# Young Black Jack (2015)

> A scarred, mysterious medical prodigy studies at a 1968 Japanese medical school as he begins forging the legend of Black Jack.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/60959

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 12
- Episode runtime: 24 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: animation, drama
- Network: TBS
- Cast: Yuuichirou Umehara, Koji Yusa, Shizuka Itoh, Junichi Suwabe, Mamoru Miyano
- TMDB rating: 6.9/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5289354/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: mild
- Tone: serious, atmospheric, melancholic, tense

## What critics say

Audience reception is mixed, with a modest rating of 6.9/10 from a small pool of votes.

## Synopsis

Young Black Jack (2015) is a Japanese seinen medical drama anime series created as a prequel to Osamu Tezuka's manga and produced by Tezuka Productions for TBS. Across a single twelve-episode season of roughly twenty-four minutes each, the story follows a mysterious young man with white and black hair and a scar across his face who enrolls in medical school. His voice cast includes Yuuichirou Umehara as Hazama Kurô, Koji Yusa as Yabu, Shizuka Itoh as Okamoto Maiko, Junichi Suwabe as Doctor Kiriko and Mamoru Miyano as Maruo Hyakki. Each episode is built around a patient whose case tests his unorthodox genius with a surgical knife while the medical establishment watches him with suspicion. The show sits against a backdrop of student protests and the Vietnam War in late 1960s Japan, giving the cases a socially charged edge. Its tone is serious and atmospheric, with bold surgical set pieces, moral weight and a melancholic sense of a legend being born. Fans of Black Jack, Doctor House and Dr. Kildare will find resonance in its brilliant outsider surgeon and institutional friction.

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