Cobra (manga)

Cobra (コブラ) is a space-opera manga series written and illustrated by Buichi Terasawa of the Black Sheep studio, originally appeared in serialized form in the Japanese shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1978 to 1984. The individual chapters were collected and published in 18 tankōbon volumes by Shueisha.

The series follows the adventures of Cobra who lived an ordinary life until enemies started to hunt him down. Cobra surgically alters his face, and erases his own memory to hide from his enemies. Cobra starts to regain his memories and then unites with his old partner Lady Armaroid and his ship Tortuga. Later in his adventures, Cobra meets the Royal sisters whose map-tattoos lead to treasure.

The Cobra manga has also spawned nine sequel series, as well as one-shots serialized in Super Jump and Monthly Comic Flapper. The manga later served as the basis for a feature-length film adaptation, for a 31-episode anime series that retells the film's story, and for two original video animations.

In 1990 Viz Media published part of the manga in 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. The series has received mixed reviews from critics.

Plot
Johnson, a worker for a futuristic trading company, got woken up on a Sunday morning by his robotic maid, Ben. Ben suggested that Johnson go to the Trip Movie Corporation (T.M. Company), a company that lets its guests experience a dream as if it were real. Johnson asked to be the king of Harlem, surrounded by beautiful women, and commanding a battlestar. In his dream, Johnson as "Cobra" explored space with his partner Lady Armaroid. Cobra wielded the "Psychogun" and fought off monsters from other planets and most of all the Pirate Guild, the leader being Captain Vaiken whom he let loose. Vaiken distributed Cobra's picture to all the other pirates making him a wanted man. When the dream ended a woman asked Johnson how the dream was, Johnson responding, and the woman correcting to the fact it should have been about him being the king of Harlem.

On Johnson's way back home, he crashed into a man speeding in his car. He recognized the man, who looked identical to Captain Vaiken. Johnson started explaining how he looked like Vaiken right in front of him, thus making Vaiken think he knew something about Cobra. Johnson unconsciously lifted his right arm as if he had a gun. Johnson shot a ray out of his hand, killing Vaiken. The shot blew up his arm, revealing the Psycho-gun. Johnson hurried back home, where Ben noticed his arm and Johnson realized that he did not remember anything from the last three years that he had lived in his house. Johnson looked into a mirror, which he turned a nob to reveal a secret room behind it, which he looked inside to see his revolver which he used in his dream. Lady Armaroid came out from hiding within Ben. Johnson started to remember more, and at that moment many people were recruited by the Pirate Guild to come in and kill Johnson. Johnson killed the recruited people and started to remember that he is Cobra and he was wanted by the Pirate Guild and he was sick of fighting them off. In order to get away from them, Cobra surgically altered his face and had his memories erased. Lady Armariod told Cobra that Trip Movie triggered his sub-conscious and instead brought back old memories. Once more, Lady Armaroid and Cobra set off to all the adventures that come forth.

Cobra later meets Jane Royal, one of the Royal sisters, in a bar. Jane Royal teams up with Cobra and Lady to find the other two Royal sisters, whose tattoo maps lead to the greatest treasure in the whole universe.

Characters

 * Cobra (コブラ) functions as the main protagonist and eponymous character of the series. Buichi Terasawa drew his inspiration for the figure from the French actor Jean-Paul Belmondo, and most especially from the roles he used to play in the 1960s and 70s, while making Cobra a truly new character on his own. Cobra's signature weapon, the "Psycho-gun", a cybernetic arm-laser, connects directly to his brain and can target putative enemies without having a line-of-sight. Though using the Psycho-gun drains his mental energies, Cobra's superhuman stamina makes up for it. He also carries a "Python 77 Magnum" revolver as a backup weapon. Cobra was voiced by the late Nachi Nozawa in the TV series, OVAs, and Cobra the Arcade, Shigeru Matsuzaki in the movie, the late Yasuo Yamada in the PC Engine games, Yūsaku Yara in the PlayStation game, and by Naoya Uchida in Cobra the Animation. In the English dub, he is voiced by Dan Woren.


 * Lady Armaroid (アーマロイド・レディ), Cobra's long-time partner in the adventure, represents the serious half of the duo. She and Cobra share an unspoken but deep trust, and each always comes to the other's aid in times of need. As a top-class Armaroid, a mechanical cyborg, Lady's manufacture derives from advanced technology recovered from an ancient lost civilization of Mars. She possesses superhuman strength but does not carry a weapon and is rarely involved in direct physical combat. When Cobra is off on adventure, Lady typically supports him as the pilot of their spaceship, the Tortuga. Lady Armaroid is voiced by Yoshiko Sakakibara in the TV series, movie, OVAs, Cobra the Arcade, and Cobra the Animation, Etsuko Ishikawa in the PC Engine games, and by Toshiko Fujita in the PlayStation game. In the English dub, she is voiced by Joan-Carol O'Connell.


 * Jane Royal (ジェーン・ロイヤル) is the first of the triplet daughters of Captain Nelson that Cobra gets to meet. Each one of the three sisters have a specific tattoo on their back which, once assembled in a chromatic sequence, form a map leading to a hidden treasure of gold, diamonds and... the fabled Ultimate Weapon. She is voiced by Toshiko Fujita in the TV series, Akiko Nakamura in the movie, and by Masako Katsuki in the PC Engine games. In the English dub, she is voiced by Barbara Goodson.


 * Catherine Royal (キャサリン・ロイヤル) is the second of the triplets that Cobra meets, at the request of Jane who wants her rescued from the Sidoh Penitenciary. She is also the only sister not involved whatsoever in a violent line of work, as she's a peaceful and timid school teacher. She is voiced by Yuko Sasaki in the TV series, Toshiko Fujita in the movie, and by Manami Maruyama in the PC Engine games. In the English dub, she is voiced by Mari Devon.


 * Dominique Royal (ドミニク・ロイヤル), the one of the Royal sisters who serves as an officer in the Milky Way patrol, possesses great strength and co-operates well with Cobra, often looking the other way when her professional duties would commend she arrests him. She even hires him to resolve an unpleasant matter of drug trafficking involving the Rug Ball Federation at the Rand Stadium. She is voiced by Gara Takashima in the TV series, Jun Fubuki in the movie, and by Kazue Komiya in the PC Engine. In the English dub, she is voiced by Wendee Lee.


 * Crystal Boy (クリスタル・ボーイ), Cobra's archenemy, sees Cobra as the only man worthy to become his adversary. Crystal Boy is a humanoid cyborg with a golden skeleton, and has a body made from indestructible polarizing glass. He works for the mysterious "Guild", led by Lord Salamander. 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, and can be used as a grappling hook, or fired as a projectile. Crystal Boy is voiced by Kiyoshi Kobayashi in the TV series and Cobra the Arcade, Gorō Mutsumi in the movie, Tesshō Genda in the PC Engine games, the late Koji Totani in the PlayStation games, and by Hiroki Tōchi in the OVAs. In the English dub, he was voiced by the late Jeff Winkless.


 * Sandra (サンドラ) serves as the captain of the Snow Gorillas and the spy of the Milky Way patrol. Ruthless and cold-hearted, Sandra is voiced by Reiko Tajima in the Japanese versions and by Catherine Bettistone in the English dub.


 * Lord Salamander (ロード・サラマンダー), a deep-voiced man dressed in a samurai's armor, has an enigmatic name and an enigmatic personality. Once he has single-handedly united the Pirates' Guild under his command, Salamander's unquenched ambitions lead him to strive toward absolute control over the galaxy. While he rarely appears in person, he demonstrates powerful telekinetic abilities when he does. It is revealed in the final episode that he is the spirit of Hitler revived 3000 years after his defeat. Lord Salamander is voiced by Hidekatsu Shibata.


 * Ben (ベン) functions as Cobra's personal robot butler.

Manga
Shueisha's Japanese shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump originally serialized the Cobra manga from 1978 through 1984 and released it under the magazine's Jump Comics line in tankōbon format. Cobra also appeared in some additional aizōban editions under Jump Comics Deluxe, entitled Cobra: Space Adventure. The manga series was only partially released in the United States by Viz Media in 1990, in a twelve-issue series of books, each issue containing 48 pages. This English language publication covered the origin story and the Royal Sisters' saga only, with dialogue adapted by famed American comic book writer Marv Wolfman. The comic book issues that were released by Viz Media, then known as "Viz Communications" were put under their Viz Select Comics line. The complete manga was published in several other countries. In France, the manga was published by Dybex in 1998, however they finished the series in 1999, their rights expired, and the manga was collected and reprinted by Taifu Comics. The manga was also published in Sweden by Epix Förlag, and in Taiwan by Tong Li Publishing.

Shueisha also released Cobra in kanzenban form with the title Space Adventure Cobra: Handy Edition, which included volumes one through ten. Shueisha later created three kanzenban magazine series off of 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. Media Factory, in addition to the publication of Magic Doll for the manga's 30th anniversary, also released a kanzenban magazine off of Cobra, simply called Cobra Kanzenban (COBRA完全版). Cobra was even adaptated into a e-book, Space Adventure Cobra: Galaxy Knights (SPACE ADVENTURE COBRA〜ギャラクシーナイツ), however for only a limited time.

The series allegedly received a Hollywood film offer, but this claim remains uncertain and Buichi Terasawa stated that the idea seems "off-the-record." Cobra 30th anniversary whiskey bottles were sold by Charassyu for a limited time.

Sequels
The seinen manga-magazine Super Jump also published several follow-up series of Cobra. The first was entitled Cobra: Seinaru Kishi Densetsu (コブラ〜聖なる騎士伝説), which was serialized in the magazine in 1986 back when it was off-shoot special issue of Weekly Shōnen Jump, and published in a single tankōbon by Shueisha in 1988 under the magazine's Jump Comics Deluxe line. The manga was reprinted in Japan by Media Factory in 2008 for the series' 30th anniversary. Cobra: Seinaru Kishi Densetsu was also published in Taiwan by Tong Li Publishing. Later, 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. Another "computer graphics" follow-up called Space Adventure Cobra: Magic Doll (SPACE ADVENTURE COBRA〜マジックドール) was also serialized in Super Jump in 2000. Space Adventure Cobra: Magic Doll was also re-serialized in the Monthly Comic Flapper magazine by Media Factory and put under their MF Comics line. The manga was retitled to 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 to the previous, Cobra the Space Pirate: Darkness God (COBRA THE SPACE PIRATE 黒竜王) Media Factory went on and published several more Cobra one-shots: Cobra the Space Pirate: Ragball (COBRA THE SPACE PIRATE ラグボール), Cobra the Space Pirate: God's Eyes (COBRA THE SPACE PIRATE 神の瞳), Cobra the Space Pirate: The Psychogun Kōhen (COBRA THE SPACE PIRATE ザ・サイコガン 後編), 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.

Anime
TMS Entertainment adapted the manga into a movie entitled 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 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. The series was later adaptated into an anime series, an alternate retelling of the movie. The anime adaptation, Space Cobra (スペースコブラ) began airing by TMS Entertainment in 1982, the same year the anime was announced. 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. In addition to the movie, Space Cobra was released in English by Urban Vision Entertainment under the same title as the film. Space Cobra was licensed into French by Olivier Constantin and into Spanish by Roberto Alexander. Also, the series has spawned two follow-up original video animations and one TV series which were put under the Cobra the Animation line. 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), in turn followed by the anime series Cobra the Animation: Rokunin no Yūshi (COBRA THE ANIMATION 六人の勇士). All three of the anime were made for the series' 30th anniversary.

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.

Original TV series

 * 1) Resurrection! The Psychogun! (復活！サイコガン)
 * 2) The Mysterious Zygoba! (奇怪！ジゴバ)
 * 3) Long Time Enemy! Crystal Boy (宿敵！クリスタル・ボーイ)
 * 4) Evasion!! The Cido Penitentiary (脱走!!シド刑務所)
 * 5) Who is the Powerful Sniper!? (謎！強敵スナイパーは？)
 * 6) The Magician's Identity! (魔術師の正体!!)
 * 7) Jane's Revenge! (ジェーンの仇！)
 * 8) Final Fight! Cobra vs. Boy (激闘！コブラ対ボーイ)
 * 9) There They Are!! The Snow Gorillas (出現!!海賊スノウ・ゴリラ)
 * 10) The Tattoo's Secret (イレズミの秘密)
 * 11) Zados: The Sand Planet (砂の惑星ザドス)
 * 12) Amazing: The Ultimate Weapon (恐るべし最終兵器)
 * 13) The Death Roullette (死のルーレット)
 * 14) The Great King of Bad Galtan
 * 15) The Friend of The Dragon's Crystal!
 * 16) In Hell! Rug-Ball!
 * 17) The Good-For-Nothing Team
 * 18) Death Game! At 0078!
 * 19) Will The Victory Home-Run Be Ours!?
 * 20) Mortal Fight! The Terrible Sand Sea
 * 21) The Two Kings of The Sword
 * 22) The Underground Visitors
 * 23) Tomb at the Bottom of the Ocean
 * 24) Would You Care for a Robot?
 * 25) Cobra Died!?
 * 26) Letting the war to others!
 * 27) Evil Emperor! Salamander
 * 28) Cobra returning the hate
 * 29) The North Pole Man — Warm blooded.
 * 30) How to defeat Salamander
 * 31) Bye! My Cobra!

Video games
In 1982 Popy electronics made "Space Cobra Professional" with a flip-out design (similar to travel alarm clocks), and 2 screens.

The success of the series also led to some arcade and video-game adaptations. The first video game developed in 1989 was set for the PC Engine (TurboGrafx-16 in America) entitled 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), also for the PC Engine, which was released in the United States for the Sega CD as The Space Adventure - Cobra: The Legendary Bandit. In 2005, Namco Bandai Games developed a video arcade game based on the series, Cobra the Arcade. Recently 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). Pachinko developer Newgin created a Cobra-based pachinko game called CR Cobra, and for the 30th anniversary has made a sequel called CR Cobra: Owari Naki Gekitō (CR COBRA〜終わりなき劇闘〜). Cobra, Crystal Boy, and Lady Armaroid served as newly included support characters in Jump Ultimate Stars published by Nintendo.

Artbooks
The Cobra manga has become the basis of two artbooks. Concept designs of the manga were added to a Cobra artbook entitled Cobra Wonder: Concept Design Arts of Cobra World. 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.

Film adaptation
Alexandre Aja plans to direct a live-action film adaptation of Cobra.

Reception
Ivevei Upatkoon of EX online magazine praised the Cobra manga series as a "rich fantasy" that mostly no one could find equal to 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." On the downside, having reviewed the title in 2000, Upatkoon notes 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. 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.

The anime film has received mixed reviews from many critics. Tim Henderson, of 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. On the upside, Henderson said that the dub and the original Japanese voices are almost like a history lesson when compared. Overall, Henderson said the movie remains a masterpiece and classic that is worth sitting to get to know the medium's foundations. 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 and she praised the movie even more for its visual weight and texture. On the downside, 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."

Charles Packer of Sci-Fi Online gave the film adaptation a negative review. Packer regarded the plot, overall, as pure nonsense. He explained that the animation looks like that of a saturday morning cartoon. On the upside he said 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. He complained the disc contained no extras except for trailers, one of which looked as if it came from a bootleg. 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 and screams “cliché” to him, and is old enough to have invented some. 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.