| Manga Recommendation: Black Jack |
[Sep. 10th, 2004|02:04 pm] |
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| |  enthralled | ] |
This week's manga recommendation is a manga about... surgery (Next week: Manga about Firefighting). People may run away, but before you do, know that this manga is by the legendary Osamu Tezuka, known in Japan and around the world as "The God of Manga". I believe the title is fitting for Tezuka: like a real god, he's created some great things, some bad things and some totally unnecessary things. His mediocre works aren't bad by "general" standards, though his best works are, simply put, sublime.
Black Jack (Osamu Tezuka)
(22 volumes)
There are Black Jack anime movies out there, but you should avoid these movies because (a)Tezuka didn't direct them, and (b)Like Doraemon, Black Jack is a collection of short stories that is meant to be read in large batches.
Plot
Black Jack is a series of stories about a brilliant but ruthless surgeon, who operates unlicensed because of the enormous fees he charges for his services. Black Jack is a peculiar-looking fellow, almost the antithesis of what we expect doctors to look like - he has hair like Cruella de Ville, a black cloak like Dracula (I actually based East Seawood's cloak on his!), and scars all over his face. He looks like a villain, but is the hero of the story, and despite his cold facade, he really has good intentions.
Now, if I had made the story sound like something about a misunderstood loner with a heart of gold and a core of inner strength; it's the wrong impression. Black Jack is a doctor, NOT a hero - he does things that I would consider heroic, but this is a mature story that doesn't necessarily see heroic behaviour or noble sacrifice as rewarding. Black Jack doesn't always succeed in saving his patients, though alot of the time it's through no fault of his, but through fault of circumstance or of human weakness. Many of the stories have happy endings, and many do not.
Why I recommend this story
This particular Tezuka manga has a special place in my heart, because it was the first Tezuka work I read. My manga-mad cousin first handed this to me when I was 15, and while he explained how good it is, I wasn't initially impressed. A story about surgery?? How terribly exciting. Not to mention the art seemed really dated and unattractive. It went straight to the bottom of my manga pile, under the DragonBall and Swords-and-Sorcery manga.
After I read all my new action adventure manga, I decided to give Black Jack a try, and then I found I couldn't put it down. It wasn't like anything I've read before, and it actually held my interest. Up until Black Jack, what I mainly read have been Shonen fighting-and-adventure manga, and rarely ventured outside that world because other stories had little appeal to me. I wasn't much interested in the (repetitive) romantic problems of Japanese High School girls, so alot of popular 90s Shoujo bored me. Popular 90s Shounen were mostly DragonBall-offshoots, and fairly formulaic. What I found in Black Jack were stories that was NOT formulaic, and about things other than whether I'm going to save the world and/or get the guy of my dreams. This manga opened up a whole new universe for me.
While this manga uses surgery and weird illnesses as it's main premise, it's not really what the stories about. These are stories of humanity examined through a medical perspective, and so have the characters at the heart of the drama rather than whatever the Disease-of-the-Week is. That is why I'm able to recommend Black Jack to just about anyone - here is something that SEEMS to be aimed at a niche market (doctors?), but is infact universal in its appeal.
Picture From:</b> http://www.mangadb.it/showmanga.php?idmanga=328 |
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| Comments: |
I think another Tezuka manga that deserves to be seen is 'Phoenix', which I read when I was a kid in Chinese. My favorite volume of the series, "Hou-ou"(Karma) has just been released, and it's worth checking out if you're in the Tezuka mood...
I have read parts of "Phoenix", and is going to recommend it in future "Manga Recommendations" - it's really a great manga. Too bad more people aren't crazy about his works. I personally don't believe "Phoenix" is Tezuka's best series because it's more loosely structured, but "Karma" is my favourite in the series too. ^_^ Besides "Karma", I also like "Universe" very much.
Blackjack is also the first Tezuka manga I ever saw. Actually it was the first manga I saw, ever.
I was eight in 1977 and just arrived in Japan for the first time. Blackjack's appearance was very striking to me and I was amazed when I looked through the comic. This was not a comic about rascally talking animals. Nor was it about overly muscular men in capes and circus costumes fighting. The stories were incredible and pretty shocking to me. Things did not break down into good guys versus bad guys and sometimes things seemed to turn out unfairly for the people involved. I remember thinking about this for weeks after getting the comic and at some point realizing "It was like life!"
It was shocking all over again that a comic could be so good, especially one that, on the surface, seemed cartoony.
Hey! You've found your way here! XD
And yes, "Black Jack" caused a revolution in my manga-reading consciousness. :D
Umm well... actually I've known about it for a bit because of your website and a few other peoples' LJs I just never bothered to comment.
Umm.. just like i never comment on your comics, which are all pretty cool. I read Block 6 all the time but I particularly like your comics on your website, especially those with a heavier emphasis on Asian mythology (I'm biased).
I like your journal too. It's informative and entertaining and much more professional looking than my own! heh! It's cool you are actually saying things on here. Unlike mine where I say stupid things like "I'm trying to work. Today I had a sandwich. My friends are dorks. Today we watched 'The Tribe' season 4".
I'm glad you like my manga on my site! And yes, I intend to do more manga on Asian mythology (it's actually a religion - religious Taoism) but for the research I have to do :D Comments like this make my day. And it's okay about not replying much - I don't expect people who visit my site to. I do my own thing and while I do it for the enjoyment of others, I also do it for myself. :) Comments/Crits are always welcome, though.
As for my livejournal, the reason why I started it was so that I can (a)catalogue my knowledge for reference on future manga/comics projects (b)let other people know more about the world. It's almost like a public service - I don't treat it like a diary because I don't keep diaries. However, I DO read alot of history books, so much that I can often forget what I've read and the opinions I formed on a certain topic when I move onto something else. So, when I've studied something, I summarise it and put it in the livejournal so I can keep track of what I've read and studied. :) So yeah, it DOES turn out to be quite informative to the average browser - though it's meant to serve my own purposes more than that of the readers! XD
I'd just started a multi-part series on The Crusades too. :D
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