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| Overall | Art | Animation | Character Design | Music | Series Story | Episode Story | Reviewer | |
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| Rent | 9 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 |
 Ggultra2764
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[series:300#1552] | |
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The 1996 Black Jack anime film is actually a side story of sorts from a series of OVAs that were released throughout the 1990s, featuring Osamu Tezuka’s famous unregistered surgeon. Here, Black Jack has to aid a mysterious doctor named Jo Carol Brane, who blackmails him to aid a number of supposed “superhumans” who possess extraordinary capabilities within different fields, yet find their bodies deteriorating after a period of time from a newly discovered disease. The Black Jack movie is more-or-less a medical mystery film with the titular character trying to figure out the origins of the disease affecting the superhumans. Those who have dabbled into the OVA series from the 1990s can think of this as an extended episode of it. It retains the dark, gritty mood found from the OVA series and the mystery in question plays into the franchise’s overall theme of dabbling into corruption within the medical field. The film drops hints of shady activity at play with the disease in question and Jo Carol having something to do with it, that is gradually unraveled by Black Jack and others as the film progresses. The mystery is an engaging one to see develop and offers solid exploration of Jo Carol’s motives for her involvement with the superhumans, though the film’s efforts to make a moral of the mystery do usually get overly dramatic and to-the-point on occasion. Also a fair warning, this movie can get quite graphic at points as there are several scenes depicting Black Jack performing surgeries that are shown in rather graphic detail thus I’d avoid this film if you get squeamish at the site of gore, even when depicted during medical procedures. Visually, the Black Jack movie’s more-or-less on par with the visual quality of the OVA series in depicting Black Jack with a modern drawing style with detailed character designs and subdued color tones to be in line with the dark mood depicted from the OVA series. The drawing style does allow for some lifelike character designs and detailed scenic shots to be shown, though Pinoko seems to oddly stick out in still being drawn in Tezuka’s classic drawing style which does clash with the intended aesthetic choices for this film. Anyone with interest in medical mystery or anything connected to Osamu Tezuka should give this film a watch. There is solid buildup with the mystery as more elements concerning the superhuman medical crisis get unraveled and the fleshing out of Jo Carol’s character with her connections to it show she has more dimension than your run-of-the-mill anime villain. Those looking for anything a bit more action-heavy or squeamish over graphic violence may not get as much enjoyment out of seeing the 1996 Black Jack movie. Last updated Sunday, May 31 2020. Created Tuesday, July 22 2008. | ||||||||
| Buy | 10 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 10 | 10 |
 manganime
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[series:300#1633] |
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Haven't really seen another anime like this one. It's just great original and the story just gripped me. Not in Tezuka's style of art thou; which in fact I prefer as I personally do not go for his style and thought the style here suited this sort of animje. A definite buy. Last updated Thursday, February 10 2005. Created Thursday, February 10 2005. | ||||||||
| Buy | 7 | 8 | 7 | 10 |
 Midnighter
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[series:300#94] | ||
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Wow. That was the first thought I had after finishing Black Jack. In the tired, stagnent world of DragonBall Z and Slayers here was a new anime that was intelligent and unique. It was a breath of fresh air. Let's start with the character design. Interesting. Not nearly as "big eyes and speed line-y" or cartoony as the usual fare, think along the lines of "Ghost In the Shell." While it was certainly a nice change of pace, it takes some getting used to. Animation, one word: Beautiful. Smooth, crisp, natural. Nice detail, the little touches like tiny blood drops welling up along an incision instead of quarts pouring out, capilary action of fluids, things like that caught my eye. Unfortunatly Black Jack falls prey to a classic anime short-cut, the still painting. With such gorgeous animation, it really jolted the flow when all of the sudden it turns into a still painting. The story was smart, with enough twists to keep me guessing reasonably well into it, and the dialogue was good. I'm not a Doctor, so I have no idea of the accuracy of the medical terms, but from my knowledge of anatomy, it seemed OK. I also liked how they threw in a little environmentalist message at the end without becoming patronizing. This one comes highly recommended if you want something differrent and intelligent. This is a good example of sophisticated animation. Watch it subbed though, lousy dub. Last updated Monday, July 23 2001. Created Monday, July 23 2001. | ||||||||
| Buy | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 9 |
 Barry
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[series:300#122] | |
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Here's an interesting little series. BLACK JACK is a nicely done medical drama about a very mysterious and shady (but also brilliant) surgeon who travels the globe working miracles and collecting huge bills. While not too ashtonishingly great in the visual or sound departments, BLACK JACK usually carries a very subtle and subdued mood... until the good doctor enters the operating room. Then, everything becomes very intense and suspenseful as Dr. Black Jack tackles some really interesting and imaginative health problems, most of them deadly, all the while spouting off that complicated medical jargon that everyone thought sounded so cool on "ER." Another thing I must point out is that this series possesses one thing that I find much of anime sorely lacking these days: a good English dub. Big props go out to the translation team and the English voice cast (and especially to the actor who voiced Black Jack himself, who did an excellent job). So, in conclusion, all I've got to say about BLACK JACK is that it sure beats the hell outta "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman."
Last updated Tuesday, July 09 2002. Created Monday, July 02 2001. | ||||||||
