In case you haven’t noticed: the final Black Jack OVAs have finally been subbed. Yes, two episodes of 50 minutes, which were the final things that Osamu Dezaki worked on before his death. I’ve been waiting more than a month for these to come out, because even though I sometimes watch raws, there is no way in which I’m going to try that with a series that’s so chock full of medical terms as this one.
And holy crap, this first episode was worth the wait! I was a bit weary at first when the episode immediately started by promising that it would center around Pinoko, but seriously: her background is amazing. This episode seriously gave me a totally different perspective of her. This is much, much more than just another nostalgia remake.
The whole concept of having her be a Zyst who for more than 20 years lived inside this actress’ body, which was afterwards taken out and reassembled by Black Jack. Holy crap, now that’s something else. At this point I thought that I couldn’t be surprised by Osamu Tezuka anymore, but this episode did it.
And yes, this episode was 50 minutes long, and told in the same style as the other OVAs. Because of this we got a long and detailed look at the actress in question and who she is, and what the impact of her illness was on her life. This lead to an amazing ending and I loved the bond between her and Pinoko.
And yes! This really still has Osamu Dezaki’s influence all over it. The graphics and especially the multiple drawing son one screen are really typical of his, and I’m really glad that we can see them for one last time. He was by far one of the directors with one of the most unique styles out there. It’s something that I’m missing with a lot of debuting directors nowadays: they seem too afraid to put a bit of their own style in. This really shows that you can very faithfully adapt a story, while putting plenty of your own style in it as well.
OVA Episode Rating: 9/10
Where did you find the subbed one ?
I found one on tokyo toshokan
The part about Pinoko’s background came from the show I believe. Only with a little differences.
You should really finish the TV series & Black Jack 21 soon!!
Great OVA…I prefer Osamu Dezaki’s version of Black Jack. Yes, his style is very unique and even before recognizing his name, I was attracted to his style. I haven’t watch the other Black Jack but Osamu Dezaki’s version seems more mature. Even with his other works where the character designs are similar, the works seem more mature.
Osamu Dezaki’s graphic style is kind of dream like too. He certainly stamp his style into his works that you’d recognize it’s him without checking the credits.
And with his post, I learned that Osamu Dezaki has passed away…what the heck?! I am sadden to see greater anime directors gone. He is one anime director that I liked and wished that he could go on living for hundreds of years making more anime.
Anime director Satoshi Kon is gone too and he was also unique and distinguished. In every one of his anime (I think), one character has got a mole underneath the left eye corner — this is his identified style. Can’t wait to see his latest work “Dreaming Machine” and I hope that the production team does him honor.
“Although Akio Sugino returned as the lead character designer, the fact that Osamu Dezaki passed away in April 2011 meant that Satoshi Kuwabara was in charge for episode 11 and Masayoshi Nishida took over for episode 12.”
So, you are wrong Osamu Dezaki didn’t work on the last two episodes of OVA which is also known as Black Jack Final.