes him special is that he usually sleeps for most of the year until it’s time for the Olympics, at which point he wakes up and an Olympic-themed adventure ensues. The sheer number of different games that have been featured as a result of this stands as a testament to KochiKame’s longevity, as well as its enduring popularity.
Even so, the fact that the 2020 Tokyo Olympics actually took place in 2021 has disrupted Neruo’s rhythm a little bit. This provides the basis for this week’s chapter as main characters Ryo and Keiichi go to check on Neruo, only to find that he’s missing from his room. After seeing the latest issue of Weekly Shonen Jump next to his bed, they surmise that he must have somehow entered into the magazine since he travelled back in time in the last story to the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.
Admittedly, this isn’t exactly the most watertight of setups, but the point is that the characters of KochiKame somehow find their way into the world of Super Psychic Policeman Chojo. As to why, the superficial reasons are obvious: both series revolve around a police station in a Tokyo city, while both main characters tend to spend most of their time doing anything but police work. Neruo Higurashi even has telekinetic powers just like Chojo, but it arguably goes deeper than that.
Weekly Shonen Jump has a policing tradition. To be fair, this is almost single-handedly because of KochiKame, but the series’ extremely long run means that the magazine has had a story set in a police station for most of its existence: without something similar, the line-up will always feel a little empty. Luckily, it seems as if KochiKame has recognized Chojo as a worthy successor.
The respect that both series seemingly have for each other radiates from each and every page of this crossover. Ryo starts off initially hostile at the idea of another police manga in Jump, complaining about plagiarism, but quickly comes around when Keiichi explains that Shun Numa drew Ryo in his previous series Samon-kun wa Summoner and provided a special illustration to celebrate KochiKame’s 40th anniversary. Chojo even finishes off the collaboration by explaining to Ippongi that they’re “people from the same headquarters,” clearly casting Ryo et al. as friends and comrades.
Furthermore, the jokes contained in this chapter clearly demonstrate that both creators know an awful lot about each other’s series. One of the longer gags pertains to Chojo’s love for plastic model kits: more or less speaking as Osamu Akimoto, Ryo complains that Shun Numa only ever draws the boxes of the kits, while Numa defends himself through Chojo by saying that he does because he got some details wrong in his previous series. The climax of the crossover then comes when Chojo is forced to adapt his Beyblade skills to the traditional game of Beigoma, which was always one of Ryo’s favorite pastimes.
Considering the recent popularity of Super Psychic Policeman Chojo, Akimoto’s tacit endorsement as his successor is significant. While a forty year serialization probably isn’t likely in the current environment of Weekly Shonen Jump, it will definitely provide a boost in momentum for Shun Numa’s series, alongside bringing new fans into the fold. Finally, this chapter is also accompanied by an extra reminder that a KochiKame museum will be opening in Katsushika City in March - talk about efficiency.
You can read Super Psychic Policeman Chojo in English for free via VIZ Media’s Shonen Jump. KochiKame does not currently have an English release.
