What is Pinoko and why does she live with Black Jack?
Original manga issue #12, “The Teratogenous Cystoma” 2/18/1974 – included in Viz US edition vol. 1. Manga issue #116, “Pinoko’s Challenge,” 3/29/1976 – included in Viz US edition vol. 2. Manga issue #67, “Green Pillars” aka. “Another Pinoko,” 3/31/1975 and 4/7/1975. Manga issue #140, “The Teratogenous Cystoma part 2” 9/27/1976. Manga issue #222, “Pinoko’s Mystery,” 7/10/1978. Pinoko’s origins are not explained in any animated version, leaving many wondering why Black Jack puts up with this strange child and why she claims to be eighteen years old. Years ago, a very wealthy eighteen-year-old woman who concealed her identity came to Black Jack to have a Teratogenous Cystoma removed. A Teratogenous Cystoma (aka. Teratoma) is a condition in which one of a pair of identical twins winds up inside the other during development, and becomes a kind of large tumor, which contains all the tissues necessary for a complete body – nerves, bone, muscle – just in a jumble, not alive. The removal of a T
