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Black Jack in 17 volumes #17
Black Jack, Vol. 17
Black Jack is a mysterious and charismatic genius surgeon who travels the world performing amazing and impossible medical feats. Through highly trained, he freelances without a license because he distains the medical establishment. This leads to run-ins with the authorities and unscrupulous, sometimes criminal, individuals. Because Black Jack keeps his true motives secret, his ethics are perceived as questionable and he is considered a selfish, uncaring devil.
304 pages, Paperback
First published May 12, 1983
10 people are currently reading
136 people want to read
About the author
Osamu Tezuka
2,129 books1,294 followersDr. Osamu Tezuka (手塚治虫) was a Japanese manga artist, animator, producer and medical doctor, although he never practiced medicine. Born in Osaka Prefecture, he is best known as the creator of Astro Boy and Kimba the White Lion. He is often credited as the "Father of Anime", and is often considered the Japanese equivalent to Walt Disney, who served as a major inspiration during his formative years. His prolific output, pioneering techniques, and innovative redefinitions of genres earned him such titles as "the father of manga" and "the God of Manga."
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
June 7, 2013
This one wraps up the series. It's not really a high point or anything. If you were lucky enough to buy the initial hardcover volumes that were offered then you get a follow up story to one of the sealed episodes that were only printed in the hard covers. Which is pretty cool. Otherwise it's more of the same, which means exceptional art, great storytelling and one of the best series that readers of all ages and genders should be able to enjoy.
March 16, 2016
Series Review
I can't believe the series is over. I've only been reading them since late 2014, but it feels like a lifetime. This is, without a doubt, my favorite manga series, and I'm so sad to see it finally end.
There are a few points I would like to make. There is a reason why Tezuka is known as the "god of manga". And this series clearly shows it. He takes a dark character and presents him in a way that makes him likeable, fascinating, and incredibly deep. The series is dark, but not so dark that it would repel too many readers. It is funny, but not so funny that you're laughing your way through it. And it has just the right amount of medical procedures without getting too graphic. Sure, you see surgeries, but it is bearable. I'm very squeamish, but I've never been so grossed out that I couldn't finish a Black Jack book.
The characters really are great, too. Black Jack of course is the greatest. He's such as fascinating character, and I would love to read about him again and again. Pinoko is adorable and sweet, even if her origins are a bit sad. And of course, there is Dr. Kiriko. I might be in the minority here, but I loved this character. He's super-dark at times, with a twisted set of morals, but when push comes to shove, he's there when you need him. One of my favorite stories in the series was the one where he teams up with Black Jack to save that mother who has become poisoned when her son attempts to give her medicine. Not going lie, the image of Kiriko bursting through the doors, an unconcious woman in his arms, like he was some sort of action hero was the screensaver on my phone for a couple of weeks!
It has been a wild ride, but I'm so glad I was able to experience it. Thank you, Tezuka-san for all the memories!
I can't believe the series is over. I've only been reading them since late 2014, but it feels like a lifetime. This is, without a doubt, my favorite manga series, and I'm so sad to see it finally end.
There are a few points I would like to make. There is a reason why Tezuka is known as the "god of manga". And this series clearly shows it. He takes a dark character and presents him in a way that makes him likeable, fascinating, and incredibly deep. The series is dark, but not so dark that it would repel too many readers. It is funny, but not so funny that you're laughing your way through it. And it has just the right amount of medical procedures without getting too graphic. Sure, you see surgeries, but it is bearable. I'm very squeamish, but I've never been so grossed out that I couldn't finish a Black Jack book.
The characters really are great, too. Black Jack of course is the greatest. He's such as fascinating character, and I would love to read about him again and again. Pinoko is adorable and sweet, even if her origins are a bit sad. And of course, there is Dr. Kiriko. I might be in the minority here, but I loved this character. He's super-dark at times, with a twisted set of morals, but when push comes to shove, he's there when you need him. One of my favorite stories in the series was the one where he teams up with Black Jack to save that mother who has become poisoned when her son attempts to give her medicine. Not going lie, the image of Kiriko bursting through the doors, an unconcious woman in his arms, like he was some sort of action hero was the screensaver on my phone for a couple of weeks!
It has been a wild ride, but I'm so glad I was able to experience it. Thank you, Tezuka-san for all the memories!
June 29, 2024
I liked Black Jack at first but as it went I found myself tiered. It works but it gets repetitive as it goes. The formula gets stall.
The problem with episodic monster of the week story is that even if your formula works it doesn't mean it will work forever. You need to something interesting with it every time. And Black Jack with moral quandies should able to do it. But it just doesn't.
Another thing is Pinoko just doesn't work for me. I just find her annoying.
The problem with episodic monster of the week story is that even if your formula works it doesn't mean it will work forever. You need to something interesting with it every time. And Black Jack with moral quandies should able to do it. But it just doesn't.
Another thing is Pinoko just doesn't work for me. I just find her annoying.
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December 1, 2022
Well, I finished the series. It was my first manga and a really fun ride. I really enjoyed it (I know nothing about science or surgery, I just like Black Jack as an antihero type character). I was disappointed when I realized I had read the last story.
After I binged several stories of Black Jack I found myself reading American graphic novels backwards on accident XD
After I binged several stories of Black Jack I found myself reading American graphic novels backwards on accident XD
June 4, 2023
Just as good as the rest, but 50 pages of this is an appendix of publication dates for the entire series, which should’ve been split up and appended to each of the first 17 volumes.
November 17, 2016
As I wrote in my review of vol 1, I use to own all the vols of this series, have read them over and over, and after some decades, I still remember these stories . . . duh. While some episodes may strike you as old, I dare say they are still splendid.
Regarding his view of gender roles: it's so outdated. It's almost laughable how so many female characters throw themselves off the building. (Their function in the story is to be victims.)
But the important thing is that he brought up the issues of genders (including transgenders) starting in the 50s (Ribbon no Kishi), writing in manga whose target audience is boys (shonen). (To be sure, plenty of adult men read shonen manga, as well as many women.) I call this "Malcolm X effect": even when he was wrong, he was great.
In this volume, which seems to be the last vol in English series, there is an episode in which the author parodies his own highly-popular manga Phoenix . The bird girl is also a recurring character, which also appears in the aforementioned Phoenix series.
At the end of this volume, there are two indexes for the series, one that shows which episodes are included in each volume, and the other for all episodes ever published in the order of publication (should have publication dates). From these, we see that the episodes were originally published in a different order than they are organized in these volumes.
By the way, I found out some interesting translation in English (this is memo for myself):
ヒョウタンツギ : patch-gourds (page 155 of this vol.)
オムカエデゴンス (what スパイダー almost always says) "At yer (service)."
Regarding his view of gender roles: it's so outdated. It's almost laughable how so many female characters throw themselves off the building. (Their function in the story is to be victims.)
But the important thing is that he brought up the issues of genders (including transgenders) starting in the 50s (Ribbon no Kishi), writing in manga whose target audience is boys (shonen). (To be sure, plenty of adult men read shonen manga, as well as many women.) I call this "Malcolm X effect": even when he was wrong, he was great.
In this volume, which seems to be the last vol in English series, there is an episode in which the author parodies his own highly-popular manga Phoenix . The bird girl is also a recurring character, which also appears in the aforementioned Phoenix series.
At the end of this volume, there are two indexes for the series, one that shows which episodes are included in each volume, and the other for all episodes ever published in the order of publication (should have publication dates). From these, we see that the episodes were originally published in a different order than they are organized in these volumes.
By the way, I found out some interesting translation in English (this is memo for myself):
ヒョウタンツギ : patch-gourds (page 155 of this vol.)
オムカエデゴンス (what スパイダー almost always says) "At yer (service)."
July 24, 2012
I'm a little sad to say that this is the final volume in the amazing Black Jack series. It's been a blast reading Tezuka's series and I'm glad that Vertical decided to take the chance of releasing this series.
Pinoko is the focus of a lot of these stories, which I loved. She's always been my favorite character of the series, mostly because despite her fantastic origin she's been the "every(wo)man" character. Where Black Jack has been the person with almost magical surgical abilities, Pinoko is remarkably normal. (Sure she's a former lump put in a doll's body, but other than that she has nothing else about her that's overwhelmingly extraordinary.) The artwork in this is typical Tezuka, which means that I think it's awesome. I think it's safe to say that Tezuka's artwork is pretty distinctive and it's nice to see something a little different.
I do want to warn you that there's no absolute closure in this series. Like the previous volumes, you can pretty much read this without having read the other volumes. There is one story that refers to a previous volume, but it also goes over everything to where you won't feel like you're missing anything. The end story is a little bittersweet given how it ends (no spoilers!), but I like to think of it as a way of marking a change in the characters' lives.
There is another Black Jack manga series (The Dark Surgeon), and I hope that we will eventually get that through Vertical as well. They've done an excellent job with this volume and with the series as a whole. I absolutely recommend this to anyone interested in Tezuka, classic manga, and/or retro series.
Pinoko is the focus of a lot of these stories, which I loved. She's always been my favorite character of the series, mostly because despite her fantastic origin she's been the "every(wo)man" character. Where Black Jack has been the person with almost magical surgical abilities, Pinoko is remarkably normal. (Sure she's a former lump put in a doll's body, but other than that she has nothing else about her that's overwhelmingly extraordinary.) The artwork in this is typical Tezuka, which means that I think it's awesome. I think it's safe to say that Tezuka's artwork is pretty distinctive and it's nice to see something a little different.
I do want to warn you that there's no absolute closure in this series. Like the previous volumes, you can pretty much read this without having read the other volumes. There is one story that refers to a previous volume, but it also goes over everything to where you won't feel like you're missing anything. The end story is a little bittersweet given how it ends (no spoilers!), but I like to think of it as a way of marking a change in the characters' lives.
There is another Black Jack manga series (The Dark Surgeon), and I hope that we will eventually get that through Vertical as well. They've done an excellent job with this volume and with the series as a whole. I absolutely recommend this to anyone interested in Tezuka, classic manga, and/or retro series.
June 30, 2018
My favorite manga of all time, finishing Black Jack is saying goodbye to an old friend (of course, until I reread the series again). Not published in chronological order, it gives a sense of unfinished business to the book, but this only adds to the narrative created around Black Jack- we do not know his life past his early 30s, and can only assume he carries out these medical miracles until he dies, at the cost of his own loneliness. Black Jack is to me not only an incredibly entertaining, often funny, sometimes dated, and frequently heartwrenching series, but the originator of who I consider to be the best character of all time, Black Jack himself. Osamu Tezuka may be more well known for other works, but this is the one I will carry with me.
September 8, 2016
A fantastic series. This volume features an array of stories spanning the entire black jack series. A good portion of the volume is an appendix for the other volumes. It lists the names and translations of each story and also the publishing order of each. It's interesting to see that the second to last story from the original run was chosen as the final story for this publishing.
February 12, 2012
The end. And it’s a fitting end to a manga series that’s always stood poised on the knife-edge between sweet fairy-tale simplicity and the tougher sensibilities of stories for mature audiences.
http://www.genjipress.com/2012/02/bla...
http://www.genjipress.com/2012/02/bla...
January 1, 2014
Great medical manga from tezuka-san.
March 15, 2016
A classic, dark but touching.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews