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Black Jack - Ch. 28 - Finger [Sealed Chapter] - MangaDex
Info: Unlike many other of the sealed chapters, this chapter was sealed not because of direct controversy but because Tezuka was not happy with how it turned out (however, the depiction of people with polydactyly may also have been a factor). It got remade into 『刻印』“Imprint,” which was included in later collections and Vertical’s volume 5.
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Page 1
Subtitle: [Chapter 28] Finger
Text (right): A reunion with an old friend leads to a great catastrophe!!
Text (left): Critically acclaimed serial!!
Text (bottom): Tezuka Osamu
Page 2
3 Letter: Dear Black Jack, It’s been a while, hasn’t it? I’d like to meet and talk to you. Let’s meet up on the 22nd at 2PM sharp at Ueno Station Platform 12. Please come [not visible].
4 Character A: Are ‘ya Dr. Black Jack? Let me show ‘ya the way.
5 B.J.: Where’s Makube? He said he wanted to meet me….
6 Character B: I’ll take ‘ya there.
7 B.J.: What a strange place to meet….
7 Character A: Heh heh… Don’t worry about it.
Page 3
3 B.J.: Makube!
3 Makube: Yep, Black Jack, it’s me! How many years has it been?
Page 4
1 B.J.: Seven years, since you left for America.
1 Makube: I see, seven years…. The day we parted ways feels like yesterday.
2 B.J.: When did you come back from the States?
2 Makube: Fufu, just two days ago. …Here, let’s relax upstairs and have a chat.
3 Makube: This is just a hideout. After all, I’m being chased by the ICPO (International Criminal Police Organisation).
4 B.J.: …You’ve changed so much, Makube! Come on, take off those shades.
5R Makube: Don’t mind these. More importantly…
5L Makube: Do you remember these hands?
7 B.J.: Of course…. It was back in middle school….
8 (B.J.): We were miserable, you and I. I was disabled, and you had a deformity.
Page 5
1 (B.J.): Your hands and feet each had six fingers and toes!!
2R Makube: Apparently it’s a deformity called “polydactyly.” I looked into it afterwards, and found out that it’s not so uncommon among deformities.
2L Makube: I even got my name, Rokurō, from that “sixth” finger. [T/N: The number six in Japanese is pronounced roku.]
3 B.J.: Yes, polydactyly isn’t all that rare. Some even speculate that in ancient times, all humans had six fingers.
4R (B.J.): When counting, we usually use base-10… but in England, they use base-12. In their currency, 12 pence is one shilling, and they measure weight and length in base-12, too.
4L (B.J.): That is why some say that long ago, the English may have had 12 fingers.
Page 6
1T (Makube): That’s right…. Because of my condition, everyone in class treated me like a monster; I was an outcast.
1R (Makube): Everyone would make fun of my hands when they saw them, so I always kept them in my pockets!!
1B (Makube): I tried so hard not to cry.
2R (Makube): But then I met you, a wheelchair user.
2T (Makube): There exists a saying: “misery loves company!!”
2B (Makube): You and I sympathized with each other and we became friends…. I remember we played together every day and comforted each other….
Page 7
1 (Makube): The two of us were by far the best students in our class…. That’s right; we perservered. We worked just as hard as we got bullied, enduring the pain….
2T (Makube): We wanted to put them to shame for what they did to us. We studied desperately, didn’t we.
2M (Makube): In time, you received surgery and became able to walk,
2B (Makube): And I assume that inspired you to become a doctor.
3T (Makube): After that, I recieved a scholarship and had a chance to enroll in an American college…. Our futures were brimming with hope.
3B (Makube): Then came the time for us to part our ways.
Page 8
1R Makube: Black Jack, I want you to cut my fingers off.
1L Makube: I want them to be amputated by your hands.
2 Makube: You got into med school, right? I’m sure you can cut off my fingers easily.
3 Makube: I want to lead a new life in America as a decent, five-fingered human being!!
4R (Makube): The surgery was a great success…
4L (Makube): And I departed, five-fingered.
5 Makube: A great success, I thought! Fufufu… Hahahahaha!
6 Makube: It sure was.
7 Makube: But I was expelled from college, and well… I ended up leading this way of life.
Page 9
1 (Makube): And now, people say that anyone in the underworld who doesn’t know my name is a poser…. Fufu… I’ve completely changed, if I say so myself.
2 B.J.: Guess you shouldn’t have amputated your fingers, Makube.
2 Makube: Maybe you’re right. ↵ If I had worked like mad with my six fingers, maybe I would’ve become a great scholar by now.
3 Makube: Those fingers changed my fate.
4R B.J.: So… Why did you bring me here?
4L B.J.: Don’t tell me you just wanted to reminisce about our childhood.
5R Makube: That’s right. I have a big favor to ask of you…
5L Makube: …Dr. Black Jack, the great surgical genius.
6 Makube: Please, change my fingerprints!
7 B.J.: Fingerprints?
8 Makube: I’m a wanted criminal. I want to eliminate any evidence in case I get arrested.
Page 10
1R B.J.: Changing fingerprints is not as easy as you think.
1L B.J.: Even if you did, you can’t fool anyone with just that.
2R Makube: Of course, I will change my face and voice. That’s easy.
2L Makube: But changing my fingerprints is just something that only you can do!
3 B.J.: And if I say no?
3 Makube: I’m sorry, but that’s not an option anymore.
8R Makube: Either you perform the surgery for me, or you lose your life…
8L Makube: Although I’d rather not play these tricks with you.
10 (B.J.): Fine. We’ll do it at my house.
10 Makube: No! We’ll do it here. We’ve prepared all the equipment.