On a dark and stormy night, a little girl with her eyes bandaged, by the name of Kasugano Rei lies quietly in an operating theatre at a house situated on top of a cliff. When a man dressed in a white robe enters the room, he assures the girl that everything will be over once she undergoes the operation. The girl asks if she will be able to see again which the man replies in the affirmative. However, he reminds her that with the restoration of her eyesight, she will have to make her own choices when it comes to the path she will take in future...Years later, a nurse by the name of Misato is struggling with her spoils from a shopping trip and laments that it will be nice to have a guy to carry them for her. Just then, she sees a couple quarrelling on the opposite end of the street where the guy leaves his girlfriend behind and tells her that she's better off dead. This makes Misato feel that it's also equally tiring to date someone and is thinking of dropping the idea.
Suddenly, an explosion occurs which causes the girlfriend to sustain injuries as she was standing before the construction site. Misato rushes to the woman's aid where the latter vomits blood. At the same time, the construction workers ask for help as some of them are also injured. Misato is pondering over what to do in this case when a stranger i.e. Rei comes along and tells her that the injured woman has two broken ribs. One of the ribs has pierced her lungs thus resulting in bleeding and swelling. Rei tells Misato to attend to the construction workers and leave the injured girl to her but Misato is unconvinced since Rei did not even examine the injured before arriving at her conclusion. Misato tries to convince Rei to wait for the ambulance but the latter is adamant that the circumstances do not allow for it and prepares to do an emergency operation on the spot...In an apartment located by the sea, Rei is taking a shower and a series of numbers "075-1-74" can be seen from her right shoulder. After relaxing for a moment, Rei then heads for her new workplace.
Meanwhile, Misato is telling her colleagues Rumi and Rie at Sawa Hospital about what happened on the street and remarks how incredible Rei is since she administered emergency treatment for the 6 injured people at the site. However, another colleague, Mami is sceptical about Rei's abilities despite Misato's belief that what Rei managed to do wasn't by luck or guesswork. To Misato's surprise, she sees Rei asking for directions at the nurse station and is thrilled to know that Rei has joined this hospital as a surgeon.
Misato brings Rei around the hospital as the chief Sawa is out at the moment. Although Misato tries hard to break the ice, Rei's nonchalant responses dampens her enthusiasm. They head for one of the wards where there's a boy, Edogawa Kenji who's living under sterillized conditions. Due to some unknown reason, Rei and Kenji look at each other for a while before she leaves with Misato.The two then go to another ward where a male patient Toda is in critical condition. He's actually a drug dealer who was stopped from seeking treatment by his partners for fear of bungling a deal thus resulting in his current state. There is a tumour near his heart which is growing bigger and exerting pressure on the heart at the same time. Rei asks why they have not removed the tumour but Misato reveals that this is beyond their control. As the tumour would disappear from sight temporarily when the anesthesia drug is administered, that is why they have not done the operation to date. At the same time, Sawa is on the line with someone and screaming at the person to hang on until he/she becomes the professor.
Rei goes to the rooftop of the hospital for a moment of silence and can't help but wonder if she has made the right choice in coming here to find out what she wants to know. Nevertheless, she tries to encourage herself by saying that this is the path she has chosen so she won't back out now.
Misato brings a bottle of a new anesthesia drug developed by Sawa and asks Rei to do the operation as per the orders of Sawa. However, Rei has her reservations because this drug has never been subjected to tests and thinks that it is morally wrong to use a criminal as a guinea pig. Even when Toda suffers a relapse again, Rei is adamant about not doing the operation. Just then, a big group of gangsters barge into the hospital and forces Misato to reveal where Toda is. However, Misato tries to put on an act which leads the men to show their weapons. Misato remains undisturbed and even tells these men to rest assured that Toda will not live to spill the beans on them as Rei is not going to do the operation.Sawa appears to take on the gangsters and orders Rei to do the operation which she refuses. Sawa tells Rei to show him what her eyes are capable of and she is finally convinced to do the operation as long as he believes that she can do it. Misato then goes on the offensive so that these gangsters will not obstruct Rei from going to the operating theatre.
Rei manages to see through the body with her special eyes and locate where the tumour is. Everyone is amazed by her ability and fast movements in removing the tumour. All would have gone well until the effects of the anesthesia wear off and the tumour looks as if it has blended into the heart which makes it unable to be seen. As it is dangerous to use more anesthesia and the tumour has shifted to the left of the heart, Rei decides to rely on her eyesight to continue with the operation. Meanwhile, Misato, Rumi and Rie are having problems trying to fend off those gangsters where Sawa appears in the form of a tornado to beat them easily.Rei completes the operation successfully where Misato asks her what exactly is the power which her eyes possess. Rei then sees through Misato's clothes and identifies the type of bra she is wearing which makes the latter amazed.
Sawa tells Rei that the head of the drug trafficking organisation which Toda belonged to was also the police officer in charge of eliminating such criminal activities thus explaining why he had to wait till Rei's arrival at the hospital before doing the operation. Otherwise, Toda would be killed once he was handed over to the police. Sawa explains that he didn't let Rei do the operation for money which makes her unwittingly recall an unhappy incident in her childhood. Rei reveals that she knew from her mother about Sawa saving her 10 years ago but Sawa doesn't want to take credit for that and claims that he has forgotten about it.Rei sees through the wall and finds her saviour, Black Jack who gave her the eyes she has today. Black Jack asks about Rei's current state which she assures him that she's fine. However, she laments that she can see through everything except people's hearts. With response to this, Black Jack consoles Rei that if she could see through how people feel, life will not be interesting anymore. With this as his parting words, Rei watches as Black Jack disappears before her...
What caught my eye and made me watch this anime is purely my interest in suspense stories. Seems like there is an underlying mystery which will unravel over time relating to Rei's background and why she has these special eyes given to her by Black Jack. Based on my impression of the first episode, the pace of the story is acceptable enough to hold my interest. However, the visuals leave much to be desired especially with regards to character movements which aren't smooth enough. In addition, I found it quite disturbing to see the female lead wear one outfit throughout the whole episode (which also happens to be an outfit I dislike)and it seems like this trend will continue at least from what I see from the next episode's trailer.The OP is not played in this episode while the ED doesn't leave much of an impression on me. As for the seiyuus, I'm more interested in waiting for Takahashi Hiroki and Namikawa Daisuke's appearances. The heroine's voice wasn't to my liking ( a bit high-pitched) and seemed so bland without any tinge of emotion. Well, given the fact that Rei seems like a cold person, this could be why this is happening. In that sense, you can also say that the seiyuu was able to convey the inner world of Rei accurately so far.
1 comment:
what is the title of this story?
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