Feb 17, 2022
While my score may be a bit biased because of how much I like Black Jack as a character, I can say for certain that Black Jack Blue Future is pretty good, especially if you like any of the other incarnations of Black Jack and the small story vignettes that make up the original manga and several of its anime adaptations.
It's a slice in the life of a much older (but still very cool) Black Jack who has been given the task of saving the life of a dictator of a country in turmoil. Many of the citizens have formed a resistance group that
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plans to overthrow said dictator, with Dr. Black Jack and another character caught up in the action. As usual (maybe even more so) Black Jack is gruff and old and will charge a fortune for the miracle work he performs, and when the person he operates on isn't the greatest person, they tend to get their just deserts. Yet they are operated on nonetheless since all life has value, it's just that those who are unkind get to actually pay for that value, in the usual Black Jack fashion.
So the story is good, which isn't very surprising as the author also wrote Parasyte, so what about the art? In short, the art is amazing, it's definitely one of my favorite looking manga, but art is very subjective so I won't dwell on personal preference. Several of the side characters look exactly like characters Tezuka would have created but with a more modern feel which is a fantastic touch, and the expressions each character makes are also reminiscent of the original manga while also maintaining their own unique feel that Masaaki Nakayama (the artist) brings to the table. Even Black Jack himself and a recurring character don't look off when compared to the original, they simply look like they've grown along with the artstyle and time period of when they were written and drawn (unlike with young Black Jack where most of it seems to contradict the original vision that Tezuka wrote and drew).
In all, Black Jack: Blue Future feels like a love letter to the original manga, without relying on the original all that much, since it has its own identity and purpose. I consider it to be a satisfying end (but not death) to the character of Kuroo Hazama, who has grown old and is in need of a very deserved rest.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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