“Whatever in connection with my professional practice or not in connection with it I may see or hear in the lives of my patients which ought not be spoken abroad. I will not divulge, reckoning that all such should be kept secret.”
Big lights, cold steel, tiles, and people in “full armor”, that’s an old description of the operating room and surgery. In modern culture, surgery has become a common method of treating diseases and promoting health. The impact of surgery can be great and permanent of it can be brief or temporary.
The main weapon of every surgeon, “the scalpel”, became the symbol of the operating room and surgery itself. Surgeons can parts of the body with their skillful hands but words sometimes fail them. Maybe because training for the “emotional aspect” of their work is not the main area of concentration (in contrast with other medical professionals that focuses more on palliative and supportive care).
The focus is on the action! And it is the very main ingredient of every operation! In fact, being in the operating room is like watching a real-life drama, No wonder some movies and even anime used it as an “ingredient” or even a story theme.
In Ray the Animation, Ray Kasugano is a surgeon with a special talent, making her a bit different from her colleagues. She has the “eye” that has the ability to see through beyond mere objects, making it possible for her to discern abnormal organs down to the minute tumor cells that disrupt physiologic function.
With her “eyes” and exceptional technique, she was able to succeed in complicated operations. But behind her success lies a terrible past which she tries to forget but unfortunately she cannot. Years had passed and she is still looking for the person responsible for the loss of her real eyes.
Tsunade of Naruto is the granddaughter of the First Hokage and is the number one doctor in the village of Konoha. She was such a successful doctor that she was elected to become the Fifth Hokage.
Aside from her amazing regenerative ability and healing powers, her skills go beyond the medical jutsu as she was the only one to make an antidote for the poison Chiyo of Sunagakure created during Second Shinobi World War.
A genius surgeon known to save lives for a price is Kuroo Hazama of the anime, Black Jack. Black Jack is known as the ‘man in a cape’, mysterious yet famous to the medical profession because of his “power” to save lives, even if it has to defy the will of God.
Although underground and not licensed to perform an operation, his extraordinary talent roots to her deceased mother giving him the drive to perform any operation. His renowned talent makes him famous even to those who are in authority.
Genjuro of Recca no Honoo, is the leader of the Uruha Maburoshi and a known psychic surgeon. He taught Kurei the “Genujutsu Wakemi” technique (the “Illusion Technique Offspring”) and assists him in their “cloning” operation.
As a psychic surgeon, he uses his ability by incorporating the “madogou” or the psychic devices to some of his specimens, making them more powerful and some even turned into monsters.
Dr. Kenzo Tenma from the anime, Monster, is yet another talented Japanese surgeon specializing in Neurosurgery who is highly commended by his colleagues in Germany. His dedication and principle bind him to his profession to treat every patient equally without politics and bias.
During a crucial moment, he chose to save the life of a young boy over a prominent political figure turning his life upside down. Murders have risen and all fingers point to his direction. Now, it is up to him to prove his innocence and to solve the mysteries that malignantly clouds the sociopath he once saved.
No matter how heartless some the doctors in anime and their operations seem to be, I end this feature with words to ponder and realization to some misconception of a doctor as a profession: “The body and soul of every human cannot be isolated from one another in any intention of treatment, for they are one and indivisible in every aspect of human life.”