Monday, November 30, 2015

:anime: Free/Low-Cost Anime Pick of the Month:: Young Black Jack

Black Jack…looks kind of different…

[Post Date: Dec. 26, 2015. Intended Post Date: Nov. 30, 2015. Due to computer issues and a whole lot of Christmas decorating… ]

Young Black Jack

Official Site: Japanese
Additional Links: ANN Entry, MAL Entry
Video [Free {Streaming}]: Crunchyroll, Hulu

In May 2013, Black Jack OVA was highlighted in an installment of "Free/Low-Cost Anime Pick of the Month". Since the 1993 work, Osamu Tezuka's popular unlicensed doctor has seen a few TV series and a movie or two, but aside from a 2-eps. 2011 OVA, there has not been a substantial anime starring him in about ten years. So, enter "Young Black Jack", a 12-eps. TV adaptation of an officially-sanctioned prequel manga series by Yoshiaki Tabata (who also penned the scripts) and Yuu Gou Ookuma that is a most curious beast, to say the least.

The telltale staples are still there, from the title character's surgical wizardry and sometimes morally-questionable characters to nods to the OVA's seminal artistic flourishes and involving, sometimes bizarre, episodic tales. The series may follow the steps of then-medical student/wunderkind Kuroo Hazama, but as soon as the first episode rolls, it is clear that it won't quite be your usual Black Jack.