Young Black Jack

Young Black Jack (ヤング ブラック・ジャック, Yangu Burakku Jakku) is a Japanese manga written by Yoshiaki Tabata and illustrated by Yūgo Ōkuma. It is based on Black Jack by Osamu Tezuka. It is serialized at Akita Shoten's Young Champion magazine in its November 2011 issue. An anime adaptation aired in Japan from October to December 2015.[2] The story follows Black Jack as a medical student in the 1960s.[3]

Young Black Jack
Cover of the first volume, released in May 2012.
ヤング ブラック・ジャック
(Yangu Burakku Jakku)
Manga
Written byYoshiaki Tabata
Illustrated byYūgo Ōkuma
Published byAkita Shoten
MagazineYoung Champion
DemographicSeinen
Original runNovember 22, 2011 – June 11, 2019
Volumes16
Television drama
Directed byKentaro Otani
Music byYoshihiro Ike
StudioToho Studios, Kadokawa Daiei Studio
Original networkNippon TV
Original runApril 23, 2011
Episodes1
Anime television series
Directed byAtsuko Kase
Produced byJunichirō Tanaka
Shintarō Hashimoto
Shunichi Uemura
Mai Ichikawa
Jun Fukuda
Makoto Satō
Yasuhiro Takano
Yū Igawa
Written byRyōsuke Takahashi
Music byDaisuke Ikeda
Hirohito Furui
Kensuke Akiyama
StudioTezuka Productions
Licensed by
Original networkTBS, CBC, Sun TV, BS-TBS
English network
Animax Asia[1]
Original run October 1, 2015 – December 17, 2015
Episodes12

Plot

In the 1960s, Kuroo Hazama is a gifted young medical student with a dark past who tries to make a name for himself. Despite only being a medical student, he is a brilliant surgeon and attracts attention after he completes seemingly impossible operations and displays greater skills than his formal training would allow. Hazama devotes himself to the world of medicine together with his friends, the intern Maiko Okamoto and the doctor Yabu. Set against the background of student riots, war, and corruption, Hazama finds himself caught up in a series of circumstances which challenge his integrity as a person and his path towards becoming a surgeon. The choices he makes leads him to become the legend known as Black Jack.

Characters
Kuroo Hazama (間 黒男, Hazama Kuroo)
Portrayed by: Masaki Okada (live-action drama), Voiced by: Yuichiro Umehara (anime)
Yabu (藪, Yabu)
Voiced by: Kōji Yusa (anime)
Maiko Okamoto (岡本 舞子, Okamoto Maiko)
Voiced by: Shizuka Itō (anime)
Tōrō Tachiiri (立入 灯郎, Tachiiri Tōrō)
Voiced by: Hiroki Touchi (anime)[4]
Doctor Kirī (軍医 キリー, Dokutā Kirī)
Voiced by: Junichi Suwabe (anime)
Eri Imagami (今上 エリ, Imagami Eri)
Raymond (レイモンド, Reimondo)
Voiced by: Norihiro Inoue (anime)[4]
Tomezō Kanayama
Voiced by: Kazuo Oka (anime)
Jou
Voiced by: Takuya Eguchi (anime)
Aoyama
Voiced by: Megumi Toyoguchi (anime)
Tamura
Voiced by: Yoshitsugu Matsuoka (anime)
Smith
Voiced by: Ryōtarō Okiayu (anime)
Marlon
Voiced by: Hisafumi Oda (anime)
Hugo (ヒューゴ, Hyugo)
Voiced by: Shunsuke Takeuchi (anime)
Takayanagi
Voiced by: Kentarou Tone (anime)
Bob
Voiced by: Hiroki Yasumoto (anime)
Phan
Voiced by: M.A.O (anime)
Steve
Voiced by: Shōta Yamamoto (anime)
Maruo Hyakki (百樹丸雄, Hyakki Maruo)
Voiced by: Mamoru Miyano (anime)

Media

Manga

The prequel manga based on Osamu Tesuka's Black Jack manga series is written by Yoshiaki Tabata, and illustrated by Yūgo Ōkuma. It began serialization in Akita Shoten's Young Champion issue #23 of 2011, released on November 22, and finished in the issue #13 of 2019, published on June 11.[3][5] Akita Shoten published the first tankōbon volume of the manga on May 18, 2012[6], and sixteen volumes have been released as of August 20, 2019.[7][8]

Live-action drama

A live-action TV special adaptation aired at April 23, 2011 at Nippon TV. The special starred lead actor Masaki Okada as young Black Jack. Kentaro Otani directed the special.[3]

Anime

A 12-episode[9] anime television series adaptation directed aired from October to December 2015 on TBS, CBC, Sun TV, and BS-TBS.[2][4] Produced by Tezuka Productions, it is directed by Atsuko Kase, with Ryōsuke Takahashi handling series composition and serving as supervisor, Miyuki Katayama and Nana Miura designing the characters and Daisuke Ikeda, Hirohito Furui and Kensuke Akiyama composing the music. The anime has been licensed in North America by Sentai Filmworks[10] and is also streaming on Crunchyroll.

Episode list
No. Title Directed by Written by Original air date
1"Where's the Doctor?"
Transcription: "Isha wa Doko da!" (Japanese: 医者はどこだ！)		Fumihiro YoshimuraMayumi MoritaOctober 2, 2015 (2015-10-02)
After a tragic accident where a train collides with a bus stuck on the tracks, dozens of injured are rushed to a nearby hospital. We are introduced to Black Jack as a young medical student who offers to undertake the task of re-attaching the severed an arm and leg of a young boy hit by the train for JP¥5 million. He successfully saves the boys limbs during his first surgery at his friend Yabu's private clinic. However, the boy’s father offers only one tenth of the money because Jack is still a student.
2"Abduction"
Transcription: "Rachi" (Japanese: 拉致)		Hiromichi MatanoMayumi MoritaOctober 9, 2015 (2015-10-09)
Black Jack and his gambling friend Yabu are kidnapped along with some other men by the shady Tachiiri to whom Yabu owes money. Tachiiri offers each of them a chance clear their debts in exchange for donating their heart for a heart transplant required by the ageing Kaneyama Tamezou, founder of the Kyuukoku sect. The doctor hired for the transplant disappears, and Jack agrees to carry out the first heart transplant in Japan for a fee of JP¥50 million. Raymond, one of the other men, offers his heart for money to heal his sick daughter back in his own country. However, as the operation commences Tamezou dies, so Jack altered Raymond’s appearance to replace Tamezou, avoiding the dilemma of ending an innocent life.
3"Deserter"
Transcription: "Dassōhei" (Japanese: 脱走兵)		Fumio MaezonoTōru NozakiOctober 16, 2015 (2015-10-16)
During the Vietnam War, one of two army deserters falls ill. Meanwhile, Hazama's friend, Maiko Okamoto, visits his apartment to learn the secret of his surgical skills and she finds he has been practicing on fish and pigs feet. They discover that a sick deserter named Smith is in the adjacent apartment, and Hazama is pressured into helping him by his associates, especially Aoyama, after he diagnoses a cerebral edema. They take Smith to an obstetrics clinic, and Hazama operates to relieve pressure on the brain and saves his life. However, Hazama is arrested because Smith is actually a CIA operative tracking deserters in Japan. Hazama is eventually released, but wonders why he risked his medical career to save someone he did not know.
4"In Vietnam Part 1"
Transcription: "Betonamu nite sono 1" (Japanese: ベトナムにて その1)		Kenichi NishidaTōru NozakiOctober 23, 2015 (2015-10-23)
Hazama goes to Vietnam in looking for his friend Yabu, who'd vanished after arriving a month earlier to restart his career as a doctor. Hazama meets the photojournalist Takayanagi, who helps him find transport on a military convoy to Yabu's last known location in Dalat, led by Bob with interpreter Phan. On the way, they are attacked by the Vietcong, and in the midst of the battle Hazama goes to the aid of a Steve, a wounded soldier. However, they are eventually all captured by the Vietcong.
5"In Vietnam Part 2"
Transcription: "Betonamu nite sono 2" (Japanese: ベトナムにて その2)		Yorifusa YamaguchiTōru NozakiOctober 30, 2015 (2015-10-30)
Hazama's group are now captives of the Vietcong, but some days later their interpreter, Phan is given a key by a Vietcong whose friend was saved by a Japanese doctor, possibly Yabu. The group trek through the jungle, and at the point of exhaustion, they are found and taken to Yabu's field clinic and the old friends are united. However, the wounded Steve needs urgent medical attention, and they manage to arrange for a US doctor to be dropped in by parachute. He has excellent skills and technique, and he and Hazama grudgingly acknowledge each other's abilities.
6"In Vietnam Part 3"
Transcription: "Betonamu nite sono 3" (Japanese: ベトナムにて その3)		Kenichi MaejimaTōru NozakiNovember 6, 2015 (2015-11-06)
Steve regains consciousness, but is delirious and paranoid. He wanders off into the fields, but before Bob and Hazama can reach him he steps on a land mine and is killed. Steve's death causes Bob to become unstable, and he becomes angry and vengeful when the Anh, the Vietnamese youth who helped them escape, arrives in the village badly wounded. The US doctor, Hazama and Yabu begin to operate on Anh, but frustrated by what he sees as traitorous behaviour, Bob reports that the village is a rebel base and calls in an air strike. The villagers evacuate, but the three doctors continue the operation despite the impending attack, with Hazama and the US doctor developing a growing respect for each other’s skills. They manage to complete the operation and evacuate just as bombs rain down, destroying the village. Later, the US doctor's name is revealed to be Kiriko.
7"Painless Revolution Part 1"
Transcription: "Kutsū naki kakumei sono 1" (Japanese: 苦痛なき革命 その1)		Shinichi ShōjiTomoko KonparuNovember 13, 2015 (2015-11-13)
Following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, and following Hazama's return from Vietnam, he and Maiko are in Chicago to observe a surgery by the much-renowned Dr. Risenberg. Later, they encounter Maiko's old friend Tiara and her friend, the civil rights activist Johnny Bassett. However, his is attacked by two African American men demanding that he take direct action, and Tiara is shot during the confrontation. Johnny's arm is also badly damaged, and Dr. Risenberg offers to operate, and Hazama and Maiko are co-opted to assist. After the operation, Hazama realizes that Johnny has analgesia, an inability to feel pain which he assumes is congenital. However Hazama discovers that Johnny acquired it later in life and offers to find a cure within the three days he has left in Chicago. Meanwhile Yabu and another doctor, Thomas Williams, arrive in the US.
8"Painless Revolution Part 2"
Transcription: "Kutsū naki kakumei sono 2" (Japanese: 苦痛なき革命 その2)		Fumio MaezonoTomoko KonparuNovember 20, 2015 (2015-11-20)
Hazama does his best to investigate the cause of Johnny's analgesia condition. When he encounters Yabu, who arrives with his patient Tommy who has PTSD, Hazama learns that Johnny never went to Vietnam, and was the subject of military experiments by the CIA. The CIA agent, Hugo, visits Dr. Risenberg who is a former Nazi doctor whose real name is Dr. Linge, and Hugo pressures him to treat Johnny to remove his analgesia and restore his nerve impulses. At the next violent demonstration, Johnny immediately feels the pain of the police batons and runs away to escape the pain, destroying his reputation of a being a hero impervious to pain.
9"The Gruesome Chronicle Part 1"
Transcription: "Muzanchō sono 1" (Japanese: 無残帳 その1)		Kenichi NishidaMayumi MoritaNovember 27, 2015 (2015-11-27)
Hazama meets a lecturer, Maruo Hyakki, a quadruple amputee, who was originally one of the surgeons who operated on him alongside Dr. Honma. Reference is made to the story of Dororo and Hyakkimaru by Osamu Tezuka in which Hyakkimaru lacked 48 parts of his body which was given to demons. Hazama learns of Hyakki's unfortunate fate, his research in advanced mechanical prostheses, and his plans to return as a surgeon. Hyakki wants to have the new prostheses implanted on his body, but can't find anyone willing, and so Hazama risks his future career by offers to do it himself. The surgery is successful and Hyakki proceeds to rebuild his reputation, gaining a request to do an operation by his former institution, Teito University. However, the plan is cancelled after being sabotaged by the circulation of photographs of him carrying out an autopsy wearing his prostheses. Shaken, Hyakki goes to bid his friend professor Takara goodbye, only to overhear him talking with Professor Tano indicating they were behind the sabotage.
10"The Gruesome Chronicle Part 2"
Transcription: "Muzanchō sono 2" (Japanese: 無残帳 その2)		Yorifusa YamaguchiMayumi MoritaDecember 4, 2015 (2015-12-04)
Police find a car that that crashed through a guardrail and burst into flames, incinerating the driver but his left arm was noticeably missing. Hyakki is coincidentally missing in action and takes a family sword named Hyakkimaru to be reforged. Meanwhile Miyo reveals that her wedding reception reservation with Hyakki has been cancelled, Detective Ban reveals to Takara that the dead driver was Professor Tano. Hyakki tracks down Takara and reveals that he killed Tano who said that Takara was behind the accident which made him a quadriplegic. Hyakki then severs Takara's left arm. Hazama and Okamoto find Takara on the street bleeding to death, and they perform a quick ligation of the brachial artery to save him. Hyakki later finds Professor Sabame on the rooftop of a building and cuts off his leg, leaving him to bleed to death. Takara wakes up three days later in the hospital and after Detective Ban informs him of Sabame's death, Takara has a nervous breakdown. Ban informs Hazama, Okamoto, and Miyo that Hyakki's motive for the attacks is related to how Director Daigou's faction forced Hyakki out of the University. However, Hazama suspects that there is another reason for the murders. Hazama tracks Hyakki to an old temple filled with statues of demons in the forest, and is shocked at the change in Hyakki's character.
11"The Gruesome Chronicle Part 3"
Transcription: "Muzanchō sono 3" (Japanese: 無残帳 その3)		Hiromichi MatanoMayumi MoritaDecember 11, 2015 (2015-12-11)
Hyakki divulges to Hazama that Takara and his associates were part of Assistant Director Kagemitsu Daigo's faction at the university, but when Daigo was involved funds mismanagement, control was transferred to Assistant Director Meio's faction which included Hyakki. Daigo's faction planned to discredit Meio by making him miss an important scheduled operation by sabotaging his car to delay him. However, Meio took ill and sent Hyakki instead, but the mechanic had tampered with the brakes and thus Hyakki was involved in his career-ending accident. Shortly afterwards, Meio died of his illness and Daigo became Director. Hyakki leaves the temple and attacks Daigo in his office, succeeding in severing Daigo's left leg. Hazama asks Takara to confess to the conspiracy, but Takara blames Hazama for giving Hyakki the ability to seek revenge. Hazama finds the injured Hyakki and patches him up, repairing his right eye in the process. Hyakki is eventually apprehended and is sentenced to death, but escapes jail thanks to a robotic eye implant Hazama had fitted to him. Some time later while still a student, Hazama secretly accepts money to replace a surgeon during an operation. Hyakki unexpected visits Hazama, noting the illegal path he has now chosen. Hazama replies that he understands the ruthless nature of the medical field, and is willing to become an enemy of the law to save patients
12"The Season of Mania"
Transcription: "Kyōsō no kisetsu" (Japanese: 狂騒の季節)		Fumio MaezonoMayumi MoritaDecember 18, 2015 (2015-12-18)
Hazama continues to accept money from Tachiiri for operating illegally. One day, he comes across an anti-war protest and assists a young girl who sprains her ankle. He recognizes her as Eri Imagami whom he treated some time earlier when he relieved a cerebral edema on the deserter, Johnny. Hazama applies first-aid to some of the other protesters and again sees Aoyama from that time. Later, Hazama receives a postcard from Eri who is undertaking training with militant revolutionaries in the mountains of Gunma and decides to visit her. Hazama arrives and is shocked to see Imagami suffering from a beating and Aoyama also beaten and tied up after wanting to quit. Hazama is also taken prisoner, but when Imagami has a seizure from her injuries, the rebel leader relents and allows Hazama to treat her and he operates all night, fixing a hemothorax, rib fractures, nose and orbital fractures, and an injured liver. Suddenly, police surround the cabin and fire smoke grenades to cloud the rebels' vision. Eri staggers outside to stop the confrontation, but she is shot in the chest and falls into the snow. Hazama tells the dying girl that he will fix her again as she dies in his arms. After his graduation, Hazama repays his debts to Tachiiri who offers him more black market deals, but Hazama declines, saying that those jobs will come to him anyway. This is the beginning of Hazama's transformation into Black Jack.

References
  1. "Animax Asia Premieres Young Black Jack on June 6". Anime News Network. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  2. "Young Black Jack Anime Casts Junichi Suwabe". Anime News Network. September 7, 2015. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
  3. "Young Black Jack Manga Inspired by Tezuka Classic". Anime News Network. November 8, 2011. Retrieved June 20, 2015.
  4. "Young Black Jack TV Anime's Ad Outlines Premise". Anime News Network. September 27, 2015. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
  5. 「ヤング ブラック・ジャック」約7年半の連載に幕！最終巻と画集は8月発売. Natalie (in Japanese). June 11, 2019. Retrieved May 16, 2020.
  6. ヤング　ブラック・ジャック 第1巻 秋田書店 [Young Black Jack Volume 1 Akita Shoten] (in Japanese). Akita Shoten. Retrieved June 20, 2015.
  7. ヤング ブラック・ジャック 第16巻 [Young Black Jack Volume 16 Akita Shoten] (in Japanese). Akita Shoten. Retrieved May 16, 2020.
  8. ヤング ブラック・ジャック – pixivコミックで漫画を無料試し読み [Young Black Jack – Read Manga Free Trial at pixiv Comics] (in Japanese). pixiv. Retrieved June 20, 2015.
  9. "Lance N' Masques, Young Black Jack Listed at 12 Episodes Each". Anime News Network. September 27, 2015. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
  10. "Sentai Filmworks Licenses Young Black Jack". SentaiFilmworks.com. October 1, 2015.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.