Ray the Animation is a 2006 sci-fi and drama anime based on a manga by Yoshitomi Akhihito. It is a spin-off of the anime series Black Jack, but the story stands on its own.
The series tells the story of Ray (or Rei) Kasugano, a girl who received unnatural eyes with which she can see through objects and bodies, after her original ones were stolen by an evil organization in the organ business. She now works as a doctor, putting her special ability to use. Together with her business partner Shinoyama and the rest of the hospital staff, she tries to cure patients suffering from various bizarre illnesses whilst unraveling more about the mysterious organization that had kept her imprisoned during her childhood.
Source: MyAnimeList
Tropes:
- Aloof Dark-Haired Girl: Ray has a cool demeanor to match her long, raven hair.
- Cursed with Awesome: Played with. While not a curse, director Sawa uses his physical disability (his peg leg) as a pivoting point for his particularly powerful Hurricane Kick.
- Expendable Clone: Ray and the rest of the white room kids were made as living organ banks.
- Eye Scream: Ray's eyes are replacements for the ones that were forcibly removed from her.
- Feel No Pain: One of Ray's friends from the white room, though she's learned how to fake feeling pain (because she remembers how creeped out people got when she broke a finger and just laughed).
- Lawyer-Friendly Cameo: In the manga, Black Jack was never clearly seen and only called "B.J.". The anime was made by Tezuka's studio, and so this isn't necessary — Black Jack appears fully, is called by name, and we even see the beach house.
- "Not So Different" Remark: Happens in finale where Ray points out that Koichi is just as obsessive as the H-ring man he killed the episode before.
- Organ Theft: Ray had her eyes harvested when she was a child. Black Jack replaced them with eyes capable of X-ray vision.
- Psychic Static: Sawa can tell when people are trying to read his thoughts and focuses on playing shiratori in his head any time they try.
- The Reveal: Rei is a clone of the H-ring man's deceased mother, and Koichi is a clone of the man himself.
- Spin-Off: An interesting case. The original manga was technically a spin-off, as Black Jack showed up, but copyright law meant that he could only appear in passing, partially hidden, and not called by name. Then Tezuka's studio picked it up to make into an anime, and since they own Black Jack, they officially made it a full-on spin-off.
- X-Ray Vision: Ray's eyes can see through people. You can imagine how useful this is for a surgeon.
