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 blackandwhite morality particularly with action shounen. From a villains 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 doesnt 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 doubleedged sword. Gore murder and sex are no outsiders in seinen and are extremely vulnerable to edgeifying a story and leaving a bad taste in ones mouth. However if this sword swings in favor of its wielder its good. Perhaps great. Phenomenal even. Give My Regards to Black Jack is one seinen series that reminds me why I love darkeroriented stories. 320https://i.ur.com/OejdJZK.jpg An Apple a Day Keeps the Doctor Away To save you from a lengthy tangent about Medicare its 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 isnt what enthrones this story as one of the best manga Ive 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 doctorintraining protagonists foundation is somewhat shaky at the start. Eijiro Saito is an extremely idealistic intern tending to disregard everything that doesnt sit well with his steelclad sense of morality. His ignorance and stubbornness made it tempting to drop the story initially as it seemed nothing more than a morallywhite underdogs ascendance to reforming the system. And by the end it wasnt. I loved it. Though Saitous character generally remained static throughout the course of the series it wasnt invulnerable to moments of hesitation and doubt in the face of dire situations that couldnt easily be answered by simple yesornos. Witnessing him in these stormy moments then arriving at an answer according to his setinstone 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 Saitous idealism. 420https://i.ur.com/k0LM6Jx.png Shuuhou Sato did an outstanding job portraying these villainous doctors in the most authentic shade of morally grey Ive seen in any manga. In many media theres 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 theyre far from their seemingly villainous image when clashed with Saitous idealistically white morality. Each one of them has fleshedout motives and reasons for their cold apathetic treatment plans doctorpatient relationships and other hospital nuances. You may share Saitous 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 Saitous static nature his senior doctors find steady change and epiphanies by the end. Change perhaps is a poor word. These senior doctors whove long conformed to the system revert back to the same youth innocence that Saitous stubbornness birthed. 520https://i.ur.com/WA2WLgN.jpg 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 wellrounded informative revelations about different parts of Japanese health care. The situations he faces are dire and paint a doctors 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 Id 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 Satos character designs border on pseudorealism with his attentiontodetail apparent in their serious grim expressions. Satos skill in facial shading is notably commendable. Outside of character designs Satos art is also a cutabovetherest in the occasional 2page spreads where he also tends to treat the audience with mouthwatering watercoloring. The final arc best boasts Satos artistic expertise with it being the most the enthralling and peaking arc of the story and the panels breathe catharsis. 420https://i.ur.com/20Uik7T.png 420https://i.ur.com/bkpG4WX.png 420https://i.ur.com/iV1EiQY.jpg 520https://i.ur.com/yGXjZo8.jpg 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 arent heroes and villains arent villains. To quote the golden idiom just because youre correct doesnt mean youre right. And in this story viceversa applies as well. These characters encompass the flawed nature of humans and the consequences of bigotry in the form of ones 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 Saitous selfrighteous journey to Japanese healthcare reformation is nothing short of heroic. Spoiler has nothing to do with Black Jack. 520https://i.ur.com/KgDw4AX.jpg