AnimEigo Brings Black Jack OVAs to Blu-ray on December 16

AnimEigo announced on Wednesday that it will release the classic Black Jack original video anime on Blu-ray on December 16. The set gathers the 10 episode OVA directed by Osamu Dezaki together with the two episode Black Jack Final, which was made in 2011 in his honor.

All 12 episodes come in HD across a three disc set, an upgrade from the two disc version first announced back in February. Fans also get some lovely extras, including commentary from Dezaki on three episodes and interviews with producer Masao Maruyama and voice actors Akio Ōtsuka and Yūko Mizutani.

The OVAs are based on Osamu Tezuka’s celebrated Black Jack manga, which follows a brilliant, unlicensed doctor who takes on the cases no one else will. Tezuka ran the series in Weekly Shōnen Champion from 1973 to 1984.

Black Jack has remained a fixture ever since, inspiring numerous anime, spinoffs from other creators, and a string of live action adaptations stretching from the 1970s all the way to a new series that debuted in 2024.

My take: Dezaki’s Black Jack is a genuine classic, so a remastered HD set with his own commentary is a real gift for collectors. It is wonderful to see work like this preserved and given the care it deserves.