"Sex on legs." A term my good friend raygirl once used in relation to Black Jack. I, mistress-samwise, told her that I would use it somewhere someday, and now I know the perfect place... Right here, right now, to kick off reason number two in my "Why We Love Black Jack" list.

     All because... Well... All because Black Jack is just so fucking hot.

     I don't care what version of Black Jack it is you're talking about—manga, OAV, or anime—but there isn't a single one in which he wasn't the sexiest character in some way or another, because like how I'll explain soon, it's not just in the way he looks, but also in the way he acts that really gets my motor running. In this section, I will even explain to you my theory of how the OAV portrays Black Jack as a full-blown sex symbol! Yay! But first, a story.

     Before ever laying eyes on the OAV, my only exposure to Black Jack was through the two English graphic novels. Those alone were enough for me to establish that Black Jack was meant to be an extraordinary and very unique character, deliberately made to be appealing to the reader. I found his complicated personality and rebel attitude absolutely irresistible. Indeed, I had encountered a score of other anime and manga characters that share those characteristics as well, and a score more since then, but no one has been able to fully measure up to Black Jack.

     Then, along came the OAV, and I came to the undebatable conclusion that Black Jack can be painfully gorgeous. Hell's bells. Not only is he one of the awesomest anime and manga characters ever, but he's goddamn hot, too. (I suppose if you're a girl like me, there's no arguing it.) But that's really only a part of it. What the OAV brought to Black Jack was a new medium upon which a previously undeveloped aspect of his personality was expressed: his sex appeal.

     However, finding Black Jack's sex appeal is not something that can be done on a superficial basis. Like you may know, anime is teeming with characters, both male and female, whose sole purpose is to be sexy. It's not hard to figure out considering the way they are often designed and made to act. (Big boobs, bishies, ect.) They are overtly, or conspicuously, attractive, whereas the same can't be said for Black Jack. He does not intentionally behave sexy like other anime characters do-- that is to say he doesn't go out of his way to appear attractive to anyone. There just isn't any conscious effort on his part! And yet, in the OAV particularly, girls constantly hang off of him like ornaments on a Christmas tree.

     This interesting phenomenon is because he has something I like to call esoteric, or implied, sexual appeal. Basically, he can be hot without even trying to be, and at the same time, he doesn't seem to be aware of his own astounding sexiness. It's that fact that he's awesomely hot and doesn't even know it that makes it all the more compelling. But how can that be concluded from watching a cartoon? Just like a live-action motion picture, anime can be made to convey a subtle mood or tone according to how it is directed. The Black Jack OAV is well-directed and does much to interpret the doctor's personality in a way that the manga and anime can't.

     The advantage the OAV has over the other two mediums is its dramatic scene and character direction, essentially, since it gives Black Jack a very striking edge. The OAV, in a sense, takes all that is Black Jack and amps it up a couple of notches. What he does and what he says isn't really any different than it would be in the manga or anime; it's his how he goes about doing it that is more incisive. As a result, his already captivating personality becomes all the more irresistible to the point of being hopelessly sexy.

     Not to mention the fact that he looks like an absolute sex god and is soaking wet half the time. How much more bloody evidence do you need?