Pinoko

Also known as ピノコ (Pinoko)

Status: Primary Star (★★★)

Though she appeared occasionally as a child character in earlier works, including Nextworld and Fumoon, Pinoko’s major role is as the only major supporting character of Black Jack. She first appeared in Black Jack in issue 12, “The Tetyrogenous Cystoma” (Feb 18th 1974, English vol. 1 #3, French vol. 1 #3) and recurring through the rest of the series, Pinoko refers to herself as Black Jack’s wife, but she may as easily be called his daughter, or his creation.

A Tetyrogenous Cystoma is a medical anomaly in which, when a pair of twins are in the womb, one fetus becomes trapped inside the other, and develops into a large tumor containing all the tissues necessary for a full human body, but all mixed around and not formed into a person. Black Jack was hired to remove such a cystoma from an eighteen-year-old girl, and afterwards assembled the pieces he removed into a humanoid form, creating Pinoko. Pinoko shared her twin’s experiences and so insists that she is eighteen years old, though she looks and behaves about six.

She lives with Black Jack, doing the cooking and cleaning, calls herself his wife, and is extremely jealous of any contact he has with other women. While generally serving as the series’ cute sidekick, Pinoko is the only person with which Black Jack has ever had any real long-term relationship, and is the only reliable way to reach the human side of his character.

Distinguishing Features

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Manga Appearances

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