Manga Video will release BLACK JACK in the US on June 29, 1999. Directed by
Osamu Dezaki, this 1993 direct to video release from Japan is based on a
manga by Osamu Tezuka that was first serialized in Japan from 1973-78.
Tezuka is known as the father of animation and comic books in Japan, and
specifically as the creator of such TV series as ASTRO BOY and MARINE BOY,
as well as award-winning shorts such as JUMPING. In BLACK JACK, Dr. Black
Jack, an unlicensed but extremely successful surgeon, is a lone wolf who
uses his talent to fight crime. During the Atlantis Olympics, a new breed
of superhumans created by a corrupt scientist break world records, but they
soon fall victim to a degenerative disease. When Dr. Black Jack is called
upon to discover the cause of the disease, he discovers that the drug which
made the mutants is also the cause of the virus. When the doctor contracts
the disease himself, he falls into a web of conspiracy and must race
against time to find a cure. Both English dubbed and subtitled versions
will be available. NB. Manga Video is marketing this release as being the
first feature made by Tezuka, but this is incorrect . The first feature he
directed was the 1960 SAIYU-KI (known as ALAKAZAM THE GREAT in the US).
Tezuka, by the way, died in 1990, three years before BLACK JACK was
released.