My category: Political Medical Drama
Completed: 25 volumes, 210 chapters. Currently 149 chapters scanlated by Outerworld Scans. Lots of scanalators have worked on this series, but Outerworld Scans is doing them currently. See the other previous scanalators on Baka Updates.
Synopsis: Asada Ryuutarou is an extremely skilled surgeon who has been missing the past few years. Katou Akira tracks the elusive man down and manages to convince him to help her on her Batista ( in lay man terms, a difficult heart surgery) thesis. This is Katou's first step to gain professorship at the prestigious Meishin University Medical Centre, and eventually pave the way for Katou to rise high enough to bring about a revolution that will change Japan's twisted and corrupt medical practices. But first things first, can Asada and Katou pull together a Batista Team that can rise above all others?
Overall, 6.5/10.
Story: 6/10
The story begins with Katou getting Asada to come to Meishin MC for her Batista thesis, to forming a team and actually performing the Batista, but after that it's much about hospital politics and psychosocial issues being in the medical field. Actually it was that from the very start, with the Batista pulling the story along, and after that Katou's ambition to change the way Japan's medical system works.
The first 25 chapters or so was pretty bad to me, honestly. I was almost going to drop it. I hated the first chapter with the cheap sex/boob trick to reel in readers, and the drama of it all. I am not accustomed to such dramatic set ups from the get-go, but I suppose it is quite a norm for certain genres. The story has very clear arcs, which some may like and some not.
The problem with the story is that it seems to be just there to show the political and psychosocial issues... The story does not seem to be the main point, and instead is used as a tool to show the political and psychosocial points; which ought to be the other way around. There is also of course the medical procedures and operations, but it was only brought to the spotlight during the Batista surgeries. Perhaps many would disagree with me, but the story is indeed lacking. It's not bad, but it has no staying power; I'm not desperate to know how it all ends, and if I didn't read pretty much all of it in one shot (well the scanalated parts) I might just drop it, or forget about it. So yes, the story is okay, but imo not good enough.
I raised the score by 1 for the political maneuvers and setbacks; Nagai-sensei handles these aspects very well. It was potrayed in a realistic way, unlike how in many mangas the plan is almost always smooth sailing except for the climatic parts.
Characters: 7/10
I also raised the score by 1 because of Ijuuin's character development. I didn't expect him to be such a central character in the later chapters, since he was shown to be such an average guy who just goes with the status quo and cannot think for himself in the beginning. Actually a beef I had with TMD in the first 30 chapters were that all the characters were unlikable, perhaps with the exception of Asada and Katou.
Anyways, overall everyone had periods of character development one after the other, to grow or have different aspects to their stereotypical selves. Ijuuin changed the most by far, and the others slowly grew from being one dimensional characters to being more, and the better for it.
The only one who had NO character development at all is Asada. Which is quite strange, since he is one of the main characters. I thought he would be the main, but the focus shifts to different persons and situations, and Asada seems to be just hanging around only to swoop in and shine in critical situations. It's like Asada is Nagai-sensei's cheat code: If no one can remedy the situation, use Asada. There's no backstory to him either, except for Miki's story and the first chapter, which is disappointing. I'm sure TMD fans would like to know more about him or at least grow a bit. He hasn't faltered or shown a flaw, which is quite irritating.
Katou is quite alright, the strong female leader who has her moments of both weakness and strength. I don't have much to comment on her. The rest of the cast, the supporting characters, have their moments to shine. One thing I applaud Nagai-sensei for is his ability to juggle his cast so well, which has about 20 characters.
Art: 6.5/10
Nogizaka-sensei really really loves action lines. The excessive use of them made me knock half a point off.
The art style is more traditional than most, considering it began over a decade ago. The storytelling is impeccable, and to me extremely dramatic. In part I think it's because of all those action lines! They are everywhere! This can throw off the rhythm of the story, but it was quite alright, since the climatic parts were expressed even more dramatically.
The characters were easy to tell apart, and while I wouldn't say exactly that they look realistic, but they have caricature-ed faces, which helps to express a wide range of emotions using the face alone, but can make the characters look disturbing or unsettling at times.
I have an issue with Katou's character design though; doesn't her hairstyle seem extremely strange, considering her personality and ambition??
I noted some minor issues with anatomy, but I think it was more because of haste than anything else. The surgical procedures and organs were drawn very well, you can tell Nogizaka-sensei put a lot of effort into drawing this manga.
Enjoyment: *7/10
I gave this rating only because I read most of it in one go. If I were to read it with regular lapses in between, I might give it a 5. I think, at the heart of the issue I had with this manga was that it was written as an expression of opinion, but it had no soul of its own. The story and characters were used as a means, and not an end in itself.
I think Team Medical Dragon is okay to pass time with, but nothing to shout about... it's worth giving a try. I think that TMD is more suited to be expressed as an anime or drama (it does have a drama by the way)
Note: The author, Nagai Akira-sensei passed away in 2004. 'Akira Nagai was a successful doctor and medical journalist. He passed away from complications resulting from liver cancer on July 7, 2004' (MAL) Rest in peace, sensei.
Overall, 6.5/10.
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