Amazing, that’s the only word I could think of in the English language to describe these two episodes of Young Black Jack. Though intense, suspenseful and bone-chilling could also be used to describe them. Episode ten in particular left you sitting on the edge of your seat. Cursing the heavens that the episode ended so quickly and where it did.
I would once again like to praise the production team on not only their knowledge of the times but their knowledge of the source material and the other works of Osamu Tezuka. These episodes have mentions and throw backs to his work Dororo. The doctor that Hazama meets, Hyakki is based on Hyakkimaru and his young patient named Roro, is based around Dororo.
It’s interesting to note that the name of the professor that saved Hazama as a child is also in Dororo, Professor Honma. I’ve stated in the past that I am unfamiliar with the original Black Jack and I am unsure of this character was originally the one that saved him or if it is something exclusive to Young Black Jack.
Hazama and Hyakki who was present when Professor Honma performed surgery on Hazama when he was a child connect again after a lecture at Hazama’s college. We discover, through a car accident he lost all four of his limbs and now is reduced only to teaching rather then doing surgery himself.
Though he is working on prosthetics that would help him get his old life back. It’s hard not to feel for him in this episode, anyone would be devastated to lose their arms and legs, though some people could still do their trade through it. An Artist, a surgeon or anyone else who requires precision work with their hands though.
It’s rough.
He has blueprints though that may help him get everything back on track, a way to connect his prosthetic limbs to his brain and move them with his muscles. He first asks a friend of his at Teito university to do the procedure for him and is refused. However, Hazama, being Hazama offers to do the surgery for Hyakki instead.
I can get where he’s coming from, he’s very sympathetic to Hyakki, he would feel the same way if he was in his place and it isn’t as if this is the first illegal surgery he’s done.
I can’t fault Hazama at all.
The show will though. Because of what happens after the surgery, when everything looks like it may get back on track and people will be happy again. Hyakki’s co-workers and his ‘friend’ that turned down doing his surgery show their true colors. They are the reason he was barred from doing a surgery. They’re the cause of his accident.
From this point on, it turns into a revenge story. Hyakki hates them with everything he is and begins murdering the people involved and taking their limbs. Two dead and one without an arm, Hazama and Maiko have to deal with not only trying to find him but his grieving fiancee as well.
I feel really bad for her, they just got engaged. They were set to get married, but then her husband to be just vanished and the next she hears is that he’s a murderer. That can’t be easy, she’s a sweet looking girl too.
Hazama and Maiko are also the ones that stumble upon the one that Hyakki didn’t kill, his ‘friend’ and the one that was in charge of setting up his accident. They had to stitch him up to keep him from bleeding out, Maiko is struggling to do it correctly through all of the blood and Hazama steps in despite her warnings not too.
I think Hazama is getting pretty sick and tired of all the laws and rules. Lives are at stake, what is a law or two against someones life?
With no leads, they’re unsure of what to do until Hazama remembers something that Hyakki told him previously. That if a doctor hadn’t of intervened and convinced him to stay on teaching after the accident that he would of gone into seclusion on a mountain. So Hazama hearing that there is a temple up in the mountains goes to confront Hyakki.
By himself. Idiot. I would be worried half to death if I didn’t have an assurance that he is going to make it to the sequel series. So basically, what these episodes have done for us are answer the last of our questions from the opening. Who is the silver haired samurai? Why is he fighting Hazama?
We have our answers to that much but the arc isn’t over yet and if I am interrupting the preview correctly. Hazama is going to have these murders blamed on him. If he hadn’t of performed the surgery, none of this would of happened.
Though, even if your patient will be a future serial killer. Do you turn them away? How could he of known? That question that I just posed myself made me think of “Monster”. A great manga/anime with doctor drama and mystery. Pushing that aside, these episodes were fantastic. I am really looking forward to seeing his arc wrap up and I can only wonder to myself what the final episodes of Young Black Jack can contain that will beat the heavy topics and issues that we’ve had in these past two episodes.
~Midnight