is a
space-operaSpace opera is a subgenre of speculative fiction or science fiction that emphasizes romantic, often melodramatic adventure, set mainly or entirely in space, generally involving conflict between opponents possessing powerful technologies and abilities...
mangaManga consist of comics and print cartoons , in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 20th century...
series written and illustrated by
Buichi TerasawaBuichi Terasawa is a mangaka. His most famous works are Goku Midnight Eye and Space Adventure Cobra....
of the Black Sheep studio, originally appeared in serialized form in the Japanese
shōnen manga magazine
Weekly Shōnen Jumpis a weekly shōnen manga anthology published in Japan by Shueisha under the Jump line of magazines. The first issue was released with a cover date of July 2, 1968, and it is still circulating. One of the longest-running manga magazines in Japan, it has a circulation of 2.7 million readers...
from 1978 to 1984. The individual chapters were collected and published in 20
tankōbon, with a literal meaning close to "independently appearing book", is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series, though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series...
volumes by
Shueishais a major publisher in Japan. The company was founded in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The following year Shueisha became a separate, independent company. Magazines published by Shueisha include Weekly Shōnen Jump, Weekly Young Jump,...
. 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, is a semimonthly manga anthology published by Shueisha under the Jump line of magazines. Released in Japan on December 20, 1986, the magazine provides serialized chapters of various seinen manga series. The manga series are published under the Jump Comics Deluxe imprint.- History :The magazine...
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 animation, abbreviated , is a term originating from Japanese animation for animated films and series made specially for release in home-video formats...
s.
The manga was partially published in the United States in twelve 48-page volumes by
Viz MediaViz Media, LLC, headquartered in San Francisco, California, United States, is an anime, manga and Japanese entertainment company founded in 1986 as Viz, LLC. In 2005, the Viz, LLC...
in 1990. 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 trade-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 women 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
revolverA revolver is a repeating firearm that has a cylinder containing multiple chambers and at least one barrel for firing. As the user cocks the hammer, the cylinder revolves to align the next chamber and round with the hammer and barrel, which gives this type of firearm its name...
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 fourth.
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
functions as the main protagonist and eponymous character of the series. His signature weapon is the "Psycho-gun"—a cybernetic arm-laser connected directly to his brain and capable of targeting enemies without having a
line-of-sightLine-of-sight may refer to:* Line-of-sight propagation, electro-magnetic waves travelling in a straight line* Line of sight...
. Though using the Psycho-gun drains his mental energies, Cobra's superhuman stamina makes up for it. He also carries a "
PythonThe Colt Python is a .357 Magnum caliber revolver manufactured by Colt's Manufacturing Company of Hartford, Connecticut. The Colt Python targets the premium revolver segment. Some firearm collectors and writers such as Jeff Cooper, Ian V...
77
MagnumMagnum Research Inc. is a privately held corporation based in Fridley, Minnesota. The majority owners, Jim Skildum and John Risdall , have been associated with the company since its founding in 1979....
"
revolverA revolver is a repeating firearm that has a cylinder containing multiple chambers and at least one barrel for firing. As the user cocks the hammer, the cylinder revolves to align the next chamber and round with the hammer and barrel, which gives this type of firearm its name...
as a backup weapon. In the anime adaptation, Cobra is voiced by
Nachi Nozawais a male seiyū, actor, and director from Tokyo.-Television animation:*Monkey Typhoon *Reign *Glass Mask *Mobile Fighter G Gundam...
, in the North American English dub, he is voiced by
Dan WorenDaniel E. Woren is an American voice actor who is also known as Jackson Daniels, Warren Daniels, Dan Warren, Daniel Woren, and Dan Worren...
, and in the Swedish dubbing he is voiced by
Tomas BolmeTomas Robert Olof Bolme is a Swedish actor. He is famous for being the Swedish voice of Tintin, and he is also the voice of the anime hero Cobra. He studied at Teaterhögskolan in Stockholm during the years 1966 to 1969. Bolme has performed at Fria Proteatern, Royal Dramatic Theatre, Stockholm City...
.
, 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 one another'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
MarsFictional representations of Mars have been popular for over a century. Interest in Mars has been stimulated by the planet's dramatic red color, by early scientific speculations that its surface conditions might be capable of supporting life, and by the possibility that Mars could be colonized by...
. 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 Japan, and by Joan-Carol O'Donnal in the United States.
belongs to the Milky Way patrol of the Royal sisters, the triplet daughters of Captain Nelson. The royal sisters have maps tattooed on each other, leading to treasure. Jane has a tattoo of a butterfly on her back, a piece of the treasure map. She is voiced by
Toshiko Fujitais a Japanese seiyū. She currently works at Aoni Production.-Roles:*Bonobono in the first Bonobono film*Cross in Ginga Nagareboshi Gin*Corazón Muto in Allison & Lillia...
in Japan, and by
Barbara GoodsonBarbara Goodson is an American voice actress known for her dubbing of various anime, as well as doing the voice of Rita Repulsa in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Power Rangers: Zeo, and Power Rangers in Space.Goodson has live-action Power Rangers voice-over credits...
in the United States.
, one of the Milky Way patrol of the Royal sisters, posesses great strength and co-operates well with Cobra.
Gara Takashimais a veteran seiyū who works for Across Entertainment. She is married to Banjō Ginga.- Dubbing :* Cate Hennessy in 8 Simple Rules* Tawnia Baker in The A-Team* Anna Leonowens in Anna and the King* Lorraine Baines McFly in Back to the Future...
voiced her in Japan and
Wendee LeeWendee Lee is an American voice actress. While she has done voice work for many video games, as well as several episodes in the Power Rangers franchise, she is particularly prolific in the dubbing of anime, where she has more credits than any other English voice-over actor with 223 credits, as of...
in the United States.
also forms part of the Milky Way patrol — as the third of the Royal sisters.
Yuko SasakiYuko Sasaki is a Japanese cricketer who played for Japan in 2003....
voiced her character in Japan, and
Mari DevonMari Devon is an American voice actress who is also known as Jane Alan.-Anime Roles:* 8 Man After - Sachiko* Babel II - Juju* Battle B-Daman - B-DaMage* The Big O - Vice-President Mari Devon (born 1960) is an American voice actress who is also known as Jane Alan.-Anime Roles:* 8 Man After -...
in the United States.
, 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 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 was voiced by Kiyoshi Kobayashi in Japan.
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 Japan, and by Catherine Bettistone in the United States.
, 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.
functions as Cobra's personal robot butler.
Manga
Shueishais a major publisher in Japan. The company was founded in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The following year Shueisha became a separate, independent company. Magazines published by Shueisha include Weekly Shōnen Jump, Weekly Young Jump,...
's Japanese
shōnen manga magazine
Weekly Shōnen Jumpis a weekly shōnen manga anthology published in Japan by Shueisha under the Jump line of magazines. The first issue was released with a cover date of July 2, 1968, and it is still circulating. One of the longest-running manga magazines in Japan, it has a circulation of 2.7 million readers...
originally serialized the
Cobra manga from 1978 through 1984 and released it under the magazine's
Jump Comics line in
tankōbon, with a literal meaning close to "independently appearing book", is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series, though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series...
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 MediaViz Media, LLC, headquartered in San Francisco, California, United States, is an anime, manga and Japanese entertainment company founded in 1986 as Viz, LLC. In 2005, the Viz, LLC...
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 WolfmanMarvin A. "Marv" Wolfman is an award-winning American comic book writer. He is best known for lengthy runs on The Tomb of Dracula, creating Blade for Marvel Comics, and The New Teen Titans for DC Comics.-1960s:...
. The comic book issues that were released by
Viz MediaViz Media, LLC, headquartered in San Francisco, California, United States, is an anime, manga and Japanese entertainment company founded in 1986 as Viz, LLC. In 2005, the Viz, LLC...
, 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
TaiwanTaiwan , also known as Formosa , is the largest island of the Republic of China in East Asia. Taiwan is located east of the Taiwan Strait, off the southeastern coast of mainland China...
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: which spanned two volumes, which spanned two volumes, and 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 was even adaptated into a
e-bookAn e-book , as known as a digital book, is an e-text that forms the digital media equivalent of a conventional printed book, sometimes protected with a digital rights management system...
, , 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, is a semimonthly manga anthology published by Shueisha under the Jump line of magazines. Released in Japan on December 20, 1986, the magazine provides serialized chapters of various seinen manga series. The manga series are published under the Jump Comics Deluxe imprint.- History :The magazine...
also published several follow-up series of
Cobra. The first was entitled , 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 Factoryis a Japanese publisher. It was founded on December 1, 1986, and its headquarters are situated in Chūō, Tokyo. It is a subsidiary of Recruit Co., Ltd...
in 2008 for the series' 30th anniversary.
Cobra: Seinaru Kishi Densetsu was also published in Taiwan by Tong Li Publishing. Later, , a fully colored "
computer graphicsComputer graphics are graphics created using computers and, more generally, the representation and manipulation of pictorial data by a computer....
" 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 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 for the release. After the re-release of that manga, Media Factory published a single volume follow-up to the previous, Media Factory went on and published several more
Cobra one-shots: , , , and , 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 EntertainmentManga Entertainment is a producer, licensor and distributor of Japanese animation in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France, Australia and New Zealand.Manga Entertainment was founded by Andy Frain for Chris Blackwell's Island Records in 1991...
then released the film — adapted into English as
Space Adventure Cobra by
Urban Vision EntertainmentUrban Vision Entertainment, Inc. works in Japanese animation . The company was formed in July 1996 by Mataichiro Yamamoto, and is located in Los Angeles, California. Their goal is to mix an American storyline with Japanese animation. Urban Vision licenses and distributes anime with a darker...
and translated by the original Japanese company. The movie was released in Australia and New Zealand by
Madman EntertainmentMadman Entertainment is an Australian company which specialises in the distribution of Japanese anime and manga in Australia and New Zealand. The company is owned by the ASX listed Funtastic Limited and Madman Entertainment is one of the major entertainment companies in Australia, along with Warner...
, in France by Déclic Images and in Brazil by Flashstar. Footage from the movie was used in
Matthew SweetSidney Matthew Sweet is an American alternative rock/power pop musician. He was part of the burgeoning Athens, Georgia music scene in the early and mid-1980s before gaining commercial success during the early 1990s...
's
Girlfriend"Girlfriend" is a hit single by American musician Matthew Sweet, released in 1991 and taken from the album Girlfriend."Girlfriend" reached number 4 on the Billboard Modern Rock chart. The music video features images from the anime movie Space Adventure Cobra...
music video. The series was later adaptated into a anime series, an alternate retelling of the movie. The
animeis animation originating in Japan. The world outside Japan regards anime as "Japanese animation". Anime originated about 1917.Anime, like manga , has a large audience in Japan and high recognition throughout the world...
adaptation, began airing by TMS Entertainment in 1982, the same year the anime was announced. The anime was directed by
Osamu Dezakiis a Japanese director of anime born on November 18, 1943 in Shinagawa, Tokyo, Japan. For another name "斉九洋," "松戸 完 Matsudo Kan," "矢吹 徹 Yabuki Toru." His older brother is Satoshi Dezaki, who is also anime director....
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 animation, abbreviated , is a term originating from Japanese animation for animated films and series made specially for release in home-video formats...
s and one TV series which were put under the
Cobra the Animation line. The first of the series was , a sequel of the original anime series, followed by its sequal OVA , in turn to be followed by the upcoming anime series . All three of the anime were made for the series' 30th anniversary.
PopyPopy Popy Popy (ポピー）was a Japanese toy manufacturer of the 1970s and early 1980s. The company was owned by Bandai. It was founded in 1971, and merged back into the parent company in 1983...
and
Bandaiis a Japanese toy making company, as well as the producer of a large number of plastic model kits. It is the world's third largest producer of toys. Some ex-Bandai group companies produce anime and tokusatsu programs....
included Cobra's ground vehicle, the Psychoroid, in the Japanese
Machine Robois a Japanese transforming robot toyline first released in 1982 by Popy, a division of Bandai, then later by Bandai proper. The franchise was marketed as Robo Machine in Europe, and Machine Men in Australia...
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 GobotsGobots was a line of transforming robot toys produced by Tonka from 1983 to 1987, similar to Transformers.-History:The Gobot toyline was based on figures produced by Popy of Japan , named Machine Robo...
toyline under the shortened name "Psycho", designed by Murakami Katsushi.
Original TV series
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- The Great King of Bad Galtan
- The Friend of The Dragon's Crystal!
- In Hell! Rug-Ball!
- The Good-For-Nothing Team
- Death Game! At 0078!
- Will The Victory Home-Run Be Ours!?
- Mortal Fight! The Terrible Sand Sea
- The Two Kings of The Sword
- The Underground Visitors
- Tomb at the Bottom of the Ocean
- Would You Care for a Robot?
- Cobra died!?
- Letting the war to others.
- Evil Emperor! Salamander
- Cobra returning the hate
- The North Pole Man — Warm blooded.
- How to defeat Salamander
- Bye! My Cobra!
Video games
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-16The TurboGrafx-16 , known in Japan as the , is a video game console developed by Hudson Soft and NEC, released in Japan on October 30, 1987, and in North America on August 29, 1989....
in America) entitled . This was followed by , also for the PC Engine, which was released in the United States for the Sega CD as
The Space Adventure - Cobra: The Legendary BanditThe Space Adventure - Cobra: The Legendary Bandit also known simply as The Space Adventure is the title of an adventure game released for the TurboGrafx 16 in Japan in 1991 and internationally for the Sega CD in 1994...
. In 2005,
Namco Bandai Games, also known by the publishing label Surge, is an arcade and home video game developer and publisher based in Japan which is the product of a merger between the video game development divisions of Bandai and Namco. Namco Bandai Games is a wholly owned subsidiary of Namco Bandai Holdings and...
developed a video arcade game based on the series,
Cobra the Arcade. Recently in 2008, many games were developed for the
mobile phoneA mobile phone or mobile is a long-range, electronic device used for mobile telecommunications...
by WorkJam based on the
Cobra storyline: , , , , and .
Pachinkois a Japanese gaming device used for amusement and gambling. A pachinko machine resembles a vertical pinball machine, but with no flippers and a large number of relatively small balls. The player fires a ball up into the machine, controlling only its initial speed. The ball then cascades down...
developer Newgin created a
Cobra-based pachinko game called
CR Cobra, and for the 30th anniversary has made a sequal called . Cobra, Crystal Boy, and Lady Armaroid served as newly included support characters in
Jump Ultimate Starsis a fighting video game developed by Ganbarion and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS. It is the sequel to Jump Super Stars, also released for the DS. The game was released in Japan on November 23, 2006...
published by
Nintendois a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel...
.
Artbooks
The
Cobra manga has become the basis of two
artbookAn art book is a collection of leaves of paper, parchment, or other material, bound together along one edge within covers. An artbook is not a literary piece but is a collection of images and graphics. Artbooks are almost often collections of a given topic, be it of a genre like fine art...
s. 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 under
Super Jump's Jump Comics Deluxe line.
Reception
Ivevei Upatkoon of
EX magazine praised the
Cobra manga series as a "rich fantasy" that mostly no one could find equal to any other. He felt the main character took "after
James BondJames Bond 007 is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. The character has also been used in the longest running and most financially successful English language film franchise to date, starting in 1962 with Dr...
, albeit somewhat on the silly side, and the costumes and bizarre worlds are but a shade shy of plagiarizing
BarbarellaBarbarella is a 1968 erotic science fiction film directed by Roger Vadim and based on the French Barbarella comics from Jean-Claude Forest.-Plot:Set in the 40th century, Barbarella follows the adventures of its title character played by Jane Fonda...
. He 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 avoid the stereotypical random beautiful women, and instead creates his 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.
Anime News NetworkAnime News Network is an anime industry news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, Japanese popular music and other otaku-related culture within North America, Australia and Japan. Additionally, it sometimes features similar happenings throughout the Anglosphere and elsewhere in the...
of Australia gave the film adaptation a generally positive review with an overall B-rating. Tim Henderson praised the English-translated film for staying very true to the 1978 manga series and "holding its own with a modern audience." Tim stated that the series carries a "love as a power beyond compare" theme to it, which battles with the main character's playboy-ish air. On the upside, Tim Henderson said that the dub and the original Japanese voices are almost like a history lesson when compared. Overall, Tim said the movie remains a masterpiece and classic that is worth sitting to get to know the mediums foundations. The online
Sci-Fi Magazine of the
Sci Fi ChannelSyfy is an American cable television channel launched on September 24, 1992, that specializes in science fiction, fantasy, horror, and paranormal programming. It is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBC Universal...
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, Tasha said that the characters are nothing more than shallow stereotypes. Tasha went on and said, just like the previous reviewer, "magical-energetic-power-of-love" does not work with the movie, but however 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 with a "5" rating. Charles said the plot is overall, pure nonsense. He explained that the animation looks like that of a
saturday morning cartoonA Saturday morning cartoon is the colloquial term for the animated television programming which was typically scheduled on Saturday mornings on the major American television networks from the 1960s to the 1990s. In the United States, the generally accepted times considered to be Saturday mornings...
. On the upside he said that the animation also crosses between that of a 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
bootlegA bootleg recording is an audio and/or video recording of a performance that was not officially released by the artist, or under other legal authority. The process of making and distributing such recordings is known as bootlegging...
. 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 however he states the movie has a "cheesy, easygoing charm" that makes him smile. He states 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 SoloHan Solo, played by Harrison Ford, is a fictional smuggler and "reckless mercenary" in the Star Wars franchise. Introduced in the film Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope , Solo and his Wookiee first mate, Chewbacca , become involved in the Rebel Alliance against the evil Galactic Empire...
" with a similar personality. He praised the dubbing of the film and the animation.
External links