Alternative TitlesEnglish: Black Jack Japanese: ブラックジャック
Information
Type: OVA
Episodes: 10
Status: Finished Airing
Aired: Dec 21, 1993 to May 21, 1996
Genres:
No genres have been added yet. Duration:
50 min. per episode Rating:
PG-13 - Teens 13 or older
L represents licensing company
StatisticsScore: 7.871 (scored by 692 users)
Ranked: #4552
Popularity: #1603
Members: 1,654
Favorites: 23 1 indicates a weighted score
My Info
Popular Tags
action drama medical |
SynopsisIn the medical profession, there is a name spoken in hushed tones, of an unlicensed genius physician who can save lives - for a price. His name is Black Jack, and he is a dashing, moody figure, caped in black, a Harlock of medicine, a man who lives by no rules other than his own - and the Hippocratic Oath. A man who would defy the will of God himself in the name of preserving life. (Anime NFO) |
Related AnimeAdaptation: Black Jack
Side story: Black Jack - The Movie
Alternative version: Black Jack (2004)
Characters & Voice Actors
Staff
Reviews
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IAmZim
15 of 16 people found this review helpful
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10 episodes
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| Overall |
9 |
| Story |
8 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Character |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
The importance of BlackJack
Black Jack is an iconic figure in Japan. The original manga was created by Osamu Tezuka, creator of Pheonix, Buddha and Astro boy. Tezuka was often called the god of manga, or Japans Walt Disney, and he derserved these titles. After all, Tezuka's creation of the sci fi Manga epic "Metropolis" is what convinced Japan that comic books could be just as mature an artform as novels.
So when Osamu Dezaki (Who had worked under Tezuka) was asked to direct the new Black Jack series, he had a daunting task ahead of him. Osamu Dezaki decided, quite wisely, too create his own version of Black Jack. One less cartoony and more serious than the Manga, while staying true to the original. Comparing this version of black Jack with the original Manga, is like comparing Batman Begins to Tim Burtons Batman. There both great interpretations of the charachter, but there so different there's no use trying.
Story
Black Jack tells the story of a brillaint , but horribly scarred surgeon, who works outside of the law. As long as you pay him enough, he'll perform seemingly impossible surgical procedures. The surgeons name is BlackJack.
Don't worry if your not into medical drama's, Black Jack has enough weird diseases, and good drama to keep anyone entertained. Infact, alot of the best episodes are not about medical operations, but charachter interactions and interesting stories, which is what makes the show so interesting. One of my favourite episodes is not about a medical procedure, but a civil war in a south American country. There are a few charachters I don't like, for instance Pinoko, Black Jacks irritating sidekick, but for the most the chaachters are fleshed out enough for you to like them.
Audio
The soundtrack has a great 80's feel to it, especially the many opening themes. The dub and original are both great, though both very different. The biggest difference is Black Jack's VA, who sounds quite old and stern in the original, but young and calm in the English Dub. Not sure which I preffered.
Good Areas
There's alot to like in this show. The charachters are all very interesting, lots of dramatic scenes, and the fact that each episode is an hour long gives everyone's charachter time to develop. Great voice acting. Nice animation style, not ussually seen in anime. Alot of episodes are very grand in scope, and this show actually got me interested in medical stories and dramas.
Bad Areas
Slow pace in some areas. Never really strays from the formula. Endings sometimes feel rushed. Pinoko Wasn't needed.
Overall 8.1
This is really one of my all time favourite anime. Osamu Dezaki did a good job of updating Black Jack for a new audience while staying true to the source material. I can't reccomend this series enough.
I'm glad that they released this series on two boxsets rather than individual volumes. Also, the dvd's are regionless, so it works on any dvd player. read more
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Aionic
4 of 6 people found this review helpful
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10 of 10 episodes seen
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| Overall |
9 |
| Story |
9 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
6 |
| Character |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
Every once in awhile, I stumble across an anime which manages to surprise me. Knowing nothing about what I'm going to watch in advance, I start viewing, ending up with this rare sense of...joy; as if I've unearthed a buried treasure. Whilst watching this OVA, based on the work of Osamu Tezuka, I ended up feeling this way.
I'm not experienced with Tezuka’s work. So far, I've only watched three or so anime adaptations of his numerous manga titles. However, going on what I've read, this OVA is darker, and far more realistic in its approach than the source material. The character designs, for example, are said to have been altered from cartoonish to a grittier style. But, in the end, different or not, I doubt it'll matter to most reading this; most, like myself, not knowing a lot about it prior to viewing.
:: Story :: -- 9/10
The story is about a man known by the name of 'Black Jack'. He's an unlicensed doctor, said to be the best in the world, who will do almost any job asked of him... for a price. With a black cape he keeps wrapped around himself even in the heat of the desert, he travels the world, being paid crazy amounts of money to find the cure for various diseases and illnesses that normal doctors can find no remedy for. No-one knows much about him, only a basic description: he has a surgical scar on his face, a mixture of black and white hair and, as his name suggests, he wears black.
The best way for me to explain the series to someone totally in the dark is to use Mushishi; a very popular, totally episodic title, with very little development for its lead and few recurring characters. Like the lead of Mushishi, Black Jack is always on the move, attempting solve mysteries in order to save the lives of his patients. Each episode focuses on a different problem, and Black Jack often finds himself in a race against time to save lives. There's isn't much in the way of greenery, the stories mostly taking place inside towns, and there isn't any relaxing music that soothes the soul, but the basic premise of both titles are very, very similar. There are even a number of supernatural cases included, meaning there's no realism/supernatural divide separating the two. Black Jack does try to stick closer to reality, with its lead using the power of science rather than information about supernatural life-forms, though.
In the first half, the focus is heavily on realism. There's a story involving the effects drugs have on people and how they destroy lives; there's a story about a clearly-not-renamed-version-of-America attempting to re-capture the leader of a smaller nation out of greed; there's a story about an actress being unable to eat, edging ever closer to starvation and, finally, there's a story about a young man trying to uncover the mystery behind his dreams, which result in him having spasms and bleeding from an old bullet wound. The first episode involves a supernatural illness, but the majority of the content in episodes 2-5 doesn’t stray too far from what can be viewed as believable.
However, the second half differs greatly, and it came close to making me lower my rating slightly. I won't go through them all, but one episode I can use as an example is the sixth. It involves a box full of money arriving two years late at the residence of Black Jack and a rather bizarre dream sequence playing out, where Black Jack goes back in time and has to try to figure out why a princess is suffering as if a serpent is wrapped around her, with her also going into rages where she attacks others. After what came before, it struck me as being out of place, although the later episodes made it fit in better. Honestly, I didn't get as much enjoyment out of episodes 6-9 as I did out of 1-5, and only the moving and very involving final episode about a 'mermaid' compares to the earlier episodes in my mind.
I wouldn't go as far as to say Black Jack is a tale of two halves. The second half did have some interesting episodes, nearly all of them being entertaining, and the final episode allowed the series to end on a high. I will, however, say that, depending on if you enjoy realistic or supernatural elements more, you'll probably end up preferring one half of the series over the other.
:: Characterization :: -- 8.5/10
The characterization is the main plus or negative, depending on your perspective, though. Black Jack, and his youthful looking and immature assistant, Pinoko, receive no real development throughout the series. Black Jack always attempts to distance himself emotionally from his patients and, while he does sometimes end up becoming close with a number of the females involved in each story (even sleeping in the same bed as one of them), the relationships never advance to a point where you learn more about Black Jack. He's quiet, he's kinder than his the fees he asks for suggests and he's a God with a scalpel - that's all you'll ever learn about him from this OVA. Nothing is shown of his past, and you aren't even told why he lives with the ever colourful Pinoko; a character that wasn't needed and often got in the way with her light-hearted scenes, especially in the last half.
The flipside of this coin is that all of the main characters in each of the stories get fleshed out significantly. More often than not, I was able to sympathize with their struggles... or, at the very least, I was able to understand enough to care. Using the characterization in episode four as an example, a woman was shown to gradually deteriorate until she was close to being a skeleton. From time to time, she dreamed about her childhood days spent with her friend; when they both shared childish dreams. As she neared death, despite her will to live, she wanted her pain to end, and to 'see' her friend once again. Because of the slow pacing and powerful images shown, it was impossible for me not to become emotionally involved, and I felt similarly about a number of the other characters.
While I would've loved to learn more about Black Jack and Pinoko, I don't think it damaged what is a totally episodic title. If anything, knowing little about Black Jack made him more of an enigma; adding to his appeal.
:: Art / Animation + Sound :: -- 7/10 & 6/10
By far, the visuals and sound are the most disappointing aspects of the series. I like the gritty art style, I like the detailed and bloody surgery scenes, I like the dull colour usage and the voice acting is perfectly acceptable. The problems lie with the animation and soundtrack. There's very little animation of note included, sometimes still-shots being used. The openings and endings are both very disappointing, the opening in particular because it flashes between poor quality (video) artwork for around three minutes. And the soundtrack is totally unmemorable, me not even noticing when there wasn't any music during the many parts with only voice acting and sound effects. While far from horrible, this isn't something to go into for eye and ear pleasing material.
:: Overall :: -- 8.5/10-9/10
To sum it up, Black Jack is an excellent, slightly under-rated and VERY under-watched anime. I highly recommend it to fans of Mushishi's story-telling style, or to anyone looking for something not reliant on moe to appeal. Without wanting to sound pretentious, Black Jack is an anime aimed at adults; aimed at those who can look underneath and appreciate stories not needing to be pushed along with constant, attention grabbing plot twists. Unless you believe you need 2000+ flashiness, do yourself a favour and look back in time; you never know, you might just see what I saw when I watched it. read more
Recommendations
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Both are episodic shows. Usually in each episode the main characters encounter some type of problem/mystery and work to solve them.
A quote from my review:
"The best way for me to explain the series to someone totally in the dark is to use Mushishi; a very popular, totally episodic title, with very little development for its lead and few recurring characters. Like the lead of Mushishi, Black Jack is always on the move, attempting solve mysteries in order to save the lives of his patients. Each episode focuses on a different problem, and Black Jack often finds himself in a race against time to save lives. There's isn't much in the way of greenery, the stories mostly taking place inside towns, and there isn't any relaxing music that soothes the soul, but the basic premise of both titles are very, very similar. There are even a number of supernatural cases included, meaning there's no realism/supernatural divide separating the two. Black Jack does try to stick closer to reality, with its lead using the power of science rather than information about supernatural life-forms, though."
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Both series are episodic mature dramas with a very cool main character who goes around solving other people's problems. Black Jack is a doctor, while Taichi Hiraga-Keaton is an insurance investigator (although he also is a "jack of all trades" being highly skilled as a negotiator, archaeologist, former survival instructor, historian, and traveler). Anyway both men are very unorthodox, and yet looked highly apon by others in their respected feilds (most of the time). Yet society as a whole does not respect either of them (Black Jack in particular as he is an unlicensed doctor). Both men have amazing abilities, they are almost super-human, yet still some-how relatable and understandable.
In both series there are almost no recurring characters, minus the main character and one or two side characters (that are not always in every episode). Both series are oddities in anime. Instead of being action packed, or filled with giant robots, or vampires, or riveting political intrigue, they instead go for something else entirely. Sadly since both series are episodic, they tend to follow a pattern (there's a problem, Black Jack/Keaton shows up, they investigate the problem and look at it from all angles, they fix problem, etc etc), but it doesn't harm either series too much.
Anyway these series are so alike it's scary. Even their artwork and animation look a little alike. If you like one of these, I bet you'd like the other one. Give em a try. Both are very refreshing!
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Opening ThemeNo opening themes found, add themes.
Ending Theme#01: "Kuroge Wagyuu Kamishio Tanyaki 680 Yen" by Ai Otsuka
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Related ClubsOsamu Tezuka - Manga no Kami-sama, The Classics Club, The Ani-Dictators Anime Podcast, The Favorite OST Petition Club, Central Park Media Fanclub, Action Dojo, Black Thundercats, We don't like fringe!, Japanese Anime's #1 Fans 日本のアニメの＃ 1ファン, Black Jack, Anime Addicted, Watch Anime Together Club Headquarters
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