それでもその分厚い漫画が気になり、放課後ついに街の本屋で初めての”立ち読み”を決行する。
巻頭ページに左腕に銃を付けた男「コブラ」。米国の日本語放送で見た999やハーロックよりも大人っぽく、魅惑的な女性たち。ボリス・ヴァレホのようなファンタジー絵画にシド・ミード的近未来デザインのブレンド。強く逞しく、70年代のニューヨーカーのようなジョークを飛ばす主人公。現存する近代SF小説のオマージュをそこら中に散りばめ、ルイス・キャロルの不思議の国のアリスや千夜一夜物語の如く文学的な世界観。私は一発で虜になった。
翌週、祖母にねだりダイシン百貨店で近鉄野球帽に半ズボンを買ってもらい、F君の回し読みグループに加入の意思をアピールするも、結局卒業まで恥ずかしくて言い出せなかった。
第一話の、消したはずの海賊の過去の記憶をトリップムービーをきっかけに思い出し、海賊稼業に戻る話、やがて殺し合いの毎日に再び嫌気が刺しサイコガンを海に捨てる話、ラグボール、異次元レース、ヘル・クルセイダーズ。クリスタルボーイやハンマーボルトジョー、サラマンダーを始めとした海賊ギルドの宿敵達。相棒のアーマロイドレディとコブラの本当の関係、過去の謎。
アニメ版のエンディングも秀悦で、愛銃パイソンとワイングラスを背景に相棒レディがデザインされたトランプ（ダイヤのキング）が回転する演出にしっとり歌う前野曜子の曲も素晴らしかった。
ハリウッドでの実写化の話も十数年前からあるが、されなくてもよい、師の漫画の世界で充分だ。強いて言えば、師に小説版は書いてほしかった。読む「コブラ」も想像力をくすぐられる。
合掌。
In 1982, as a returnee struggling with my Japanese pronunciation, I started attending a local elementary school. One day, I witnessed a group of top-tier boys in the school passing around a thick manga magazine called 'Shonen Jump.' I was amazed by its thickness compared to the thin Marvel comics I was familiar with in the United States.
Despite being invited by F, who wore short pants even in the middle of winter and a Kintetsu Buffaloes baseball cap, with the question 'Yo Noji, wanna join us?'—the first time I'd ever been called by my last name and taken aback—I, in my New York Yankees baseball cap and Lee jeans, responded with, 'No, thanks,' declining the chance to make a new friend.
However, my curiosity about that thick manga got the better of me, and one day after school, I finally carried out my first 'browsing' at the local bookstore.
The front page featured a man with a gun on his left arm, 'Cobra.' More mature and captivating than what I had seen (Galaxy Express 999, Harlock)on American JP broadcasts, with alluring women. A blend of Boris Vallejo's fantasy paintings and Syd Mead's near-future designs. The protagonist was strong and robust, cracking jokes like a New Yorker from the 70s. It was adorned with homages to existing modern SF novels, and it had a literary world akin to Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland or the tales from One Thousand and One Nights. I was captivated from the very start.
The following week, I pestered my grandmother and got a Kintetsu baseball cap and shorts from Daishin Department Store. I wanted to join F's group that read manga together, but in the end, I couldn't bring myself to say it out loud until I graduated.
The first episode, where the memories of a pirate's past, which he thought he had erased, resurface due to a tripmovie, and he returns to the pirate trade. Eventually, he gets fed up with the daily killing and throws his Psychogun into the sea. Stories of Ragball, The Interdimensional Race, and The Hell Crusaders... Arch-enemies of the Pirate Guild, including Crystal Boy, Joe Hammer Bolt, Salamander... The true relationship between Cobra and his partner, the Armoroid Lady, and the mysteries of the past...
The ending of the anime series was also delightful, with a rotating playing card (King of Diamonds) featuring Cobra's beloved revolver Python and a wine glass in the background, accompanied by the soulful song 'Secret Desire' sung by Yoko Maeno.
Hollywood has considered live-action adaptations for more than a decade, but honestly, it's not necessary. The world of my mentor's manga is sufficient. If I were to wish for anything more, it would have been for my mentor to write a novel version. Reading 'Cobra' would certainly tickle the imagination. May your soul rest in peace, amen.
#buichitersawa #寺沢武一 #spacecobra
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