Original subtitles

Since World War I,

the prevalence of what was then called

"shell shock" increased exponentially on the battlefield.

Research later found that this stress response was not limited to the battlefield,

but left a significant mark on soldiers who returned home.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

The condition was eventually dubbed "post-traumatic stress disorder"

or "PTSD."

Many veterans continue to suffer from this malady today.

Ah, I'm here again...

Hey, Tommy!

Activate the nerve gas!

I know how this ends...

There are no civilians!

They're all our enemies!

Tommy!

Tommy!

Calm down!

Calm down, okay?

We're in America!

You're not on the battlefield!

We're not in Vietnam anymore...

Black Jack

Young

I must say, I had no idea that an expert neurosurgeon like you

Episode 8: Painless Revolution Part 2

would also be doing research on Combat Stress Reaction, Doctor Risenberg.

Let's have Tommy-kun be an outpatient at my clinic

and receive both therapeutic and pharmaceutical treatment.

Thank you.

Dr. Yabu, you yourself recovered from CSR.

That experience will be of help.

It's true, however, that war has also advanced medicine.

Anesthetics, disinfectants, antibiotics:

all the things we take for granted now in medical treatment

can be said to be benefits of war.

But even if there had been no wars,

humanity would have eventually developed the same technologies to save lives.

That's what I'd like to believe.

I see.

I have to say, I've met a lot of Japanese this week.

What?

Oh, speak of the devil.

There he is.

Hm?

Oh!

Hazama!

Hazama, Hazama, Hazama!

Oh, Yabu-san.

Don't "Oh" me!

We last saw each other in Vietnam!

Yeah.

Are you overworking yourself again?

You can tell me anything and I'll help you out.

Huh?

What's wrong?

Hey!

Hazama!

Here you go.

Thank you.

Analgesia, huh.

I'm looking into all possibilities

as to what might be causing it.

I've asked Johnny himself many times, but...

Yeah, it's true.

I stopped feeling pain after leaving the military.

Can you tell me more about what happened while you were deployed?

In Vietnam, I was part of the offensive on enemy strongholds in the jungle.

Did you ever get wounded or sick there?

Injuries were a dime a dozen,

and I caught a cold or two, sure,

but I was lucky and got back home more or less intact.

All we found out was that

he stopped feeling pain after he left the military.

I don't have much time left to find out.

What do you mean?

We're going back to Japan tomorrow.

I see.

Yabu.

Tommy!

Are the doctors done already?

Yeah.

Oh, allow me to introduce you all.

This is Tommy, whom I met in Vietnam: Thomas Williams.

Tommy, this is Hazama and Okamato-chan.

They're both studying to become doctors.

Tommy-san, I'm Okamoto Maiko.

Nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you.

Maiko and Hazama, nice to meet you.

I just ran into them earlier. It was a big surprise; it's been forever.

Maybe today's reunion day.

Reunion day?

I met an old friend, too.

A buddy of mine from the military, Johnny.

I was surprised to learn

Johnny'd become a hero of the civil rights movement

when he used to be terrified of our hard-as-nails drill sergeant.

Tommy-san, you were deployed to Vietnam?

Yeah.

Then please tell us how Johnny was there!

Please.

We want to learn more about Johnny.

I'm sorry, but that topic's...

No, it's all right.

What?

I want to talk about it for myself, too.

Tommy...

But there's nothing you'll find useful.

After all, he never went to Vietnam.

He didn't go to Vietnam?

I was in the same platoon as Johnny.

We were supposed to go to Vietnam together,

but he wasn't on our transport plane.

After suffering through training together,

finding out that one of your brothers in arms had vanished in a time of need

can make you feel betrayed.

The more you suffer on the battlefield,

the more you feel unfairly punished.

Tommy...

Tommy-san!

Tommy, it's okay.

Calm down.

You all right?

Yeah. Sorry, Yabu.

Today, I finally solved the mystery behind Johnny's disappearance.

Military intelligence recruited him to participate in special ops training.

They said he wouldn't have to go to Vietnam.

Special ops training...

What was the training like?

He said that's top secret.

Where are you going?

The past three days,

we've been questioning Johnny, examining him,

and investigating his condition.

But now I know the questioning was pointless

because he's been lying the whole time!

Is that why you're mad?

You're mad at Johnny?

That's not it!

Huh?

Patients lie! Any professional clinician'd immediately think of the possibility

after seeing so many patients.

But we were just total amateurs!

I'm mad at myself!

Are you going to interrogate Johnny?

Yeah.

He won't admit to anything!

I'll make him!

Hey, you should at least knock.

Where're your manners?

You should be happy, Johnny.

We learned what's causing your analgesia!

Oh, that's great!

No one's been able to figure it out before.

So what is it?

It's a disease endemic to Vietnam.

Once you contract the disease,

not only does your sense of pain become impaired,

but viral pathogens accumulate in your extremities

and cause necrosis.

Many American soldiers have already died from this!

The only way to prevent death is to amputate all four limbs!

You're lucky, though!

We can still save you!

Okay, let's go!

We have to operate right away!

Wait!

Wait a minute!

That's impossible!

Impossible?

You were diagnosed by cutting edge equipment at Birmingham Hospital.

C'mon!

Let's get to the OR!

Don't worry, the procedure is simple.

There is no risk!

No, wait!

Your diagnosis is wrong!

Stop quibbling and just come already!

It's wrong!

I don't have no disease from Vietnam!

Because...

You might die!

Sh-Shit!

I never went to Vietnam!

He made him confess!

Huh?

But what about the fights in the jungle?

The colds you caught?

Like I said, I never went to Vietnam!

I just went through training in Okinawa!

Okinawa, huh...

I'm not convinced.

Now, everything you say sounds like a lie.

You might just be lying through your teeth

to avoid losing all four limbs.

No!

I'm...

I'm...

not lying.

I swear to God.

All right, then.

Prove to me it's not a lie

by describing to me the training

you underwent in Okinawa.

Well done.

They built a mock Vietnamese village on one of the islands,

and used it to test out strategies in simulations.

It was part of an experiment.

Experiment?

Can you be more specific?

Give me a break already.

This is classified military information!

Classified military information, huh?

Then I'll tell you what I now think:

your analgesia was intentionally caused

by the same military experiment.

Young Black Jack

Young Black Jack

So Hugo, the CIA was involved?

Professor Risenberg, it's been twenty years.

Or should I call you Dr. Linge?

I wouldn't have guessed that you'd be the one who operated on Johnny's broken bone.

I initially thought of his pain tolerance

as evidence of the strength of his beliefs as an activist.

After all, humans can exhibit preternatural abilities in a crisis.

Is that from direct observation

of experimental subjects in that concentration camp?

But yesterday,

Hazama came to me for a consult regarding Johnny's test results.

Though normal at first glance,

his physical data show evidence of side effects from the nerve gas we developed.

That's very insightful of you.

It's due to the lethal nerve gas,

a product of the Nazi's chemical weapons experiment that you were involved in.

Though now, it's far more advanced.

After overseeing the training exercise in Okinawa,

we, the CIA, only realized Johnny's condition after he had left the military.

Our analysts realized Johnny's abnormal actions when scanning news feeds.

After having his shin bone snapped by a police baton,

Johnny only grimaced in pain after seeing the injury.

So that's why you had him hospitalized here

where ties to the military and the CIA are strong.

Yes.

After all, Johnny was in a classified operation.

You had him undergo a thorough examination in the guise of treating his broken bone.

I must say, I'm impressed by Hazama Kuroo.

In just three days, he reached the same conclusion as we did.

You know of him?

He is a terrifying man, even as a student.

A student?

He's not an intern?

He's a medical student.

He doesn't have a medical license.

However, he has already conducted numerous operations in secret.

He was even willing to hide the fact

that he wasn't licensed in order to learn from my skill.

He's already conducted many operations?

You must stop, Hazama.

Your ethics remind me of...

His thirst for medical knowledge is as strong as yours.

What do you plan to do with Johnny?

Who knows?

Don't tell me you intend to continue

experimenting in search of a soldier who can't feel pain!

That would be a worthy goal,

but our nation has ratified the Hague Convention.

It would be prudent to keep our chemical warfare research hidden.

Wait, you don't mean...

Johnny's using his condition to do dangerous, life-threatening work.

It would come as no surprise, if it proved fatal.

Don't!

It would behoove you to remember

that in exchange for your research,

we gave you a new name, U.S. citizenship,

and protection from the Jewish organizations.

Please value your own life.

Consider our conversation

as a sign of our friendship in the guise of a warning.

Professor Risenberg.

Can you show me Johnny's test results again?

Certainly.

Wh-What are you doing?!

This is of no use to you now that you're going back to Japan.

You must never come over to my side.

Who is it?

You again, Hazama?

Just give up already.

Go back to Japan—

Professor Risenberg.

There was something I wanted to see for myself.

Ah, just as I'd thought.

You don't feel pain.

No, I...

What are you...

There's nothing to worry about.

I gave you an injection while you were unconscious.

It's a special drug that is altered by an electric current...

It'll fix your ion channels to function as before

and restore nerve impulses.

Hazama-kun.

Okamoto-senpai, have you already recovered from jet lag?

I got a letter from Tiara.

Something's happened to Johnny.

What happened?

He's been cured of analgesia.

Soon after being released from the hospital,

Johnny participated in a civil rights protest.

Here he comes!

It's Pacifist Johnny!

Immortal Johnny!

Hero Johnny!

May victory be ours!

Give us civil rights!

"If a man has not discovered something that he will die for, he isn't fit to live."

As he spoke Reverend King's words,

Johnny seemed different. He was tragically resolute.

Then...

Stop!

He ran.

The Immortal Johnny ran!

He ran!

Why?!

Johnny ran away!

Why?!

You can feel pain again.

It was Risenberg!

He... changed me back!

I wasn't afraid of death!

I was a hero!

But I can't bear pain anymore...

I'm scared!

You don't have to be a hero.

Welcome back, Johnny.

While it remains unclear how exactly Professor Risenberg helped Johnny,

I thank him from the bottom of my heart.

Hazama-kun...

Professor Risenberg!

So there was a way to treat him!

But why?

Why couldn't I figure it out?!

It was an abrupt exit from the national media

for Immortal Johnny, a central figure in the civil disobedience movement.

Well done, Professor Risenberg.

If he no longer has analgesia,

we no longer have a reason to dispose of him.

You used your knowledge and expertise as a doctor to save Johnny's life...

and Hazama's life.

By Risenberg's hand,

Johnny would lead a life as a common man and not a hero.

But Tommy would battle his inner demons for the rest of his life.

With the passage of time,

the fight was to be passed on to those who share the same purpose.

An old saying goes,

Next Episode Preview

"Men are not born men,

but as they experience desire, hope, suffering, and joy...

and, eventually, defeat in their lives,

they become men."

Pain is a constant in one's growth,

and it is by no means certain that one will achieve fulfillment.

At times, the trials and tribulations may seem unbearable.

The Gruesome Chronicle Part 1

"The Gruesome Chronicle Part 1."

Wait a minute!

That sounds exactly like the path one must take to become a doctor!