Oh man! Did that guy have a laser gun attached to his arm?There’s just so much about space that‘s utterly fascinating--the vast area, unexplored lands, new cultures, and the fact that no one can hear you scream. This can be especially troublesome if you have the genital fortitude to cross Cobra. Cobra is the captain of a spaceship. He works as a thief-for-hire and is on the “Most Wanted” list. The character of Cobra is difficult to describe. It’s like if you mix Han Solo’s ability to charm women, James Bond’s gadgets and ingenuity, and a dash of Lupin III’s thieving skills. Stir it all together and replace one of his arms with a laser gun and you’ll have a pretty good replica. The plot isn’t anything new, but that’s to be expected when the source material is well over 20 year’s old. Cobra is on a mission to steal a jewel from a museum on Earth. As one would expect, the alarms go off when he grabs the jewel. Surprisingly enough, it has nothing to do with the heist. It’s actually because the museum is being invaded by the Pirate Guild.
Professor Utopia, a damsel working on an important study for the government, suddenly gets attacked by Gipsy Doc of the Pirate Guild. Being the chivalrous gentleman that he is, Cobra comes to the rescue. They end up escaping in a helicopter with the help of the Psycho-Gun, which is the name of the gun attached to Cobra’s arm. This is when you learn about the true power behind Cobra and his weird weapon. Since it has the ability to split its energy beam, it allows him to kill multiple enemies in one shot.
After escaping the museum, they realize that the Pirate Guild has learned the secret about Professor Utopia’s research. Let’s just say that fossils are a lot cooler than you originally thought.
There are a few negative things to say about this show. The animation quality is a bit below what you would expect from an OAV made with today’s technology. Also, there has been no news of an American release. This is unfortunate because Cobra is truly an experience to be had, but companies are too busy release crap like Strike Witches to give it the recognition it deserves.
Bottom Line: B
Anime 3000 reviews anime, manga, and games based on specific criteria designated by each medium's respective editor. Anime is reviewed on a scale from F to A+. Series or movies that receive a score of A- or above are considered outstanding, B- to B+ recommendable, C- to C+ average, D- to D+ unrecommended, and F terrible.
All in all: Cobra is a great space opera, with wonderful themes of romance, deception, betrayal, justice, and just general badass-ery. It’s also a very short anime. With only four 30 minutes episodes, Cobra could easy be watched in one sitting. If you’re looking for “manly” anime with a romantic sub-plot in-between all the ass kicking, then this show is for you.
Things you should know: This show is based on a long manga called Space Adventure Cobra. It written by Buichi Terasawa, who was also the director of this show. He studied under late-great Osamu Tezuka at Tezuka.
Coming soon: There’s more Cobra coming during the Spring season. The show is titled Cobra The Animation: Time Drive. The first part will be airing April 24th 2009.
Studio:
Director: Buichi Terasawa
No. of episodes: 4
