Tokyo Salad Bowl Returns: New Sequel and Live-Action News from Kuromaru!
A double announcement has been made for Kuromaru's highly acclaimed police manga Tokyo Salad Bowl (Tokyo Salad Bowl: Kokusai Sōsa Jikenbo) that will delight fans. The creator of the series has announced that a new sequel titled Tokyo Salad Bowl 2nd dish: Keishichō-hen (Metropolitan Police Department Arc) has officially begun on Kodansha's Comic Days platform. This new adventure promises to take the series' deep dive into Tokyo's international crime world a step further.
The story likens the cosmopolitan structure of Tokyo, which is home to approximately 700,000 foreign residents, to a "salad bowl." Our main characters are Koda Mari, an energetic police officer who draws attention with her bright green hair, and Arikino Ryo, a talented Chinese interpreter with a mysterious past. The duo works together to overcome language barriers and cultural differences to solve many complex cases, ranging from missing tourists to international smuggling rings. One of the most beloved aspects of the series is the characters bonding by tasting dishes from different countries' cuisines between each case.
The series creator Kuromaru is no stranger to the manga world. He is also the name behind the Kurosagi (The Black Swindler) series, which previously turned into a major phenomenon and was adapted for television multiple times. In this new work, Kuromaru maintains his sensitivity to social issues; he blends the lives on the fringes of Japanese society and the challenges faced by immigrants with police fiction. This profound narrative ensures that the series is recognized not only as a police procedural but also as a powerful social drama.
In addition to this activity in the manga world, the series also inspired a 9-episode live-action series that aired on NHK in early 2025. Starring Nao (Koda Mari) and Ryuhei Matsuda (Arikino Ryo), the series received full marks from viewers, pushing interest in the manga to its peak. The newly started sequel series 2nd dish covers a new era that begins with Mari's transfer from the local police station to the main Metropolitan Police Department. For fans of police procedurals, it seems there are many more stories to be told in these colorful and equally dangerous streets of Tokyo.
