Warning: This review might include spoilers. Though its just 2 episodes, come on there's not much to spoil.
Black Jack Final is the sequel to the Black Jack OVAs, including two episodes, both of which are separate stories.
The first episode is based off Pinoko's backstory from the manga, where she was created by the Doctor from the cyst of his patient which should've been her twin. In the episode, Black Jack has to treat both her and her twin sister at the same time due to the twin-bond they share. While the episode followed most of the chapter, the pacing of the episode was so bad and the conclusion even pointlessly dragged, even for OVA standards.
The second episode begins more promisingly, with Black Jack being kidnapped into some country which i suppose is a reference to North Korea, and he has to operate on the dictator. Black Jack being Black Jack, he says how it is and he initially declines on the offer to save a dictator in a country where he's been kidnapped and held at gunpoint. Then in true Black Jack fashion, he names his fee and the condition to be freed and he starts researching. This is where I felt Black Jack was going to make a genius move of some sort like he does in the manga : "heal" the "patient", get his money and leave.
But no.
He quite literally saves the Dictator and not only that, but he even stops the soldier who wants to get her well deserved revenge on the Dictator, saying that its his patient. When the Dictator shoots the soldier, Black Jack very angrily shouts he regrets operating on him, and this was the point where it was offensive to the viewer to see Black Jack so out of character. This isn't a spin off or some side story, it's the sequel and the "Final" episodes of the Black Jack OVAs, the viewers have a good idea of who Black Jack as a character is and what he would do and wouldn't do. To give an example, both in the manga and the movie Black Jack refused to perform surgeries on morally corrupt people, especially those who oppress the working class and common “poor” folk. In the manga this is even more dramatic as he sacrifices the life of a rich man’s spoiled and privileged son for that of a hardworking tailor. While I understand there might be divergences of Black Jacks character in each adaptation, this definitely felt too much. It was like altering his entire moral compass and personality.
The episode ends with Black Jack not being able to save the solider and taking her to the border to see her homeland one last time before dying. He returns home and getting the news of the rebellion winning against the dictatorship. But of course, there's never truly a happy ending in the life of Black Jack and where there's something won, there's a sacrifice that had to be made.
I've mentioned the pacing which sucked in the first episode, in my opinion the second one was alright. The Art style might be the only thing I've enjoyed in both episodes, though Black Jack had a slightly different feel to him than the OVA and the movie.
In conclusion, this felt like an insult to the OVAs and the manga, and if you liked the original OVAs and the manga, I don't recommend wasting your time on this absurdly Out of character attempt of a Black Jack plot.
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