Black Jack

[Earthshine]

I think these two love each other very much even after the ordeal that Kei had to go through. However I really feel that Tezuka could not have these two together because if we consider Kei to be a man, which there's a lot of evidence that points to that, their relationship would then be homo-romantic and thus completely unacceptable for that manga genre and time.

I think it's great that you're giving Kei some attention, he really needs the love. Though if you're going to write Kei as a man you might want to use male pronouns (he/him) rather than female ones. If I remember correctly even Black Jack used male pronouns when referring to Kei, at least in the English version, I honestly cannot remember if Tezuka went out of his way to make Black Jack use a rare male pronoun (the Japanese don't use gender pronouns in everyday speech) in the Japanese version.

[Windswept Cloak]

Sometimes I call Megumi / Kei a "her", sometimes a "him" I think he / her can be either a male or a female. So I use both and switch between them. Hope that's not too confusing for you.

However, for my "script drafts" of my novel, I mostly refer to "him" as "Kei" since the story takes place long after "Megumi" changed "her" gender. In flashbacks, however, I will refer to "her" as "Megumi".

Wow. This IS pretty confusing. No wonder some fans ignore her / him. Too bad though, I like her / him a lot.

[Earthshine]

It's not confusing to me at all (my major is actually in gender studies and human sexuality) However others might be.

My only concern for you would be if someone read your fic and realized that you were writing Kei as a man and did not use male pronouns, you might get some really heavy flames. It's a very sensitive issue for some people, a misgendering people can make people very angry. It would be a shame if that happened to you. So the best thing you could do is make it clear that Kei's gender (in your story) is ambiguous and not solid so that should make people less inclined to 'freak out' if they see you flipping between pronouns.

[Windswept Cloak]

In that case I will call him a he and write his name as Kei Kisaragi and only refer to "xe" as Megumi in flashbacks.

[Earthshine]

Sounds good to me, can't wait to read it.

[Windswept Cloak]

My idea is this (I got the idea from a Taiwanese pen friend who is a fanfiction writer for Black Jack and the Phoenix): Kei Kisaragi used to be a real female, but after that operation, she lost all feminine organs, and for some reason, she chose to live the rest of her life as a male, so several months later after she fully recovered, she took another operation to change her body into that of a male's. In other words, she changed her gender for real.

[Windswept Cloak]

I found this fanfic online, in which Kuro'o Hazama is a teenager.

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9918327/1/Ugly

Not the best fanfic out there I must say, but the grammar isn't that bad either. The way the Japanese people (the students, in particular) talk are a little too Americanized here, especially for an Asian person like me.

However, the writer managed to portray young Kuro'o and Dr. Honma quite well and it's very easy to feel their feelings is this one. No poorly-developed original characters in this story, either, thank goodness, and I'm glad to see Pinoko towards the end. What's a Black Jack fic without Pinoko or Kei, after all? I also like the fact that Honma is in the story, and that Gera was mentioned - I rarely come across good fic with them in it.

This fic, in some parts, sticks strongly to Tezuka's original - it mentioned Kuroo's trip walking across Japan by himself in order to walk properly again, and that Dr. Honma "messed up" on a surgery (he accidentally left a scalpel in Kuroo's body when operating on him) but couldn't tell people what happened in fear of being criticsized by the public.

I rate it 8 out of 10. It's not bad, I liked it. Some "pickier" readers might dislike it, but I don't mind it. (Some people might find Kuro'o slightly out-of-character in this fic, but I don't see it that way. He is STILL a growing teenager in this fic, so therefore he can't be as sensible and calm as he is in the manga, in which he is a grown-up.)

Warning: This fanfic includes minor self-harm and probably isn't suitable for all ages. Moderators, if you think the fic is too dark for children, feel free to delete the link I posted.

[Windswept Cloak]

Here's another fanfic I found good. It's mostly about Takashi, the half-African boy who donated young Black Jack his skin.

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7694797/1/Budding-Friendship

And here's one I disliked. Not to be rude, but in my opinion the following fanfic has no plot whatsoever, terrible grammar, poorly-done original characters, and it bored me so much I nearly fell asleep. And I think I forgot to mention that the main OC protagonist is exactly the opposite of likable.

I hope this author learns to write better stuff eventually. I started out as a very bad writer too, after all.

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10442232/1/A-Love-Made-By-Magic-Hands

[Tetsuwan Penguin]

I found this fanfic online, in which Kuro'o Hazama is a teenager.

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9918327/1/Ugly

Not the best fanfic out there I must say, but the grammar isn't that bad either. The way the Japanese people (the students, in particular) talk are a little too Americanized here, especially for an Asian person like me.

However, the writer managed to portray youngthe ro'o and Dr. Honma quite well and it's very easy to feel their feelings is this one. No poorly-developed original characters in this story, either, thank goodness, and I'm glad to see Pinoko towards the end. What's a Black Jack fic without Pinoko or Kei, after all? I also like the fact that Honma is in the story, and that Gera was mentioned - I rarely come across good fic with them in it.

This fic, in some parts, sticks strongly to Tezuka's original - it mentioned Kuroo's trip walking across Japan by himself in order to walk properly again, and that Dr. Honma "messed up" on a surgery (he accidentally left a scalpel in Kuroo's body when operating on him) but couldn't tell people what happened in fear of being criticsized by the public.

I rate it 8 out of 10. It's not bad, I liked it. Some "pickier" readers might dislike it, but I don't mind it. (Some people might find Kuro'o slightly out-of-character in this fic, but I don't see it that way. He is STILL a growing teenager in this fic, so therefore he can't be as sensible and calm as he is in the manga, in which he is a grown-up.)

Warning: This fanfic includes minor self-harm and probably isn't suitable for all ages. Moderators, if you think the fic is too dark for children, feel free to delete the link I posted.

I thought this was a great story. I never gave much thought to BJ's childhood, and where he lived after his mother died and father left him, so the idea that he grew up in the hospital never occurred to me. What a messed up childhood he must have had! My only complaint about this story would be that it was too short, it suddenly switched to the present leaving some loose ends hanging.

[Windswept Cloak]

A little bit. And while it focused on the dialogue strongly, it should have given the settings more description. But anyhow, I liked it. A lot. It gave me some good ideas too. (Don't worry, none of my fanfics will involve self-harm! :lol At least not until I'm a good enough writer.