I find that morality and ethics are somewhat onerous for story creators. In manga specifically, my eyes have long been weary from the dull contrast of black-and-white morality, particularly with action shounen. From a villain's sleepily sappy tragic motives, batshit illogical course of actions, abrupt epiphanies in the face of their defeat at the hands of the morally perfect protagonist, et cetera et cetera. Of course, this may be an unfair critique considering that shounen typically doesn't tread the morally darker topics that seinen does and that there are quite a few outliers to my generalization. Still, my point stands that morality is often subjected to genre tropes, friendship power cough, that may remove character depth.
Anyhow, that was all rhetoric to prologue my love for seinen. As mentioned previously, seinen takes the brunt of dark topics, which can act as a double-edged sword. Gore, murder and sex are no outsiders in seinen and are extremely vulnerable to edge-ifying a story and leaving a bad taste in one's mouth. However, if this sword swings in favor of its wielder, it's good. Perhaps great. Phenomenal, even. Give My Regards to Black Jack is one seinen series that reminds me why I love darker-oriented stories.
An Apple a Day Keeps the Doctor Away
To save you from a lengthy tangent about Medicare, it's fitting enough to state that health care has always been a prevailing social issue present in many nations. More than just the financial devastation and technicalities, though, Give My Regards to Black Jack seeks out to dish out the darker blemishes of the Japanese health system. However, this informative regard isn't what enthrones this story as one of the best manga I've read, but how it utilizes these dire issues in order to give the characters exceedingly strong, empathetic sets of ethics and morals.
Though, admittedly, our young, blissfully ignorant doctor-in-training protagonist's foundation is somewhat shaky at the start. Eijiro Saito is an extremely idealistic intern, tending to disregard everything that doesn't sit well with his steel-clad sense of morality. His ignorance and stubbornness made it tempting to drop the story initially, as it seemed nothing more than a morally-white underdog's ascendance to reforming the system. And by the end, it wasn't. I loved it. Though Saitou's character generally remained static throughout the course of the series, it wasn't invulnerable to moments of hesitation and doubt in the face of dire situations that couldn't easily be answered by simple yes-or-no's. Witnessing him in these stormy moments, then arriving at an answer according to his set-in-stone beliefs, it was difficult not to root for him. However, a large part of this was supplemented by other characters, namely his supervising doctors who challenged Saitou's idealism.
Shuuhou Sato did an outstanding job portraying these "villainous" doctors in the most authentic shade of morally grey I've seen in any manga. In many media, there's often a strong association between villains and the "system" ~~We live in a society~~ and conforming to it often has a negative image. However, even though these doctors have resolved in their conformation, they're far from their seemingly villainous image when clashed with Saitou's idealistically white morality. Each one of them has fleshed-out motives and reasons for their cold, apathetic treatment plans, doctor-patient relationships and other hospital nuances. You may share Saitou's initial dislike for his seniors, as well, but it becomes all too quick to see how empathetic their sets of morals and ethics are. Contrary to Saitou's static nature, his senior doctors find steady change and epiphanies by the end. Change, perhaps is a poor word. These senior doctors who've long conformed to the system, revert back to the same youth innocence that Saitou's stubbornness birthed.
While I did mention that the grey morality takes impressive precedent over the medically informative nature of this series, the latter is just as phenomenal. The plot follows Saitou interning at different medical departments in the hospital, such as cardiology and the ER, giving well-rounded informative revelations about different parts of Japanese health care. The situations he faces are dire and paint a doctor's career as more than lengthy surgeries and hefty salaries. What impressed me most, though, was the final arc revolving around mental health. Mental health, thankfully, has enormous awareness surrounding it these days, but going back even a decade ago, the informative landscape and public perspective of mental health was considerably different. And I'd imagine that in Japan, mental health was something discussed behind closed doors and restrained to the patients' family. Considering that this story was written in the early 2000s, this social commentary on mental health is refreshing. That is, prejudice towards psychiatric patients and the strong association between gunmen and mental health issues. Authentic depictions of mental health disorders are a sparse sight, with the majority using them as character quirks delegitimizing the direness of mental health awareness, but Give My Regards to Black Jack fantastically handles it with the upmost seriousness and care.
Not to mention, the art absurdly elevated the extreme circumstances in the final arc. Shuuhou Sato's character designs border on pseudo-realism, with his attention-to-detail apparent in their serious, grim expressions. Sato's skill in facial shading is notably commendable. Outside of character designs, Sato's art is also a cut-above-the-rest in the occasional 2-page spreads, where he also tends to treat the audience with mouthwatering water-coloring. The final arc best boasts Sato's artistic expertise, with it being the most the enthralling and peaking arc of the story and the panels breathe catharsis.
Conclusion
Morality is a thorny path for many authors to tread, but Shuuhou Sato leisurely strides by whistling a tune. Painting a flush shade of grey in morality, Give My Regards to Black Jack depicts dire medical situations that any sane man would break down from. Rather, these situations use medicine as a front, and are challenges of the characters' beliefs. Heroes aren't heroes and villains aren't villains. To quote the golden idiom, "just because you're correct, doesn't mean you're right". And in this story, vice-versa applies, as well. These characters encompass the flawed nature of humans and the consequences of bigotry, in the form of one's severe conformation and rejection of the system.
No one character in Give My Regards to Black Jack is right or wrong. Dogma of all parties are illustrated equally empathetic. In this story, no one is the hero or villain. However, Saitou's self-righteous journey to Japanese healthcare reformation is nothing short of heroic.
Spoiler, has nothing to do with Black Jack.
