Banana Fish
A Salinger short story. Two little words. What might they mean?
This series is as beautiful as it is dark and painful. Written as a young women's manga in the 80's but, adapted for the modern era, Banana Fish is a series that defies expectation.
From the very first minutes set in some desert in the middle east, to the mean streets of New York. To the most apt description of Cape Cod I have ever seen in any media. "There's nothing here. Plus, it's always windy."
The mystery of what exactly is Banana Fish and who is controlling it rapidly becomes the B plot of this series as it develops. Ash's increasingly violent actions, the price both he, his gang and most of all Eiji have to pay to find out takes center stage.
Ash is a force of nature. Lethal. Beautiful. Crafty. Clever. Deeply wounded. He is like a lynx trapped in a cage. His painful past, compounded by the actions he has to take to find the truth, and peace.
Eiji. A warm spirit. A gifted athlete who has lost his gift for a time. In a foreign land with vastly different cultural views. But he makes Ash his home.
Ash never misses. He never hesitates. He will stop at nothing and ultimately he knows that it will kill him. And Eiji, he doesn't want to see Ash destroy himself.
Everyone should watch this show. It isn't a yaoi. It certainly is not a typical Shojo.
Be like the Leopard on Kilimanjaro.
