is a Japanese

manga artist A manga artist, also known as a mangaka (), is a Cartoonist, comic artist who writes and/or illustrates manga. Most manga artists study at an art college or manga school or take on an apprenticeship with another artist before entering the indus ...

from

Katsushika, Tokyo is a Special wards of Tokyo, special ward in the Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis in Japan. It is known as Katsushika City in English. As of May 1, 2015, the ward has an estimated population of 444,356, and a population density of 12,770 people per km2. ...

. He is best known for his long-running

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

series '' KochiKame: Tokyo Beat Cops'', which was continuously published in ''

Weekly Shōnen Jump is a weekly Shōnen manga, ''shōnen'' manga anthology published in Japan by Shueisha under the ''Jump (magazine line), Jump'' line of magazines. The manga series within the magazine consist of many Action (fiction), action scenes and a fair ...

'' for 40 years from 1976 to 2016. With 1,960 chapters collected into 201 ''

tankōbon A is a standard publishing format for books in Japan, alongside other formats such as ''shinsho'' (17x11 cm paperback books) and ''bunkobon''. Used as a loanword in English, the term specifically refers to a printed collection of a manga that w ...

'' volumes, it held the

Guinness World Record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

for "Most volumes published for a single manga series" from September 2016 to July 2021. The series has sold over 155 million copies, making it one of the best-selling manga series in history. Akimoto's other works include the action comedy '' Mr. Clice'', which has been published irregularly since 1985, and the

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

series '' Black Tiger'' (2017–2023).

Career

Before becoming a professional manga artist, Akimoto worked at the animation studio

Tatsunoko Production and often shortened to , is a Japanese animation company. The studio's name has a double meaning in Japanese: "Tatsu's child" (Tatsu is a nickname for Tatsuo) and " sea dragon", the inspiration for its seahorse logo. Tatsunoko Production was e ...

on series such as '' Science Ninja Team Gatchaman''. Akimoto made his manga debut with '' KochiKame: Tokyo Beat Cops'' (often shortened to ''Kochikame'') under the pen name of in 1976. He changed to using his real name in 1978, after the series reached its 100th chapter. The manga was continuously serialized in ''

'' for 40 years from 1976 to 2016 and has sold over 155 million copies, making it one of the best-selling manga series in history. On December 31, 2016,

Shueisha is a Japanese publishing company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. Shueisha is the largest publishing company in Japan. It was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The ...

reprinted the ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' issue that included the final chapter of ''Kochikame'', marking the first time the magazine has ever been reprinted. ''Kochikame'' has spawned a large media franchise that includes adaptations both animated and live-action; an anime television series, several animated films, a live-action film, live-action TV drama, and stage adaptations. In 1985, Akimoto started the action comedy series '' Mr. Clice'', which follows the Japanese

secret agent Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering, as a subfield of the intelligence field, is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence). A person who commits espionage on a mission-specific contract is called an ''e ...

Jin Clice, who has the body of a woman but the mind of a man. It was originally serialized in ''

Monthly Shōnen Jump was a shōnen manga magazine which was published monthly in Japan by Shueisha from 1970 to 2007 under the '' Jump'' line of magazines. It was the sister magazine to ''Weekly Shōnen Jump''. History The ''Monthly Shōnen Jump'' magazine star ...

'' from 1985 to 2007, before being revived in '' Jump SQ.'' in 2017 and transferring to ''Jump SQ. Rise'' in 2018. In November 2010, Akimoto was one of several manga artists that held a press conference in opposition to

Tokyo Metropolitan Ordinance Regarding the Healthy Development of Youths The is a prefectural law passed by the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly on 1 August 1964. Its purpose is to promote the healthy development of people under the age of 18 by restricting their access to published material that is considered inappr ...

's Bill 156. In February 2014, he drew the one-shot "Vocalo" which is set 50 years after the rise of

Vocaloid is a singing Speech synthesis, voice synthesizer software product. Its signal processing part was developed through a joint research project between Yamaha Corporation and the Music Technology Group at Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona. The s ...

technology and ran in the

shōjo manga is an editorial category of Manga, Japanese comics targeting an audience of adolescent girls and young adult women. It is, along with Shōnen manga, manga (targeting adolescent boys), Seinen manga, manga (targeting young adult and adult men ...

magazine ''

Margaret Margaret is a feminine given name, which means "pearl". It is of Latin origin, via Ancient Greek and ultimately from Iranian languages, Old Iranian. It has been an English language, English name since the 11th century, and remained popular thro ...

''. The following year, ''

Grand Jump is a Japanese biweekly seinen manga magazine published by Shueisha under their '' Jump'' line of magazines. Launched in November 2011 as a merging of '' Business Jump'' and '' Super Jump'', it carried over nine series from the former and three ...

'' published his "Allie, Shoot Your Gun"

one-shot in January 2015. In addition to resuming ''Mr. Clice'', Akimoto launched three new manga series in three different Shueisha magazines in 2017. The Western '' Black Tiger'' was serialized in ''Grand Jump'' from the second issue of 2017, which was released in December 2016, until February 2023. '' Finder: Kyoto Jogakuin Monogatari'' was serialized in ''

Weekly Young Jump is a Japanese manga magazine published by Shueisha. Launched in 1979, it is published under Shueisha's '' Jump'' line of magazines. The chapters of series that run in ''Weekly Young Jump'' are collected and published in volumes under the "Y ...

'' from February 2017 until March 2018. It follows a group of four girls at an all-female high school in

Kameoka, Kyoto is a city in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 87,518 in 29,676 households and a population density of 390 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Kameoka abuts Kyoto to the west and is locate ...

. A "sequel" to ''Kochikame'', '' Ii Yu da ne!'' ran in ''

Ultra Jump is a Japanese monthly seinen manga magazine published by Shueisha under the Jump line of magazines. Originally, the magazine was a special issue of ''Weekly Young Jump'' which was first issued in 1995. On October 19, 1999, the special issue bec ...

'' from March 2017 to June 2019. Set in a bathhouse in

Shitamachi and are traditional names for two areas of Tokyo, Japan. Yamanote refers to the affluent, upper-class areas of Tokyo west of the Imperial Palace.Iwanami Japanese dictionary, 6th Edition (2008), DVD version While citizens once considered it as ...

, Gorō Kuma and his grandson are deeply moved when the Brazilian wife of Kuma's son arrives to save the bathhouse from having to close. In 2019, Akimoto published ''Akimoto Osamu no Shigoto-jutsu'', an instructional book that explains how he used schedule management to serialize a successful manga for 40 years.

Awards and accolades

In 2005, ''Kochikame'' was one of two winners of the Special Judges Award at the 50th

Shogakukan Manga Award The is one of Japan's major manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is ...

s in 2005. With 200 ''

'' volumes, Akimoto and ''Kochikame'' held the

for "Most volumes published for a single manga series" from September 2016 to July 2021. Also in 2016, Akimoto received the 64th Kikuchi Kan Prize for creating ''Kochikame'' for 40 years without breaks. The following year, he received the Special Prize at the 21st

Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize Named after Osamu Tezuka, the is a yearly manga prize awarded to manga artists or their works that follow the Osamu Tezuka manga approach founded and sponsored by Asahi Shimbun. The prize has been awarded since 1997, in Tokyo, Japan. Current ...

for the series, and the

Seiun Award The is a Japanese speculative fiction award given each year for the best science fiction works and achievements during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by , the awards are given at the annual Nihon SF Taikai, Japan Science Fic ...

for Best Comic. In 2019, the Japanese government gave Akimoto the Medal with Purple Ribbon for his contributions to the arts.

Works

* * '' Mr. Clice'' (1985–2007, 2017–present, serialized in ''

'', '' Jump SQ.'' and ''Jump SQ. Rise'') * * "Vocalo" (2014, published in ''

'') * * '' Black Tiger'' (2016–2023, serialized in ''Grand Jump'') * *

Assistants

* Hiroshi Aro *Naoki Azuma *Yoshihiro Kuroiwa * Usune Masatoshi * *

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Akimoto, Osamu 1952 births Living people Manga artists from Tokyo KochiKame: Tokyo Beat Cops Winners of the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize (Special Award) Recipients of the Medal with Purple Ribbon People from Katsushika