is a Japanese

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

series written by Yoshiaki Tabata and illustrated by Yūgo Ōkuma. It is based on ''

Black Jack Blackjack is a popular casino-gambling card game. Black Jack or Blackjack may also refer to: Places Australia * Black Jack, Queensland, a locality in Queensland * Black Jack, a civil parish of Pottinger County, New South Wales * Black Jack H ...

'' by

Osamu Tezuka Osamu Tezuka (, born , ''Tezuka Osamu''; – 9 February 1989) was a Japanese manga artist, cartoonist, and animator. Born in Osaka Prefecture, his prolific output, pioneering techniques, and innovative redefinitions of genres earned him such ...

and serves as its prequel. It was serialized in

Akita Shoten is a Japanese publishing company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo. It was founded by Teio Akita on 10 August 1948. As of 2020, the company's president is Shigeru Higuchi. Magazines Male-oriented manga magazines ''Shōnen'' magazines * – Bimo ...

's ''

Young Champion is a Japanese seinen manga magazine. The magazine was established in 1988. It is published by Akita Shoten and has its headquarters in Tokyo. History Manga series * ''Alien Nine'' by Hitoshi Tomizawa (1998-1999) * '' Babel II: The Returner'' ...

'' magazine between November 2011 and June 2019. An anime adaptation aired in Japan from October to December 2015. The story follows

as a medical student in the 1960s.

Plot

In the 1960s, Kuroo Hazama is a gifted young medical student with a dark past who tries to make a name for himself. Despite only being a medical student, he is a brilliant surgeon and attracts attention after he completes seemingly impossible operations and displays greater skills than his formal training would allow. Hazama devotes himself to the world of medicine together with his friends, the intern Maiko Okamoto and the doctor Yabu. Set against the background of student riots, war, and corruption, Hazama finds himself caught up in a series of circumstances which challenge his integrity as a person and his path towards becoming a surgeon. The choices he makes leads him to become the legend known as

Characters

; :Portrayed by:

Masaki Okada is a Japanese actor. He is best known for his roles as Sekime Kyogo in the drama ''Hanazakari no Kimitachi e'' and as Takuma Kakinouchi in the 2009 film '' I Give My First Love to You''. Filmography Films * ''The Foreign Duck, the Native Duck ...

(live-action drama), (anime) ; : (anime) ; : (anime) ; : (anime) ; : (anime) ; : (anime) ; : (anime) ; : (anime) ; : (anime) ; : (anime) ; : (anime) ; : (anime) ; : (anime) ; : (anime) ; : (anime) ; : (anime) ; : (anime) ; : (anime) ; : (anime)

Media

Manga

The prequel manga based on Osamu Tesuka's ''Black Jack'' manga series is written by Yoshiaki Tabata, and illustrated by Yūgo Ōkuma. It began serialization in

's ''

'' issue #23 of 2011, released on November 22, and finished in the issue #13 of 2019, published on June 11. Akita Shoten published the first ''

tankōbon is the Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or cultur ...

'' volume of the manga on May 18, 2012, and sixteen volumes have been released as of August 20, 2019. On March 2017, it was announced that the manga gone on hiatus to prepare for the next arc in summer 2017.

Live-action drama

A live-action TV special adaptation aired at April 23, 2011 at

Nippon TV JOAX-DTV (channel 4), branded as , is the flagship station of the Nippon News Network and the Nippon Television Network System, owned-and-operated by the which is a subsidiary of the certified broadcasting holding company , itself a listed su ...

. The special starred lead actor

as young Black Jack. Kentaro Otani directed the special.

Anime

A 12-episode

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

television series adaptation directed aired from October to December 2015 on TBS, CBC,

SUN The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...

, and

BS-TBS is a Japanese satellite broadcasting station headquartered in Akasaka Gochome, Minato, Tokyo. Its channel name is BS-TBS (formerly, BS-i). It is a member television station of Japan News Network. Channels *Television: BS-TBS is assigned BS16 ...

. Produced by

Tezuka Productions is a Japanese animation studio founded by Osamu Tezuka in 1968. It is known for animating notable works such as '' Marvelous Melmo'', the 1980 and 2003 ''Astro Boy'' series, and '' Black Jack''. It is also the holder of the intellectual propert ...

, it is directed by Mitsuko, with

Ryōsuke Takahashi is a Japanese anime director, screenwriter, and producer. He has worked for Sunrise on many anime shows in the real robot genre, including ''Armored Trooper VOTOMS'', ''Fang of the Sun Dougram'', ''Panzer World Galient'', and ''Blue Comet SPT L ...

handling series composition and serving as supervisor, Miyuki Katayama and Nana Miura designing the characters and

Daisuke Ikeda is a Japanese professional wrestler who is currently wrestling in the Independent circuit in Japan. Since debuting in 1993, Ikeda has worked for a number of promotions in Japan, including Battlarts, All Japan Pro Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Noah an ...

Hirohito Furui is a Japanese musical arranger and keyboardist in distributors Being Inc., mainly in their label Giza Studio. In years 1999-2013 he was part of Japanese band Garnet Crow as arranger. In March 2018, he launched his own band project ''Again'', howe ...

and Kensuke Akiyama composing the music. The anime has been licensed in North America by

Sentai Filmworks Sentai Filmworks, LLC or just Sentai, is an American entertainment company owned by AMC Networks. Located in Houston, the company specializes in the dubbing and distribution of Japanese animation and Asian cinema. Its post-production arm is S ...

and is also streaming on

Crunchyroll Crunchyroll is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Sony through a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex. The service primarily distributes films and tel ...

Episode list

References

External links

Anime official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Young Black Jack 2011 manga Akita Shoten manga Seinen manga Sentai Filmworks Tezuka Productions Fiction set in the 1960s