Within Tezuka Osamu’s famous manga series “Black Jack,” two of the major works are “The Face Sore” and “Teratoid Cystoma.” By combining these with elements like theatrical robotics and projection mapping, and depicting the hot topics of a contemporary society struggling with issues like war and the coronavirus pandemic using as its base a reconstructed new world view, this stage production questions the meaning of the sanctity of life without losing its entertainment value.
This production marking the 50th anniversary of the serialization of Tezuka Osamu’s original manga work “Black Jack” received a positive response for casting Otsuka Akio – who played Black Jack in the anime version – in the role of the Black Jack of the future.
A manga artist was asked to draw characters from the original manga in life-size form to go with the costumes, and these characters were then displayed on a projector. In this production Human Art Theater pursued forms of expression only possible through theater, such as switching from a 2D manga to 3D actors, and synchronizing the movements of people and robots in dance during the scene where a main character, Pinoko, is born.