| Cobra | |
First printed, 1970s Japanese volume of Cobra |
|
| コブラ (Kobura) |
|
|---|---|
| Genre | Space opera, action |
| Manga | |
| Written by | Buichi Terasawa |
| Published by | Shueisha |
| Demographic | Shōnen |
| Magazine | Weekly Shōnen Jump |
| Original run | 1978 – 1984 |
| Volumes | 18 |
| Manga | |
| Cobra: Seinaru Kishi Densetsu | |
| Written by | Buichi Terasawa |
| Published by | Shueisha |
| Demographic | Seinen |
| Magazine | Super Jump |
| Original run | 1986 – 1988 |
| Volumes | 1 |
| Manga | |
| Space Adventure Cobra | |
| Written by | Buichi Terasawa |
| Published by | Shueisha |
| Demographic | Seinen |
| Magazine | Super Jump |
| Original run | 1995 – 2002 |
| Volumes | 11 |
| Manga | |
| Space Adventure Cobra: Magic Doll | |
| Written by | Buichi Terasawa |
| Published by | Shueisha |
| Demographic | Seinen |
| Magazine | Super Jump Monthly Comic Flapper |
| Original run | 2000 – 2006 |
| Volumes | 2 |
| Anime film | |
| Cobra: Space Adventure | |
| Directed by | Osamu Dezaki |
| Produced by | Tatsuo Ikeuchi |
| Written by | Buichi Terasawa Haruya Yamazaki |
| Music by | Osamu Shōji |
| Studio | TMS Entertainment |
| Licensed by | Manga Entertainment Madman Entertainment |
| Released | July 23, 1982 |
| Runtime | 133 minutes |
| TV anime | |
| Space Cobra | |
| Directed by | Osamu Dezaki |
| Written by | Buichi Terasawa Haruya Yamazaki Kenji Terada Kosuke Miki |
| Studio | TMS Entertainment |
| Licensed by | Urban Vision Entertainment |
| Network | Fuji TV |
| Original run | October 07, 1982 – May 19, 1983 |
| Episodes | 31 |
| Original video animation | |
| Cobra the Animation: The Psychogun | |
| Directed by | Buichi Terasawa |
| Written by | Buichi Terasawa |
| Studio | Guild Project |
| Released | August 29, 2008 – February 27, 2009 |
| Episodes | 4 |
| Original video animation | |
| Cobra the Space Pirate: Time Drive | |
| Directed by | Buichi Terasawa |
| Written by | Buichi Terasawa |
| Studio | Guild Project |
| Released | April 24, 2009 |
| Runtime | June 26, 2009 |
| Episodes | 2 |
| TV anime | |
| Cobra the Animation | |
| Studio | Magic Bus |
| Network | BS 11 Digital |
| Original run | January 2, 2010 – March 27, 2010 |
| Episodes | 13 |
| Game | |
| Publisher | NewGin |
| Genre | Pachinko |
| Platform | Arcade |
| Released | 2003 |
Cobra (コブラ Kobura, sometimes stylized COBRA) is a space-opera manga series written and illustrated by Buichi Terasawa of the Black Sheep studio. The serialized form of Cobra originally appeared the Japanese shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump during 1978–1984. The individual chapters were collected and published in 18 tankōbon volumes by Shueisha.
Set in the far future, the series tells of a man called Cobra, who lived an adventurous life until his enemies began to hunt him down. Cobra surgically altered his face and erased his own memory in order to hide from his foes and lead a normal life. He soon regains his memories and re-unites with his old partner Lady Armaroid and his ship Tortuga. Cobra travels the galaxy, fighting the outlaw Pirate Guild, but also fleeing the law-enforcing Milky Way Patrol. Along with his charm and wit, Cobra survives thanks to his Psycho-Gun, a weapon embodied in his left arm.
The Cobra manga led to nine sequel series, as well as to one-shots serialized in Super Jump and Monthly Comic Flapper. The manga later served as the basis for a feature-length film adaptation, a 31-episode anime series retelling the film's story, and two original video animations.
In 1990 Viz Media published portions of the manga for the United States in twelve 48-page volumes. The full series was published in France by Dybex and later Taifu Comics, in Sweden by Epix Förlag, and in Taiwan by Tong Li Publishing.
Contents |
Some time in the far future, an office worker named Johnson leads a dull and mundane life. One Sunday morning his robotic servant, Ben, suggests that he go to the Trip Movie Corporation, a company that enables their customers to experience a dream as if it were real. Johnson asks to be the king of a harem, surrounded by beautiful women, and commanding a battlestar.
In his dream, Johnson becomes "Cobra", an adventurer who explores space with his android partner Lady Armaroid. Cobra wields the "Psycho-Gun" to fight against monsters from other planets and against the Pirate Guild. After a battle with the Guild, Cobra allows the leader, Captain Vaiken, to escape. Vaiken distributes Cobra's picture to all the other pirates, making him a wanted man. After the dream ends, Johnson describes the fantasy to an attendant, who is surprised since it should have been about being the king of a harem with no reference to pirates or the infamous Cobra.
On his way back home, Johnson crashes into a speeding car. Coming face-to-face with the driver, he is astonished to notice that the man looks identical to Captain Vaiken. When Johnson mentions the resemblance, the driver reveals that he is Vaiken! Vaiken asks Johnson about "Cobra" and even threatens to kill him if he does not answer. Johnson then unconsciously lifts his arm as if he has a gun, and shoots a ray out of his hand, killing Vaiken. The shot blows up his arm, revealing the Psycho-Gun embedded in it!
Johnson hurries home where Ben notices the weapon on his arm. Johnson then realizes that he does not remember anything from before the last three years in which he has lived in his house. After looking into a mirror, he finds and turns a knob to reveal a secret room. There he finds a revolver which he used in his dream. At that moment, armed intruders break into the house and address him as "Cobra". In the course of the battle, Ben's robot shell breaks to reveal Cobra's comrade-in-arms, Lady Armaroid, and together they kill the intruders.
Johnson starts to remember that he really actually used to be Cobra. Hunted by the Pirate Guild for meddling in their criminal enterprises, he soon tired of his life on the run, surgically altered his face and had his memories erased. Lady Armaroid tells Cobra that the Trip Movie has apparently triggered his sub-conscious to bring back his old memories. Together, they resume their life of adventure.
Shueisha's Japanese shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump originally serialized the Cobra manga during 1978–1984[4][5] and released it under the magazine's Jump Comics line in a tankōbon format.[2][6] Cobra also appeared in an aizōban edition under Jump Comics Deluxe entitled Cobra: Space Adventure.[7] The manga series was only partially released in the United States by Viz Media in 1990 in a twelve-issue series of books, with each issue containing 48 pages.[8] This English language publication only covered the origin story and the Royal Sisters' saga, with dialogue adapted by the American comic book writer Marv Wolfman. The comic book issues that were released by Viz Media (then known as "Viz Communications") were published under their Viz Select Comics line.[3] The complete manga was published in several other countries. In France, the manga was first published by Dybex in 1998, and later reprinted by Taifu Comics. The manga was also published in Sweden by Epix Förlag, and in Taiwan by Tong Li Publishing.
Shueisha released Cobra in kanzenban form with the title Space Adventure Cobra: Handy Edition, which included volumes one through ten.[2][6] Shueisha later created three kanzenban magazine series based on the Cobra manga under their Shueisha Jump Remix line: Irezumi no Onna Hen (刺青の女編) which spanned two volumes, Lag Ball Hen (ラグ・ボール編) which spanned two volumes, and Shido no Megami Hen (シドの女神編) which spanned three volumes. The magazines were issued in 2002 and 2003.[9] Media Factory, in addition to the publication of Magic Doll for the manga's 30th anniversary, also released a kanzenban magazine based on the Cobra story, simply called Cobra Kanzenban (COBRA完全版).[2][6] Cobra was also sold as an e-book, Space Adventure Cobra: Galaxy Knights (SPACE ADVENTURE COBRA〜ギャラクシーナイツ) for a limited time.[2][6]
Cobra 30th anniversary whiskey bottles were sold by Charassyu for a limited time.[10]
The seinen manga-magazine Super Jump published several follow-up series of Cobra. The first was titled Cobra: Seinaru Kishi Densetsu (コブラ〜聖なる騎士伝説, lit. "Cobra: Legend of the Holy Knight"), which was serialized in the magazine in 1986 in an off-shoot special issue of Weekly Shōnen Jump. It was then published in a single tankōbon by Shueisha in 1988 under the magazine's Jump Comics Deluxe line.[2][6] The manga was reprinted in Japan by Media Factory in 2008 for the series' 30th anniversary. Cobra: Seinaru Kishi Densetsu was published in Taiwan by Tong Li Publishing. Space Adventure Cobra: The Psychogun (SPACE ADVENTURE COBRA〜ザ・サイコガン), a fully colored "computer graphics" manga, was serialized in Super Jump in 1995 and was published in a single tankōbon under the same line.[2][6] A "computer graphics" follow-up called Space Adventure Cobra: Magic Doll (SPACE ADVENTURE COBRA〜マジックドール) was serialized in Super Jump in 2000.[2][6][11] Space Adventure Cobra: Magic Doll was re-serialized in the Monthly Comic Flapper magazine by Media Factory, and was published under their MF Comics line as Cobra the Space Pirate: Magic Doll Mae Kōhen (COBRA THE SPACE PIRATE マジックドール前・後編) for the release. After the re-release of that manga, Media Factory published a single volume follow-up titled Cobra the Space Pirate: Darkness God (COBRA THE SPACE PIRATE 黒竜王).[2][6] Media Factory published several other Cobra one-shots: Cobra the Space Pirate: Ragball (COBRA THE SPACE PIRATE ラグボール),[12] Cobra the Space Pirate: God's Eyes (COBRA THE SPACE PIRATE 神の瞳),[13] Cobra the Space Pirate: The Psychogun Kōhen (COBRA THE SPACE PIRATE ザ・サイコガン 後編),[14] and Cobra the Space Pirate: The Psychogun Zenpen (COBRA THE SPACE PIRATE ザ・サイコガン 前編), all of which were also under MF Comics.[15]
TMS Entertainment adapted the manga into a movie titled Cobra: Space Adventure (distinct from the previously mentioned aizōban). Manga Entertainment then released the film, adapted into English as Space Adventure Cobra by Urban Vision Entertainment and translated by the original Japanese company. The Manga UK version's dub had an alternate soundtrack from the pop group Yello. The movie was released in Australia and New Zealand by Madman Entertainment, in France by Déclic Images, and in Brazil by Flashstar. Matthew Sweet's Girlfriend music video used footage from the movie.[16] The series was later adaptated into an anime series with an alternate retelling of the movie. The anime adaptation, Space Cobra (スペースコブラ) was aired by TMS Entertainment beginning in 1982, the same year the anime was announced.[2][6] The anime was directed by Osamu Dezaki and produced by Tatsuo Ikeuchi. The Space Cobra anime was released in box-set form, sub-titled "Perfect Collection". In 2000, the series was released in a DVD box set.[2][6] In addition to the movie, Space Cobra was released in English by Urban Vision Entertainment under the same title as the film.[17] Space Cobra was licensed in French by Olivier Constantin and in Spanish by Roberto Alexander. The series has led to two follow-up original video animations and one TV series which were published under the Cobra the Animation line.[18] The first of the series was Cobra the Animation: The Psychogun (COBRA THE ANIMATION ザ・サイコガン), a sequel of the original anime series, followed by its sequel OVA Cobra the Animation: Time Drive (COBRA THE ANIMATION タイム・ドライブ), followed by the anime series Cobra the Animation: Rokunin no Yūshi (COBRA THE ANIMATION 六人の勇士). These three anime were created for the series' 30th anniversary.[19]
Popy and Bandai included Cobra's ground vehicle, the Psychoroid, in the Japanese Machine Robo toyline, where it gained the ability to transform into a robot. Japan later exported this idea to the United States as part of the Super Gobots toyline under the shortened name "Psycho", designed by Murakami Katsushi.[20]
In 1982 Popy electronics created "Space Cobra Professional" with a flip-out design (similar to travel alarm clocks), and 2 screens ([1], [2]). The success of the series led to arcade and video-game adaptations. The first video game was developed in 1989 for the PC Engine (TurboGrafx-16 in America) titled Cobra: Kokuryū ō no Densetsu (コブラ〜黒竜王の伝説). This was followed by Cobra 2: Densetsu no Otoko (コブラ2〜伝説の男) for the PC Engine,[2][6] which was released in the United States and Europe for the Mega-CD (Sega CD in America) as The Space Adventure - Cobra: The Legendary Bandit.[21] In 2005, Namco Bandai Games developed a video arcade game based on the series, Cobra the Arcade.[2][6][22] In 2008, many games were developed for the mobile phone by WorkJam based on the Cobra storyline: Space Adventure Cobra: The Psychogun (SPACE ADVENTURE COBRA ザ・サイコガン), Space Adventure Cobra: Galaxy Knights (SPACE ADVENTURE COBRA ギャラクシー・ナイツ), Space Adventure Cobra: Ōgon no Tobira (SPACE ADVENTURE COBRA 黄金の扉), Space Adventure Cobra: Blue Rose (SPACE ADVENTURE COBRA ブルーローズ), and Space Adventure Cobra: Time Drive (SPACE ADVENTURE COBRA タイム・ドライブ).[23] Pachinko developer Newgin created a Cobra-based pachinko game called CR Cobra,[2][6] and for the 30th anniversary a sequel was created titled CR Cobra: Owari Naki Gekitō (CR COBRA〜終わりなき劇闘〜).[24] Cobra, Crystal Boy, and Lady Armaroid served as newly included support characters in Jump Ultimate Stars published by Nintendo.[25][26]
The Cobra manga has become the basis of two artbooks. Concept designs of the manga were added to a Cobra artbook titled Cobra Wonder: Concept Design Arts of Cobra World.[27] An artbook focusing on the female characters of the series was released as Cobra Girls: Takeichi Illust-Kessakushū (COBRA GIRLS―寺沢武一イラスト傑作集) under Super Jump's Jump Comics Deluxe line.[28]
Alexandre Aja plans to direct a live-action film adaptation of Cobra.[29] On April 30, 2011 ComingSoon.net unveiled a teaser poster depicting promotional concept art for Cobra: The Space Pirate that was featured on the cover of the international edition of Variety magazine for the month of May 2011.[30] Aja was inspired to create this film adaptation because the original sci-fi manga, was one of his childhood favorites.[31]
Ivevei Upatkoon of EX online magazine praised the Cobra manga series as a "rich fantasy" that was unmatched by any other. She felt the main character took "after James Bond, albeit somewhat on the silly side, and the costumes and bizarre worlds are but a shade shy of plagiarizing Barbarella." She was impressed that the series "is surprisingly devoid of the sexual innuendo and exploitation that anime fans have come to associate with decorative female characters" in that it avoids the stereotypical random beautiful women, and instead creates its own "extreme" world that features "superhuman strength, superhuman senses, fantastically grotesque monsters, inhumanly powerful villains and gorgeous sidekicks." However, Upatkoon noted that modern readers might find the manga so dated they would be discouraged from reading it, despite a growing improvement in artistic quality as the series progresses.[32] The English version of Cobra was also named as one of the "The Top 25 Translated-To-English Manga of All Time" by Wizard magazine.[33]
The anime film has received mixed reviews from many critics. Tim Henderson from Anime News Network of Australia gave the film adaptation a generally positive review with an overall B-rating. He praised the English-translated film for staying very true to the 1978 manga series and "holding its own with a modern audience." Henderson stated that the series carries a "love as a power beyond compare" theme to it, which battles with the main character's playboyish air. Henderson said that the dub and the original Japanese voices are almost like a history lesson when compared. Overall, Henderson judged the movie to be a masterpiece and classic that is worth viewing to know the medium's foundations.[34] The online Sci-Fi Magazine of the Sci Fi Channel gave a fair review for the film. Tasha Robinson of Sci-Fi praised the movie for its psychedelic imagery and its energetic plot. Robinson approved of the movie's visual weight and texture. However, Robinson said that the characters are nothing more than shallow stereotypes. Robinson added that "magical-energetic-power-of-love" does not work with the movie, but it is a "classic head trip" and "the surface is only what matters."[16]
Charles Packer of Sci-Fi Online gave the film adaptation a negative review. Packer regarded the plot as pure nonsense. He explained that the animation looks like a saturday morning cartoon. Packer did say that the animation also crosses between that of an old anime and a new one, complete with interesting "psychedelic moments." He said the dialogue is almost laughable, however the voice actors are decent in both languages. Packer complained that the disc contained no extras aside from the trailers, one of which looked as if it came from a bootleg.[35] Matt of the Sci-Fi-London Film Festival website gave the film a very positive review. Matt explained that he should seriously hate the movie but stated that the movie has a "cheesy, easygoing charm" that made him smile. He stated that the movie has a very straightforward plot, screams "cliché" to him, and is old enough to have invented some of those clichés. Complimenting the film, he said that the main character is like the "animation equivalent of Han Solo" with a similar personality. He praised the dubbing of the film and the animation.[36]
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||