The 2015 fall season of anime has produced many great shows. One of these shows hails from the mind of the Godfather of Anime, Osamu Tezuka. This show is Young Black Jack, the story of medical student Kuroo Hazama’s transition to becoming Black Jack ,which can be purchased here, the world’s greatest and most expensive surgeon. Tezuka did not create Young Black Jack but rather lend his character and his world to the anime. Young Black Jack is considered to be one of the top anime’s in 2015.
Young Black Jack is a perfect introduction to Tezuka anime/manga style, even though he was not involved with the series. The story starts out by introducing the viewers to Kuroo Hazama who is subjected to perform an illegal surgery to save a child’s life only to be denied the money he was promised. As a result we began to see the type of man that Hazama is becoming as these type of events occur to him. As he progresses Hazama is further exposed to the reality of the medical world during his trip to Vietnam where he saves patients to only find that they cannot handle the stress of war and sadly kill themselves. This action leaves Hazama bewildered as a doctor and makes him question why he wants to be come one. Finally, Hazama is influenced by a former surgeon, Hyakki, who’s accident was caused by politics at a university hospital. Finding out the truth Hyakki goes on a spree of amputating body parts of the people who were involved in causing his accident. As a result of his actions Hazama decides that he does not want to be a part of the medical field if that’s what occurs to doctors rather than treating patients.
Outside of the story Young Black Jack, Tezuka utilizes many different elements. One of these elements is the use of the Star System. The Star System is when a director or animator uses the same characters in multiple works but they have different names and slightly different personalities. By using similar characters for old fans many of the characters are recognized which gives the show creditability. For new fans the star system in Young Black Jack introduces many of Tezuka’s characters to a new audience. Tezuka’s characters appear in this anime and it bridges a gap between different generations. Another element that is used is the color palette and smoothness of the animation. The animation tends to use a darker color, which plays with the theme of Hazama’s experience in his life and the medical field. The animation itself only adds to the story and the other elements, as it is smooth and rich with seamless transitions between scenes, allowing the viewer to focus on the story.
Young Black Jack would make the Godfather of Anime proud as it incorporates everything that Tezuka set out to do. Yet the show goes even further than that as it bridges a gap between some of the very first anime shows to the present while maintaining Hazama’s integrity as a character.
You can pick up the first manga book of Black Jack here.
