Black Jack doesn't have much to be happy about. Everyone thinks he looks like a freak, he has no license and is abhorred by the rest of the medical community, he has to live out in the middle of nowhere where it rains almost perpetually, bad things always seem to happen whenever he's around, he constantly has to deal with all kinds of insane crap from all kinds of ridiculous psychopaths, and too often has he come close to dying himself. Technically, Black Jack has all the right in the world to just give up the seemingly thankless job of renegade doctor and live alone as a hate-filled, patchwork doll of a misanthrope until the day he dies.

     Yet, he is still here, tirelessly traveling across the globe to extricate another unfortunate soul from the icy claws of death. Why?

     Because he cares.

     There are certainly a lot of things out there in this big, crazy, mixed-up world of ours to discourage a person from being genuinely concerned for others... Many too many. Sometimes, it almost seems worthless to bother about other people at all. But Black Jack has been able to overcome the pain and injustice he encounters as he makes one medical journey after another.

     First of all, he understands what it feels like to be on the verge of death. When he was a boy, he was involved in a near-fatal accident that almost tore his body apart, resulting in his being sewn back together like a doll. (Not to mention the fact that his own mother was involved in the same accident, too, and eventually died because of it.) Ever since then, he has come to believe in the power of human life, and he fights to protect the hope that keeps his patients alive.

     They say it is the bruised fruit that tastes the sweetest. Those who have endured pain over their lives are most likely to sympathize with the pain of others. I think that one reason Black Jack became a doctor was because he had suffered so much before, and he wanted to help save other people. This is truly apparent in his passionate dedication to saving lives.

     Every time some sort of obstacle falls between him and his patient, he counters it with all his might. When all hope seems lost, he makes his own miracles happen. He is willing to travel the world over, risking life, limb, and the law if it means that his patient may live to see another day. Sometimes, even more than his own surgical abilities, he trusts in his patient's will to live as the guiding force that will make an operation successful.

     But why go renegade? Even this is a question whose answer alludes me still. All that is known is that now there is no turning back for Black Jack. His lawlessness has forced him into a compromising position that all too often makes him the bad guy in many situations. Though behind the extravagant fees and cold disposition is a man trying to make right in a flawed life he can't quite escape.