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 Nerawareta gakuen (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 Hausu (1977). The broken melody it plays is faintly similar to the theme song of that movie.