Cobra (manga)
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| Cobra | |
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| コブラ (Kobura) |
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| Genre | Science Fiction, Action |
| Manga: Cobra (also, "Cobra the Space Pirate") | |
| Author | Buichi Terasawa |
| Publisher |  Shueisha Viz Media |
| Demographic | Shōnen |
| Magazine | Shōnen Jump |
| Original run | 1978 – 1984 |
| Volumes | 20 (9 comic books) |
| Animated film: Cobra Space Adventure | |
| Director | Osamu Dezaki |
| Studio | TMS/Toho |
| Released | 1982 |
| Runtime | 133 minutes |
| TV anime: Space Cobra | |
| Director | Osamu Dezaki |
| Studio | TMS |
| Network | Fuji Television |
| Original run | October 7, 1982 – May 19, 1983 |
| Episodes | 31 |
Cobra (コブラ Kobura?) is a sci-fi manga created by Buichi Terasawa, later turned into an anime movie and a TV series. Each version has had a slightly different name:
- Manga title: コブラ; Cobra (also, "Cobra the Space Pirate")
- TV anime title: スペースコブラ; Space Cobra
- Theater released anime title: コブラ (Cobra) SPACE ADVENTURE
- DVD released anime title: スペースアドベンチャー コブラ; Space Adventure Cobra
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[edit] Plot
The series features the infamous space-pirate Cobra who was once forced to hide from enemies by surgically altering his face and erasing his own memory. At the start of the story he is living an ordinary life but after going to a trip-parlor where ordinary people live out their fantasies as powerful implanted dreams he starts to regain his true memories (a similar concept occurs in Philip K. Dick's We Can Remember It for You Wholesale and its movie adaptation Total Recall). With his android partner Lady Armaroid (a female armored being) literally 'bursting' out of the bulky domestic robot she impersonated in his years of 'vacation', and his old ship Tortuga (Turtle in Spanish), he now faces foes both old and new. The first, and most well-known of the manga stories sees him encountering the Royal sisters whose bodies have tattoos that could lead to a great treasure.
[edit] Manga
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[edit] Anime movie version
The anime movie version, directed by Osamu Dezaki, was released in 1982. Urban Vision released the anime on VHS domestically, before losing the rights. Manga Entertainment UK released a dubbed version and Manga Entertainment Australia (Distributed by Siren Entertainment in Australia) released both dubbed and subtitled versions of the movie. Both dubbed versions are the same with music from Yello. Manga Entertainment was originally supposed to re-release Space Adventure Cobra in Australia on the 5th of December 2007 but Manga Entertainment and Madman Entertainment lost the licence for Manga's version and has re-released the movie under another label. Almost all of the classical elements from the comic were changed, so most fans do not consider the movie canon.
[edit] TV series
The TV series, also directed by Osamu Dezaki, was a 31 episode anime that was first broadcast from 7 October 1982 to 19 May 1983 on Thursdays at 7:00pm on Fuji Television.
There has been recent news about a TV remake of Space Adventure Cobra in 2008.
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[edit] Video games
There have been many Japan only Space Adventure Cobra videogames over the years. The Sega CD videogame would see a US release in 1994 under the title The Space Adventure - Cobra: The Legendary Bandit (which was originally a PC Engine game in Japan). Cobra is also a Support character in the Nintendo DS game Jump Ultimate Stars. It was also adapted into an arcade game by Namco entitled Cobra: The Arcade.
[edit] Characters
[edit] Cobra
Cobra's signature weapon is his Psycho-gun, a cybernetic arm-laser which is connected to his brain and capable of targeting enemies without needing a line-of-sight. This allows him to defeat most foes with ease, but some are not so vulnerable to the laser itself. The gun also drains Cobra's mental energies after extended use. For backup he carries an old-fashioned Magnum revolver.
Buichi Terasawa created the main character based on the famous French actor Jean-Paul Belmondo[citation needed]. Cobra's facial features bear resemblance to Belmondo's, and the peculiar sense of humour Cobra exhibits throughout the story seems to have been inspired by the characters Belmondo played in films.
[edit] Lady Armaroid
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Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. |
[edit] Crystal Boy
Known as Crystal Bowie in Japan[1]. Cobra's archenemy, elegant, ruthless, and cunning. He sees Cobra as the only man worthy of being his adversary. Crystal Boy is a humanoid cyborg with a golden skeleton made from indestructible glass. He works for the mysterious "Guild", lead by Lord Salamandar. Crystal Boy's signature weapon is a claw he can attach to his right hand. It can crush anything, and he also uses it for slitting his victims' throats. The claw has a built in laser gun, can be used as a grappling hook, or fired as a projectile.
[edit] Lord Salamandar
The supreme ruler of the pirates guild. Egnimatic both in name and in personality, Salamandar is a deep voiced man dressed in a samurai's armor. He is more ruthless than any of Cobra's other foes, and with out doubt the most powerful. His powers can best be described as magic or telekenisis. Salamandars true identity is never revealed. His masterplan to rule the entire universe unfolds in the last episode.
[edit] The Royal sisters
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Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. |
[edit] Availability in English
Selected early manga stories were released by Viz from 1990-1991, and featured a dialogue adaptation by Marv Wolfman.
Only the movie has been dubbed into English, with both a U.S. and UK produced dub, with the UK and Australia version featuring a newly recorded soundtrack by Yello from Manga Entertainment UK. The 31 episode TV series has yet to be dubbed into English, although a prospective pilot episode designed to sell the TV series to the U.S. was produced in English. The pilot, featuring original animation, was also written by Marv Wolfman, but has not yet been released in the U.S.
Madman Entertainment and Manga Entertainment lost the licence for Space Adventure Cobra and Madman re-released it under license from TMS. Manga Entertainment UK has recently secured the re-release, distribution and licensing rights for Space Adventure Cobra. They are using Madman Entertainment's cover design and will be using Madman's dvd transfer of Cobra, because Australia and the UK share the same tv and dvd colour formats, and Australia is the only English-speaking country in the world to have Space Adventure Cobra on DVD.
[edit] Toys
Cobra's ground vehicle, the Psychoroid, was included in the Japanese "Machine Robo" toyline by Popy/Bandai, where it was given the ability to transform into a robot. It was later exported to the USA as part of the MR-inspired "Gobots" toyline under the shortened name "Psycho".
[edit] Trivia
Rock musician Matthew Sweet, who scored a hit with his single Girlfriend, used clips from the anime movie version of Space Adventure Cobra for the music video.
[edit] References
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This article does not cite any references or sources. (October 2006) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. |
[edit] Notes
[edit] External links
- Space Adventure Cobra at the Internet Movie Database (entry for the movie)
- "Space Adventure Cobra" at the Internet Movie Database (entry for the TV series)
