A great new way to watch Tezuka anime has recently appeared, and it's all 100% free and legal!
Viki, a website with international video entertainment, authorized for streaming with crowd sourced subtitles, is now offering the the complete 80's Astro Boy series, the Black Jack anime, and the sequel series, Black Jack 21.
The 80's Astro Boy has been legally streaming in other forms before, but what makes this special is that this is the Japanese release rather than the English dub. All 52 episodes are accounted for, including he original versions of the first and second episode, which were edited and combined into one episode for the English language broadcast. So, this may be the first time some of you have seen the full origin of Atlas! This was absent from the region 1 DVD release. I haven't gone through it all, but I imagine other episodes may have scenes missing from the English version. These episodes even feature the original Japanese title cards.
Unfortunately, due to the nature of crowd sourced translations, there are some mistakes in the subtitles. One embarrassing instance has the famous villain character call himself "Skank" instead of "Skunk". However, by registering for an account, one gains access to a subtitle editor, and so the translation can be continuously improved upon by the users watching it.
This is one of the bigger developments in Astro-Fandom for quite awhile! Plus, we get Black Jack 21, which has never been streamed with English subtitles before. This is very exciting stuff, and it bodes well for future releases of more Tezuka shows and other classic anime.
Hey there. It's been a long time. I haven't had much time to post as I was super busy with a big annual project for TFcon, the Canadian Transformers convention. 8 pages of full color comic book art. You can check that out here if you're interested.
I'll be doing my best to make up for the lost time here and post some of the cool news that has come out recently when I get a chance. Until then, here is a cool image I stumbled upon. It's artwork of Osamu Tezuka's Black Jack illustrated by Ayami Kojima, who is well known for her work with the video game series Castlevania (Akumajo Dracula in Japan) for Konami.
That's right, Osamu Tezuka's famous doctor character will soon be drawn again in manga form. Hitoshi Iwaaki, the creator of Parasyte, will write a new Black Jack series to be drawn by Masaaki Nakayama, artist on PS -Rashōmon-.
Weekly Shonen Champion magazine will be running this new version of Black Jack as it did with Tezuka's original back in 1973. It will begin in Japan on September 8th and run under the title "Black Jack - Aoki Mirai".
Somehow, this amazing news had totally slipped by me until now!
The Black Jack OVA, directed by the legendary Osamu Dezaki who unfortunately passed away recently, is getting one more volume. The first volume was released in Japan in 1993, and this new is coming more than 10 years after the 10th volume, which was released in 2000.
The original voice actors for Black Jack and Pinoko are returning, and apparently did a live video stream of a recording session on May 14th.
And now I am reading that not only will there be this 11th new episode, but a 12th one as well. An amazing final gift from the great Osamu Dezaki. You can read more (in Japanese) here.
No word on any English-language release yet, of course. The previous 10 volumes were released on region 1 DVD by the now defunct Central Park Media and it's now likely harder to find a complete set. You can download subtitled episodes from Tezuka Productions on iTunes.
A live action TV special featuring a younger Black Jack from back when he was still in medical school will air in Japan on Saturday, April 23. It will be directed by Kentaro Otani, who also directed the live-action films based on the manga NANA. Actor Masaki Okada will star as young Black Jack.
In the story, the title character received major injuries in an accidental explosion when he was 9, and his mother was put in an artificially induced coma. The new special will depict how the Black Jack character became an unlicensed doctor and how his destined rivalry with Dr. Kiriko came to be.
Naho Toda (Romance of Three Kingdoms, Oblivion Island: Haruka and the Magic Mirror) will play Black Jack's mother, and Risa Naka (anime and live-action The Girl Who Leapt Through Time) will play a fellow medical student. Yukiyoshi Azawa and Masachika Ichimura will also co-star.
Looks interesting and it's always great to see new Black Jack stuff, though for the sake of the character I wish he had even just a touch of silver in his hair.
Continue reading "Young Black Jack"...
What I thought was going to be an epic encounter wasn't quite as epic as one would think. Here is the extended version of the previously reported commercial featuring famous TV doctor House and Osamu Tezuka's Black Jack.
I was expecting more from this, honestly. It's not as cool as I thought it would be. Existing Footage from the House TV show was cut together with footage of Black Jack. The only really notable thing about it that gives it any sort of authenticity is that the Japanese voice actors are used. In the end we can see that this is not just a promotional tool for the Japanese DVD release of House season 4, but also for the Black Jack OVA.
To promote the Japanese DVD release of House season 4, Dr. House (actor Hugh Laurie) will appear in a commercial with an animated version of Osamu Tezuka's Black Jack. We will see which bad-ass doctor has the best skills!
The Science Blog on guardian.co.uk has an incredible, insightful article about Osamu Tezuka and his famous doctor creation Black Jack, bringing to light not only the popularity of the character but also the effect he has had on issues regarding the medical profession in Japan. This is definitley worth reading for any and all Black Jack fans.
Osamu Tezuka: Father of manga and scourge of the medical establishment
Tezuka inspired a generation of manga artists and shaped the national debate about medical reform in Japan
Black Jack cartoon by Osamu TezukaView larger picture In one episode Tekuka's superhuman surgeon Black Jack operates on himself without an anaesthetic. Image: Osamu Tezuka
So far in this blog series on graphic medicine I've been looking at medical comics in the west. Now I look east to the work of the "Father of manga" (Japanese comics) Osamu Tezuka. A talented writer, artist and animator, Tezuka used his medical education to inform his anatomically accurate depictions of surgery.
Tezuka was born in Toyanaka City, Osaka, in 1928. Though he attended medical school and became a licensed physician, he chose not to work as a doctor and instead devoted himself to writing and drawing manga and making animated films.
Over the course of his long career Tezuka became a defining force in shaping the genre, publishing more than 700 manga running to more than 150,000 pages. Early Tezuka characters had large eyes, inspired by their American counterparts Betty Boop and Disney's Bambi. Large eyes have since become a stylistic hallmark of the whole genre.
As well as countless other titles including the world famous Astro Boy, Tezuka produced three notable medical manga: Black Jack, Ode to Kirihito, and Tezuka's Ancestor, Dr. Ryoan.
The latter is the story of Tezuka's grandfather, doctor to a samurai warrior during Japan's Meiji period. The other two works, fiercely critical of the Japanese medical establishment, have inspired a generation of manga artists (mangaka) as well as shaping the national debate about medical reform in Japan.
Ode to Kirihito was originally published in Japan as a series in the twice-monthly manga magazine Big Comic from 1970 to 1971. The story follows Dr Kirihito Osanai as he seeks a cure for the life-threatening (and thankfully fictional) Monmow disease which transforms people into dog-like creatures. When Kirihito himself becomes infected, he travels the world reflecting on his alienation and searching for a cure. In this 832-page epic, Tezuka deals with the anguish and moral dilemmas of both doctors and patients with piercing insight.
"For Tezuka, a doctor is not just someone who heals the body, but someone who appreciates the value of life, and inspires others to value it as well," said Ada Palmer, a historian at A&M University Texas and manga scholar. "In Tezuka's Buddhist cosmology all life is sacred and nothing is more valuable than creating or continuing life."
Ode to Kirihito expresses Tezuka's frustration at what he saw as an ineffectual medical establishment. It is one of a number of later social critique stories written by Tezuka that had only a limited impact in the context of his general body of work.
By contrast, Tezuka's medical manga Black Jack has been hugely successful since its original run in Weekly Shonen Champion from 1973 to 1984. In Black Jack, Tezuka depicted the physician he would like to have been had he continued with his medical career. An extremely gifted but unlicensed surgeon, Black Jack performs complicated operations on humans and animals and charges extortionate prices for his services.
Black Jack manga comic, cover image Black Jack, cover image
"The outrageous fees he charges are a test to make sure his patients truly appreciate that life itself is more valuable than any amount of money," said Palmer. Rejected by the medical community, he mostly provides his services to criminals and outlaws on the fringes of society. The series ran for more than 230 episodes.
Tezuka used his experience as a physician to draw anatomically accurate surgical scenes in Black Jack. His highly stylised cartoon figures were set against realistic landscapes and medically accurate depictions of the tissues of the human body. This attention to detail set the book apart from what had come before, and inspired many more mangaka to follow his lead.
"Many of the operations which Black Jack performs are astounding, sometimes impossible, but Tezuka's grounding in medicine means they are almost always convincingly portrayed," said Paul Gravett, comics historian and author of Manga: Sixty Years of Japanese Comics.
Indeed there are several points in Black Jack where Tezuka chose to reject medical plausibility. The superhuman surgeon can perform complex surgical operations from memory in complete darkness, for example. In one episode Black Jack operates on himself without anaesthetic. Despite this degree of poetic licence the manga has been enormously influential.
Black Jack remains one of the most popular manga of all time in Japan. "I have never met a Japanese person who wasn't familiar with Black Jack, even those who don't usually read manga," said Palmer. "If Astro Boy is the Japanese Superman, Black Jack is the Japanese Batman. Everyone knows him, even far outside the comics world, and when people think of him people think of his fierce critique of the medical world."
Palmer told me the character is often brought up in debates about medical reform. The Hitachi medical group used Black Jack's image in their advertisement in 2006, for example, because his image is synonymous with good medical care.
However, Tezuka's message was not always welcome. "There were a number of Black Jack episodes which drew complaints from the medical establishment in Japan and which Tezuka agreed to suppress and not allow to be reprinted in book form," said Gravett. Two of these three "sealed issues", issue 41 Vegetable and issue 58 Seat of Pleasure, which deal with the vegetative state and lobotomy respectively, were considered politically sensitive and never re-published.
Gravett said it was significant that Tezuka agreed to suppress this work. "Despite some ill-informed, scaremongering headlines here in the UK trying to panic the public about imported Japanese comics, manga does not operate with an anarchic, unregulated, 'anything-goes' licence," he said.
Palmer cited Naoki Urasawa's Monster and Chiho Saito's Say Hello to Black Jack as examples of manga inspired by the Black Jack series. The latter is a gritty, realistic portrait of corruption and incompetence in the Japanese medical school internship process.
"The subject of the manga is literally that every medical student in Japan starts medical school wanting to be Dr Black Jack, and then has to face the trauma of discovering that isn't possible in the real world," said Palmer. The comic is beautifully illustrated with a detailed medical realism in tribute to Tezuka.
Team Medical Dragon by Akira Nagai and Taro Nogizaka Team Medical Dragon by Akira Nagai and Taro Nogizaka
In a similar vein, Team Medical Dragon by Akira Nagai and Taro Nogizaka attacks corruption and petty politics within the Japanese healthcare system. Serialised in Japan in the manga magazine Big Comic Superior since 2002, the comic combines explanatory medical diagrams with graphic depictions of surgery. The idea was so successful it was made into the television drama Iryu which enjoyed critical acclaim when it aired in Japan between 2006 and 2007.
It is not unusual in Japan for a manga on a seemingly niche topic to gain enormous readership and become serialised on television or turned into films. "Manga covers an enormous range of topics, genres and styles of story, far more diverse than one finds in western comics, or on the animated side western television," said Palmer. "There are manga about gender-switching princes, children raised by pigeons, the bombing of Hiroshima, international competitive baking and the French Revolution."
Palmer told me that because of Tezuka's Black Jack, people in Japan are much more aware of the issue of medical corruption than in most other countries.
"Imagine if Batman were about medical corruption," said Palmer. "When a new movie comes out, the whole nation talks about it. That has had a vast impact on how the Japanese nation thinks about doctors."
Would we have manga without Tezuka? According to Gravett, the question "is rather like asking if we would have French-language comics without Hergé, or American comic books without Jack Kirby. Tezuka was pivotal and a huge inspiration [for manga artists]."
Dr Osamu Tezuka died at the age of 60 in 1989. His legacy lives on in the work of mangaka who continue to tell medical stories. The Osamu Tezuka Memorial Museum in Takarazuka showcases the life work of this prolific and talented artist.
Cian O'Luanaigh is a graphic artist and science writer based in London. He has a masters in science communication from Imperial College London
Bookgasm recently held an interveiw with the Marketing Director for Vertical, Ed Chavez. You can read the Osamu Tezuka related portion below and check out the entire interview here.
BOOKGASM: How have the Osamu Tezuka reprints done for Vertical? I’m especially curious about the ongoing BLACK JACK series. While it would seem such a project would attract a loyal fan base, I’m assuming the law of diminishing returns comes into play?
CHAVEZ: Since Vertical’s launch, Tezuka’s comics have been one of the main pillars of our success as a company. Tezuka’s sales easily make up a full third of our overall sales, and when you consider how we had an 18-percent increase in revenue last year, those sales were very significant.
BLACK JACK has been a fascinating case in the manga world. You are right about diminishing returns. Those laws affect every title, but BLACK JACK has now twice bucked that trend over the last 12 months. Last summer, BLACK JACK, already six volumes into its run, began to gain readers, with orders surpassing the two previous volumes. We are seeing the same trend for VOLUME 10, where orders are as high as they were around this time last year.
There is no doubt Tezuka created a masterpiece in BLACK JACK, and the content itself is what is really bringing in new readers, but there is one point that I think people overlook that might also be in play here: BLACK JACK being a collection of shorts can allow for sampling at any point in the series. It does not need the same level of commitment as other titles with the same length, nor does it seem as daunting to come into the series midway. BLACK JACK by design can cure readers of almost any manga anxiety.
BOOKGASM: Are you considering bringing other Tezuka works to these shores? I, for one, would love the opportunity to see his VAMPIRES.
CHAVEZ: We are always considering more Tezuka. This fall, we will release a new omnibus, this time collecting Dr. Tezuka’s post-WWII drama, AYAKO. The title will be translated by Mari Morimoto, the woman responsible for adapting some of manga’s biggest names — INUYASHA, NARUTO, DRAGONBALL and NEON GENESIS EVANGELIION — into English. Peter Mendelsund will once again take the design reigns.
I would like to take on another Tezuka title once BLACK JACK wraps up next summer. We haven’t decided which way to go, but we already have a short list ready.
Sounds like Tezuka manga is making a big impact! I'm a little late to the party but, with thanks to Ani-Gamers, I have recently gone through Ode to Kirihito and it was an incredible, killer read!
Comparing and contrasting famous medical robots from the world of sci-fi with modern day advances and prototypes of things that were once thought only to exist in the realm of fiction, this exhibit also features the work of Osamu Tezuka, who was a licensed doctor turned Manga artist, as well as other notable related elements from pop culture. Here's an official quote:
The exhibition will also feature some famous medical robots from the world of science fiction, from the 1920s ‘Pyschophonic Nurse’, to Japanese Manga (printed cartoons) and Anime (animated films), and Britain’s own 2000AD, and ask whether science fiction reflects fact, or if scientists are inspired by the representation of medical robots in films, books and comics.
Sci-Fi Surgery: Medical Robots also marks the 20th anniversary of the death of Manga artist and animator Osamu Tezuka whose creations include ‘Astroboy’ and the maverick surgeon ‘Black Jack’. Tezuka trained as a doctor but never practiced, choosing to follow his dream of becoming a manga artist. Many of his stories feature medical themes and one of his earliest works, ‘The Monster on the 38th Parallel’, has miniaturised humans entering a body to fight disease and is thought to have been the inspiration for the 1966 Sci-Fi classic ‘Fantastic Voyage’.
A programme of themed Sci-Fi Surgery: Medical Robots events including anime and film screenings, discussions and robot family workshops has been created to support the exhibition.
It runs until December 23. Admission is free, so do check it out if you're in or around the London area. Thanks to Helen McCarthy's Blog for the info.
Thanks to Anime News Network, take a look at these pictures from the 2009 Tokyo International Anime Fair of some Tezuka character cosplayers. I'm not sure, but I think these are promotional costumes, not fans dressed up. Above you can see a female Black Jack, and there are a few other cool characters as well. Click the link below to read on for more.
Black Jack Again.
Dr. Kiriko
Princess Sapphire.
Melmo. Take a close look at the flier she's handing out.
Haven't been able to post about this until now, but Words Without Borders, an online magazine dedicated to bringing international literature to the English speaking world, has dedicated the month of February to graphic novels. Among the many interesting and unique examples of the art form they have available for your reading pleasure are two interesting entries that will be of great interest to Osamu Tezuka fans.
The classic Black Jack story "Tetsu of the Yamanote Line" is presented in it's entity. If you have not read this story yet, don't miss your chance to check out this great Black Jack tale featuring Tezuka's famous character, Shunsaku Ban.
Also, a segment of the autobiographical manga "A Drifting Life", created by Yoshihiro Tatsumi, is presented. In this tale, the author recalls the first time he met Osamu Tezuka in person. Pretty incredible!
Ain't it Cool News recently held a comic art contest where the winners got copies of Vertical's Black Jack manga. I had no idea this was going on, and if I did I probably would have entered something. Even so, I doubt I would have won, because some of these comics are absolutely hilarious!
You've got to see these! Check out the winning entries and see some Tezuka tributes the likes of which you've never seen before!
As yet another part of the celebration of the 80th anniversary of Osamu Tezuka's birth, a special stage presentation based on Black Jack will be making its debut.
The story of "The Disowned Son" will be adapted into a form of traditonal Japanese theater called "kyogen", and will open on December 19th and 20th in Tezuka's home town of Takarazuka, which is famous for its theatrical performances. This is the first time ever that a comic is being used as the basis for a kyogen performance. Kyogen is meant to be a funnier, more exaggerated style of performance, so it will be interesting to find out how the stories of a darker character like Black Jack will translate to the stage.
However, this is not the first time that Black Jack has been depicted in live action. You can read about the Takarazuka Grand Theater's all female cast's rendition of Black Jack in 1994 thanks to Tezuka in English.
You can read more details on about this new kyogen version of Black Jack The Mainichi Daily News website, or click the link below to read an archived copy right here.
Comic character 'Black Jack' to come to life on stage
TAKARAZUKA, Hyogo -- He may not have his trademark black coat, nor his surgical equipment, but one of acclaimed comic artist Osamu Tezuka's most famous characters, surgical genius Kuroo "Black Jack" Hazama, will be stepping off the page and onto the stage as part of celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of the manga legend's birth.
The comic is being adapted for a comic variety of traditional Japanese theater called kyogen, a style related to the more famous forms of noh and kabuki, by the Takarazuka Foundation for Culture Promotion in Hyogo Prefecture.
"This is the first-ever adaptation of a comic for kyogen theater, and we're looking forward to sharing this 'modern classic' with our audiences," said the foundation.
The stage version of Black Jack will be directed by and star Okura school actor Takashi Zenchiku in the title role. The script was written by Tokiko Kawaratani -- a protege of Yataro Okura XXV, the head of the Okura school -- and is based on volume 164 of the manga, "The Disowned Son," the story of an outcast son who studies medicine in order to cure his mother.
"I feel that we're living in a world where family relations are behind many of our social ills, and I want to portray Tezuka's story of filial love as a kyogen of human drama," said Zenchiku.
The stage version of Black Jack will open on Dec. 19 and 20 at the Sorio Hall in Takarazuka, Hyogo Prefecture. Enquiries (in Japanese) can be made to the Takarazuka Foundation for Culture Promotion at (0797) 85-8844.
To celebrate the English language release of the first volume of Osamu Tezuka's famous medical thriller Black Jack from Vertical, a classic Black Jack story is now available to read for free online thanks to Publishers Weekly's "THE BEAT" blog.
Check out "Teratoid Cystoma", the weird story detailing the mysterious origins of Dr. Black Jack's assistant, the ever popular Pinoko!
When the long awaited first volume of Vertical's Black Jack manga is released this September, there will be an exclusive hard cover version available only from Diamond Comics Distributors. This version has different artwork on the cover, and contains a previously unpublished 20-page story!
From what I have gathered, the first 3 volumes will have hard cover exclusives from Diamond, and each of these 3 will feature a story that will not be included in the mass released soft cover version. These exclusive stories are likely to be some of the Black Jack episodes that were rarely or never reprinted in Japan, usually for being deemed as too controversial. English speaking audiences are getting a very special bonus here!
You can read the listing for the first volume of the hard cover exclusive on Diamond's own Previews website.
My absolute favorite of all of Tezuka's characters is finally getting an English language manga release in its entirety from Vertical Publishing. The first 300 page volume will be released next month. Subsequent volumes will be released bi-monthly.
To kick things off, Vertical has now unveiled a Black Jack section of their website, complete with a free 20 page preview that you can read, featuring a classic and incredibly moving story about a killer whale. Reading this manga is an experience like no other, and everyone has got to check it out. I'll be looking forward to picking up the first volume, and every single one after that!
This site is dedicated to everything Astro Boy, the works of Osamu Tezuka, and other related anime & manga. Whether you're an old-school fan, a newcomer, or anything in between, AstroBoy World is bound to offer something interesting for you.
As yet another part of the celebration of the 80th anniversary of Osamu Tezuka's birth, a special 
