Black Jack (manga)

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This article is about the manga. For other uses, see Black Jack.

Black Jack

Black Jack manga vol 1.jpg

Cover of the first manga volume

(Burakku Jakku)

Genre Medical, Drama

Manga

Written by Osamu Tezuka

Published by Akita Shoten

English publisher

NA

Viz Media (former)

Vertical Inc.

Demographic Shnen

Imprint Shnen Champion Comics

Magazine Weekly Shnen Champion

Original run 19 November 1973 14 October 1983

Volumes 17 (List of volumes)

Manga

Black Jack: the Dark Surgeon

Written by Kenji Yamamoto

Published by Akita Shoten

Demographic Shnen

Magazine Shnen Champion

Original run 9 May 2005 9 February 2006

Volumes 3

Original video animation

Directed by Osamu Dezaki

Studio Tezuka Productions

Released 21 December 1993 16 December 2011

Episodes 12

Anime television series

Directed by Makoto Tezuka

Studio Tezuka Productions

Original network Animax, Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation

Original run 11 October 2004 6 March 2006

Episodes 62 (List of episodes)

Anime film

Black Jack: Futari no Kuroi Isha

Directed by Satoshi Kuwabara

Produced by Tomoyuki Sait

Sumio Udagawa

Music by Isao Tomita

Studio Tezuka Productions

Released 17 December 2005

Runtime 97 minutes

Anime television series

Black Jack 21

Directed by Satoshi Kuwabara

Studio Tezuka Productions

Original network Animax, Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation

Original run 10 April 2006 4 September 2006

Episodes 17 (List of episodes)

Related anime

Black Jack: Capital Transfer To Heian (1996, Movie; Side story to 1993 version)

Black Jack the Movie (1996, adaptation of 1993/manga version)

Black Jack Special: The 4 Miracles of Life (2003, Promotional special; Lead-on episodes of Black Jack
TV)

Ray the Animation (TV)

Young Black Jack (TV)

Wikipe-tan face.svg Anime and Manga portal

Black Jack (Japanese: Hepburn: Burakku Jakku) is a Japanese manga written

and illustrated by Osamu Tezuka in the 1970s, dealing with the medical adventures of the title
character, doctor Black Jack.

Black Jack consists of hundreds of short, self-contained stories that are typically about 20 pages long.
Black Jack has also been animated into an OVA, two television series (directed by Tezuka's son
Makoto Tezuka) and two films. Black Jack is Tezuka's third most famous manga, after Astro Boy and
Kimba the White Lion. In 1977, it won the 1st Kodansha Manga Award for shnen.[1] About.com's
Deb Aoki lists Black Jack as the best "re-issue of previously released material" of 2008.[2] Osamu
Dezaki's anime film adaptation, Black Jack The Movie, won Best Animation Film at the 1996 Mainichi
Film Awards.

Contents [hide]

1 Plot

2 Characters

2.1 Main characters

2.2 Supporting characters

3 Manga

4 Anime

4.1 TV Series

4.2 OVA

4.3 ONA

4.4 Films

5 Live-action

6 Appearances in other media

7 Museum

8 See also

9 References

10 External links

Plot[edit]

Most of the stories involve Black Jack doing some good deed, for which he rarely gets recognition
often curing the poor and destitute for free, or teaching the arrogant a lesson in humility. They
sometimes end with a good, humane person enduring hardship, often unavoidable death, to save
others.

Characters[edit]

Main characters[edit]

Black Jack aka Kur Hazama

Main article: Black Jack (character)

First Appearance: Volume 1 Chapter 1: "Is there a Doctor?"

Pinoko ()

First Appearance: Volume 1 Chapter 3: "Teratogenous Cystoma"

Pinoko is Black Jack's loyal assistant/surrogate daughter, who was actually a Teratogenous Cystoma (a
growth more commonly known as a teratoma). As seen in Volume 1 Chapter 3: "Teratogenous
Cystoma", she was a rare type of parasitic twin, living in one of Black Jack's patients' bodies for
eighteen years until Black Jack extracted her and gave her a real body. He constructed her from the
mass of organs included in the growth and provided her a plastic exoskeleton that gives her the
appearance of a human child (around 7 or 8 years). However, this exoskeleton limits some of her
abilities, most notably halting her physical growth and not being able to swim for a long duration nor
float (Volume 13 Chapter 1: "Water and the Badness"). Her exoskeleton is only made for walking and
running, and if she tries to swim, she will sink to the bottom. She speaks with a strong lisp which may
be due to her exoskeletal skull. Only her limbs and internal organs are real; her face and body are
artificial. After being rejected by her twin sister, she started to live with Black Jack as a sort of
daughter to him.

She always helps the doctor by doing household chores and by even being his assistant in some of his
operations. She often acts as comic relief in Black Jack, claiming to be a girl of eighteen years of age
and married to Black Jack, despite her childlike appearance and personality. Her main value is
companionship and source of affection for the ordinarily cold-natured doctor.

When she started living with Black Jack, she couldn't cook, clean, or take care of the house; she
couldn't even walk, let alone move. Eventually, she learned them and could take care of the house
when he is out. But sometimes she is able to mix ingredients around in her cooking, like using salt
instead of sugar.

Black Jack thinks of her as his daughter while she thinks of herself as his wife.

Black Jack modeled her face after a cute girl he had seen in a medical journal who suffers from a lung
ailment of unknown origin (from Volume 7 Chapter 4: "The Two Pinokos").

Pinoko's life was put in danger a few times; she was kidnapped (Volume 2 Chapter 8: "Kidnapping",
Volume 14 Chapter 2: "The Third Call", Volume 15 Chapter 1: "Treasure Island"), swallowed a
potassium cyanide pill (Volume 4 Chapter 12: "Gas"), shot from a bullet (Volume 7 Chapter 10: "Black
and White"), crashed a car (Volume 8 Chapter 8: "A Visit from a Killer"), and caught an aggressive
form of leukemia (Volume 9 Chapter 2: "Pinoko Lives").
Pinoko says she is 18 years old because that is how long she was in her sister's body, but Black Jack
says she is 0-years-old when he built her. Because of that, she sometimes acts like an adult while
other times as a 7-year-old. She cries when she is injured or throws things when she is mad. She is
sometimes seen drawing pictures, playing games, or reading children's stories.

Throughout the whole manga series, she is never seen going to kindergarten, although she nearly did
take the high school entrance exam.

Black Jack never tries to give Pinoko an 18-year-old body even though she wants to be bigger. She
almost received one when she nearly died in Volume 9 Chapter 2: "Pinoko Lives".

If she was an adult, she may have looked like the Pinoko in Black Jack's dream in Volume 11 Chapter
14: "The SL Called Life".

She sometimes talks in third-person, using "Pinoko" instead of "I", "me", or "my".

Some of the stories take place when she is 18, other times 19, other times 20, and sometimes 21.

Pinoko got drunk from alcohol a few times.

She was temporarily adopted by a couple in Volume 17 Chapter 1: "Pinoko is Adopted".

Before Black Jack extracted her from her twin, she telepathically talked to him. That is why, in
Volume 13 Chapter 4: "Teratoid Cystoma, Part 2", she was able to talk to a teratoid cystoma in a
patient in her sleep.

Pinoko's main form of comic relief is yelling (Acchonburike)a phrase that has no
real meaning but taken as a rough equivalent to "Oh my goodness!" (often spelled "Omigewdness" in
fansubs) or "I don't believe it!" (as translated when she appeared in an episode of the Astro Boy 80s
series), in Englishwhile pressing her cheeks together with her hands when something surprising
happens. Also, she says Aramanchu!, which has no real meaning, but can be roughly translated as
"okey dokey!". Her name is derived from Pinocchio.

Voiced by: Yuko Mizutani

Supporting characters[edit]

Pinoko's Twin Sister

First Appearance: Volume 1 Chapter 3: "Teratoid Cystoma"

Pinoko's twin sister's name is never revealed in the manga. She doesn't like the fact that her teratoid
cystoma is actually her twin sister. She would always look away and say that that thing isn't her sister.
Her face and background is never revealed until Volume 17 Chapter 10: "A Visiting Memory".

Her second appearance is in Volume 9 Chapter 2: "Pinoko Lives" where she donates some of her
blood to Pinoko.

Her third appearance is in Volume 17 Chapter 10: "A Visiting Memory" where her face and
background are finally revealed. Dr. Crab tells Black Jack that she is actually the daughter of an
important Buddhist line. She was constrained by pedigree and form. The family is always churning in
drama, and she ended up deeply depressed. Then she tries to commit suicide by jumping from the
third floor of her house. She survived and, with a huge amount of cash and amnesia, ended up at
Black Jack's house. Pinoko and her had a sister bond without knowing her identity. When she saw Dr.
Crab, her memories returned and she forgot about Pinoko. Pinoko didn't know who she really was,
Black Jack did.

Dr. Jotaro Honma ( Honma Jtar)

First Appearance: Volume 1 Chapter 5: "Sometimes like Pearls"

The reason why Black Jack pursued a career in medicine is because of Dr. Honma, his mentor and life-
saver, who acted as the young boy's father-figure. Kagemitsu Hazama, Black Jack's real father, left his
wife and son to live in Macau with his new wife Renka. (The reasons for Kagemitsu's behavior are
later explained in the Black Jack 21 series). As a child, Black Jack suffered from paralysis in all four
limbs and spent many lonely years in a wheelchair until he regained the use of them. Dr. Honma
wrote a book about this miracle, as depicted in Volume 1 Chapter 11: "The Legs of an Ant".

The medical community accused him of conducting a live experiment on a patient with a rare
"Honma's Hematoma" and killed the patient. He was then forced to retire. When he died, Black Jack
went through Dr. Honma's old files and found a letter addressed to him. Dr. Honma wanted Black
Jack to find out the mystery of "Honma's Hematoma", but until he solve the mystery, to not operate
on any patients who have it. Lumps of blood in the heart will form, even after many surgeries to get
rid of them, they will come back. Because of that, many patients die of weak hearts. In Volume 13
Chapter 9: "Honma's Hematoma", Black Jack found the cure. The patient's heart will be replaced
with an artificial heart. But it turns out that "Honma's Hematoma" is a disease caused by patients
who already have artificial hearts.

Dr. Honma dies of old age in the episode four of Black Jack 4 Miracles of Life "Just like a Pearl" after a
failed surgical attempt to revive him. However, he plays an important role in Black Jack 21, since he
had once worked at the "Noir Project". In the manga, he dies in Volume 1 Chapter 5: "Sometimes like
Pearls."

He is seen in a dream in Volume 11 Chapter 14: "The SL Called Life".

Dr. Honma is "played" by Saruta, a member of Tezuka's "star system" who appears in multiple
volumes of Tezuka's Phoenix and other manga stories by Tezuka.

Voiced by: Osamu Saka

Megumi Kisaragi ( Kisaragi Megumi)

First Appearance: Volume 1 Chapter 6: "Confluence"

Megumi Kisaragi is Black Jack's tragic love, whom he met and courted during their internship. Her
first appearance was in Volume 1 Chapter 6: "Confluence" in the manga. She stayed up late at work
and cared more about the patients than everyone else. She discovered that Kuroo Hazama had been
the one looking after her whenever she walked alone at night. Later, she is revealed to have ovarian
cancer, and is afraid to tell Black Jack because of her fear that having these parts removed will
interfere with their relationship. Nevertheless, the couple confesses their love before the operation
while Megumi is "still a woman" (in reality, a hysterectomy or oophorectomy can affect sexual
function, but the side effects associated with these procedures are not as extreme as those depicted
in this story).

Afterwards, Megumi changed her name to Kei, a male name, and started living her life as a man,
treating sick patients as a ship's doctor.

She is seen again in Volume 11 Chapter 14: "The SL Called Life" on the same train as Black Jack.
Konomi Kuwata aka Black Queen ( Kuwata Konomi)

First Appearance: Volume 1 Chapter 9: "Black Queen"

First making her appearance in Volume 1 Chapter 9: "Black Queen", Kuwata Konomi was a doctor
specializing in amputations, thought to be heartless by many, earning her the nickname 'Black
Queen' in the medical world. She is engaged to Rock (referred to as Makube Rokuro in the TV series,
probably to make up for the lack of "Carved Seal" episode), but her being infamous causes troubles
for the couple. She met Black Jack, drunk, in a bar, naming herself as the Black Queen. The former is
impressed by their similarities and falls in love with her, but he would eventually discover that Rock
was her fianc.

She is seen again two years after her first appearance, now in Volume 5 Chapter 5: "The Last Train".
Her name is now Konomi Suzuki, after she married Rock. Half a year after Rock's surgery, they got
married. She got fired and left for a plane to meet her husband.

Voiced by: Atsuko Tanaka, Naoko Matsui

Takashi

First Appearance: Volume 2 Chapter 7: "Where Art Thou, Friend?"

Takashi grafted some of his skin to Black Jack when they were younger because Black Jack would
always lend him his notes and help him with his homework. He donated 20 cm x 20 cm skin from his
right buttock. Because he was of a mixed blood, half-African and half-Japanese, the skin that was
surgically sewn onto Black Jack's face is tan. By the time Black Jack could remove the bandages from
his body, Takashi had moved away. Years past and Black Jack started searching for Takashi. Takashi
gave an unknown man a letter to deliver to Black Jack in Algiers. The letter explains that Takashi
wanted to become a doctor who heals the earth but couldn't when he was slain in Algiers. He was a
member of an environmentalist group which strongly opposed plans to build nuclear power plants in
Africa. Now the skin on Black Jack's left side of his face became a memento. Black Jack considers him
a friend.

Maestro Morozoff

First Appearance: Volume 2 Chapter 11: "Stradivarius"

Maestro Morozoff is a world-famous violinist who sat beside Black Jack on a plane ride from Tokyo,
using a route through the North Pole. The passengers on board stayed in an Eskimo village until the
blizzard died down and a rescue team could come. He considers his violin to be his son. When he
went out to search for his violin, he caught a severe case of frostbite. Because Black Jack left his
medical equipments in the plane and the blizzard snowed in the door, Black Jack couldn't do
anything. Realizing he couldn't play anymore when he saw his dead fingers on a tray, Morozoff
decided to retire. When the blizzard came to an end, they buried his fingers near the village. When
they left, the couple that let the passengers stay, found the violin. They decided to bury it with
Morozoff's fingers.

Biwamaru ()