The long-running "Kochikame" saga was officially recognized Monday by Guinness World Records as the single manga series with the most volumes published, its publisher said.
Shueisha Inc. has so far published 199 volumes in the series, the official title of which is "Kochira Katsushika-ku Kamearikoen-mae Hashutsujo" ("This is the Police Box in Front of Kameari Park in Katsushika Ward").
Created by Osamu Akimoto, its 200th — and final — installment will be published Saturday, the publisher said.
The series, which began in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump anthology in 1976, is ending after a four-decade run.
In announcing the end of the series Sept. 3, Akimoto said he wanted to end the manga while it was still popular.
"A 200-volume comic book is a medal of honor for a writer," he said.
The series centers on the adventures — or misadventures — of maverick police officer Kankichi Ryotsu, better known as Ryo-san, who mans a police box in Tokyo's Katsushika Ward.
About 150 million copies of the series are in print and the weekly manga anthology has published an episode each week uninterrupted for 40 years.
