Banana Fish

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]

Callenreese, Aslan Jade Main

Uchida, Yuuma Japanese

Okumura, Eiji Main

Nojima, Kenji Japanese

Wong, Shorter Supporting

Furukawa, Makoto Japanese

Lee, Yut-Lung Supporting

Fukuyama, Jun Japanese

Sing, Su Rin Supporting

Chiba, Shouya Japanese

Blanca Supporting

Morikawa, Toshiyuki Japanese

Lobo, Max Supporting

Hirata, Hiroaki Japanese

Bones Supporting

Niwa, Masato Japanese

Randy, Jessica Supporting

Fukami, Rica Japanese

Blood, Cain Supporting

Miyake, Kenta Japanese

Ootsuka, Manabu Producer

Uryuu, Kyouko Producer

Utsumi, Hiroko Director, Episode Director, Storyboard

Yamada, Haru Sound Director

Reviews

Jun 15, 2024

ALCL

Recommended

I am warning anyone who watches this that this show will stick with you for a very long time. I know, you're probably thinking "It's not real, so why would I give a damn?" I understand that thought process, but I also understand that this anime hit my very soul. There are some dark themes of course, but there is also some sad-ass gut destroying scenes. I cried an ungodly amount, and for a while I couldn't even talk about Banana Fish to my friends who have never seen it without crying. If you watch this and don't cry, or feel ... any pain, I am jealous and amazed.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Apr 3, 2024

VadoOtaku

Mixed Feelings

I feel somewhat confused with this anime, the story is very good, its darkness and heavy themes make it instantly interesting, as well as the character Ash, he is a character with a very well defined identity who never lost it, and the truth is, I feel like he's the only one in the entire anime that is like that, he's the only one I find interesting, from then on I feel very confused about the other characters.

The relationship between Ash and Eiji is good, the final dialogues are very poetic and concretely reflect the emotions they have, even introspecting them and why they feel ... what they feel, well, but Ash, as I said before, Ash He's the only character I feel is explored in the anime.

And the end, well, something crazy and unexpected, and honestly most of the plot seemed forced to me since the problems were solved very easily and another one suddenly appeared.

Of course, the animation is entertaining as well as the action scenes.

In conclusion, entertaining but I expected more, another character to remember with sadness.


Me siento algo confuso con este anime, la historia es muy buena, su oscuridad y temas pesados la convierten interesante al instante, asi también como el personaje Ash, es un personaje con una identidad muy bien definida que nunca la perdio, y la verdad, siento que es el unico en todo el anime que es asi, es el unico que encuentro interesante, de ahi en fuera me siento muybv confundido respecto a los demas personajes.

La relación entre Ash y Eiji es buena, los diálogos finales son muy poéticos y reflejan de manera concreta las emociones que tienen estos, incluso haciendo una introspección de ellos y el porque sienten lo que sienten, bueno, mas Ash, como dije anteriormente, Ash es el unico personaje que siento que se explora en el anime.

Y el finaaaal, puessssss algo loco e inesperado, y sinceramente la mayor parte de la trama me pareció forzada ya que las problemáticas se resolvían muy fácilmente y otra aparecía de repente.

Eso si, la animacion es entretenida asi como las escenas de accion.

En conclusión, entretenido pero esperaba más, otro personaje que recordar con tristeza.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Sep 17, 2023

whiteflame55

Not Recommended

When this was airing, I heard quite a bit about how this was among the better anime of that year, and that perception persisted over subsequent years. I added it to my ptw list rather recently, particularly as I’ve become more interested in crime thrillers like Akiba Maid War and Black Lagoon. Not everything has been a hit - Baccano!’s non-linear storytelling got in the way of my enjoying the narrative, and Rainbow included an unfortunate amount of gratuitous sexual abuse - but that hasn’t put me off of it yet.

This series unfortunately trends toward the Rainbow side of things. Don’t get me wrong, it’s ... not gratuitous in the same way, often shifting away from the worst of the sexual abuse happening on screen, though it does occasionally indulge in a little unfortunate fanservice. The fact that this series seems to make all its villains into sexual predators doesn’t help.

But that’s only surface level. The characters are hit and miss for me, with both of the leads being misses as one serves as a Gary Stu and the other largely as a male damsel in distress. There are more interesting side characters like Blanca and Max, but this series seems almost entirely uninterested in its women.

The themes are strong with this one, but the narrative less so. There are legitimately great explorations of the weaknesses and strengths of attachments in this dark world, but it explores that in a way that makes it difficult to appreciate. It does not help that many of the supposedly consequential choices of these characters are underwhelming, with characters regularly escaping impossible scenarios with short-term injuries and marksmanship with a gun generally being relegated solely to red shirts. Even the ending, which included something more consequential, felt wrong after a series where names characters regularly shrugged off bullet wounds.

In short, I found it pretty uneven. It had real glimmers of something special, but rarely made good on them.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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