Black Jack 12

Osamu Tezuka – Vertical – 2010 – 18 volumes

Ooh, I think this has been the best volume of the series I’ve read yet. There were lots of stories that put Black Jack into difficult situations, most not offering any explanation as to what he may be thinking. Leaving Black Jack’s emotions up to the reader is one of the things I love about this series.

My favorite by far was “Prone to Laughter,” the last story in the volume. I was immediately won over because it featured Kuro’o, the tall bully, and a shorter classmate who stayed cheery no matter what happened to him. Bitter over what had happened to him, violent and dangerous, Kuro’o eventually takes comfort in Guffaw, his classmate, who is in a similar situation to his and takes it much better. Eventually Guffaw is in an accident that Black Jack blames himself for, and years later the surgeon seeks him out to try and save his life. There were lots of good things in this chapter, some of which I don’t want to spoil. It’s safe to say that Guffaw was a good character, though, and it was interesting to compare and contrast him with Black Jack and see everything he brought out in the other as a boy.

The other Kuro’o story was “The Second One,” about a man with cancer whose daughter eventually must beg Black Jack to save his life. Later, its revealed that the dying man is one of the five responsible for what happened to Black Jack and his mother, only the second that Black Jack was able to find. Considering the elaborate and sadistic revenge he sought against the first man, there’s no telling what he had planned here. He is bitter in the end, but for what reason it is unclear. It’s likely because his revenge remains unfulfilled, though, which is an interesting and ugly emotion to shed on your main character.

Another very Black Jack-centric chapter featured a young boy who was in an accident and couldn’t walk. Black Jack has to bully him and show him his own scars, telling him his difficult story, before the young boy agrees to treatment and therapy. Strangely, and very out-of-place, the boy is a user of PK psychic powers, something Black Jack acknowledges as fact. The supernatural doesn’t have much place in the series… but seeing science and the paranormal clash is interesting when it happens occasionally. It happens a couple more times in this volume alone.

In another chapter, Black Jack has a doctoring-off with an unfortunately-drawn gentleman who can heal and save lives just by laying his hand on/in people. The moral of this story is not to trust the supernatural, but to trust the doctor’s intentions. A very unfortunate birth defect is discussed at length.

Later, Black Jack must do a surgery on a boy who is possessed by a ghost that believes it needs an operation. He brings up the operation he did on the invisible patient of the airplane crash several volumes ago, and goes to work after charging his usual fee.

There are lots of other happy, sad, and pun-filled stories, and even a guest appearance by Golgo 13. But it was the interesting takes on Black Jack that made me like this volume more than the others. There was a little bit more to chew on here, even with all the varied medical conditions and outlandish stories that appear in the other volumes and make it so much fun to read.

I don’t expect more of the Black Jack-centric chapters next time, but I expect I’ll still love it all the same. Every volume is a treat. It really is a unique and extreme read. There’s just nothing like it out there.