Cobra (manga)

Cobra
Cover of first tankōbon volume, featuring Cobra (left) and Lady Armaroid (right)
コブラ
(Kobura)
Genre
Manga
Written byBuichi Terasawa
Published byShueisha
English publisher
ImprintJump Comics
MagazineWeekly Shōnen Jump
DemographicShōnen
Original runNovember 6, 1978 – November 12, 1984
Volumes18
Anime film
Anime television series
Space Cobra
Directed by
Produced by
  • Shunzo Kato
  • Yukimasa Ohno
Written by
Music byKentarō Haneda
StudioTokyo Movie Shinsha
Licensed by
Original networkFuji TV
Original run October 7, 1982 – May 19, 1983
Episodes31 (List of episodes)
Manga
Cobra: Legend of the Holy Knight
Written byBuichi Terasawa
Published byShueisha
ImprintJump Comics Deluxe
MagazineSuper Jump
DemographicSeinen
Original run1986 – 1988
Volumes1
Manga
  • Space Adventure Cobra (Shueisha)
  • Cobra the Space Pirate (Media Factory)
Written byBuichi Terasawa
Published by
English publisherCreek & River (digital)
Imprint
  • Jump Comics Deluxe (Shueisha)
  • MF Comics (Media Factory)
Magazine
DemographicSeinen
Original run1995 – 2006
Volumes
  • 11 (Shueisha)
  • 8 (Media Factory)
Original video animation
Cobra the Animation
Directed by
  • Buichi Terasawa
  • Kenichi Maejima (5–6)
Produced by
  • Harumi Suzuki
  • Kensaku Yamanaka
  • Mariko Kusuhara
  • Masako Yoshikawa
  • Masashi Ikeda
Written by
  • Buichi Terasawa
  • Mitsuyo Suenaga (5–6)
Music byYoshihiro Ike
StudioMagic Bus
Licensed by
Released August 29, 2008 – June 26, 2009
Episodes6 (List of episodes)
Anime television series
Cobra the Animation
Directed byKeizo Shimizu
Produced by
  • Harumi Suzuki
  • Kensaku Yamanaka
  • Mariko Kusuhara
  • Masako Yoshikawa
  • Masashi Ikeda
Written byKazumi Koide
Music byYoshihiro Ike
StudioMagic Bus
Licensed by
  • NA: Sentai Filmworks
Original networkBS11
Original run January 2, 2010 – March 27, 2010
Episodes13 (List of episodes)
Manga
Cobra: Over the Rainbow
Written byBuichi Terasawa
Published byKadokawa Corporation
ImprintComic Hu
Magazine
DemographicSeinen
Original runNovember 19, 2019 – April 19, 2020

Cobra (Japanese: コブラ, Hepburn: Kobura) 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 tankōbon 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 Jump's 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.

  1. ^ a b "Cobra the Animation". Sentai Filmworks. Archived from the original on September 9, 2016. Retrieved May 27, 2018.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference 20min was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference opera was invoked but never defined (see the help page).