Black Jack, Volume 15

This past year was great for Tezuka releases, and this was one of my favorites. The stories here range from sappy to horrific and the one minor downfall I could say is that Pinoko doesn't show up nearly enough. However, all Black Jack stories are entertaining, and even sometimes inspiring."Treasure Island" shows Black Jack pushed to his limit and also shows the kinder side of him, and for what he sometimes uses the millions of yen he extorts. "Leaf Buds" is like a childhood tale about the Tree Man; exotic wildlife becoming native boy-life. "Dedicated to Dracula" gives a different and (somewhat) believable retelling of the story you expect from the outset; it's also humorous in how it ends, showing Tezuka's mix-up game as well as any comic. "Dialogue with the Dead" is more empathetic and even House-like in it's tale about an old patient of BJ's; themes on memory and appreciating life all over this one. "The Next Chance" shows the most dickish move BJ has probably ever made, but all for the betterment of the patient, who here is a Nobel-prize winning doctor. "A Surgeon Lives for Music" shows BJ in the passive for once, looking up to a famous doctor who lives in a country where non-native music is outlawed (a further point is the irony Vertical has to bring when the Beatles' copyright slanders the pages), and of course there is a stand-out: "An Arrangement of Life," one of those episodes where BJ is made to eat his own philosophy by giving into the demands (and money) of the patient's father. The simple art of flower arranging provides us with a very choice, vulnerable moment in BJ's life, as well as some of Tezuka's finest drawing; the clear winner in this collection, and the reason why, in two more volumes, I'll be sad to have lived through all the BJ one world could handle.

Was pre-ordered for my youngest son, he took it to his room the minute it was unboxed. Did not emerge for several hours. I'd say he was satisfied.

Reading this manga has been a great ride and it's reaffirmed what I've always thought: Tezuka is a genius.I really enjoyed the stories in this series and like its predecessors, you can read this without having to have read the previous volumes in the series. There's one or two comments to previous events, but overall this is something that you can easily pick up without any prior knowledge of the series.The stories in this really are pretty cool, I must admit. In one chapter we're treated to a story about a boy who mysteriously grows leaves all over his body and in another we're shown exactly what Black Jack does with all of the money he demands from his various clients.Overall this was a great volume and one that fans of the series will absolutely have to get, especially if they've been collecting the series so far.