The September 2021 issue of Shueisha’s Saikyō Jump magazine kicked off a “Dragon Ball Super Gallery” series in commemoration of the Dragon Ball franchise’s upcoming 40th anniversary. The celebration aims to have different artists all contribute their own spin on the original 42 tankōbon covers, with the images and an accompanying comment published as the magazine’s back cover.
Following the September issue’s entry from Masashi Kishimoto and October issue’s entry from Tite Kubo, this month’s November 2021 issue brings us Osamu Akimoto (Kochira Katsushika-ku Kameari Kōen-mae Hashutsujo, or “KochiKame” for short) and his take on the series’ 28th volume cover:
Akimoto commented:
In the original, the Turtle Hermit was riding the first-gen Honda Monkey, so I had Ryō-san ride tandem on the most active-styled Monkey, the Monkey RT. I like the machines in Toriyama-san‘s works, and in Dragon Ball specifically, things like the flying machines and submarines look really cool. On the character side, I like the Turtle Hermit. He’s a kooky old lech, but he’s actually strong. I admire that. I tried building up my strength in pursuit of him, but I was frustrated in my efforts. Still, I think my age, at least, is catching up to him (laughs), so I ride around with the top down, wearing shades. (laughs)
Akimoto had written a two-page bonus chapter (featured in volume 69 in the original KochiKame manga, and first serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump 1990 #17, alongside Dragon Ball chapter 268), where KochiKame protagonist Ryō-san is reassigned to police duty on Planet Namek. Sixteen years later, Akimoto and Toriyama collaborated on a nine-page semi-continuation/reboot of this premise — This is the Police Station in Front of Dragon Park on Planet Namek, printed in the Chō-Kochikame anniversary book — where Ryō-san goes after Freeza for illegally parking his spaceship.
Saikyō Jump is currently a monthly magazine published in Japan by Shueisha under the “Jump” line of magazines. The magazine began as a quarterly publication in 2012, went monthly in 2013, went bimonthly in late-2014, and returned to a monthly format this fall (including a digital release for the first time). The magazine’s focus is spin-off and supplementary manga series aimed at a young audience, while also including game promotions, news coverage, and more. The magazine currently serializes content such as Yoshitaka Nagayama’s Super Dragon Ball Heroes: Big Bang Mission!!! and the Dragon Ball GT Anime Comic. For calendar year 2018, Saikyō Jump‘s readership comprised of 58.5% in upper elementary school, 28% in lower middle school, 11% in middle school, and 2.5% in high school or older.