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I'm still a very new fan of Black Jack; I got hooked on the series after reading the first chapter of the manga in the college library during a lunch break. The reason I was hooked? Several reasons, the main one being how bizarre, but interesting the first scenario Black Jack finds himself in: Being coerced to save the life of a rich, but corrupt man’s son, at the cost of taking the life of an innocent bystander.

The theme repeats itself throughout the whole of Black Jack, we’re given characters that have a back story: You can relate to them and sympathise with them, despite ... the fact they won’t ever be recurring in the series again. This is one of the most crucial elements that makes Black Jack such a good, interesting franchise. However, Young Black Jack fails to deliver not only in this department, but nearly everywhere else as well.
And this is where we come to the main problem with Young Black Jack: It’s underdeveloped. It feels like just a husk of Black Jack, it wants to be Black Jack, but doesn't really understand what it is that makes Black Jack what it is.

Starting from the first episode, just about everything feels wrong. The patient that Jack must operate on in this episode is given no back story what so ever, he’s literally just rolled in on a gurney, and Jack (being only a medical student in this series) declares that he can save the boy’s life, but of course, he will charge, what later becomes, his infamous fee if the operation is successful. We’re then shown some fancy handiwork from Jack, and then, hey presto! The boy is saved and everyone breathes a sigh of relief. The end.

There’s just no love in it, watching Jack operate is like watching a boring medical drama that follows all the formulas and doesn't try anything different of its own that makes it stand out. How are we supposed to care about a patient when we don’t even know who he or she is? The kid in question literally didn't even get any lines, because he was already unconscious when he’s presented to us. The same pattern repeats throughout every episode so far, none Jack’s patients are given any kind of subsistence, they just exist for him to operate on, and that’s it. Characters just feel stale and robotic, with not much life breathed into them.
This brings me to another issue, Jack himself. He feels boring, with little personality or any of the charm the original character has. Sure, he’s meant to be a young version of Jack, a 22 year old medical student who’d never performed an operation before (but of course his first one was a success). He’s uncertain in his abilities, and is still learning and developing, but that’s kind of the problem, there isn't really much character development.

The series fails time and time again to have any kind of significant character development for Jack. The 3rd episode was one of the best ones, where Jack questions his reasons for wanting to become a doctor, and where he stands on morality.
The last main issue with Young Black Jack is the pacing of each episode. They drag, and drag and drag and drag. The 2nd episode literally takes place entirely in the same room for the first half, and then the majority of the second half remains that way. There’s just far too much talking and not enough of anything else going on. One of the many things that made the original Black Jack great was the story-telling, and how each story seems to flow at just the perfect pace. It always takes up as much time as was needed, with every iota of focus being on developing the story of each chapter.

In a slightly later episode, an iconic "villainous" character is introduced (I'll leave his name disclosed in case of spoilers). He only sticks around for two episodes however, and we're not really given any insight or back story into his character, which you may have expected and most likely wanted from a classic Black Jack character.

Even when I started viewing the series as being more of a standalone one, separate of the original Black Jack franchise, it still remained a un-engaging, uninteresting, and quite frankly, boring series. I've seen worse, and it isn't completely without its redeemable qualities. The series does succeed in being pretty emotional at times, albeit it rarely, and I've seen far better executions of emotional scenes.

All in all, this is a very disappointing series. Everything that made Black Jack good in the first place feels like it’s been ripped from the bones of this new adaptation, and we’re left with just some skeleton that doesn't know what it’s doing, or what it wants to be.
If you’re familiar with Black Jack prior to watching this, there isn't really much to see here. If you were hoping for a solid back story to Jack, I'm afraid you’re most likely going to be let down. If you've never watched any of the older adaptations, or read the manga, I suggest you start there first rather than here, because this series is likely to give you a wrong impression of just what Black Jack is. Read just the first couple of chapters from the first volume, and you’ll know what to expect from this series that sadly, isn't presented here.

Black Jack is a great franchise in and of itself, and this series doesn't do it the justice it deserves. Many of the stories in the original Black Jack stayed with you long after reading/watching. There's nothing much to ponder on the episodes of Young Black Jack after watching however, the stories are bland, throw-away tales that you're likely have a hard time remembering years (or even just a few months) down the line.

My updated/rewritten review:
Animals as the main protagonists in Japanese anime has always been something of an oddity. Anime that do feature beastly buddies in the place of humans have tended to be a bit of a mixed bag, but thankfully, this particularly series is one that pulls it off pretty well.

The plot starts out with the focus being on human characters. As of episode 7 however, the genre suddenly shifts to focusing on the main protagonists, the dogs. The once mute canines, also gain voice actors, and their true personalities start opening up. The very sudden change in pacing may throw off some viewers, but ... ep. 7 is when this series really takes off the ground, and everything before that was simply a build-up to this point.

Now, the main plot in GNG is a fairly basic one. Silverfang/Gin, the eponymous protagonist of the show, sets out to find fellow dogs in order to defeat Akakabuto, the bear antagonist of the series. Akakabuto is a VERY standard villain, he's seemingly evil just for the sake of being evil, so if you're looking for something with a more "mature" or out-of-the-box plot line, I'm afraid you won't find it here. GNG is, for the most part, standard shounen anime, only with dogs instead of your usual teenage human heroes.

Akakabuto, and the other bears in the series, remain mute, so we never get any kind of insight into their own back stories. There doesn't seem to be any particular reason why the bears enjoy killing off the human and dog cast. Maybe it could be argued that the bears are simply defending their territory, and that the humans/dogs are the real villains.
But we're told early on in the series that Akakabuto goes out of his way to cause trouble for villagers. The only real explanation we get is that he holds a grudge against dogs and humans due to having his right eye shot, blinding him.

Whatever the reasons, I find myself caring very little for the dogs' end goal of slaying Akakabuto and his army of henchmen bears.
But despite the main premise being insanely bare-boned, the series more than makes up for it with its very semi-episodic format of Gin and the gang finding, and convincing other dogs to join his pack. It's simple enough, but it's genuinely engaging to watch what plays out in these situations. There are some very interesting canines to be met along the way, which brings me to the pooches themselves.

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This is arguably the show's strongest point. While the villains are about as interesting as porridge, the same can't be said about the dogs. There is some good character development throughout the series, especially with Gin, who grows from being a pup trained via animal abuse, to becoming a respectable leader.

The dogs' personalities, while not amazing, are interesting, and there are some very likeable tykes throughout the cast. Some of the dogs may seem like antagonists at first, but later turn into allies, making them much more interesting (pseudo) "villains" than the bears.

Although I didn't develop any kind of real, emotional attachment to any of the characters, I did find myself genuinely caring about them whenever one was mortally wounded or killed. And death comes often in GNG, don't think for a second that any dog is safe, main characters are killed off fairly frequently.

There's plenty of action and (bloody) fights throughout the series, which is to be expected of something in the shounen genre. While somewhat repetitive, they're a lot more enjoyable to watch than you might think, with some unexpected moves/scenes thrown in from time to time.

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The artwork is pretty much what you'd expect out of an 80s show. It ain't great, but it isn't completely terrible. Perhaps my biggest issue is how the dogs' mouths seem to be almost constantly open. It often makes them look dumb, especially when talking. There's also quite a lot of reused footage in some scenes (e.g. "background" characters getting killed twice in the exact same footage during bear fight scenes).

There isn't a great deal to be said about the sound either. The opening theme, while cheesy, is very catchy and enjoyable. The voice cast do a decent to good job, nothing spectacular, but nothing overly terrible either.

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In conclusion, GNG is a good shounen series with the main set of characters unusually being of the furry variety. It doesn't do too much that we haven't already seen before, but that doesn't prevent it from being a fun watch. And, despite its fairly unoriginal basic premise, it still remains a very unique series in its own right. I've truly never seen an anime quite like GNG before, even when the general formula feels very familiar.

The series has many flaws, but these are easy to overlook just by how sheer enjoyable it is to watch. It may not be for everyone, but the series is worth a shot if you're interested in any of the following: Dogs, slightly darker "children's" shows, shounen/adventure anime or Western animated shows/movies such as the Lion King.

Space Brothers is one of those shows that will stick with me for the rest of my life. Even if I never happen to re-watch the series, the vast amount of thoughtful analogies, metaphors and quotes throughout the show has left a lasting impression on my psyche. A positive one, if you must ask. A very positive one.

First of all, before you begin watching this, you're going to want to know what you're getting yourself into. This is a pretty unique series, as far as anime goes. If you're expecting an epic space adventure, I'm afraid to say that you will be sadly disappointed, as ... it's a lot more down to Earth than that, no pun intended. Space Brothers is, in a nutshell, a story about never giving up hope, and always striving to achieve your dreams, no matter what life throws at you.

It may sound cliché, but it does it so very, very well, and in such a believable, realistic way that got me engrossed from the very first episode. The character development is superb, and it's one of the things this series really shines in.

Our main protagonist, Mutta Nanba, is such a great, well-written character, whom was extremely likable right from the first episode. So much so that I had to add him to my "favourite characters" panel after less than 10 episodes into the series.
The thing that makes him so likable? He's flawed. Right from the beginning, we see that Mutta hasn't got it easy: He's behind his younger brother whose already become an astronaut, he's unemployed, he's somewhat shy and he's a tad bit eccentric.

Of course it's not all gloom and doom, Nanba has just as many positive traits that make for a good, well-rounded character. Not least of which is how great of a big brother he is. Although some jealously is obviously displayed at times, Mutta genuinely seems proud of his younger brother's accomplishments, and supports him greatly right from the outset when we see the brothers as children. A lot of contemporary anime these days tend to feature a protagonist that is often already blessed right from the start. Be it a guy in a harem genre that has a million girls swarming over him for no obvious reason, or a character that is vastly more powerful than those that have been doing the same thing for a much longer time in a Shounen or action anime.
Having a character already handicapped from the start is a breathe of fresh air, and it just makes Space Brothers feel all that more realistic and mature.

Mutta makes for a very relatable character. Regardless of your age and current life experiences, what Nanba goes through is something we can all sympathise with. We've all had those periods of feeling like we're behind in life, or feeling like we don't compare to our siblings or peers. We feel like we've failed in some kind of way, either to ourselves or to our family when we don't achieve the things we hoped to.

And that's where Space Brothers' shining message comes in: "Never give up"
What takes place after the first episode is a journey on a very inspiring tale that tells us that no matter how old we are, how behind we are or how many failures we've accumulated, you can still strive to achieve your goals. Speaking of which, one of my favourite quotes from the series is "an earnest failure has meaning."

The training required to become an astronaut is presented in a very realistic way. This anime reaches a level of maturity that a lot of animated shows fail to. There isn't much you can fault on the setting or plot, and the characters we are introduced to as the series progresses are all about as well-written as Mutta. I can't really think of a single person in the series that I disliked or found annoying in any kind of way, which is somewhat rare for me.

Perhaps my only complaint is that some of the episodes feel like they drag on longer than is necessary. We're not talking boring, standard Shounen filler, but it does feel like this series could have been made shorter, if only they cut out a few unneeded scenes. The ending (which I won't spoil for you) also leaves on somewhat of an unsatisfactory note. Regardless, I had a lot of enjoyment watching this. The comedy was excellent, it had some very thoughtful and inspiring messages, and the cast of characters were incredibly likable. I don't think I've ever watched anything before that was quite so motivating. Ironically, sitting on my backside watching this, often inspired me to get off my backside and try to achieve those dreams I long thought were either lost, or just pipe dreams.

The pacing is also relatively slow, which may put off those looking for something more action-packed. But I'd recommend this to just about anyone. Even if astronauts aren't quite your thing, or you're into more the fast-paced, I'd suggest that you at least try out the first couple of episodes and see what you think. You may be pleasantly surprised. This is one of those shows that is so lovable, it's pretty much impossible to hate it, unless you're part-demon.