The first live-action adaption of the manga Black Jack by Osamu Tezuka and based on the chapter "The First Storm of Spring". The manga artist's son Macoto Tezuka would appear in School in the Crosshairs (1981) also directed by Nobuhiko Ôbayashi and would go on to direct adaptations of his father's work.
A piano is played by a white cat, just like in the director's famous film House (1977). The broken melody it plays is faintly similar to the theme song of that movie.