| It kind of pisses me off that people keep referring to Banana Fish as a yaoi, or at least that it has a yaoi undertone. Now i'm not saying that yaoi is a bad genre, actually i'm a huge fan, but in this particular case I don't think "yaoi" is a suitable label for this amazing story. I suppose logically, or realistically, I can see why people would say the relationship between Ash and Eiji was a beautiful homosexual relationship, but in my idealistic little head, i'd like to think that it's possible to have such a beautiful connection with someone and still just be friends with them. I believe that it's possible to have such a deep connection and still be friends. I guess...all i'm trying to say is that i'm irritated by the fact that people don't seem to consider the possibility of have a non-romantic connection with someone, that very well may be as deep as the one with your soul mate, but still doesn't necessarily indicate romantic relations. :( |
JasonbearApr 24, 2010 12:49 AM
"I've read so much manga that at times my mind works in comic panels and dramatically expressed chibis. I'm both ashamed and amused by this." |
| Man, someone at JustManga gave it a low score for not being yaoi enough. What a prick, if you go into this wanting Ash and Eiji to make out every 5 seconds and you ignore the well crafted story and subtle relationships, you don't deserve to read good manga! And no, they don't make out any more in the artbook either :P Yeah, I certainly agree, yaoi is by no means an appropriate genre title for this work. Y'know when Sing tells Akira "They loved each other very much. But that's not to say their relationship was sexual, because it wasn't"? I like how he described Ash and Eiji's relationship, it was real, it was beautiful, no, they didn't have sex and they won't, so if you can't accept that, then shoo! Ironically enough, I've seen some super conservative people say it's too yaoi for that kiss in volume 3. So, wtf? It's infuriating super yaoi fans by not being yaoi and it's offending anti-gay marriage rights for being too yaoi? Can't win sometimes. |
| Yaoi means there's sex going on and they didn't read it if they're saying that with Ash and Eiji. The manga itself is pretty innocent. The artbook turns it up a notch. There's some suggestive poses in there that I wouldn't do with a friend that I felt absolutely no physical attraction to while supposedly sharing some deeper emotional connection. Basically, there's a tiny bit of fanservice. Still, not yaoi.. it is maddening. |
| It's romantic friendship or maybe platonic love. Y'know, intimacy that was much more prominent before modern culture... anyway, I know the BL genre. I know undertone. That's not the case here. Sure it's more intimate than even brother-like relationships you see in male sports series sometimes, but it's because Ash and Eiji have an emotional and spiritual bond. They've been through a lot supporting each other. There is absolutely nothing sexual about it. |
MirorinJun 11, 2015 9:19 PM
| I don't know why there can't be a homosexual relationship in a non-yaoi manga without it having to be labeled as such. Relationships also don't need to be physical to be romantic either. I feel like Ash and Eiji didn't necessarily have time to be like your average couple among all the hectic stuff that was happening around them too. I think its also possible Ash wouldn't want a sexual relationship initially considering sex to him was usually something that was negative. He could have not wanted something like that with Eiji. Obviously I like to think that they had a relationship that would've turned into something more though. Especially since Eiji never seemed to move past it for the rest of his life. Of course them not having a romantic relationship is completely valid. I guess I'm just a fujoshit at the end of the day. But I definitely didn't have a problem with the lack of "BL" since this manga was not going for that in the first place. Its one of the hardest hitting manga I've ever read and I always highly recommend it. |
| So it's shounen ai Ok ... i'll avoid the coming adaptation |
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Man i mean, the hints are like everywhere so you know. |
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Swagernator said: Man i mean, the hints are like everywhere so you know. Yeah it was obvious I don't understand why there is no shounen ai tag to that kind of series (I'm looking at you yuri on ice) |
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shoujo1196 said: As a fujishi, I think that Banana Fish could be a yaoi/ shounen ai manga. It has the same development than a yaoi manga. The couple has a lot of problems to be together because one of them (Ash) doesn't feel good enough to be with his love interest or he wants to give him (Eiji) the chance to have a normal life, even though, the other part (Eiji) will fight to be together with him. On the other hand, they can't be together because people: circumstances keep separating them, so they fight to see each other again. banana fish was never meant to be a shounen ai and definitely not a yaoi. it is implied that ash and eiji have feelings for each other, but its not the main focus of the anime and so it’s not labeled as a shounen ai. Also, to imply that banana fish is a yaoi is pretty disrespectful considering yaoi is sexual and ash has gone through years of sexual abuse. and jsyk, being a fujoshi is not a good thing. |
| It's definitely gay but not yaoi |
| Golly oh gosh... guess I should add my two cents to keep the thread going, since ppl still decide to 'contribute' every half decade or so! What a mess, what a mess... Though I guess it's interesting enough that the originating post is nearing 15yo now. It's a teenager, it just started high school! Though I'm not even sure how much social attitudes have changed, if at all. We've got most folks here implying that both yaoi and fujoshi are negative descriptors and dirty words, and I guess the more exasperated I feel trying to sell my friends on BF having opened with the announcement that boys kiss in it, the more I understand. Couldn't be me, though. Maybe I'm too old, but homosexual (in actuality & more or less explicitly coded) relationships never read any different to me than every straight romance subplot in otherwise themed fiction ever. You know, the way FMA is not a romance animanga despite a boy & a girl making tsundere moon eyes at each other by the end of it. What most ppl wanna know when they ask if X is yaoi? is whether it contains those icky boy feels! Gotta credit Sailor Moon and Xena: Warrior Princess for being there in my formative years and saving me from displaying thinly veiled homophobia later in life. It's only ever female authors that face this sort of scrutiny too and honestly it's plenty transparent what's going on here :) Even still, I give every latest navel-gazing shounen the fairest of chances to woo me, despite men mangakas proving to be shit writers incapable of carrying a story to a satisfying conclusion over & over again :o) Giving stories a fair shake & not automatically discrediting/dropping them because most representatives of the genre have burnt you more times than you could count. A wild concept, I know! facepalm P.S. The reason most ppl like to think there would be a fully romantic/sexual connection between Ash & Eiji (if given enough time to grow) is because there is nothing subversive about male friendships. And honestly, the same applies to the concept of platonic soulmates. Mmm, yes, friendship on steroids, much unusual, very not happen (picture my eyes rolling to the very back of my head). tl;dr stop worrying about labels, watch a show/read a story because people whose tastes you trust told you it's good! For ppl who gives stories a wide berth purely because boys might kiss in them... well, clearly nature genetically selected for a lack of discerning taste in those individuals. Oh drat! Sounds like their loss :o) |
aedeannAug 12, 6:58 PM
ぼくがそばにいる。 ぼくの魂はいつも君とともにある。 🐆 🕊️ |
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