Banana Fish Mini Review (manga)
September 17th, 2007 by Lianne
PG-16/18 for violence, sexuality, language, nudity, drugs, gangs, shootin’ in the head, etc.; official series website and awesome fanpage Boyfruit, which is responsible for the above scan
Although this manga definitely deserves a full review, here’s an interim version: Banana Fish kicks more ass than a manga should be allowed to kick. One of the most popular and genre-breaking shoujo titles of all time in Japan, Banana Fish follows a massive drug conspiracy from the Vietnamese war to 80′s New York, where big-wig conspiracy meets juvenile street gangs. The main character–a 17-year old gang leader by the name of Ash–is a beautiful, ridiculously intelligent protégé of the (Italian?) mafia who eventually decides to stick it to The Man and mess up said conspiracy, along with the help of a Japanese photography assistant named Eiji who met Ash through an ill-fated journalistic photo shoot. If you’re not hooked by the end of Volume 1, give up and go for something more tame…which also goes for those of you who can’t stomach some pretty extreme violence and lots and lots of referencing to sexual violence, abuse, pedophilia, and other grossness. But if you can handle a gritty story with surprising class–sex is almost never onscreen, and the violence isn’t unnecessarily gratuitous–then by all means read this. The art improves quite a bit after the first few volumes, too. All 19 volumes are now out in English, so you can read the incredibly ballsy ending and then spend a week wondering about the meaning of life.
Educated impression: VERY much worth a try, if you’re old enough for it. (Lianne)
Why has no one commented on this? Anyway, I finally gave Banana Fish a try and was surprised that I fell in love with it. Usually I won’t touch anything that doesn’t appeal to me visually, but the art style grows on you and I even wound up liking many things about it. The story is, as you said, kick-ass in every way, and I look forward to reading it again someday. Its a shame its still somewhat unpopular (most likely because its a bit older).
The story grew on me and before i knew it i was hooked, and never wanted the epic struggle for a certain unconditional relationship to end. the action packed infamy is what kept me entertained, but my heart raced for the conclusion, to see how their love would end up. It crushed me to know that after all of what they went through, that bond between two different worlds became bitter sweet. **CUT FOR MASSIVE SPOILERS** The story made me feel something i have not felt for a really long time, and needed to cope by getting my mind off it. I LOVED THIS MANGA >SO MUCH< THAT IT SHOULD HAVE ITS OWN CATEGORY, in fact, I'm going to call it AWARD WINNING biTTER sweet LOVE ROMANce eXTREme!!
…… as i digress, enchanted as i was, captured, tortured and left for dead by an amazing novel, there are no words to describe such a well thought out story other that this: Beautiful. Pure innocence ad-midst power shackled defilement and carnage that grasped the souls of two intertwined lovers, signifying the perfection which is Banana Fish.