is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Buichi Terasawa. Set in the far future, the series tells the story of Cobra, who lives an adventurous life until his enemies begin to hunt him down. Cobra surgically alters his face and erases his own memory to hide from his foes and have a normal life. Eventually, he regains his memories and reunites with his former partner Lady Armaroid. Terasawa devised it as a mix of Spaghetti Western and samurai stories, and aspects of films, varying from James Bond to Disney.
The manga was originally serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump from November 1978 to November 1984. Later, Shueisha collected the chapters and published them in 18 volumes. The Cobra manga spawned various sequel manga series, one-shots, a 1982 feature-length anime film, two anime television series (a 31-episode series in 1982, and a 13-episode series in 2010), two original video animations (OVAs) in 2008–2009, audio albums, video games, and other merchandise.
In the United States, portions of the manga were published by Viz Media in 1990 and the complete sequel series, alongside full-color remakes of select story arcs from the original manga, was published in Kindle format by Creek & River in 2015. The feature film was licensed by Tara for its release in American theaters and by Manga Entertainment in British theaters in 1995. Urban Vision and Discotek Media released it for home video market, while Madman Entertainment acquired it for the Australasian region's release. The anime series was licensed in North America by Nozomi Entertainment and Discotek Media.
In Japan, the Cobra manga has sold 50 million copies, making it one of Weekly Shōnen Jumps best-selling manga series of all time. Publications for manga, anime and other media have compared the series to Star Wars and Barbarella, and the main character's attitude to James Bond. Its film adaptation received mixed reviews, and the original anime series as well as Cobra the Animation has been well received by reviewers. The anime series was very popular in France in the 1980s and French-speaking filmmakers and studios have attempted to adapt it into live-action films or animated series in the 2000s and in the 2010s.
Plot 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 Corporationa company that enables its customers to experience a dream as though it were a reality. Johnson asks to be a king of a harem and to command a battlestar.
In his dream, however, Johnson instead becomes "Cobra", an adventurer who explores space with his android partner Lady Armaroid. Cobra wields the Psychogun, a cybernetic arm-laser gun, to fight monsters and the Pirate Guild, an organized crime syndicate of pirates. After a battle with the Guild, Cobra allows its leader Captain Vaiken to escape. Vaiken distributes Cobra's picture to other pirates, making him a wanted man. After the dream ends, Johnson describes the fantasy to an attendant, who is surprised because Johnson's dream should not have any reference to pirates or to Cobra.
On his way back home, Johnson crashes into a speeding car whose driver looks like Captain Vaiken. When Johnson mentions the resemblance, the driver reveals himself as Vaiken. He asks Johnson about "Cobra" and threatens to kill Johnson if he does not answer. Johnson unconsciously lifts his arm and a ray shoots out of his hand, killing Vaiken. The shot explodes Johnson's arm, revealing the Psychogun embedded in it.
Johnson rushes home, where Ben notices the weapon on his arm. Johnson then realizes that he remembers nothing from before the last three years. After looking into a mirror, he finds a knob and turns it to reveal a secret room. There, he finds the revolver which he used in his dream. At that moment, armed intruders break into the house and address him as "Cobra". A battle ensues, and Ben's robot shell breaks to reveal Lady Armaroid, with whom Johnson kills the intruders.
Johnson starts to remember his previous existence as Cobra. Hunted by the Pirate Guild for meddling in their criminal enterprises and tired of life on the run, Cobra surgically altered his face and had his memories erased. Lady Armaroid tells Cobra that the Trip Movie has triggered his subconscious to regain access to the memories of his former life. Cobra and Lady Armadroid resume their adventurous life together.
Main characters : the title character, whose left arm has been replaced by a mind-controlled energy cannon. : a female android, Cobra's partner most of the time. The Royal sisters: , , . : a recurring enemy of Cobra, whose body is entirely composed of a special, very resistant glass (hence his name). : first serves as the leader of the local branch of the Pirate Guild on her home planet. Cobra's archenemy, the ultimate leader of the Pirate Guild with powerful psychic powers, revealed after his death to be an incarnation of Adolf Hitler's soul.
Production
Cobra is Buichi Terasawa's debut manga series. Previously he had written and illustrated between twenty and thirty science-fiction (targeted towards girls) short stories for manga contests held by manga magazines, with one of them earning an honorable mention. Terasawa created Cobra by combining the Spaghetti Western subgenre and Japanese stories featuring a "wandering swordsman".
Terasawa wanted to create a hero who would be able to carry a concealed weapon and then the Psychogun was created before the titular character. His concept of a hero has been greatly influenced by "spaghetti westerns with a James Bond-type spin to them." Also from Bond series came the concept of several women who circulate around Cobra. For Cobra, he also drew inspiration from the French actor Jean-Paul Belmondo and his "phlegmatic style", specifically from his characters on Breathless (1960) and That Man from Rio (1964). The then rising actresses Dominique Sanda and Catherine Deneuve also inspired the names of the Royal Sisters. One of Cobra's main enemies, Crystal Bowie, was named as a tribute to English musician David Bowie.An interview given to Kyoto Channel's program on June 1, 2008.
In general, Terasawa has been influenced by films, including Star Trek, René Laloux's animations, the James Bond film series, Akira Kurosawa's films, and Disney films prior to The Little Mermaid (1989). For example, Jane Fonda's performance in the cult science-fiction film Barbarella (1968) served as a direct model for his character Jane, whose hairstyle was also inspired by Princess Aurora's in the Disney animated film Sleeping Beauty (1959). For his storytelling, panel layout, and narrative pacing in general, he draws influence from Osamu Tezuka, a manga artist who mentored him. Terasawa declared, "Without him,... Cobra would never have existed.
Media Manga Written and illustrated by Buichi Terasawa, Cobra was first published in 1977 in Shueisha's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump as a one-shot edition. It was later serialized for six years, running from the November 6, 1978, issue to the November 12, 1984, issue of Weekly Shōnen Jump, and released under the magazine's Jump Comics line in eighteen volumes between August 15, 1979, and August 15, 1985. Cobra was re-published from February 10, 1988, to November 10, 1998, in a ten-volume aizōban edition under Jump Comics Deluxe entitled Space Adventure Cobra.
The manga series was only partially released in the United States by Viz Communications in 1990 in a series of twelve books. This English-language publication covered the origin story and the Royal Sisters' saga, with dialogue adapted by the American comic book writer Marv Wolfman and published under Viz Communications' Viz Select Comics line. In 2015, Creek & River released the complete full-color CG sequel series alongside full-color CG remakes of select story arcs from the original manga in the US in a 15-volume full-color Kindle edition. The complete manga was printed in several other countries. In France, the manga was first published by Dynamic Visions, and later reprinted by Taifu Comics. Its first volume was released in the 1990s Brazil by Dealer, being one of the first manga to be published in the country. The manga was also published in Italy by Play Press, in Taiwan by Tong Li, in Hong Kong by Culturecom, and in Thailand by Vibulkij.
Shueisha released Cobra in kanzenban form with the title Space Adventure Cobra: Handy Editionwhich included volumes one through tenfrom October 19, 2001, to February 4, 2002. Shueisha later created three kanzenban magazine series based on the Cobra manga under their Shueisha Jump Remix line. , which spanned two volumes, was published on October 7 and 21, 2002; , which spanned two volumes, was published on November 2 and 18, 2002; and , which spanned three volumes, was published from June 9 to July 7, 2003. Media Factory also published Cobra in a kanzenban edition; it was simply called , and spawned twelve volumes released between August 23, 2005, and June 23, 2006. Cobra was also sold as an e-book, for a limited time.
Sequels and spin-offs The manga magazine Super Jump published several Cobra sequel or spin-off series. The first was titled which was serialized in 1986 in a special issue of Weekly Shōnen Jump. It was then published in a single by Shueisha in 1988 under the magazine's Jump Comics Deluxe line. a fully colored "computer graphics" manga, was serialized in Super Jump in 1995. A "computer graphics" sequel called was serialized in Super Jump from 2000 to 2002. Along with several other series serialized in Super Jump, they were published from 1995 to 2002 in Jump Comics Deluxe under the title Space Adventure Cobra.
Space Adventure Cobra: Magic Doll was re-serialized in the Monthly Comic Flapper magazine by Media Factory, and was published under its MF Comics line as and on February 23 and September 22, 2006, respectively. In addition, Media Factory published six Cobra one-shots; the first one, , on March 23, 2006, and the last one, , on April 23, 2009, all of which were also under MF Comics.References for the six one-shots, in order of release:
To celebrate the series' 30th anniversary, sixteen manga were reprinted and released by Media Factory; on May 23, 2008, and were released, and Magic Doll concluded it, with its release on July 7, 2009.References for the sixteen manga, in order of release:
From October 25, 2014, to June 13, 2015, Media Factory is republishing Cobra the Space Pirate through its MFR Series.References for the MFR Series republication of Cobra the Space Pirate:
Thanks to requests, Terasawa announced in February 2016 he would create a new saga for Cobra. He aimed to deal with the unsolved plot of the strange resemblance of two female characters—Dominique and Secret. More than three years later, in November 2019, Comic Flapper magazine's official Twitter account announced the release of Cobra: Over the Rainbow. A sequel to the original manga, it started to be released digitally on November 19 through Kadokawa Corporation's Comic Walker and Niconico Manga websites under the Comic Hu label. The sixth and latest chapter was published on April 19, 2020, before Terasawa's death in September 2023.
Anime Film