Cobra | |
Cover of first Japanese volume of Cobra, published by Shueisha on August 15, 1979
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コブラ (Kobura) |
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Genre | Space opera, action |
Manga | |
Written by | Buichi Terasawa |
Published by | Shueisha |
English publisher | |
Demographic | Shōnen |
Magazine | Weekly Shōnen Jump |
Original run | November 6, 1978 – November 12, 1984 |
Volumes | 18 |
Anime television series | |
Space Cobra | |
Directed by |
Osamu Dezaki Yoshio Takeuchi |
Produced by | Shunzo Kato Yukimasa Ohno |
Written by | Haruya Yamazaki |
Music by | Kentarō Haneda |
Studio | TMS Entertainment |
Licensed by | |
Original network | Fuji TV |
Original run | October 7, 1982 – May 19, 1983 |
Episodes | 31 |
Original video animation | |
Cobra the Animation | |
Directed by | Kenichi Maejima |
Produced by | Harumi Suzuki Kensaku Yamanaka Mariko Kusuhara Masako Yoshikawa Masashi Ikeda |
Written by | Mitsuyo Suenaga |
Music by | Yoshihiro Ike |
Studio | Magic Bus |
Licensed by | |
Released | August 29, 2008 – June 26, 2009 |
Episodes | 6 |
Anime television series | |
Cobra the Animation | |
Directed by | Keizo Shimizu |
Produced by | Harumi Suzuki Kensaku Yamanaka Mariko Kusuhara Masako Yoshikawa Masashi Ikeda |
Written by | Kazumi Koide |
Music by | Yoshihiro Ike |
Studio | Magic Bus |
Licensed by | |
Original network | BS11 |
Original run | January 2, 2010 – March 27, 2010 |
Episodes | 13 |
Anime film | |
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 feature-length anime film, two anime series—a 31-episode series in 1982, and a 13-episode series in 2010—, two original video animations (OVAs), audio albums, video games, and other merchandise. In 2010, Alexandre Aja announced that a live-action film was in production.
In the United States, portions of the manga were published by Viz Media in 1990. 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 the Northern American region by Nozomi Entertainment.