The phone! The phone's ringing!
Let it ring.
Why do you always have to do that?
I'm not in at the moment. If you are in need of medical attention...
please leave a number where you can be reached, your name...
the seriousness of your condition and how much you are able to afford.
I will return your call as soon as possible.
The more I doubt, the more I believe you.
But before that...
The more I lose, the more I yearn.
Let me say goodbye.
All I want is to keep on watching you smile...
As I hold you in these arms called memories.
We leave on a journey now, through the times of dark...
To the other side of the darkness...
Not yet today, but tomorrow is so far.
Darkest time, just before the sunrise.
If they ask you your name, answer, "I am a traveler."
That's all I want you to say. That's all...
Don't tell them where you're going. Don't leave any parting words.
They will remember you as the one who vanished.
I'm not lonely because I know...
In the end, you're always alone.
That's why I close my heart and end up there.
Darkest time, just before the sunrise.
We leave on a journey now, through the times of dark...
To the other side of the darkness...
I'm not lonely because I know...
In the end, you're always alone.
We leave on a journey now, through the times of dark...
To the other side of the darkness...
It was sheer coincidence I happened to drive through S-city...
a place famous for its snow festival.
I was returning from examining a patient...
in a small rural town far outside the city.
I misread the signpost in the snowfall and it led me to this city.
Can you tell me how to get to the airport from here?
Sure, but there aren't any flights leaving at this time of night!
Hey, I doubt he's lost. I bet he's just trying to pick us up!
Come on.
Ew! What a perv!
Take Park Avenue then turn right onto the interstate...
Good luck!
Rie, are you all right?
Rie Fujinami.
She was a sophomore at a private all-girl high school.
Laceration of the forehead region.
Four millimeters deep, five centimeters wide.
I immediately administered emergency medical aid.
Since it was in a visible area I used an intradermal continuous suture.
Calmly listen to what I say.
After the bandages come off your forehead will have a scar for a while.
It might be noticeable at first but it'll only be for a short while.
It'll be gone without a trace in a year. I assure you.
Okay? There's nothing to worry about.
You're so sweet.
Later on, it took another coincidence for me to remember those girls again.
Six months passed and the hot summer was already here.
Hey.
Is this seat available?
I never thought I'd bump into a friend at a place like this!
Stop looking so annoyed! It's been so long since we've last seen each other.
So tell me, how's the unlicensed medical practice going?
Just my luck. He's Lt. Takasugi of the Metropolitan Police Department.
You're in a non-smoking section.
Don't be such a hard-ass. I bend the rules for you all the time, don't I?
Do you have a patient in S-city?
No, I'm switching planes at S-city.
I'm going to be at the S-city police department for a while.
Swing by before you leave.
Let's have a drink for old time's sake.
I'm in Investigations, Section Four.
Section Four?
It's similar to tracking down people in your field.
Except I track down drugs that are destroying lives.
I stopped in at the S-city Police Department, but Lt. Takasugi was out.
Since he's not someone worth waiting for...
I decided to continue on to the airport.
This was the second time I had come through S-city.
It was a city that I would only pass through.
Other than that, it had no other significant meaning to me.
Airport please.
Wait!
Wait! Taxi!
Do you know that girl, Sir?
Hey wait! Taxi!
Please!
I've been waiting for you!
See? The scar really isn't noticeable anymore!
It'll be gone entirely in another six months.
I showed it to a doctor in the city and he said it was stitched beautifully!
He even said it was perfect and that there aren't that many doctors...
in the world who can do it as well as you did! He told me I was really lucky!
I had no idea you were such an amazing doctor!
I didn't recognize you at first.
Yeah, I changed my hairstyle. If I do this... See?
It hides it really well.
Perms aren't allowed at our school, but...
I was able to get permission, thanks to this scar.
I should be thanking you for that too!
How are your friends? Are they doing well?
You said you've been waiting for me...
I've been waiting for you for two months at that park.
Day and night... All day long...
I hoped you'd come back... Someday, I knew you'd come back...
For two months? That's crazy. I only came by this city by chance.
Then you showed up! I knew you would!
I'm so glad I waited!
Please, I need your help!
Did you hear about the accident at Mt. Sennin two months ago?
I haven't...
It made headlines in the local paper here but...
The suspension bridge snapped, and...
Yumiko fell eighty meters, all the way to the bottom of the ravine.
I was saved because I was walking behind her.
Two months... For two months, Yumiko has been in a coma.
The doctors at that hospital say it's hopeless.
No matter what I ask them, they keep saying it's hopeless, it's hopeless...
I want you to save Yumiko.
She shouldn't have to live life as a vegetable... It's not fair to her...
Plus I can't bear see another friend die...
Another?
Stop it!
Yuki was killed instantly when a speeding car hit her three months ago.
You won't believe this but...
Kaori stepped on to the train tracks and committed suicide ten days later.
Outside of S-city there's a residential area with a population of 150,000.
The general hospital was located in that area, on a large piece of land.
Dr. Udagawa. Dr. Udagawa. Please report to Radiology.
You'd say it was a public hospital by how big and well-equipped it was,
but yet this hospital was privately owned.
Nice lap, Tokio!
Keep this up and you'll be able to qualify for the Suzuka Race!
Suzuka Race, eh?
Okay, thirty minute break!
Straighten out the spoiler for me, will ya?
I can't get enough pickup on the straightaways.
OK, Tokio!
It's concentration that matters, Tokio!
Hi, Tokio. You have a phone call.
It's from your hospital.
What? I don't know anything about this guy!!
But he insisted you requested him.
Doctor! Doctor!
What?
He went into ward D?
Yes.
I gave strict instructions to never let unauthorized personnel in that area!
Yes, I understand but...
Doctor! Doctor! Please wait!
Who are you?
I'm her physician. Yumiko Inoue to be specific.
I took my time reading over her clinical charts...
Were you the one who wrote this?
Yes I was!
I hope you don't mind, but while I was waiting for you...
I did a simple urinalysis and ran a blood test on her.
What?
I got some interesting results back...
that weren't included in these clinical charts.
Tokio Umetani.
He's an average surgeon that graduated from a third rate medical school...
But he took after his late father who built this hospital...
and became its second president. He's just the type to cause some trouble.
I've heard of you...
Yes, my father told me about you.
An unlicensed physician...
but yet he's infamous in the illegal medical world.
A man who lives like a parasite...
Black Jack...
Yes, you must be Black Jack!
Gonna extort me? Blackmail me?
Well I'm not having it! I'm not going to let you get anything out of me!
I want to perform an operation on Yumiko Inoue.
My surgical fee is fifty million yen.
I will expect the payment be paid by your hospital.
You've got to be kidding me!
I'm not kidding you.
I'll call the cops.
Go ahead.
Then I'll have to publicize the results from the urinalysis and blood test...
that were left out in her clinical charts.
It's useless. She's a vegetable.
The nerve fibers in her brain have been completely destroyed.
An operation would be absolutely useless!
I've resuscitated comatose patients twice before.
She's only sixteen years old.
No one has the right to take away her life by keeping her this way.
Isn't it great, Yumiko? Dr. Black Jack said he'll operate on you!
Thank you Doctor! Thank you so much!
I love you!
For the first time ever, I met a wonderful man!
The operation is scheduled for tomorrow night.
You should go home. Your parents will be worried.
But there's no one waiting for me at the house!
My school is a boarding school. My family lives in Tokyo.
I've been living by myself since I was in junior high.
Same goes for Yumiko.
Well, in Yumiko's case...
her father's a businessman so her parents live in Chicago.
Our school caters to parents who have money but don't have time...
for their kids. The entire country knows our school's rap.
A.K.A "The Orphanage School"!
Let me stay over! Let me stay in your hotel room tonight!
No.
Right here. Thank you.
Hold on.
This is a school dorm? That's really hard to believe.
Going to a boarding school is just an excuse to get your parent...
to pay for a 'Study Room' in the city. That's what you do nowadays.
Everyone wants to keep their privacy.
Night!
Oh that's right!
You know it's fine by me if you want to stay over in my room!
Look...
Doctor...
I bet you're thinking I've never had sex. Aren't you?
Bleah!
Good night!
I can't help it.
Something came up and I have to operate tomorrow.
NO! You promised me you'd come home on yesterday's flight!
What am I supposed to do with the special curry I made for you?
I put so much love into making it! Well?
Depending on how it goes...
I might have to stay an additional week after the surgery.
Argh! Drop dead!
That would be nice, wouldn't it?
I'm dumping you! We're through! I'll cheat on you!
JERK JERK JERK JERK JERK!
I heard you came by the office yesterday.
There we go...
There's beer in the fridge if you want it.
No, I'm all set with alcohol right now.
Is it true you're operating on Yumiko Inoue?
I did a little legwork. I asked the hospital staff when I heard the rumor.
I have no idea. It has nothing to do with me.
Relax! I'm not in charge of arresting unlicensed physicians anymore.
There's one thing I want to ask you.
Was this an operation requested by the hospital?
No...
Next time, let's make it a point to go get a drink.
Later.
I'm cold...
Yumiko...
Yuki, no... Kaori, no. Don't open the window...
The wind is so cold...
I'm so cold...
It's so warm...
Come in.
Doctor, we have a favor we'd like to ask you.
What is it?
We heard that Yumiko Inoue's operation is scheduled for tonight.
Will the man who was here yesterday be performing the surgery?
Yes.
Is he Black Jack?
His features, his age, his clothes...
they're all as I heard when I was at the University Hospital.
So what about it?
We'd like to witness the proceedings of the operation!
No, please let us assist him!
People call him a genius!
I want to see it with my own eyes!
He's an unlicensed physician!
Doctor! Please! Please! Doctor! Please Doctor! Doctor!
I don't care! If you want permission, go ask him yourselves!
Dr. Black Jack.
Doctor! Doctor! Doctor!
At 6:47 P.M. The sun set.
Five minutes later, we started Yumiko Inoue's intracranial...
hematoma elimination surgery.
As per the other doctors' request...
I allowed two anesthesiologists...
three surgeons...
and four nurses to be present during the surgery.
However, I alone will perform the surgery in its entirety...
because that is how I always work.
Let's begin.
I see...
You must have spent a fortune on the President's Office.
Who are you?
I'm Dr. Black Jack's manager.
There's always something to learn...
by watching the doctor's brilliant techniques.
That's why you're watching it too right?
You're always playing around and you're a crappy second president...
but you're still a physician, I guess.
What did you say?
Calm down. Don't get so angry. Just because I'm being honest...
Get out of here or I'll call security!
Oh come on!
Fine. Fine! I'll leave!
Study hard!
Gradually add one unit of plasma.
Yes.
Add gamma globulin.
Yes.
Check ICP.
Pulse is 60. Blood Pressure 100 over 50. ICP is stable.
All right. We will now perform a surgical evacuation...
of the hematoma that is applying pressure to the brain neuron.
It's imperative to prevent oscillation and stimulation to the patient.
The slightest injury to the nerve and she will be a comatose patient forever.
Yes!
Lights, centered at two thousand lux.
Centered at two thousand lux!
Please God.
Please take care of her. That's what they said...
Last night, when I called the patient's parents in Chicago...
to get their consent for the operation, that's what they said to me.
Please take care of her they said...
Please take care of her...
When their daughter might die...
Take care of her...
Although they are a family, human life is an individual thing.
Humans instinctively know they cannot prevent the inevitability of death.
I even know myself that all man can do is mourn death...
and take a moment to shed a tear.
Perhaps...
Perhaps that's why I'm doing something like this.
To leave proof that efforts were made to keep the dying ones alive...
before displaying our grief over the passing of life...
Futile as it may be...
there are people in this world who find a glimmer of hope in these attempts...
It's almost dawn...
This is one hell of an operation. It's been ten hours already...
Have one of these. It's still warm.
No thank you.
I have ogura bread if you want one.
Red bean donuts?
We finished.
Move the patient to the intensive care unit.
Antibiotics to prevent postoperative infection and also an intracranial pressure check.
Yes!
I'm going to lie down and get some sleep here.
Let's hurry!
Yumiko!
Hey, you guys!
Move! Please get out of the way!
Yumiko!
All right, let's go!
Roger.
He's probably going to the race circuit as usual.
We're already on to him.
The rest is all timing.
Doctor, you won't believe it!
Yumiko ate two apples! She said they're delicious! That they taste great!!
The operation was a success.
Three days after the surgery...
Yumiko was moved to a private room from ICU.
Her condition was steadily improving.
Fortunately she did not develop a postoperative infection...
and nor did her intracranial pressure rise.
She was always smiling happily.
What slightly concerns me is that she shows signs of dementia...
and because of that, she says strange things occasionally.
The party... We should decorate with white flowers...
I guess he's not going to the race circuit today, Lieutenant.
Hey! Tap the call!
Yes, sir!
Hurry up!
I can't. I'm unable to tap in because he's using a special frequency!
I don't want to hear any excuses. You're the one responsible for all this!
I understand. Yes, well the thing is...
If we judge the situation as dangerous we will take matters into our own hands.
And when that happens your life will no longer be guaranteed.
Please understand! I've been doing the best I can!
I'll contact you again.
Hello? Hello? Hello?
Shit!
Goddamn it...
Where's Rie?
Why won't Rie come to visit me?
I don't know.
She's probably shivering from the cold.
In the summertime?
Rie Fujinami had not come by the hospital in five days.
She may have been flaking out, but it was still strange...
She was worried about Yumiko more than herself.
Make a left at the next intersection.
Right here is fine.
Who's there?
Yumiko?
Kaori?
Oh, it's you Kaori...
Look. Look, they wilted... My cactuses...
They used to be so pretty...
They've completely dried up...
They're gone... They left me all alone!
Who are you? Go away!
It's cold... I'm so cold...
She was obviously having drug withdrawal symptoms.
Come. Let's go...
I couldn't allow Rie Fujinami to be ruined at an age of sixteen...
That was the only thing on my mind...
Welcome. Your party is waiting for you at a table, over by the window.
What a surprise!
I never thought the day would come when you'd call to see me.
I want you to look at this.
You're kidding me.
South American Pueruto. Also known as Party of the Heavens.
It's a recently discovered narcotic plant that's out on the streets.
From what I hear, even a prick to the finger...
will cause intense hallucinations when the flower is in bloom.
This must be what you were investigating.
You're an idiot. You think I'd leak classified information to an outsider?
This past spring four high school girls went hiking on Mt. Sennin.
It was my idea...
I said the four of us should do something special...
before we finish sophomore year and got separated the following year.
But we lost our way in the thick fog...
Then when we accidentally stumbled across a flower garden...
It was a field of cactuses with red and pink flowers.
Yuki was the first one who pricked herself.
It feels so good... My body feels so tingly...
She's right...
Everyone was high...
We each decided to take some cactuses when we left the mountain.
Seven days after their hike...
Yuki Nakajima was killed in a hit and run accident.
Ten days later...
Kaori Goto committed suicide by stepping in front of a subway.
There's a possibility it may have been murder.
And after two months,
Yumiko Inoue and Rie Fujinami were completely addicted to the Pueruto.
They left for Mr. Sennin to get more of the cactuses...
when the suspended bridge snapped.
Which group is behind this? The Mafia? Medellin Cartel?
I can't comment until I have proof.
Two sixteen year old girls are already dead!
My hands are tied... I've got orders from above.
On second thought, I don't think I ever want to have a drink with you.
Where are you going?
Take care of Rie Fujinami and Yumiko Inoue for me.
You don't have to tell me.
We've been watching them for some time, before you even mentioned it.
Look at you...
Is that heroin, cocaine or the newly available drug, Pueruto?
At the rate you're going...
you'll end up killing a patient during a hernia operation.
You're a disgrace.
Leave me alone!
I hear your family has owned Mt. Sennin for generations.
So what?
You offered Mt. Sennin to the syndicate so they can secretly cultivate Pueruto.
I don't know anything!
And you tried to kill the high school girls that saw your secret nursery.
I have nothing to do with that! I don't know anything!
I knew drugs were involved...
when the urine and blood samples tested positive for mescaline.
To keep Yumiko Inoue in a comatose state...
you were administering drugs on a regular basis.
I don't know! I don't know anything!
Tough luck for you, but I'm raising my surgical fee from fifty million yen...
to five hundred million yen! I want it readied now.
The syndicate will have that kind of money.
You'll be killed!
Perhaps... but they might go down before I do...
You're crazy...
Being crazy is how you play the game!
You're supposed to call... You're supposed to call before you come here!
Tokio... We've decided to pull out of this country...
after we clean up our facilities...
(Okay! Set them for 15 minutes!)
(Let's go!)
Hi Tokio. Hope you have a pleasant a dream.
I felt like I was floating in mid air.
I saw several beautiful hallucinogenic imageries.
My brain is melting...
It's so quiet...
Not a care in the world...
Pulse 40... Maximum blood pressure level around 60...
I'm right before I go into shock...
The effects are similar to opium...
Yes... Yes... I'm going to be fine...
As I dissolved into a state of ecstasy I spoke to my other self...
I'm going to be fine...
There's a part of me who would never give in to something like this...
I have a black box that has overcome despair and death, many times...
he says.
The black box is commanding me...
You mustn't give up now!
Um...
Um, will we meet again?
Coincidence doesn't happen a third time.
I guess you're right.
That is, until now...
The city I returned to...
wasn't how I remembered it.
Glass walls were endlessly erected.
"I want you to wait for me."
The whispers I swallowed that day...
"I want you to wait for me."
My wound opens up now as if it were fresh.
Between the gaps of the high rise buildings...
The moonlight comes through.
Are you also looking for someone?
It will never change...
Peace is far beyond our journey.
Does it only exist beyond the skies?
But I'll be back again.
Subtitle translation by MAYUMI KOBAYASHI
Subtitles by JUSTIN SEVAKIS