Customer Reviews

Banana Fish, Vol. 1

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"Banana Fish." A gritty crime drama set among the drug infestation and gang warfare of 1980's New York City. The story revolves around the recurring, mysterious name "Banana Fish," and a rash of murders and suicides that draws young gang leader Ash and a ragtag circle of aquaintances and villians into the crossfire.

What can I say about "Banana Fish"? I absolutely LOVE it! Why do I love it? Well, for several reasons.

One: I'm a fan of shounen ai (a genre of manga created for females, usually by females, that focuses on love and relationships between male characters). It's really difficult to get a hand on such manga here in the States for various reasons, such as marketability, prudishness, etc. Any such manga that do make it across the ocean are often bastardized through translation to tone down any homosexual references. But since "Banana Fish" is currently being serialized in "Pulp," an American magazine featuring manga along a more sophisticated vein, we avoid this problem.

Two: Not only is it shuonen ai, but it's shounen ai with an edge. One the one hand you've got your moments of angst and emotional corkscrews as associated with girls' manga, and on the other you've got flying bullets and spraying blood galore. This sort of schizophrenic mix made this manga wildly popular with female as well as male readers when it was released in Japan.

Three: Story, Story, Story. I've never been hooked so by ANY manga, EVER. There's the main plot of the elusive name "Banana Fish," and from that branch several subplots; Ash's dark, disturbing past, his burgeoning relationship with Japanese reporter Eiji, Vietnam vet Max Lobo's marital woes, tensions between mob boss Papa Dino's crew and the Chinese Mafia, you name it. It's complex, its intense, and its better than any Superman comic you'll ever read.

Now, I've read a few comments on the web by people who say that the artwork in "Banana Fish" is lacking. Well, I have to say I agree. It's quite spare. The characters are drawn well, but the art consists of a rather stark contrast between black and white, with little gradation in between. Not necessarily a bad thing, but spare nonetheless. Whether this is an artistic choice by artist Akimi Yoshida, her individual style, or a question of skill, I can't say. But being an art student myself, I can be pretty critical of the the composition of a piece of work, and basically if a manga doesn't hook me visually, I might not pick it up at all. In other words, I wouldn't be reading "Banana Fish" if the story didn't grab me by the tail and drag me along with it. The story more than makes up for any shortcomings in the artwork.

And who can say the look of "Banana Fish" won't change in future installments? Yoshida started the manga in the mid eighties, and ended it in 1994. That's almost a decade of storyline! It's one of the things that makes me so happy about picking up this manga. Not only is a story I love predestined to continue for a long while hence, but we get to see the development of the characters, the building of the plot, and the evolution of Yoshida as an artist. Who knows what'll happen, who'll win or lose, live or die. (Unless you speak Japanese and have access to the original manga, which I don't. *sob*)

So here I sit, writing this review, waiting for "Banana Fish" volume 4 to be delivered to me and for volume five to be released. I can either subscribe to Pulp Magazine and get my monthly dose of "Banana Fish" for 60 bucks (ouch), or I can wait the six-to-eighteen months between the release of each graphic novel (double ouch). Either way, it's worth the money and the wait.

I've been collecting manga since before they ever hit the American shores. As such, I've read a great many crap load of manga. And, yeah, this one's old, but you know, so is Akira and that one kicks ass too! Do not, I repeat, do not look this manga over simply because of the old school style drawings. The story more than makes up for it, and yes, the drawing style does grow on you. Ah! I can not even begin to tell you how great the story is! It's filled with plot twists and all that good stuff! You know, the stuff that makes stories worth being told. Go out and get this gem now! You'll be hooked by the second volume!

Basically, it tells the story of Ash Lynx (not his real name) who is a freakishly smart and very dangerous street punk. He's got what it takes to become so much more though, so he's adopted and raised by Papa Dino (who also uses him as his personal sex toy, the perv!). Ash isn't about to just take it though, and fights back. One night, he comes accross this stranger dieing in an alley way who gives him a vile of some powder and says "Banana Fish." Ash nearly freaks out because unbeknoweth to all, he has secretly been taking care of his brother who was a mental casuallty of the Vietnam war. And the only words that his brother has ever mentioned since his return are "Banana Fish." Now Ash is hot on the trail of figuring out what the hell "Banana Fish" actually is. He'll just have to go up against a mafia boss, his own father, the US police, and travel several states accross and who knows what else just to figure it out. Some of his friends are killed as he's escaping and he swears revenge against their killers. Up for the ride is his brother's vietnam buddy (who is the guy that shot him up after he went mental and killed everyone in their platoon) who is now a reporter; a Japanese photographer's assistant (aka, a cute kid who is slowly growing sweet on him); his Chinese buddy from another rival gang; and others. Every last one of the characters has a back story and thoughts and feelings. You grow to care for them all! So, stop reading this and go get this manga now!! You'll love it!

Volume 1 of Banana Fish is certainly an intriguing introduction to a series involving youth gangs, an all-but-comatose Vietnam vet, the NYPD, a pair of Japanese reporters, the mafia, and a series of mysterious suicides. What more could you want from your manga?

This volume doesn't do anything in the way of answering questions, but it certainly does a good job of asking them. How is Papa Dino connected to what happened to Ash's brother in Vietnam? What's the deal with the mysterious suicides? What does Arthur think he's going to get out of all of this? What is Marvin's real interest in Ash? What is Eiji going to do now?

Even though Banana Fish is technically a shojo manga (girls' comic), I don't see it. The themes are very masculine (street gangs, police, and the mafia), and there's certainly enough violence to keep any adolescent male happy. In addition to the rough-and-tumble world, however, there is a storyline with enough mystery to keep you wanting more.

I am looking forward to Volume 2.

Ash Links, the hero of this story, is a "poorest" guy who has everything such as money, beauty, power, skill and inteligence.
He is respected by everybody but did not have a friend who shares his saddness.
The drama starts with a key of mistery and and goes to the end without stop.
Whole story is filled with violence and conspiracy at the dark side of Manhattan, but it's a grace story which express a warmful heart of a sensitive innocent boy.
I have read more than 20 times, and could not end without tears every time.

Among 1000s of Manga in Japan, some titles have great stories that can not be fond on even highly applauded novels, and can be understood by real adult.
This is obviously one of such segment.

One thing to my regrett, US version of Banan Fish has two series. Prior one (that I have) terminated at Vol.7 which is almost the half of whole story.
Beware to get continuing series by cheking the design of cover.

Jinsei

It's nice to see more mature, realistic, and subtle manga being imported. With such titles as Banana Fish on the shelves we just may keep the Sailor Moon hordes at bay. Banana Fish in particular is a solid read, (reminiscent of Akira but without the psychokinetic and apocalyptic underpinnings) and something I'll look forward to collecting in its entirety.

On the back page of the cover Viz has the following statement " Epic in scope, and one of the best-selling shojo titles of all time in Japan, Akimi Yoshida put an electric shock into the genre and gained a huge crossover audience through Banana Fish's stripped-down, non-stop style." And boy were they right. Over twenty volumes in length this is an extremely addictive rollacoaster ride. Intense, gritty, violent, action-packed, and suspenseful. This is a manga aimed at older teenagers and adults due to its complex storyline and topics. The term shojo is misused in this book's context, as this is a manga that crosses the border between shojo and shonen and will appeal to guys & girls.

The story is fast-paced and is multi-stranded. Akimi expertly introduces many characters and weaves them in a complex (but never confusing) story. It is 1985 New York - While NYPD is investigating a series of mysterious suicides they escort two Japanese photographers (Eiji and Ibe), who are completing a story about young gangs, to the den of Ash Lynx. Ash is one of the main gang leaders in New York who, due to his looks, brains, and charasmatic personality, is respected and feared. He in turn is under a larger crime syndicate, controlled by Dino Glozine - a mafia like don. When Ash and Dino fall out over a drug sample that falls into Ash's hands, Ash begins an investigation into the name Banana Fish - a term that his sick brother keeps repeating. At the same time one of Ash's gang members tries to take over the gang in a violent raid and Eiji and Ibe find themselves split up and caught up in the following power-struggle.

Many have mentioned that it is a shonen-ai and although it does have an underlying current, this is actually a story of friendship. Imagine the bond of friendship shown in the Shawshank Redemption - this is like that, a self sacrificing and close relationship between Ash and Eiji that grows gradually through the volumes. They form an emotional bond that makes their platonic relationship more close and real than most represented in shonen-ai titles. Akimi also inserts small comic moments to lighten the mood so the story does not get too dark. The drawing style is basic, but the storyline makes up for it. However action sequences are expertly drawn so it almost feels like you are watching a movie. I have read many Manga, but have not been so hooked since I read the Angel Sanctuary series. The closest title I can compare it to is Let Dai, but longer, more complex, more action packed, and a nicer main character. Really recommend as this is one title that stands above the rest.

Ok well, not only is the book not about a banana and a fish as one might expect, I hardly found the book's outside to depict the inside at all ! Yes it's called a shoujo , however I found it to read more like a shonen.. and although there is a few suggestive things within the first volume (just of a backround history of the main charecter being his boss's play thing) nothing is shown , not even a kiss, so don't worry yourself if the label shoujo is keeping you from reading this well written manga ^-^

I thought that this was a very well written book. The story was very easy to follow and you can get a feel for what the charecters are going through. The nonstop action and all the twists and turns really got you thinking!

Did you know that Banana Fish is one of Camui Gackt's -- the disturbing, Japanese singing sensation -- favorite manga. Yes, it is a shoujo, but Gackt loves it -- he said so in an interview.

So, in addition to Banana Fish I would reccommend "Under the Glass Moon" which features a cameo appearance by Gackt and his former bandmate, Mana, from Malice Mizer. Some great music that. Enjoy your manga!

I liked this manga because I'm easily amused by the shounen-ai hints and this manga has a few. I reccommend this manga if you also like shounen-ai hints, or the humor of Americans to Japanese.

In this first volume of the popular shojo manga (usually considered girls' comics) magazine, a young gang leader named Ash is given a sample of a mysterious substance by a dying man. Ash's mafia boss (who's gay) sends his goons to get the sample back, thereby involving the police when a couple of Japanese researchers are unintentionally caught in the ensuing violence. Ash is trying to solve the mystery of the drug sample, but his capture by the mafia lord's lackeys seems to have halted that.

But can young Eiji get help to Ash in time to save him? Highly energetic and totally engrossing, the first volume of "Banana Fish" is certain to hook any reader.