Space Adventure Cobra Opening Theme 8 Bit Remix
12i started reading cobra last week so i really don't have the proper grounds as to judge the series on but so far, i like it. i've only read the first volume as of now but i like it enough that i'll probably read the rest.
space adventure cobra is a manga series from i believe 1979 made by buichi terasawa, a fellow who studied under osamu tezuka. the story is about a space pirate named cobra who goes on adventures like the title suggests. in-universe, cobra was this brilliant space pirate with a fucking cannon for a left arm who erased his memory and changed his face five years before the beginning of the story because he got tired of being on the run, becoming a salaryman during that period. the story begins with the recovery of the memories of his past through a dream trip thing, and he immediately goes back to being a pirate with his partner, armaroid lady. it's a fun story, read it if you like stuff like this. the character designs are brilliant and it feels reminicent of what you'd expect of something typically written by go nagai, just with way more polish than 90% of nagai's work. i like nagai but most of the stuff he did really wasn't super good. even the stuff of his i like the most like violence jack and the various mazinger series have a lot of glaring issues. cobra has perfect pacing so far, great character designs and writing, and fantastic art. a common issue i find when reading 70s manga is that characters can feel really stiff in terms of art and posing. i read the manga for the original kamen rider series a while ago (which was fantastic, by the way. leagues better than the original show and probably way better than shin kamen rider. fuck hideaki anno) and some of the poses looked awkward and stiff. then again, the poses that hit hard hit like a truck. i guess you could just chalk that up to ishinomori being an editor for nagai before doing rider, but so was ken ishikawa, and from start to finish, getter robo has brilliant artwork. anyways, cobra has none of those artistic issues that may be found in a lot of older manga. everything is spot on 100% of the time.
i like that cobra isn't super serious. most space operas lean really hard in to drama and tragic shit in a way that really tows the line between being a writing crutch and a decent series of literary devices. cobra, contrary to all of le realistic and grounded space opera protagonists, perpetually has a cigar in his mouth (seriously, the only times there isn't one in his mouth he's grabbing a lighter and a new one. shit is so subtle yet really funny to me. you know trailer park boys? it's like how julian always had a drink in his hand.) and is constantly mouthing off to dudes who want him dead because he knows that they can't beat him. it's like if kenshiro had an ego and it's great.
the ost for the anime is fantastic. i haven't watched the anime because i cannot be asked to watch a bunch of episodes that cover the same shit that i read in like 20 minutes, but this song is great. anime just isn't a valuable option for me anymore. i make special acceptions for tokusatsu but between you and me i usually just speed them up and play them on a different screen while drawing or whatever. tokusatsu is awesome, but i still refuse to watch the shin movies for ultraman and rider. literally what is the point of watching a retelling of ultraman without ide and a retelling of rider where hiroshi fujioka isn't playing hongo. cool fact for those of you who may not know about kamen rider but know enough about video games to find my rants coherent: hiroshi fujioka, who played rider 1, sang the original version of the theme song, and did all of his own stunts (until the motorcycle accident, i believe), also is the guy who played segata sanshiro for the sega saturn ads. he also sang segata's theme song. look forward to a kamen rider video on this channel, some day. the original theme is too easy for me to do so maybe i'll do v3's theme, which will still be easy, but eh, i dunno.
the older and more jaded i become the more i appreciate the works of days long since gone by. cobra is awesome, and when i read the rest, i'll give an actual review more akin to what i typically do when talking about shit that i really enjoyed.
i've been feeling like i've been coming down with a cold or something for the past week or so, so i'm going to make some tea or something in a bit. my grandfather once told me when i was really young about this neat trick he used to do when he was saving money where he would hang up teabags once they've been used to let them dry and then use them again. he wasn't ever by any means a poor dude, but, like me, he was stingy in regard to expenses that actually matter and greatly reckless in regard to shit that you really don't need.
i might start doing that teabag trick. it's a good idea, eh?
please leave song suggestions in the comments if you have any - it is always appreciated.
have a wonderful day, gentlemen. god bless.