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

Jul 17, 2024

UnknownIdiot3211

Recommended

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.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Jul 12, 2024

notgojou

Mixed Feelings

I thought "Banana Fish" was a surfing anime and then was shook to see it was gangs and mafia genre haha.
It was enjoyable yet shocking every episode. Absolutely shattered my heart 3 days after I realized what the ending meant.
I would not watch it again but it's nice.

In terms of art style and animation it was great. The opening and ending songs were also a vibe.
I can say it was a "unique" story when it first came out, but right now.. a lot of animes have very similar concepts

You will enjoy it if you're in the mood for a dark/sad and ... action anime all in one.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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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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	Shoujo? 0k_Cxz - Jul 20	14 replies	by LeoHM1984 »» Yesterday, 5:10 PM
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