| I'm sorry but after Arthur died the show lost steam. It just keeps repeating the same "Ash gets captured" arc ad nauseum. |
| I mean, if you're only looking at the plot, then yeah, the plot weakens in the second half. But I'd argue that the second half focuses in on the characters and themes of Banana Fish in exchange, so no, it's not worse, it's just different. |
| Well, I guess if you don't care for the characters, Ash in particular, then these character relationship focused episodes are just bothersome. Especially since the only reason Ash keeps getting captured is to protect his friends and his relationships with them. Emphasis on Eiji who is viewed as his weak Achilles Heel as Max put it. Although, I think the story makes sense in the context that they are going up against a professional Mafioso. They are getting off easy when they should have died really. Ash is a risk taker so this outcome is a no-brainer for him getting captured so often for sensible reasons. |
MetaKiteDec 13, 2018 12:28 PM
| nah, it's not worse, it's just that the plot starts to change in terms of pacing and progression. At least it's not abrupt like the Tokyo Ghoul series in its entirety. |
RyuseishunDec 13, 2018 6:34 PM
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| Yeah I agree. Noticed this for some time already: It feels repetitive with the "getting captured", "escape" - and the repeats of that. Episode 23 was a bit better and I guess the last episode will be good as well. But I might not score it 8 anymore cause of the lots of less interesting episodes. During the lots of capturing/escape there wasn't really much of interesting stuff. Also not enough Dino and always switching between the different bad guys until they give some reveal of background info/motivation for Yut Lung in episode 23. Should have concentrated on Dino and more depth there. I think the chars aren't that interesting in this show. They are "okay". The more interesting chars are the "bad guys". Ash - as with many anime where I don't like the main chars most of the time - is boring. |
| I disagree(I don't like this concept of "First" and "Second" half, i judge something in its entirety) This second half is as good or even better than the first one Why?Because it's all build-up, really good build-up, The moment actually hit you like a truck and things set up in the first 12 episodes have sense and revolution now Not to mention the mental devolution of Yut-Lung, Blanca, The mental Health Institute The first half is more action packed and diverse The second is more intense and carries with it the heart of the show |
| May our sweet and Merciful Madoka be with you |
| Yeah. The show started to lose me in the second half. Am basically only this show because of Ash. The rest of the characters were pretty one note |
TakaCodeDec 13, 2018 1:09 PM
| Yeah, after Arthur died the show's just been spiraling downward nonstop. Yut Lung is the kid brother who wants to play with the grown-ups, and whines when he doesn't win. Blanca has changed sides almost as many times as Eiji's been kidnapped! And now The show's been trying to 1-up everything, and it's lost all focus except "Ash and Eiji love each other a whole lot" and I can't take anything seriously anymore. |
VileKurata said: Yeah. The show started to lose me in the second half. Am basically only this show because of Ash. The rest of the characters were pretty one note I will agree with that. In terms of the story progression in the second half, it did feel kinda stagnant with the repetitiveness of Ash getting in trouble. Then again, because of the way he was brought up in the first place, it's like Ash is destined to never completely get outta trouble. I blame f****t-ass Dino for this. LOL |
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| I feel like Yut Lung could legit be a great character but... he doesn't quite reach. He is obviously not imposing as a villain and never intended to be, but he's not one I can empathize with either. It's like there's a lot to explore about him but the show lingers in his mood shifts so much and the narrative is unclear. Blanca may be a less original character, but his personality is far more endearing and feels more solid. As for the series losing some of its charm, I think I'd mainly blame it on the rinse and repeat structure of Ash getting caught and escaping. It's like a trope and it never feels as drastic as it first intends to. The plot however, as people said, is not getting worse, more like the contrary. The sides that were only superficially involved are now an active part of it. The political and military branches have finally made a significant appearance and the whole scheme got bigger and has been more exciting, with the gang groups as well. |
| I would give 8/9 to the first 8 episodes and 5/6 to the rest, it really got boring. |
| I can't argue with this even though Banana Fish is one of my most favourite shows of all time. The story kind of deviates from the problem with the drug thing and focuses on the tragical part more. A LOT more. |
 |
| This series only started to get interesting for me after Blanca showed up and Ash started to lose his cool so I'm liking the second half more. Watching a genius kid getting in and out of trouble was getting a bit boring and I finally found an interesting character. P.S: I still haven't caught up to the latest episode. |
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Ava25 said: To me it actually got better and I've seen alot of ppl think that banana fish is about the drug... Which in reality it isnt .... Its about ash's fight for freedom and the mental toll it has taken on him as you can see his ptsd worsening from the beginning to the end of the show... This misunderstanding of the show sometimes leads ppl to think the story is all over the place or it starts to lose steam I know it's not about the drug, but it's repetitive. He has ptsd since the beggining. |
| I think the series dragged on for a little bit too long, since it's true that the same trope was being repeated several times (also it's kind of painful to watch them suffer, and the unrealistic parts jump out a lot), but I think the flaws and plot holes are part of Banana Fish's charms. As other people have said, the later arcs focus a lot more on the relationships between the characters, and, I guess, just some more action to keep the series going for a little longer. But anyway, I think it's really hard to give a definite opinion on Banana Fish until one has seen how it ends. When I read the manga, I thoroughly enjoyed the intense moments, although I did get a little bit tired of seeing so many frustrating antagonists, but I loved Banana Fish for what it was, until I read the ending. It got me quite confused about how I felt about it, but after reflecting on the series a little longer, it's still very beautiful, with all the references to other works, and especially for a "shoujo" manga from the 80-90s. Can't say I loved everything about it, but that's how it goes for most series out there. The anime is doing a good job, and I think I prefer it because the pace is a little bit faster, and the voice acting and OST are great. |
| I disagree, but I think I can understand what could make people feel that way. This is my own opinion, I can only speak for myself after all. I found most episodes of the 'first half' to be awesome and incredibly exciting. The 'second half' still includes similar episodes, but not as much as it initially did. There's less excitement gained by how awesome an episode is. This can be a huge disappointment to anyone watching it. However, still speaking from my own experience here, the episodes of the 'second half' get me equally fired up, perhaps even more so, just in a slightly different way. The bad-ass cool scenes may have decreased in number, there's also something that has definitely increased which is the focus on the characters. It gives more depth to the show, something I would always encourage. But the most important change when comparing the earlier episodes to the ones that aired more recently is the intensity of each episode. They were pretty intense from the start but now the level of intensity is something I've never felt before with any series I've seen. (Side note: my anime statistics are at 738 completed entries.) It's only natural that there are as much people who like these changes as there are people who don't like them. Everyone has their own preferences when it comes to picking a show to watch, and values by which they decided to either watch it until the end or not. Banana Fish has gotten more serious, the characters show various emotions in response to the things that are happening (without making the whole show all drama drama drama). The latter is done quite well, many watchers can relate to the character's feelings and/or notice it triggers their own feelings as well. |
| yeah 2nd half isn't as good as the 1st half, for the reasons that have already been stated, way too repetitive as far as holding Eiji hostage and taking Ash back because of that. The last few episodes were fantastic because they were finally moving the plot along where people actually.. try to end things, to stop what's causing them harm.. Even though I hate Fox, I appreciate him for actually doing something, shooting Dino. Ash had so many opportunity to kill Dino and just.. didn't. I would get why Dino didn't want to kill Ash, but not so much for the opposite. |
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