Synopsis
Episode 3:
Two victims thrash in agony, scarred by the war of nations. Once again, renegade doctor Black Jack is caught in the crossfire. With Death breathing down his neck, he braves bullets and deadly biohazards to save the afflicted. Will the detective doctor prevail once more? Or will he pay the ultimate price for his mercenary ways?

Episode 4:
An infamous actress is suddenly stricken gravely ill. While she’s visibly undernourished and weak, she doesn’t seem to be able to eat. He has run every conceivable test, yet nothing appears to be wrong with her. Unable to hold her food down, the young star has become desperate. Considering suicide to end her torment, she has found a special doctor to help her die. Black Jack must race against time to save her - his only lead: the girl’s past and a deadly secret from World War I. It is a perplexing question of faith when Black Jack is hired to keep her from dying.

Review
In this volume of Black Jack, we are the spectators of a war that for some odd reason resembles what is going on in Iraq. In the show the United States is referred to as Federal Unites and Iraq is the Ortega Republic. Anyways, politics is not my specialty and certainly is not the goal of this episode, so here we go, let us start the review.

The show starts off with a beautiful woman seeking medical help from Black Jack for another person. This person later on turns out to be her father and the ruler that the Federal Unites imprisoned (sound familiar?). The situation turns bad as the army of the Ortega Republic ambushes the prisoner transport and retrieves their leader back. It is a full proof plan until, his health catches up to him. I know Black Jack is not real, but it is real enough that he cannot cure everyone, of course this was displayed in the first volume already too. The episode soon turns into a battle field rather than settling for the emergency room atmosphere that we all expected. From needles and scalpers we go to guns and bullets. It no longer is about the health of a man, rather it becomes the strength of a dying person trying to deliver a last sense of morale for his citizens to build upon. This is some top notch stuff, I surely enjoyed it tremendously.

In the next episode, a lot of males might like it. It is about a female actress, who simply wanted to act. But when financial problems strikes her, she is forced to model for a porn magazine. Then it began… one porn movie after another. It was the only movies she was getting cast in. Until she becomes ill with an unknown sickness that causes her to throw up everything she eats. With a noticeable frail body, she requests our good doctor, Black Jack to help. I will stop here with the spoilers; it gets good throughout the show, so you might want to tune in yourself.

Black Jack is just great. It is not one dimensional. It is not solely about patching up people. There are small messages generated through it that if given the enough thought to it, it might latch on to you. Since minds are different, what I make out from what I saw, is sure to be different from yours so see what you come up with and make sense out of it. It is actually quite fun to put your mind to work after watching an anime, you not only understand better, but will like it better too.

The Breakdown
Addictive and fun! What more do you need?