Aslan Jade Callenreese, known as Ash Lynx, was a runaway picked off the streets of New York City and raised by the infamous godfather of the mafia, Dino Golzine. Now 17 years old and the boss of his own gang, Ash begins investigating the mysterious "Banana Fish"—the same two words his older brother, Griffin, has muttered since his return from the Iraq War. However, his inquiries are hindered when Dino sends his men after Ash at an underground bar he uses as a hideout.
At the bar, Skip, Ash's friend, introduces him to Shunichi Ibe and his assistant, Eiji Okumura, who are Japanese photographers reporting on American street gangs. However, their conversation is interrupted when Shorter Wong, one of Ash's allies, calls to warn him about Dino. Soon, Dino's men storm the bar, and in the ensuing chaos kidnap Skip and Eiji. Now, Ash must find a way to rescue them and continue his investigation into Banana Fish, but will his history with the mafia prevent him from succeeding?
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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Lunallae
Since its publication in a shoujo magazine in the 1980s, Banana Fish has received several labels such as boys’ love (BL), shounen-ai, and yaoi due to popular misconceptions. Not only are these terms incorrectly applied to the work, but they also do not cut at the meat of what Banana Fish is. And even its original shoujo demographic tag deeply misrepresents the content of this anime. Drugs. Rape. Pedophilia. Gangs. PTSD. Violence. Corruption. These are the terms at the core of Banana Fish. Though at the same time, the crime and gangster backdrop is not all the story is about and confining it within thoseboundaries massively undersells the broad scope of topics this anime covers. Because while Banana Fish's pragmatic and deplorable world is filled to the brim with death and sexual violence, the tale it tells of its main character, Ash Lynx, is a visceral story about life and love. And just as deliberate as its juxtaposition of death with life and lust with love, Banana Fish is a carefully woven story about dichotomies. Its two halves, like the darkness and light reflected in its two main protagonists, Ash and Eiji, permeate this character drama in numerous ways to paint a grounded tale about both the ugly and beautiful aspects that make us human.
With little exposition to back it up, Banana Fish sets up intrigue from the outset and primarily uses its early episodes to build character back stories, motivations, and tension until its first major climax. From there, the copious amount of setup spent on its foundation gets grounded and becomes meaningful. Although Banana Fish has an overarching narrative, its story can be broken down into multiple arcs. The narrative shifts seamlessly from arc to arc; however, the tone between them can vary drastically. These tone shifts combined with Banana Fish's brisk pacing, does cause sudden mood swings, that at times lead to whiplash. But overall, its purposeful tonal dissonance is used to great effect to accentuate the light and dark themes that imbue its story. Its pacing allows eventful occurrences to happen every episode but sometimes hurts the show in its calmer hours. And unfortunately, the anime rushes a few episodes in the second cour to accommodate the daunting task of adapting nineteen volumes of manga into twenty-four episodes of anime. While in its other weaker moments, Banana Fish can suffer from clumsy plot developments, become somewhat fantastical, and get repetitive with both innocuous and annoying elements, overall, the story rarely ceases to entertain and because it is comprised of many moving parts, it often takes unpredictable turns that keep its audience on their toes. Though because a large amount of finer details were cut, viewers are required to pay close attention and often read between the lines, which at times, can lead to the discovery of surprise character nuance.
While Banana Fish's story can be described as its weakest element, its characters are its strongest. Despite having a rather large cast of relevant main and supporting characters, Banana Fish adeptly characterizes the important ones in a short amount of time and consistently develops them throughout the narrative. As a result, characters as well as their interactions are both dynamic and engaging. At the center of this ever-evolving maelstrom of personalities is the two protagonists, Ash and Eiji. No other character in Banana Fish is as carefully realized or developed as Ash, who teeters between his hardened persona and vulnerable self seamlessly, but the complex, multi-faceted relationship Ash and Eiji share come close. Their relationship, while not the focus of the story, is just as important as the plot. It never becomes physical because of Ash's past, but the emotional connection between the two cannot be understated as it develops both protagonists and organically becomes the emotional foundation in which the narrative is founded upon. However, unfortunately, due to the limited episode count, several side characters are stripped of their more nuanced character traits that can be found in their manga counterparts. And even Eiji was regrettably simplified in the anime. Antagonists of varying degrees of depth and competence will come and go. All are twisted in their own way, most will be hated, and some are more than they seem. While Banana Fish is not one to have overly complex antagonists, mainly because writing sympathetic rapists and pedophiles goes against the themes of the piece, they all serve the narrative purpose that they were written for even if it is not entirely clear from the outset. However, Yut-Lung and Blanca deserve special mentions for not only being complicated and interesting, but for also highlighting Banana Fish's themes by serving as impressive foils. Each character has been made to life by talented voice actors, but most notably, Uchida Yuuma, the voice for Ash, has given a powerful performance with resounding care and heart put forth in conveying all of Ash's complexities.
Consistent with other series produced by studio MAPPA, the animation and art quality are spectacular for the first several episodes before eventually becoming a series of ups and downs. The latter half of the show and the action-oriented episodes in particular have suffered as the anime progressed. For this sole reason, it is recommended to watch the Blu-Ray release, which has already been confirmed to have touchups. Despite its dips in animation and art, Banana Fish's cinematography remains very strong throughout its entire run. Storyboarding is consistently dynamic, and when applicable, framing is done with a certain message in mind. The music composed by Shinichi Osawa, also known by his stage name, Mondo Grosso, while not necessarily memorable, is distinct, stylish, and fitting.
As an adaptation, the anime does a commendable job in keeping the manga's spirit in spite of its brutally short episode count. MAPPA makes predominantly solid decisions on the material to cut and while the anime loses some of its plot cohesiveness as a result, prioritizing the character moments was the correct call. And in general, the manga is a highly recommended alternative for those interested in the gritty details that the anime had no choice but to leave behind. However, despite the strengths of this production, not all of MAPPA's adaptational choices enhance the experience. Most notably, the decision to update the original manga's 1980s setting to modern day in the anime has been baffling. Character designs have been modernized and smartphones have been given to the majority of the cast but the world continues to exude an anachronistic 80s vibe. While this may seem to be a harmless cosmetic overhaul, contemporizing Banana Fish means covering dated topics. This becomes most apparent when the anime delves into political maneuvers that would be more plausible in the Cold War environment that the original manga was written in. And because Banana Fish is a product of its time, the anime, though not always through the fault of MAPPA as Amazon has also mistranslated generic insults into homophobic slurs, contains elements that can be considered tone-deaf in today's sociopolitical climate. If anything, this adaptation should be treated as if the setting was still in the 1980s as the moderization Banana Fish's world received are largely superficial and even leads to plot inconsistencies.
With the vast majority of anime released nowadays abiding by successful formulas and character stereotypes, Banana Fish stands out as one of the rare few that is unafraid to take risks. Its brashness in that regard will inevitably land itself many criticisms but hidden beneath its rough exterior is a gem worth digging for. It touches upon heavy subjects without sensationalizing or sugarcoating their brutality and its grounded approach makes it a unique work that is more reminiscent of old Western action films and television than that of anime. It shows us the truly wretched sides of humanity but also reminds us of the hope and love individuals all possess while expertly invoking an array of emotions. From start to finish, it is a hauntingly real depiction of the very essence of being human. And despite the flaws in its story and adaptation, it leaves much to ruminate about. It is a deceptively simple story that can become complex in the themes it explores and the topics it leaves its viewers to ponder. Even the series' namesake, derived from the short story "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" by J.D. Salinger, and references to other American literature in the form of episode titles or overt mentions offer food for thought. Banana Fish is far from perfect, but at its core, it is an unforgettable rollercoaster of relentless action and raw emotion. The manga broke genre barriers over thirty-years ago and while the anime regrettably does not retain all the qualities that made the manga as groundbreaking as it was, it does deliver its own one of a kind experience with much of the same heart. There really is no other anime like Banana Fish. And it is one no one should miss.*
*Disclaimer: but only if you can stomach the long list of heavy content this show has
Stark700
If there’s one thing that’s enticing about the Noitamina network, it’s their way of broadcasting shows to a variety of audiences. Banana Fish seems like one of those shows that isn’t aimed at a wider audience but it definitely has its own appeal. Taking place in a crime-noir setting, the series deals with teenage gangs in a corrupted city. It’s a time period of recreation and Banana Fish sets a firm example of an old school crime drama resurrected to modern life. Now I have to admit, I’m not too familiar with Akimi Yoshida’s work or her style of writing. The only other series I’ve readby her is a manga called “Yasha”. It has no relation to this series but the artwork is distinctive with her work. Not to mention, her series evokes a sense of mystery that’s present in Banana Fish. Yet, just what exactly is Banana Fish?
To be clear, the original manga was published from 1985 to 1994. This adaptation serves as a celebration of her 40th anniversary. It’s also somewhat unusual that Noitamina adapted this into 24 episodes rather than their usual 11/22 format. Regardless, Banana Fish strikes to me as a refreshing experience. First impressions are important and this show accomplishes that with the aesthetic story setting. It shows New York in a crime driven state and conflicts dealing with mature content. It's also interesting to note that the series has a more modern feel compared to the 1980s. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
A main appealing factor that drew me into the show is the character relationship and development. We meet Ash Lynx, a snarky young man who ran away from home. Despite his not-so-friendly attitude, Ash has charisma that makes him a person not to be underestimated. He also possesses a variety of skills that puts him on the wrong sides of the law. Being incredibly daring and never afraid to take risks, Ash stands by example as a daredevil. It’s almost if he anticipates his death at any moment and isn’t afraid to risk it for what he believes in. This puts him on the opposite side of Eiji Okumura, a photographer’s assistant and college student. Unlike Ash, Eiji is a kind young man but often easily manipulated or gets caught into complicated circumstances. The story goes to show his character relationship with Ash. Now I’m just going to throw it out there but there’s heavy implication of BL context between the two. While not being too explicit, it’s shown that Eiji develops a growing love towards Ash. On the other hand, Ash shows his own devotion with action that speaks louder than words. Ash’s acts of self-sacrifice becomes a central part of their relationship as he takes on many risks to save his life. The story often involves with Ash’s enemies exploiting his weakness and that would be Eiji.
Still, the million dollar question remains. What exactly is Banana Fish? To be clear, the title itself isn’t necessarily just about what Banana Fish really is. Rather, it’s a pivotal component of the plot that has Ash investigate into. In essence, Banana Fish delivers a sensation of mystery and suspense. The main premise focuses on how Ash’s fight against the mafia in this rebellious age. Crime lords like Dino Glozine is the stereotypical antagonist you’ll quickly love to hate. I don’t mean that in the sense of him being a distasteful human being. Rather, Ash has a personal agenda to settle with him considering their dark history together. The series isn’t shy to deliver mature context in the form of drug deals, criminal activities, sex slavery, or gang wars. If you’re here to stay for the show, then be ready suck it up and indulge on these controversial topics. In the meantime, we also meet allies that Ash meets in his quest of vengeance. Characters such as Ibe, Max, Griffin, Alexis, and Jessica join to fight the good fight. In many cases, their roles all are important for the overall mission. On the other hand, their most prominent adversary is Corsican Mafia consisting of Dino and his crew. Deep down, this anime crafts these antagonists with intentions to destroy Ash’s life. It becomes a crime thriller that often tests the limits of the main characters and how much longer they can last. Later in the show, we also meet other dangerous groups such as the Chinese mafia. Among their members includes the cunning Yut-Lung Lee who wants Ash’s head on a plate.
At its core, Banana Fish shows that in their society, crime is more than just a social problem. In our society, criminal activities are not tolerated and punishable. In the world of Banana Fish, characters believe they are above the law. Some even believe they are the law. Let’s take a closer look at Ash for instance. Having being raised by Dino, it’s clear that he has a dark past that’s explored more and more as each episode progresses. While I don’t consider Ash to be a villain, there’s no doubt that he has committed questionable acts. As this show takes place during a period of gang warfare, Ash stands out as more of an antihero to me than a protagonist. And of course, the man who raised him wants nothing more than to destroy Ash. I think in many cases, Dino wants to destroy Ash’s soul rather than just his life. It’s a fate perhaps worse than death and just one of the few examples of how cruel characters can really be. Indeed, Banana Fish contains mature content that isn’t suited for a younger audience. Going back to what I said before, Noitamina’s audience expands beyond than just a general audience and Banana Fish is an example of that.
Adapting a manga from over two decades ago isn’t an easy task. Manga being resurrected again after all this year tends to lose steam but I can say with supreme confidence that Banana Fish hits the marks. It manages to recreate a sensation of the 1980s while the anime takes place in a more modern setting. Rather than going with any flashy style of presentation, it commits to bring the manga’s characters up to date. Characters such as Ash and Eiji are designed to look exactly how their personalities are meant to be. Gang wars and violence are showcased without holding back with the intense bloodshed. There’s also some daring scenes of man service present that may be nerve wrecking or pleasing to watch. As I mentioned before, there are cases of gay moments although it’s not distracting to the point of losing its main focus. Watch this series and you’ll see that it’s more than just a homosexual relationship between two men. In addition, I have to give some well-earned praise to the voice acting in the show. These characters are older than your typical high school students and crime lords like Dino isn’t easy to portray. Yet, they all looked pretty damn believable in such a time period.
Banana Fish is a show with a peculiar title that could probably be quoted often. It’s Akimi Yoshida’s most well-known work and MAPPA manages to produce such a series with commitment. Director Hiroko Utsumi worked on Free! in the past so it’s no surprise that you’ll see some man service along the way. But really, Banana Fish isn’t just about a gay romance story between two guys. It celebrates the chance to showcase a crime story in a setting of corruption, revenge, and politics. Now it’s your chance to experience that story.
Krunchyman
[Spoiler Warning] Summer is the time of year for promiscuous young-adults to experiment with their sexual desires, in a hassle free relationship that requires no commitments from either party. But why limit one’s exposure to the opposite sex, when there are plenty of “gay-fish” — I mean, banana fish — for the taking. Why else would a Shoujo anime feature two young queens in New York? For a “crime” investigation? Now that’s rich. Speaking of wealth, the main character in the show, Ash Lynx, was groomed to inherit a vast amount of opulence and power through the successive process of becoming Dino’s heir.Be that as it may, the early steps of “graduating” to his “destined” role were mired with egregious abuses of standing law and personal freedom. Not one to remain docile and allow circumstances to be determined by the judgement of others, Ash seized the initiative in an attempt to ameliorate the atrocities of his past. This manifested into a plot to assassinate Dino via — and I kid you not! — standing on top of a moving truck in a public arena, while shooting a pistol.
O—KAY, then….
Not one to put all his pumpkins in one basket, Ash used his adroit computer skills to plunder $90 million from Golzine and severely handicap his financial clout as a Mafia Don. This blow to the ruthless Kingpin allowed Ash to claim an important victory and set the stage for the ensuing battle to come. That being said, however, Ash’s ability to steal Golzine’s money and manipulate his company’s stock price seemed too straightforward. If Ash had that sort of capability, why not use that skill to make himself fabulously wealthy (say, like, a billionaire) and use his newfound fortune to assemble a crime syndicate that would dwarf that of Golzine’s? Furthermore, why did Ash risk his life with ridiculous, poor planned stunts when his intellectual prowess could easily circumvent Golzine’s physical brutality?
To underscore this point, allow me to present the following:
1) Ash has an IQ of 180; placing him in an echelon of exceptionally gifted individuals (rarified air, if you will).
2) Ash understands military-level tactics at a proficient level, commanding his gang to coordinate attacks against their various foes.
3) His various senses are finely tuned and his anticipation of danger is second to none (well, maybe Batman has him beat).
Yet, instead of making use of these various skills to sidestep hazardous situations, Ash willingly embraced instability via having a knife fight in a subway station against his gang rival, Arthur. In the midst of their battle, predictably, Ash get’s ambushed by Arthur’s gang — proving how poorly planned Ash’s plans truly were — and is forced go John Wick on their candy asses (highly unrealistic, by the way), before his final Mortal Combat-esque showdown.
Look. Ash has far too many advanced abilities for his own good and they become contradictory at times. Most protagonists who are portrayed as elite fighters have a weakness in the planning/thinking department and vice versa; however, Ash literally can/will do anything. Even the greatest QB of all time, Tom Brady, can’t run faster than a six year-old girl to save his life (butt-hurt Patriot fans incoming). Counterbalancing greatness with a deficiency elsewhere is a great way to explore a character’s resolve, through their willingness, or unwillingness to ameliorate their weaknesses. Match Ash’s flawlessness with his attractive appearance, and you have a character that is simply too good to be true.
Eiji be like, “he’s a sweet candy bar in the bedroom, especially when he wears his nurse outfit.”
“Yes. I can confirm this.” — Golzine
“Me too.” — Shorter
“Hershey chocolate is so delicious, sweet caaaaaaannnndddy bar.” — Arthur, Max, Su Rin, Yut-Lung and about half of New York City (everyone except for the LAY-DEES!)
This brings up another concern with the story, that being that everyone and their father are homosexual, or have homosexual tendencies. I have no qualms about an individual’s personal choice, but is it conceivable to think that every man Ash runs “into” has the hots for him? Seems rather absurd, when only ~4.5% of the population identify as being gay.
Due to the plethora of melancholic moments throughout the series, it was quite evident that the conclusion of said events would not be a happy one. Deducing the exact ending was nigh impossible (unless you read the manga), but anyone who presumed that Ash and Eiji would both survive their ordeal was ignoring the foreboding atmosphere established in the prior episodes. This insight on “where” events would lead, sort of ruined a level of anticipation for the viewer, but not enough so to be a significant hindrance.
The review thus far has been scathing, but there are redeeming qualities that make Banana Fish worth watching. While the characters within the show are not layered or terribly complex, they do come off as being “real,” particularly with the omission of classic anime tropes. Their actions mirror that of “normal” people, making the flagrant abuses seen or talked about feel extremely impactful. It’s hard not to become attached to Ash’s cause of exacting revenge on Golzine, especially considering that his brother became entangled in the B1 (i.e. Banana Fish drug) “experiment.” Banana Fish, to its credit, pulls at the viewer’s heart strings — perhaps, too frequently — to establish an atmosphere not unlike our world. It damn near forces the audience to empathize with the plight of Ash Lynx and cheer him on as he dismantles the mob empire that robbed him of his innocence. Is it rudimentary in its approach? Yes, as indicated in the earlier parts of this review; nevertheless, Banana Fish provides exhilarating action sequences (even if they don’t make sense within the context of Ash’s projected character), moments of shock and awe, and some rather interesting character interactions.
With that said, Golzine’s character felt pedestrian, exhibiting features that were not distinct enough to differentiate him from your standard mob boss. The biggest takeaway anyone could discern from his screen time, is that he is a closet homosexual and he is infatuated with making Ash his sex slave. In essence, he merely serves as a mark for Ash to conquer in his quest to liberate himself from the crime syndicate. Marlon Brando’s, Vito Corleone, is an excellent example of how one could/should construct a terrifying human being who instructs his “business associates” to leave a horse head in a director’s bead, but also lives by a set of principles and accumulates wealth for the sake of his family. People, even the so called “evil” ones, will always have redeeming qualities that contrast the malicious activities they deem necessary to accomplish their goals. Rarely does anyone consider their own actions to be immoral, giving a writing staff an opportunity to flesh out these “justifications” and determine why these particular people think in ways that abnegate the norms of a typical society. Deep, complex characters with diametric views always make for interesting conversations, forcing the audience to introspect and reconsider their own viewpoints about topics that have no clear answer. Banana Fish, unfortunately, fails to entertain these narrative motifs.
TL;DR
Much like its namesake, Banana Fish is a mixture of good and bad. How so?…
Bananas are high in potassium and other useful nutrients; Bananas contain high amounts of carbohydrates.
Fish are high in omega-3 fatty acids, which lessens one’s risk of experiencing a heart attack or stroke; Fish can have high amounts of mercury, leading to brain defects.
Banana Fish is an exhilarating ride with a large cast of diverse characters; Banana Fish presents an unrealistic protagonist who takes unnecessary risks to take down an underdeveloped antagonist in Golzine.
5/10….meh, make it 6/10 (tis the season, after all)
mpdissonance
It is well known, even mentioned in the first two episodes, that Banana Fish borrows its odd name from a classic short story written by JD Salinger called “A Perfect Day for Banana Fish.” What is somewhat less noted, however, is how perfectly this reference captures the theme and style of the manga and anime series. Salinger’s story tells of the suicide of Seymour Glass, a World War II vet. The most famous passage of the story features a young man telling a young girl of the “very tragic life” of the Bananafish species who enter a “banana hole” as “very-ordinary looking fish” and gorgethemselves on bananas until they are unable to escape and die.” In many ways, the life of these fictional fish mirrors the life of the main protagonist in the anime, Ash Lynx. One critic of Salinger (Janet Malcolm of the New Yorker) has noted that Salinger depicts life “as a battleground between the normal and abnormal, the ordinary and the extraordinary, the talentless and the gifted, the well and the sick.” This, too, is a very apt description of the picture we get of the dark world in the anime.
Banana Fish tells the story of Ash, a brilliant 17-year-old boy. Ash was raped at a young age, ran away from home and taken in by the mafia as a sex slave, worked is way up in the organization after winning the favor of the mafia boss (and main antagonist, Dino Goldzine), and is currently a gang leader in New York. As might be expected of anyone with such a tragic background, Ash is extremely mentally unhealthy, verging into becoming a full-fledged sociopath just like his abusers. Into his life comes Eiji, a rather normal yet caring Japanese photographer traveling with a journalist documenting gang life in America. Here we immediately see the contrast between normal and abnormal, well and sick, and talentless and gifted, and how this contrast might hopefully be resolved in Ash and Eiji’s relationship. Yet Banana Fish is also about a riveting mystery around what “banana fish”—not the fictional species of Salinger—is, its connections to a massive plot involving the military, and the development character of a large cast of interesting, well-developed gangsters who act as fantastic foils to Ash (particularly a Chinese mob master named Yut-Lung).
The basic concept of the plot is intriguing, engrossing, and thematically dense. It plays in morally gray areas beyond good and evil, capturing some rather Nietzschean themes about the healthiness or unhealthiness of basic morality. Do “normal” moral constraints merely domesticate prodigious nobles like Ash or helps humanize such people and making them truly happy? Ultimately, Banana Fish takes the side of the latter. It further explores extremely dark psychological dimensions of post-traumatic stress disorder, graphic depictions of sexual assault and violence, manipulation, and psychological torture. Be warned, this is not a series for the faint of heart. Yet it consistently gives room for characters to realistically react to these events, and console each other through the darkest of moments (this becomes the cornerstone of Ash and Eiji’s relationship).
Is the execution of this concept, adapted from Akimi Yoshoda’s classic, critically acclaimed 1985-94 manga series, any good though? I have not read the manga so cannot comment on its status as an adaptation. However, I can say that it largely stands up on its own merits. Some have raised concerns about MAPPA’s decision to put the series in modern era rather than its original setting in the late-80s. I agree it probably would have been stronger in its original time. There are moments where some events strain credulity in a modern setting. The whole notion of a gang scene this active and violent in New York makes sense in the 80s in a way it no longer does, some of the projects the military engaged in so central to the plot were more fitting in the Cold War than the modern context, the lack of professional female characters in even in the background (eg., doctors, police, etc.) is somewhat odd in 2018, and a lot of the political commentary is more suited to 1980s America than modern day. Overall, there is very little distinctive about the story that demands a modern setting. However, these are rather minor gripes and if we can suspend our disbelief for so many plot-hole ridden absurd fantastical shounen anime, a little anachronism and is completely forgivable.
Another somewhat valid complaint is the unbelievably high concentration of homosexual/bisexual male characters, or at least those who are willing to engage in sexual acts with other men. Sometimes, it is unclear whether the characters want to have sex for erotic reasons or are simply using sexual abuse with other males as a method of control and power (as is usually the case with sexual abuse), and this particularly is the case with Goldzine and Foxx. In these cases, it is forgivable, and clearly having Ash and Eiji show such tendencies was rather necessary. Yet there are moments where I cannot help but agree with this criticism, such as a rather unnecessary scene where Ash successfully (and comically) seduces a random security guard so he can steal his gun and escape. But again, for the era when the manga was written an overrepresentation of homosexual content was hardly a pressing problem. Further, the fact that a prominent anime is finally exploring homosexual themes while not engaging in a rape fetish like most garbage-tier yaoi, but instead critically presents sexual abuse as traumatic is to be celebrated.
As for the main plot, Banana Fish ambitiously packs a huge amount of content into its 24-episode run, launching right into the action in the very first episode. At moments it feels slightly rushed (especially the last two episodes). Further, there are scenes, background stories, and subplots I wish the series could have had time to explore in far more dept hand detail—such as Ash’s childhood, Ling’s backstory, or the culture shock Eiji must have had on a road trip across America. It also is somewhat wanting of a better explanation of what Eiji is even doing here.
Despite this, it largely is remarkably well-paced for such a short though ambitious project. After some of the most disturbing, action-packed, and climatic scenes, it will go into almost slice-of-life style episodes where little happens that allow for character development on a level rarely attained in such action-heavy crime dramas. So much of this series suggestively shows the development of relationships and dynamic character changes(especially the budding romance between Ash and Eiji) in a subdued manner rather than telling you what’s happening very bluntly and directly. These episodes are a welcome break and its development of the main characters in these episodes and scene are where it truly shines.
This is not to say, though, the main action-packed scenes are not good. They are fantastically directed, some of the best-looking fight scenes that could be hoped for. Some may find the events somewhat cyclical and repetitive, jumping from one kidnapping and escape sequence to another. For one, this is somewhat of a simplification of the events, and more importantly, each climatic sequence is sufficiently different to retain interest. If we can make it through most repetitive, drawn-out, and trope-dependent shounen fight scene arcs, this is amazing by comparison.
There are some relatively minor flaws in its writing. Most notably, a few backstories of key characters introduced later in the series are explained in a somewhat rushed manner. I would have preferred this series be about ten or so episodes longer to more thoroughly develop these characters. However, it certainly got the job done adequately. Another problem is the dialogue is sometimes clunky and awkward. At times, this is due to obvious translation errors in the subtitles (the translation of “fag” in the first episode is obviously inaccurate and off-putting even as someone who does not speak Japanese, and “I will kill whomever hurt you” is not a grammatical sentence). Other times, it is clearly the fault of the writers and just corny—such as the end of a key scene where an antagonist maniacally laughs in a cartoonish manner in episode ten. There are also moments where ill-fated attempts at humor are awkwardly thrown into otherwise serious and dark scenes. Yet, overall, the writing is heartfelt and believable, and these minor slip ups can be forgiven.
In terms of animation and directing, it is rare to see such a feast for the eyes outside of carefully crafted films by an elite few directors. There are scenes that took my breath away with how well they were executed in terms of cinematography. Zooming in on details in the background that were previously only subtly gestured towards for profound emotional effect, interesting perspectives taken in unpredictable though fitting ways, and extremely disturbing and violent scenes where little gore is shown but audio cues and off-focus camera angles let the imagination run wild all contribute to a powerful, raw, and artistic visual experience. There was fantastic attention to detail down to the labels of whiskey bottles.
The largest success in terms of animation are the character designs and especially the movement and expressions of some of the main characters. Just watch the second intro (featuring “Freedom” by Blue Encount) on YouTube, which starts with a captivating image of Ash’s pupil’s dilating, to see just how successful this series is in this respect. This is not to say the animation is perfect, there were a few incongruous moments of mediocre CGI implementation in the first two episodes (see, for an example, the Statue of Liberty shot in episode 1). However, even these were barely noticeable, and the animation improved noticeably as the series went along.
The soundtrack is as versatile as it is suitable. It mostly accompanies in a subdued manner and even remained silent in all the right places. It mixes dissonant piano melodies, jazzy hip-hop beats, and dark choral pieces into a rich audio tapestry. I did not notice it while watching it on a weekly basis, yet when I binged through the whole series in one sitting the day of the premiere of the finale it became clear that soundtrack is good. Further, the vocal performances by most of the voice actors, particularly Yuuma Uchida's portrayal of Ash, are pretty stellar. Even the choices for intro and outro songs, often integrated into key scenes, are amazing and completely fitting in both tone and lyrics.
I do not believe that I have ever personally held a series in such an overwhelmingly positive regard that seems to be largely receiving, at best, mixed or tepid reviews (at least relative to my estimation). Perhaps it’s because I approached it with such low expectations. I was expecting another mediocre shoujo/shounen-ai with half-baked crime elements but was stunned by the dark and rich world into which it immersed me. I watched each episode as it came out and was shocked by how much I liked it, then I decided to binge the whole thing in one sitting to see if really lived up to the hype I was giving it and decided it did. This truly is a series that defies any genre or box you could try to put it into. I've seen it categorized as everything from Seinen, to crime drama, to adventure, to Shounen-ai, to Shoujo. Perhaps its all of these, but really feels quite beyond all of them.
Maybe I’m just overreacting to its personally relevant and impactful twist ending (which, without spoiling anything, was one of the biggest and most surprising emotional gut-punches I’ve ever experienced). Maybe I’m just overly excited I finally found an anime with a fantastically developed homoromantic relationship. Maybe I just read too much philosophical content into it. Regardless, I can’t help but completely love this series and give it only the second perfect 10 I have ever given, despite its admitted flaws. Perhaps I will downgrade my estimation of it after some reflection. For now, though, sits second on my favorite list only behind Brotherhood.
Story: 10/10
Art: 9/10
Sound: 9/10
Character: 10/10
Enjoyability: 10/10
Overall: 10/10
ktulu007
Banana Fish is a 2018 anime based off of a manga that ran from the mid 80s to mid 90s. The original manga was written by Yoshida Akimi. Who I am not even slightly familiar with. The anime version was handled by MAPPA. The same studio behind rubbish like Kakegurui and Sakamichi no Apollon. But they also worked on Dororo. So, we have to give them some credit. Story: Ash Lynx is a New York boss in charge of a small street gang. His life changes when he finds a dying man who gives him a small item, a location and the words "banana fish." He soon findshimself on a quest to unravel the mystery of those words and the contents of the mysterious powder all while befriending the innocent Japanese youth Okumura Eiji and trying to sever his ties from the area's largest mafioso, Golzine Dino.
There are quite a few narrative issues with this series. The first is that it quickly falls into a somewhat absurd pattern where Ash will be captured by Golzine or his men, he'll escape causing a tonne of damage and then Golzine will order him to be brought back alive. Because when you've captured the same kid four bloody times only to have him escape, you definitely want him brought in alive again. At least, if you have no pattern recognition.
There are also problems with consistency. Golzine starts out saying he doesn't care if Ash is crippled. He just wants to break and then kill him. This quickly shifts to Golzine wanting to force Ash to be his successor. Because he can't change his mind about bringing him in alive, but he can easily change his mind about the fundamental reason to do so. There's also a point where Ash is considered dead and brags about how this frees him up to move around without anyone looking for him. About three episodes later, he has to disguise himself to visit a particular person because he's a wanted man. We don't see any signs that word's gotten out that reports of his demise were greatly exaggerated but he's suddenly a wanted man again. I see the writing in this is going the Final Fantasy VIII route of not even trying.
Then there's the sexual assault stuff. This series features a lot of rape. Particularly within character back stories. And a lot of it isn't handled in any meaningful way. It's just basically used as an excuse for why characters like Ash & Lee Yut-Lung got to be the way they are, for cheap tragedy, and as an easy way for Ash to get some dirt against Golzine. It just comes across as in slightly poor taste and excessive. I also find it hard to believe that Americans would victim blame a literal child by acting like he seduced an adult. I know the culture around sexual assault is pretty bad there and grown women get victim blamed a lot, but that seems ridiculous. I don't know, American readers can tell me if children actually get victim blamed after being raped over there.
The big, climactic action sequence at the end is also a bit of a let down. It all feels rushed. The whole plot with the banana fish also gets pretty much dropped and all the build up surrounding it is completely wasted. It also feels a bit deus ex machina that a certain character who gets shot twice and left for dead returns to save the protagonists twice.
The story does start out with a lot of potential. The idea of the boss of a street gang fighting to take down the big mafia leader who mentored him is compelling. The first few times Ash gets captured or arrested have some interesting, tense moments. It just stops working when the third time hits because, at that point, it's an obvious story pattern.
A lot of the build up surrounding banana fish is also really interesting. You want to see what's going to come from it. Until you get to the end and it's all a big fat waste of your time.
Characters:
There are certainly issues with the characters. The big antagonist is a moron who never learns from his mistakes. Colonel Fox makes no sense as a character. Maybe it's because he's only in the last four episodes or so, but he's a mercenary who loves to kill. But he wants to set Ash up as a puppet leader because... Code of Hero is the best Transformers episode.
There are some pretty strong dynamics with Ash and his gang. Well, with Ash, Shorter & Eiji. Pretty much every other character in his gang is bland. Which is a definite ongoing issue in the series. There are a few focus characters who are kind of interesting and developed but for each of them there are three side characters who might as well be unseasoned bricks of tofu. And one antagonist with rubbish or inconsistent motivations.
Art:
This is actually one area where I have to give MAPPA a lot of credit. This anime looks great. The action sequences are dynamic. The characters have strong designs. The backgrounds and various objects are nicely detailed. And the series restrains itself and doesn't show the various sexual assaults in any kind of detail.
Sounds:
The acting is solid. Nojima Kenji, Uchida Yuuma, Morikawa Toshiyuki & Furukawa Makoto are all strong in their roles. And the rest of the cast is, at the very least, completely competent. The music is decent enough. I'm not really a fan of the theme tunes, personally but they're fine.
Ho-yay:
There's a lot. Ash's back story involves him being raped by a whole slew of dudes. And there are a lot more who come across as sexually attracted to him. His dynamic with Eiji is also pretty homo-erotic.
Areas of Improvement:
Keep it consistent. Yes, motivations and situations can change. But you need to illustrate that instead of having situation or motivation A and then swapping to B with no explanation.
If you're going to include sexual assault as a significant element in a story, you really need to handle it well. In this case, the history of sexual assault is largely there for the sake of having a tragic back story. And it's barely handled beyond being there, much less handled well.
Don't drop your important plots. Like I said, the whole Banana Fish thing comes up a lot and goes nowhere by the end.
Final Thoughts:
Banana Fish had a strong start and real potential. Unfortunately, the repetition of Ash gets captured plots, poorly handled sexual assault, main antagonist's stupidity, consistency issues and other problems quickly evaporate the good will it starts with. By the end, we're left with a sub-par work. I'm giving it a 4/10. And that's mainly because of the strong start and those well executed dynamics.
TakaCode
The summer 18 anime season was very problematic. It was the season that was dominated by anime that contained 12/13 episodes and many of the anime unfortunately fell flat in the face either because there were either bad throwaway shows or they ended up getting crippled by the 12th/13th episode count where some of the show they had enough content of to make a 24/26 episode but set studio poor decisions making these show only ended up having the episode count that they ultimately got. This doesn't say that the summer 18 anime was a complete failure as it did give a couple of great showsthat I liked such as Chio's School Road, Revenue Starlight, Planet With and High Score Girl.
After looking at the countless 12/13 episode animes that summer 18 season had to offer in the charts I saw two anime that had 24 episodes and these anime were Banana Fish and Mr Tonegawa: Middle Management Blues aka the Kaiji spinoff. I observed skipped the Kaiji spinoff from the time of this review because I have only seen a first 4 episodes of Kaiji and I wanted to watch the whole series first before going into this. So that leaves me with Banana Fish done by Studio Mappa.
Despite me having a negative opinion of Mappa thanks to them making a bunch of shows (Not counting Yuri on Ice) that barely don't much substance to them aka Rage Of Bahamut Virgin Soul and Days I decided to give Banana Fish a shot just to see if they learned from the past mistakes that caused me to dislike them as a studio. Well after watching all 24 episodes of Banana Fish I can say yes Mappa has kinda learned a lesson from the past mistakes but at the same time I feel Mappa at times is still playing that style over substance card.
The story follows Ash Lynch a 17-year-old man has been adopted off the streets by the head of the New York mob papa Dino as a sex toy. However, after he comes across a man left for dead in an alley, he has added a necklace with a bullet attached to it which contains a secret white powder.
Ash now has the ability to fight back against pana Dino and to possibly free himself from his grasps and this is all because what is in that bullet. While this was happening a journalist named Shunichi who come to document the gangs in New York City. He brings a cameraman assistant named Eiji to help him take pictures however he ends up getting caught in the confit between Dino and Ash and from there Ash journey towards freedom begins.
I have mixed feelings for the story of Banana Fish as it has a lot of good things in it but at the same, it has quite a lot of meh things in it which I will talk about in the bit but first let's talk about the good things in Banana Fish's story.
On the surface, Banana Fish has a unique setting that is very different compared to most anime these days. Instead of being set in Japan Banana Fish is set in New York Urban style. Despite the show having a different overall setting, the series goes a solid job at establishing the New York setting as it fullest where see people doing gang/mafia activity left and right and we also see the people who are not part of the plot live they daily lives in peace. This aspect one of the stronger things in Banana Fish because it really makes the world feel alive as the viewers know that New York has a dark side where it's filled with gangs, mafia and druggies who do these dark acts that would have been illegal.
The one thing that I really liked of Banana Fish was how it was able to show the ugly side of humanity as it does showcased a lot of acts that only the worst of people would commit such as rape, human drug experiments, gang warfare, etc. On top of the shows, nice portrayal of showing the worst of humanity comes with the shows excellent theme exploration as the show explores themes of freedom, regret, betrayal and the show does a great job at respecting its core themes and topic s
If there was one thing that Banana Fish nails at its the emotional moments. This easily the most emotionally engaging anime from 2018 period because not only they are beautifully well executed but we see the characters break down into their worst state. The best example of this happens in the second half episode (Spoiler Ahead) After Eiji gets shot and sent to the hospital room we see Ash mentally broken.
Some other great emotional moments when a character named Shorter gets drugged while Eiji couldn't do anything about it. What really made that scene even more sadder is that both Ash and Eiji cannot cure and as a result Ash had no choice to shot him to simply end Shorter pain and as a result of Ash mentally breaks down due to the fact that he couldn't save his one of his close friend from being drugged by the Banana Fish by Abraham.
Unfortunately, Banana Fish has problems. Lots of problems and many of these problems ended hurting the anime.
For starters Banana Fish at various times feels like a style over substance flick as the show seems to highlight it's visuals over storytelling at times. To Banana Fish credits it's not as bad as something like Days or Virgin Soul but still, consider it a problem that ruins the overall writing quality in the show at times.
Another problem with I had with Banana Fish that is pretty repetitive.
It was fine seeing Ash and Eiji getting kidnapped/arrested the first couple of times but after a while, it really got trying seeing one of these two characters getting kidnapped/arrested than later on getting rescued by set person. I understand that this kidnapped is meant to be part of the show theme of freedom but could they least not make happened every 2 to 4 episodes of Banana Fish.
The biggest problem with Banana Fish is without the question is the pacing. While the first four episode of Banana Fish pacing wise was good and engaging but after that pacing moves a blazing speed where it was actually hard to tell what is going on in the narrative. I understand that the show trying to adapt a 19 volume manga into a 24 episode series but I feels the episode count for this series actually does more damage to the show then it helps especially when the show starts rushing/cutting out content in the second half of the series.
At the time of this review I have not read the manga as I decided to approach it as a anime only but I can easily tell that the show, especially in the second half, is rushed as hell. If this show had 39 episodes like Jojo Part 4 and 5 then this show would have been a better experience but as it stands the pacing in Banana Fish is a mess.
Overall, I found the story of Banana Fish to be above average. It did a quite a lot of good things in it but at the same time, Banana Fish has a lot of problems story-wise that prevent it from being a well-told story. I understand this show is mainly a character driven rather than a story driven but if your pacing is inconsistent like this then it's honestly hard for me to care about some characters which I will talk about now.
While the story ended up being above average overall the characters least the main 2 protagonists completely make it where I can somewhat forgive the pacing issues of Banana Fish.
First up we have Ash Lynx who is a former. Not gonna lie he is easily the best thing about Banana Fish. He is a very well written character who simply wants to be free from Dino's antics. His journey was very satisfying as we see him not only to find freedom by stopping Dino's plans but he also wants to protect Eiji from any harm caused by Dino and the villains. During his childhood years in Cape Cod, he was raped by his Little League coach, and the cops did do anything at all until Ash himself had to kill him with the gun.
He was eventually sent away from his father to live with his aunt however he soon gets captured by Golzine's man as soon got send to Club Cod as a child sex object. Why am I telling you all this you may ask? That's because Ash is literally a broken person who just wanted to live a normal life and every time Ash breaks down we can see his pain and suffering he has endured throughout his life and because of these reasons, Ash is great character and he's easily one of the best characters of 2018.
While Eiji may not as memorable as Ash he still a pretty solid character. He's a polar opposite to Ash where he gets sucked into a mafia world being completely naive and clueless about the situations that Ash managed to drag himself into. Despite his naive attitude at first, he is willing to help Ash accomplished his goal of freedom from Dino and the rival gang.
The rest of the characters, on the other hand, were underdeveloped, and that's the sad part because the other characters in Banana Fish could have been great but the rapid pacing leaves them totally underdeveloped where you ultimately don't care for them. The best example of this was with Skip and Shorter. Outside of the introduction episodes, I couldn't care about them all that much because they didn't enough arrive screen time thanks to the rapid pacing. Shorter's death as much I enjoyed Ash perspective of that scene I couldn't care on Shorter perspective as the show failed to give him a decent spotlight.
As for the villains, I thought they were one dimensional and lacked any real depth whatsoever especially Dino who is a just a typical villain who likes experiment people with drugs. Even though the villains in Banana Fish lack any depth to speak off I feel like the show does a beautiful job at making the viewer loathe them so there that.
The visuals in Banana Fish is for the most part pretty good.
MAPPA did a good job with the character designs, background scenery for the setting of Banana Fish. The cinematography and use of urban colour palettes were very polished as it the show did a fantastic to bring key scenes from the 80s manga to live in anime in such brilliant ways.
The animation is filled, consistent and nicely animated. Yes, it had a couple of shotty visuals cut moments episodes 13 in a nutshell but least it's not as bad as something like Goblin Slayer and Tokyo Ghoul re:
I may be the notoriety here, but I found the soundtrack of Banana Fish to be underwhelming. It's just a selection of generic mafia/gang that you all heard before in any action thriller anime.
The opening and ending themes on the other hand are awsome. Not only they songs perfectly captured action emotional thriller of Banana Fish but they so catch and memorable.
The voice acting in Banana Fish was outstanding. As a person who usually a dub only watcher, I was blown away of amazing and well acted the Seiyuu were. My favourite performance was hands down Yuuma Uchida. He did a wonderful portraying a broken lovable character Ash and it really makes the anime as the character struggles feel alive.
Unfortunately, Banana Fish from the time of this review hasn't got an English Dub and as a dub fan, this hurts because this show would be perfect for a semi-cast Funimation dub thanks to its American setting, themes and tone that is way different from the typical anime that is set in Japan. I hope this show gets a dub one day done by Bangzoom Entertainment and if it does get a dub I hope Johnny Yosh Bosch would voice Ash.
Despite it's issues I had a good time with Banana Fish. It's a fun, emotional and engaging thrill ride that does a lot of things right. Yes the pacing and at time the writing could have been a lot better but the outstanding thematic exploration, well written main characters, the brilliant production values and astounding emotional impact make up the anime shortcomings.
The show may not a masterpiece but its one hell of a good anime that I respect.
GalaxyShot
I will not forgive anyone who gives this anything less than a 10. Best anime I have ever seen, and I have watched a lot of anime. Many themes of the different worlds presented by a Japanese traveler experiencing America. A story on friendship, loss, acceptance, and most of all struggle. Great story line, character development, twists, all around amazing. I don't want to say anything else as this series has an amazing ending I will not be forgetting soon and I do not want to spoil it under any means. I will definitely be reading the manga to enjoy this anime completely, and I have never read manga beforein my life.
If you have any respect as a weeb or as simply an anime watcher, please watch this anime and give it the respect that it deserves.
scy318
(vague-minor spoilers) From what I’ve gathered, Banana Fish has something of a sacred reputation within the BL anime community. I guess there’s just something about overly melodramatic (implied) BL that’s so intoxicating to some people. Banana Fish follows gang leader “Ash Lynx” as he investigates his brother’s death, which is inexplicably linked to an enigmatic “Banana Fish”. The first quarter of the anime introduces this concept and reveals that Banana Fish is actually an extremely dangerous drug. Right from the first episode, you’re dumped into grimy, dirty 1980s New York, and heaps of intrigue and mystery are unloaded everywhere for you to digest. It wasthis gritty, atmospheric tension that got me hooked on this anime instantly.
Then, Ash meets this Japanese guy who’s with the police and they become friends. The two of them get entangled in a gang war and the rest of the show is Ash and friends on the run like fugitives.
After what seems like the 10th episode, the whole Banana Fish substance plot that is supposed to be the foundation of this anime is just gone. Vanished, just like Ash’s brother. All the effort that went into producing an interesting concept and executing it fairly well went down the drain just like that.
And for what? So the remaining ten episodes can consist of fake kidnappings and assassinations happening every five minutes? But actually, there is a goal with the cliched action sequences where Ash flies in, guns blazing, going 30-to-1 with his awesome superhuman reflexes.
The rival gang leaders are hellbent on denying Ash his happy BL ending, so they pursue his friend to the ends of the Earth, prompting Ash to drop everything to save him. Banana Fish spams this one signature move to shamelessly skyrocket Ash’s gap moe to insufferable levels. It’s ridiculous, but apparently people can't get enough of it.
Sexual harassment and rape is a reoccurring thing in Banana Fish, and they handle it like a wet brick to the face. Banana Fish takes the approach where every single character is gay and thirsting for little old Ash. Bro can’t even get a break, like let the man kiss his boyfriend, people??
Banana Fish will beat into you with the delicacy of a meat pulverizer, how gorgeous, powerful, and lonely Ash is. Villains whose sole defining characteristic is their lust for Ash will throw themselves at him just to get a taste of this twink.
I hate to say it like this, but there is no other way to put it: Banana Fish is romanticizing trauma. Ash is beaten down, humiliated, and glorified in an obscene way meant to make you gasp, but secretly think “I can fix him”.
And then the boyfriend shows up (whose name I can’t be bothered to remember), and is just a stereotypical nice guy. Perfect for Ash, right? Nothing like a cinnamon roll to heal a childhood’s worth of sexual trauma.
We know a grand total of 3 things about the friend: he’s 19, he used to be a pole jumper, and that he has a sister. That should also tell you how capable he is. Like guys, what is this obsession we have with hot men rescuing completely useless love interests??
Ash is like the smurf jungler with god-tier reflexes boosting and babysitting his gold laner. The gold laner (the friend) is always getting ganked by the enemy mid trio, so Ash has to save his oblivious ass with bullshit abilities.
Ash is not only a prodigy with 180 iq, but can hack through world class bank encryption, shoot from the top of a moving truck, prepare a 10 page toxicology report, come up with military-level strategic maneuvers mid-fight, and about a dozen other things. At first he was introduced as just a guy with street smarts, but then somehow morphed into this tall, angsty, tortured genius.
The only other characters of note are this Chinese mafia guy, and Papa Dino, Ash’s abusive father figure. The Chinese mafia guy is also another genius strategist involved in the war to get back Ash. Except he has a more personal issue against the boyfriend. Bro is mad he can’t pull, so he has a crash out and whines about his trauma every time he's on screen. Out of all the characters, he had some potential, but his character arc was so convoluted, I could barely figure out why he even existed. A counterpart to Ash, but manless perhaps?
Papa Dino is the pervert who raped Ash as a child, and has no other skills or motivation other than having Ash to himself. Banana Fish makes a laughable attempt to redeem him. Like, you cannot convince me that this man has any shred of true fatherly love for Ash.
Fans will say the ending is horrible and cry about it, but it’s like your aunt chiding you. It’s bad but it pushes the moe even higher, so the fans eat it up. Never mind that the ending contradicts everything we’ve ever known about Ash. It’s okay that the ending managed to undo ALL of the plot progression, leaving this half assed resolution that's supposed to be tragic. It’s like loading to 99.8% and then crashing. If you were like me, the only reaction you had with the ending was a scoff. When it happened, I was literally like, “um… okay…?” I didn’t throw my phone away out of rage and despair like some fans would have you believe they did.
Banana Fish is like a lot of anime I’ve seen these days. Good concept, but ended up losing it one way or another. In this case, it was the gooners (why else would there be Ash tied-up and partially stripped in gratuitous detail every time a villain caught him?). The shoujo girlies love their tragic BL… and I’m sure they weren’t disappointed with Banana Fish. If you’re coming here looking for a mature romance with an intriguing setting and compelling mystery, go no further.
That said, Prayer X is an absolute banger ending theme.
Final Rating: 4
InsideLulu
Banana Fish is a master tale of tragedy, and what you're willing to do to complete your goals. There are minor spoilers about the themes of the story, but that is it. Before watching this show, I had wanted to watch it for a long time due to the rumored "BL elements" of it. If anyone checks my page, you'll see that I love BL, and if the comments about the show had been positive due to that, I think I would have watched it sooner. One of the biggest things I hear whenever I try to recommend or talk about Banana Fish is that"Oh it's some gay crime anime" and with those comments, it's put a lot of people off from watching it. I believe that CDawgVA did a similar video talking about just that, and that the pre-conceived notion that the plot is only that deters a lot of people from actually enjoying it.
Though the intrigue of watching something BL pushed me to finally watch it- but goddamn, I was not expecting what I watched. Watching it with someone else, there were multiple times that we had to stop watching it out of pure shock and disgust; it was the type of show that really shook you to your core, because the world of Banana Fish is unforgiving, hateful, and not for everyone. Even if it made me turn away and take breaks from it multiple times, it kept me coming back to find out if Ash and Eiji could get the ending that they wanted and deserved.
It's the type of show you may only want to watch once due to how traumatic it can be from the start to finish, but it is beautifully created in a way that makes you root for everyone and their struggles. The BL aspects that may deter people should be labelled as more of a genuine connection between two lost souls in their journey for happiness. To me, Banana Fish is one of the purest expressions of love that I've seen in an anime.
AmericaWasntLost
I haven’t cried actual tears over fictional characters in a while but damn. I’m a mess. I was a little hesitant to start Banana Fish, mostly because I couldn’t quite figure out wtf it was about. My gods, do not let anything weird, the age of the source, or anything deter you from watching/ reading this beautiful beast. My friend got me hooked on the anime, and I plowed through the manga once episode 19 of the anime got released because I’m impatient and can’t wait. I’m so glad I did, I have even more appreciation for all the work that went into the anime. Butbe warned, it is in a tragedy category for a reason. So many tears.
this is kinda long and spoilery ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eiji Okumura is an innocent cinnamon roll fresh from Japan. After an injury ruined his pole vaulting career, he finds himself lost and unsure of what to do with his life. Ibe takes him under his wing and enlists him as his assistant in America where he is reporting on street gangs.
Ash Lynx is on the polar opposite of the innocence spectrum. The 17-year-old is the leader of a thriving gang in Manhattan and has been through hell and back. After his brother left for the army, Ash ran away and was kidnapped by Dino Golzine, the head of a child prostitution ring. Under Golzine’s “care” Ash was trained to be his personal pet, where he learned how to please customers, behave as a member of high society, as well as fight and wield firearms.
Ash instantly takes a liking to Eiji during an interview with Ibe. Their bond deepens when they are captured by a rival gang and Eiji sacrifices himself in order to save the others. They end up working together to uncover the mystery of Banana Fish, a new synthetic drug, while dealing with the struggles of rival gangs and Golzine.
The differences from anime to manga were minimal, mostly slight appearance changes. Ash is a little more soft and fluffy in the anime, and Shorter never shaves his mohawk. There’s a lot of backstory missing or displaced, which I’m assuming was just due to time constraints that always exist with anime. They tried so so hard to make scene match the art in the manga, I appreciate that aspect so much. They were very detailed in sticking to the source materials. Even with them modernizing it a little, the biggest change is that they all have cell phones and it doesn’t really make a difference to the story.
This is really the best addition to the shounen-ai genre. Ash and Eiji just love each other for a multitude of reasons, and it’s nothing sexual. They just compliment each other, and fit together like puzzle pieces, like the Jian bird from Chinese mythology that has one wing and one eye and must fly in pairs to make a whole. There’s nothing creepy or forced about Ash and Eiji, they just care about each other and want to see each other happy. It’s just so wholesome.
I love all of the characters. The side ones are fleshed out, they have a story that matters as well. You really get to know each and every one of them (at least in the manga, the anime has some time constraints :c but it still counts ok.)
And oh the end… the end fits so perfectly. It makes me horribly sad and I really wish Ash could have found long term happiness. He was granted little blips once Eiji came into his life… but we never got to see him completely happy and at ease. His whole life was pain, and I just so wanted to see him happy and safe and in Japan with Eiji forever. He’s so loveable and just a damaged baby and I want the world for him. But his death makes sense in this setting. It’s realistic and really just completes the series in a way. I was definitely more emotional about the manga but I always am with reading. The animation would beautiful and they kept it true to the manga and oof my lil heart hurts all over again.
wmaridghs
There are always some tv series, movies, cartoon, anime that people can say that they are not your typical stuff. That these are truly exceptional from what we have been getting in the past. That this is something unique and nothing else is like it. Banana Fish easily falls into that category of anime that anyone can say that there is nothing like it. Like Berserk, Samurai Champloo, Cowboy Bebop, this series has its own style and uniqueness that no other anime has. The story is beautifully developed with a great theme. The background tracks are distinctively attractive which makes you get involved with the anime.
AnimeHaven_MZ
Banana Fish is that kind of shows that start off great but gradually die, as if the author came up with a creative idea but didn't know what to do with it and therefore had to wrap everything up in a very uninspiring way. So, why 4 out of 10? Well, aside from having disgusting abnormal sexual gross, the plot was rather very weak, and let me explain why very quickly: • The story had good catchy premise at first but as it progresses it goes downhill; maybe because it skipped so many elements while trying too hard to have a nice dramatic conclusion, so it never spenttime to explore any of the main supporting characters like Shorter, Arthur and many others who ended up being a side character. And later on, the whole story became uninteresting with redundant cliches about friendship sacrifices and stuff like that.
• The last 10 episodes were too repetitive and predictable: Just a loop of Eiji or Ash being kidnapped then they escape and fight a new ally on the side of the main villain.
• The environment and settings of the anime try to be realistic and close to real world, and that's actually my favorite genre and type of anime, but unfortunately though, it fails miserably at it, due to poor execution and too unreal little things, like having gangs that are friendly, trustworthy and aren't after money; and having 10 dudes with machine guns who cannot shoot down a single man with a knife -_- and superficial things of this nature that made the action scenes lame and less entertaining.
• The focus on the banana fish drug was almost completely forgotten in the second half and the whole plot faded away with the repetitive kidnapping and escaping loop.
All in all, the show could have been much better if it focused more on how the protagonist would expose the banana fish project rather than turning the show into a dramatic/action cliche. That's in a nutshell why I had to rate it with less than 5 (I really wanted to give more at first, but those problems aren't negligible to me).
ThatAnimeSnobRE
Banana fish is a show that I would normally like, since it’s an action adventure / mystery detective type of deal, set in the 1980s. As someone who grew up with buddy cop movies and is a fan of 90s action flicks, this should be right up my alley. But it wasn’t because it was gay. And it’s not just me who disliked it because of homophobia; most actual gays dislike Banana Fish as well. For a group that keeps demanding more representation in media, saying they hate a show that is filled with homosexuals can only mean something went terribly wrong. In fact theonly people who liked it are the fujoshis, and only because they are messed up women who love anything that has abusive relationships and they think rape is very hot.
Let me explain what is going on. Unlike something like Yuri on Ice, a show that was praised during its airing for its gay inclusiveness (and was otherwise completely passable), Banana Fish is insulting. Its depiction of homosexuals is that of 80s stereotyping. Although it makes sense, since the manga was made at that time and follows the clichés of the era, gays in the show are presented as man-whores, unlike Yuri on Ice where they are average people who are into dick and nobody around them minds it. Basically, the latter depicts homosexuals as something dirty and sexy, while the former as something normal and positive. The gay audience who demands inclusiveness is not willing to use that crap as part of what they are going for.
The show kinda tries to excuse this by having Ash being forced into male prostitution by getting dragged into a child sex slavery ring. There, see, it’s not his fault he and many others are man-whores. Well, that’t the thing, every bad guy in the show is inexplicably into dick. Where are the straight people? Or women? Or those who are into any other deviance? It’s ridiculously one-sided, as if 90% of mankind is into young boys and spends most of its day in talking about all the creepy things they will do to them.
The whole thing quickly becomes gay bondage porn for fujoshis. Throughout the series you get the exact same scene. Homos get imprisoned by cops or get captured by thugs. And they always manage to escape by seducing the guards, who always happen to be gay. It gets very predictable very fast and it’s only pointing out how much of an 80s stereotype they all are.
It seems like I am focusing too much on the gay part, but honestly it’s what sticks out the most. It’s not an 80s action-heavy flick about druglords. I would love it if it was. It’s a character-driven drama about criminal organizations at war, and even that gets constantly overshadowed by the exact same gay bondage scene. The whole mystery about the mind-controlling drug is also bullshit since it strips people of free will. Plus, the pacing is extremely slow and you will often forget what the characters are supposed to be struggling for.
Add to all that the average production values. The animation is dry and fairly unimpressive compared to what they were making in OVAs at the time the manga was made. It doesn’t even have the groove of the 80s, since the animators decided to make it seem like the story takes place in recent times. And that causes the gay stereotyping to come off as even more awkward and dated. So basically, to hell with Banana Fish. It’s gay.
iva
This review is sort of going to be me fangirling over one of my favourite ships of all time. Read on if you're okay with a fujoshi's crazy rambling. Banana Fish. I do not know what to say about this beautiful anime. I started watching this series with no idea what it was actually about at first. The only thing I can say is.. do NOT judge this show based on the title. The title may make it seem like a fun anime but lets be real here...it isn't. The best way to put it is that this anime murdered my soul. Let's break it downshall we...
1) STORY 9/10
Banana Fish has a pretty original plot which it follows in a beautiful way as it shows the relationship between Ash Lynx, a teenage gang leader in New York and Eiji Okumura, a Japanese photographer's assistant. The show's well made action scenes are indeed worth the praise.
The real BEST part about the story of this anime is how intricately woven the development of the relationship between the main characters is. I went CRAZY shipping Ash and Eiji together! It broke my soul to see what happened at the end of the anime.
2)CHARACTERS 10/10
Both the main characters are almost total opposites of each other but still have a really amazing relationship. They manage to fill in the faults in the other and compliment each other beautifully.
Looking at the characters individually, Ash is a really fun character through most of the series and has a lot of humourous moments of his own. We also explore his dark past which shows us why he doesn't trust people easily. After meeting Eiji, he finally finds someone who truly cares for him and is slowly able to start letting go of his past. Ash would go to any length to protect Eiji. I remember this one scene in the anime so very clearly. When Eiji's life is under threat, Ash meets up with Yut Lung who tells him to shoot himself if he wants to protect Eiji. Ash takes the gun and pulls the trigger without any hesitation at all. The gun did not have any bullets but just watching Ash ready to sacrifice his life to save Eiji shows how much their relatationship and Ash himself had developed through the episodes.
Eiji was a shown as an innocent assistant who accidentally got involved in the gang wars in New York. He is innocent but also very brave. He is also shown to be inquisitive about things unknown to him. After meeting Ash, Eiji finds himself wanting to stand beside Ash.
3)ENDING 10/10
Depressing perfection. This ending will leave a scar on your heart. Be prepared for atleast a few days of depression.
Even if you do not like mafia anime, Banana Fish is definitely an exception which is completely worth watching even just for the relationship between Ash and Eiji.
ASH X EIJI FOREVER!!!!!
0vergrwn
I’m writing this review from the perspective of a gay man; to any fellow men loving men interested in this show, may I offer this warning. This shows story, art, and characters are all incredibly compelling and enjoyable, however, for me personally, this was all soured by the way gay men are shown in this anime. It’s not a BL that caters to young female fans by any means, I personally found it more difficult to watch than that genre. [spoilers for Ash and Eiji’s relationship follow] The *ONLY* men referred to as gay (or even the f-slur in the translation) are rapists, pedophiles, andpredators. Having these villains be gay-coded in itself is fine but because Ash and Eiji end up as nothing more than “very best friends” (or even as lovers they don't get a happy ending), the show is only showing gay men as predators, with no positive representation to balance it out and show that the villains actions are a result of their poor character not a result of their attraction to boys. Adding insult to injury, the audience is shown multiple healthy and happy male/female couples.
This is not meant to argue that you should not watch the show because of its overuse of the gay-pedophile trope, just a warning that it very heavily and repeatedly uses the gay-pedophile trope, and has no canon positive gay representation to balance it out. If this is something you can overlook, I sincerely hope you are able to enjoy this show more than i was able to.
zensh
This will be my first review for an anime on MAL... I had to write because I couldn't find any review similar to mine My review will be short. Beware of spoilers. So, Watching banana fish makes me feel like watching any Indian Tamil Movies in which the Hero is too much overpowered and invincible, the same is with Ash in banana fish, he's just a human.. But he has an IQ of over 200, he has a bulletproof body, and also, dodges bullets like matrix, woah those who find it believable are the same to criticize Indian movies, how hypocritical. So, this MC Ash can do wonders, still hestruggles and fights, and he finds Eiji and they seek to uncover the truth behind the term "Banana fish"
The plot is very weak to begin with, and there was no real suspense because in the end our overpowered hero can take down a whole institution and rescue anyone who he needs to.
And this Invincible MC dies by a small stab from a little knife in the ending.. Argh.. What a waste
In this anime they made it sound like having sex with a male is too normal, they were actually treating and looking at the guys like they were girls, like almost everyone in this anime was gay it's too unreal, it had me cringe soo much. 🤦♂️
I found myself soo bored watching this plotless anime I slept in between with my headphones on, only to wake up from the loud noises of the gunshots.
I'm glad I completed 24 episodes, because review without completing a whole article doesnt sound credible. So I'm glad I can proudly say this was way too overrated and boring Anime, one of the worst I found uptill now.
When it comes to Art I'd say Ash designs was very nice, although he looked older for his age but very unique and good, nowhere does the MC like a 17 year old teen guy, he easily looks 27-28 grown adult.. And others designs were just decent..
And another thing is I always hate Mappa's designs you can see they make character's nose wierd from the side view, same is with S4 attack on Titan and also they make Jaws very big of characters(sideview)
Background and lighting were good considering this is a modern anime but Art being good doesn't alone bring any positives if it is not carried with a good or decent plot.
Many people recommend this anime as if it is some really good anime with a unique story, I was really hyped only to find a very plain boring plotless anime.
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I had to do this because no one else did. If you've not watched this Anime yet then you better not
Craneface
SPOILER---- I have never felt so anxious waiting for an episode, ever. After episode 22, I knew it was all about to end and it was getting more and more sad by the minute. Watching a character evolving the way Eiji and Ash did, and watching their relationship grow in a world with such savage environments, I grew to love those two, so much. Every moment they had together made me feel all warm and fuzzy. I admit, I didn't watch the anime from the first episode, but from after episode 7 had just been aired. I saw a thumbnail on youtube with the scene ofAsh kissing Eiji, that made me want to try watching the anime in the first place.
I was very very sceptical thinking "Man I don't like the art, it's so different from the anime art I know" but I quickly learned to accept that, and in time, I started to love the art.
It was realistic in the way that the characters eyes were more or less, a normal size, which I don't see often in anime these days.
Getting to know each character and their names wasn't as confusing as I thought it would be, Ash and Eiji were unique names that I never knew of, back then. The way I was able to recognise Ash's name was each time a character in the anime said his name. "Asshu" which each time reminded me of "achoo" as in a sneeze. That fact, made me say "bless you" out loud, each time someone said Ash's name.
After Ash's fight with Arthur, he was brought to the hospital. After that episode I was just so curious about what would happen next, and so, I read the manga. And I'm stating that I'm not a good reader but it seems like a manga with pictures and short texts, made things easier for me. I was getting more and more into the manga so I continued. Suddenly, I was watching Eiji and Ibe leaving N.Y again, and Ash was reading the letter from Eiji. When I saw that Ash let his guard down I was thinking "Ah he's been stabbed dozens of times, he'll get it fixed" But did he though? Did he actually get it fixed? Why didn't he?
From that moment I prayed that the anime wouldn't turn out like the manga did because that would be even more painful, watching the character I love, sitting there with blood and tears all over the letter.
As the anime continued, I was quickly learning that "Oh wow.. They're going for the manga.." due to how precise and familiar each scene was. But that didn't stop me from looking forward to each episode, I couldn't wait, each day was so long but the episode, so short. It felt like I was getting so obsessed with the anime that nothing else really mattered but getting through the week to watch the next episode. That was nothing new for me, getting obsessed with something and wanting to praise it like I would God until it's over.
Although, after episode 22, I didn't look forward to the next episodes no more, I knew what was coming. I knew I was gonna bawl, I knew I'd need buckets for my tears. I've fallen completely in love with Ash and his beautiful person. And fallen even more in love with his relationship with Eiji, each bromance moment got me all excited and it was such a nice feeling.
That relationship is the most beautiful thing I've seen, ever. I didn't know that an anime could be this touching to someone like me. And especially when I think about how sceptical I was when watching the first episodes of the anime.
Ash fascinated me on so many points. A beautiful young man with the mind of a supercomputer, fangs and claws as sharp as a knife, and at first, a cold blooded killer who showed no emotion nor remorse.
Eiji, the other main character, just about a young year older than Ash, is a peaceful and observant person, whose aura could affect even the most cold blooded killer. That peaceful and carefree, cheerful and always smiling person, affected Ash in so many ways. That's so beautiful. I can't describe it any better than 'beautiful'.
At first, I really disliked the villains, especially Yut, for kidnapping Eiji like he did, and forcing Shorter to do the work of betraying Ash. But the worst thing was when he ordered some of Sing's gang members to attack Ash and Eiji when they were alone together. Yut knew that Ash wasn't on guard when he was with Eiji and therefore stated that it was the perfect chance to attack. I started asking myself "Is Yut really a villain?" His reason for going after Eiji was because Ash found love, despite having such a brutal upgrowing like Yut himself did. Although, Yut remained alone. Blanca stated that he had to learn how to love others, in order to be loved. I believe that's true. At first I even thought of Blanca as a villain but that quickly changed, due to his soft spot when it comes to Ash.
Without a second thought, Eiji took the bullet instead of Ash. Literally. As Eiji was just laying there, bleeding heavily, his only thoughts were "Is Ash okay?"
To think that those two would, without a second thought, give away their everything for each other in a heartbeat. What could possibly make a relationship more pure and beautiful than this?
Ash deep down knew how it was gonna turn out in the end, but needed someone by his side as "mental backup" as I call it, in order to keep on moving forward.
For the first time, Ash felt warmth. He had the feeling of being loved. The feeling of not being indebted. It never stroke Eiji that he would need Ash to do something in return if Eiji did Ash a favour.
This anime made me realise that the story isn't far from the world we live in. The world is savage, brutal but beautiful. Watching the anime as it was being aired has been one of my happiest moments. Watching a relationship like Ash and Eiji's, really just impressed me in every single way, and I don't get easily impressed. I have watched a LOT of anime over the years and I knew as this anime was airing, it was taking the place on my top 3 favourite anime list.
I don't think I'll ever be able to cope with how things turned out in the last episode, never have I ever felt such an ache in the chest from an anime. No, not just an anime, overall, series, movies. In the manga, Ash died. But did he really die in the anime? I don't know anymore. I was sure that he did but after being told that this might not have been the case, I feel a bit better. I needed to get all this out, while typing this, I was bawling. I can't get over this heartbreaking story.
Some people say that Ash gave up because he finally found love. But I'm just thinking.. Isn't that one more reason to live? Living for the one he loves?
Eiji's impact on Ash impressed me by a ton. It's so amazing, watching these two guys changing with each episode.
I'm glad the side novels didn't take part in these 24 episodes, as they state that Ash is dead. So I still feel like there's hope somewhere.
Anyway I just needed to get this out.
Watching this anime was one of the most amazing journeys I've ever been on. Thank you for creating such a painful, yet beautiful masterpiece.
UnknownIdiot3211
I am incredibly angry at the ending. I love everything about this show, I am just annoyed at the ending. Which shows you how invested I actually got into the show. It's about this japanese 19 year old who went to NY, USA to shoot photos of crime in NY. Well, he ends up getting mixed up with this American gang leader and that whole thing. Its action oriented with small touches of romance and a lot of drama as well. Oh, and a ton of past trauma. I recommend people watch it so they can share the same frustration that I have now. Anyways,watch the show. It's great.
Neolavender123
It was July this year when I kept seeing people fangirl over the first few episodes of Banana Fish in my Twitter TL. I've heard of its manga 11 years ago when it was mentioned in this one book that I read (I forget the title) as one of the best mangas of all time. But I ignored it because it simply didn't pique my interest at that time. I was going to pass the show up too like I did the manga, but a screenshot of Ash’s and Eiji’s ‘scene’ in the prison successfully served as bait for my rotten fujoshi mind and mademe make a self-reminder to watch the show sometime later. I did so 3 months later with an expectation for a show that’s full of fujo-bait, stereotypical fangirl-material characters, and shallow plot.
But never have I felt so happy for being so wrong.
[Story: 9]
What I like the most about Banana Fish's story is that it's consistent from the very start to its final moment. It always feels like everything is at stake. Viewers were kept on the edge of the seat every time, so we can feel a palpable tension of wanting to know what’s going to happen next because nothing is certain. In such a way, this is a show that's very proper to be binged because the plot is moving very seamlessly from one episode to the next. Every Easter eggs come back around the way (in my opinion) FMAB does.
You may partially argue that some of the crimes or plots were orchestrated far too dramatically, but in actuality... they don't. Banana Fish's world is as fucked up as the world we're living right now. Illegal human trials for medical and military purposes, money-laundering, VIP child sex ring (check out Jonathan King and stan Twitter's latest outburst: #SimonCowellOverParty), street and gang fights over territories/hierarchy/revenge, etc. All of that and how they cleverly use the setting (my favorite is the inter-state travels and the show’s explicit use of NY city design) actually make the show feels very real and believable.
Most of the key information used was pretty spot on too. I’m a pharmacy student & /almost/ everything about the drug discovery process in the show are pretty accurate (well, except the VERY hard-to-believe pharmacological action of the drug itself. Like, sure it can let you hallucinate, but I don't think one will become a puppet that can be controlled via exclusive command).
Aside from that one topic, there are actually two more (spoilery) pet peeves that made me take a point off of the story:
1. It seems that the story goes on for at least 3 months. So I don’t get how Eiji & Ibe can stay that long without renewing their visa. Did they apply for a journalist/media visa for that long? And if Eiji got arrested during that time, won’t that make his return to Japan difficult even after someone bailed him out? This protocol issue might be a minor ordeal but it's something that always creeps up in the back of my mind when I'm watching the show.
2. It’s VERY weird how Ash can always bait people with the promise of sex. Like, I know his character design is supposed to make that possible for him but I don't think a professional doctor or security (whose job is to goddamn secure their captives) fall for that OBVIOUS trap.
[Characters: 10]
Banana Fish is a show that despite features a rather diverse (all age, all race, all facial/body features, all kinds of personalities) and large cast, didn't fail to make each of the characters stands out in their own way. They were all complex, felt real, and human-like. Everybody (no matter how big/small their part is) had their own agenda that happens to overlap with each others’ and affects the course of the story in the long-run.
I wanted to diss the two main antagonists (Dino and Foxx) as stereotypical evil characters, but when I thought of it again, even they who served as nothing but the ultimate evil scheme executioners, seemed real because hedonistic, power-hungry bastards like them exist in real life too. And it’s no surprise that people like these often take the reign in politics and business.
Our main duo, Ash and Eiji, were not a problem for me too. Ash was very complex and fleshed out. He seemed slightly overpowered at times, but it’s clear that he’s not flawless. Eiji, on the other hand, almost made me took off a point for ‘characters’ for being too simple and vessel-like. I almost criticized him for being a mere ‘friend of Ash’ instead of a character of his own. However, I tried to recall earlier episodes and remembered that what geared him in the first place was actually not solely for Ash’s sake. Eiji is a Japanese young-adult who have always been sheltered in the comfort of his small hometown. So when he was injured, robbed of a chance to delve into a sport that he’s interested in, and was introduced for the first time to this exciting and dangerous world he had never experienced before, his actions became /his/. And when he grew closer to Ash, /that/ is when I can accept that he did things for Ash’s sake too.
As for their relationship, I wouldn’t deny the presence of homosexual undertones between the two. But it’s pretty hard to convince yourself so because there were plenty of homophobic undertones woven in the show as well (most of them were related to how the characters portray being gay = disgusting). So, really, just interpret Ash & Eiji’s relationship just like how you treat Yuri & Victor’s: whichever suits your narrative and with a grain of salt. All I know is that I share Ash’s feelings of comfort & relief whenever I see the two just laying low in each other’s company and being safe in general (yea, I’m talking about those domestic scenes). They were probably the only times during the whole course of the story where I felt that temporary ‘everything is gonna be alright’ moment and wasn’t in the edge of my seat.
[Animation & Art: 9]
I personally think that the studio did a lot of great stylistic decisions for a 1985 manga adaptation. Instead of blatantly copy-pasteing the art style just for the sake of preservation (I’m winking at you, Sailor Moon Crystal), they only adapted the major lineart of the characters and ‘modernizing’ it from there. As a result, you get a modern quality show off a 1985 work that’s still able to retain the retro feel thanks to the character designs, fashion styles, and the way the setting was drawn.
More specifically about character designs, they’re +++++. Everyone’s distinct without trying to make them caricature-like. Even minor characters have special features that differentiate each other and it’s apparent that the staffs put extra attention to every characters’ details.
Overall, no critique for the art/animation in general. But since nothing is really ‘ground-breaking’, I won’t give it a 10.
[Sound: 9]
This is the second time ever (MDZS was the first) that I noticed the uniqueness of SFXs & OSTs in an anime (granted, I need to watch even more anime first but this is still an anomaly). The OSTs were very thematic. Some action/dodgy parts sounded cool & retro and some more emotional parts were backed with a classical piece that wasn’t overly dramatic. They were also carefully and cleverly placed. I noticed during some emotional scenes, the OST was purposefully removed and they actually made the scene more powerful because they felt real instead of romanticized.
Another event of careful placement was during the scene where Eiji teaches ‘sayonara’ to Ash. The ending song slowly bled through the scene and the lyrics were heard clearly: ‘Would I still have the chance for us to say goodbye?’ and I think the timing was just pure brilliance. The overall lyrics in all the OP & ED actually suit Ash’s feelings and emotions so well. I don’t know if they were written like that on purpose or not, but I really appreciate it.
[Overall Enjoyment: 9]
I initially watched Banana Fish for its fanservice, but I stayed for everything else because simply reducing this show to a material to fangirl to is a huge disservice. Even if I meant to treat it like such, I wouldn’t be able to do it because the plot and characters would just suck me in and made me forgot to fangirl anyway.
Without spoiling anything, I think the ending (I’m talking about the general ending here, not focusing on what happened with one/two characters only) didn’t come off pretentiously edgy; or at least it didn’t feel like it. Even if it does though, the ending was written & directed very beautifully to the point that we felt as if everything happened very naturally. It didn’t run away from what the whole show was built upon, but it also encompasses the little positive things that gear all the characters forward throughout the show: love and freedom.
I finished the whole thing feeling overwhelmed and full (and yeah I did shed some tears).
[Average Score]
46/5 = 9.2
Rounded to 9
