Young Black Jack Episode 1: Where's the Doctor? – Beeble Reviews

Black Jack? Maybe you’ve heard of him? Well now it’s HIS turn to get the Muppet Babies treatment.

Japan was in an uproar.

The world is in revolt against itself.
 

Things were turning upside down. But the one thing that will never change...is Black Jack. 

YOUREALLY NEED TO HEAR HOW UNASHAMEDLY HAPPY THIS THEME SONG IS WATCH THE PEOPLE EXPLODE TO, IT IS FANTASTIC

I’M SO HAPPY BLACK JACK IS HERE I MEAN EXPLAIN HOW THIS HAPPENS TO ANYONE ELSE

The episode proper begins, and some people are stuck in a rail crossing. 

Like this person! Heyyyy, little guy!!

Hey there, Train—OH. Oh.

Cut to: Hospital. Also: Japanese socio-political climate of the time this takes place in.

I’m not TOO knowledgeable on Japanese history, but I’m gonna place this around the 70’s. I got a STRONG feeling Ashita no Joe’s already out there influencing the youth.

Not really Ashita no Joe-related, but still

The citizens from the little train moment come to the hospital, but all of the young protesters are medical students and intern personnel fighting for better wages. They don’t have TIME to do MEDICALS!!

Ooh here he goe

As they take care of some of the wounded, something important happens.

THE TEZUKA PEOPLE SHOW UP! Of course they don’t get the youth, they were drawn in a different era...

And also the boy’s arm and leg got cut off and that’s terrible. NOBODY can reattach his body parts, NO ONE. Don’t even THINK about it. 

I said don’t you think about it Black Jack, NOBODY should do this SUUUUUPER TOUGH SURGERY

Heh heh, see there? I enticed ‘im.

He can already see the procedure in his head! No wonder they call him Black Jack because that is a very cool name.

Black Jack more like Black Jesus Fridays at midnight only on Adult Swim

NEEEEVER mind take away the Jesus metaphor Japan you CLEARLY do not understand how it works

He runs off with the boy on the gurney to Black Jack’s old friend, Goof!

Ha haaaaa they explicitly state he’s a heroin addict

Here he can do all his b(l)ack alley superdoctoring that’ll make him a legend in a couple years. Time to fix up a kid in a realistic-yet-non-gory fashion! Time limit: four hours before the limbs go dead! Hell or Heaven, Let’s Rock!!

Oooh

Aaaah

Eeeeeh

Iiiiiiih

This means he’s doing really good at the thing that is showing in this!

He connects the bone and the nerves, just like he envisioned back at the hospital, and swiftly— OH NO!!

You'd be more likely to get one here by ripping one of those patches off of your own face! In fact, that actually sounds a whole lot like Black Jack.

 
Circulation’s going bad! The things in the stuff are no-go! But he decides he can take an artery from his surviving leg and place it back over where the more important broken one is! Boy I’d be better at this if I was a med student...

OH GROSS WHAT THE HELL? WHAT’RE THE DANGLY BITS, WHAT ARE THOSE, IN ME?! AHHH I’M SO GLAD I’M NOT A MEDICAL STUDENT.
 

Ooh they finished up! Good! Good. 

Dammit now I’m out five mil, what a disaster...

Seething rage at this Mickey Mouse mofo?

Outside after the procedure, he can’t stop shaking. From what? His excitement of his first surgery ever? The fear of if he’d failed? Mixed emotions?

Well, shit, Black Jack tried to rip them off kinda, and then he gets ripped off kinda and paid just 50 grand for his work. Sure he asked for a lot, buuuut... 

"YOU CAN'T DO THAT! THAT'S THE WHOLE POINT OF THE BLACK JACK SERIES!!!"

As a nice treat, the end credits shows you how the entire cast of the anime looked in the original materials, nice bit of historical trivia for those uninitiated in the world of Young Black Jack like me.

See? I had NO IDEA Beetle Bailey guys were in this story!