From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the Indian Ocean fish, which has been
called the "Banana Fish", see
Horseface loach.
Banana Fish is a classic shÅjo manga by Akimi Yoshida which ran from 1985 to 1994
and spawned several mini-spin-offs: Private Opinion,
Angel Eyes, and The Garden with Holy Light. The
series was very popular in Japan.
The name is most likely inspired by the short story A Perfect Day for
Bananafish by J.D. Salinger.
There are nineteen Japanese tankÅbon or eleven bunkobon reprints published by Shogakukan, an art book,
Angel Eyes and Rebirth: The Banana Fish Official
Guidebook. The spin-offs are collected in a single bunko titled Another
Story. There was also a NHK
radio drama, released in 1996 on CD as "BANANA FISH Part 1-3". Eiji
was voiced by Kazuhiko Inoue and Ash Lynx was voiced
by Tohru Furusawa.
Banana Fish is published in English by VIZ
Media. The first (now out-of-print) graphic novel edition
spanned the first seven volumes and featured 'flipped' artwork,
subsequent "shÅjo" editions are in the original right-to-left
format and released on a bi-monthly basis (these new editions
feature some translational differences). The series also ran in
both of Viz's now defunct manga magazines, Pulp and Animerica
Extra for several years.
Plot
1973, Vietnam - an American soldier goes mad and guns down
his buddies. Since then, the only words he has uttered are "Banana
Fish"...
Twelve years later, in New York City, police investigate a
series of puzzling suicides
and a dying man gives a charismatic young gang leader named Ash
Lynx a vial of a mysterious substance...
Characters
- Ash Lynx - The protagonist, a street-wise
young gang leader with expert marksmanship. His real name is
Aslan Callenreese.
- Eiji Okumura (å¥¥æ‘ è‹±äºŒ Okumura Eiji) -
Japanese former athlete who, due to an injury, became a
photographer's assistant.
- Blanca - A retired assassin and the man who
trained Ash to become Dino Golzine's heir. Though he cares for Ash,
he carries out any contract he is hired for.
- Dino Golzine - Ash's former patron, a mafioso
kingpin with pedophiliac tastes.
- Shunichi Ibe (伊部俊一 Ibe Shun'ichi) -
Japanese photojournalist who brings Eiji to the U.S. to do a report
on street gangs.
- Frederick Arthur - A former member of Ash's
street gang who allies himself with Golzine in order to usurp Ash.
He is particularly vindictive and cruel.
- Max Lobo - A Vietnam War veteran and journalist who has
trouble with his ex-wife. Max Lobo also has a young son. He becomes
Ash's main confidante in his battle against Golzine. His real name
is Max Glenreed.
- Shorter Wong - The gang leader who controls
Chinatown, ally to Ash, who has been friends with him for a long
time.
- Sing Soo-Ling - A very young member of the
Chinese gang. Attacks with the deadly "flying dragon fang." He,
like Ash, is amazingly smart and calculated for his age. He is
loyal to Shorter.
- Lee Yut-Lung (æŽæœˆé¾, Japanese: Rii
Yuerun, Chinese Hanyu Pinyin: LÇ Yuèlóng,
Cantonese: Lei5 Yut6Lung4) - The youngest son of the Lee
family, the top family of China's criminal underworld. He despises
his brothers for looking down on him and wants to depose them.
Regards Ash and Golzine as special and is jealous of the care Ash
shows for Eiji, a normal boy.
- Cain Blood - The cool and collected leader of
New York's African-American gangs. He supports Ash in his gang war
against Arthur.
Spin-offs
and Prequels
- Fly Boy, In the Sky
- Eiji Okumura and Shunichi Ibe were introduced in this early
short story by Yoshida.
- Angel Eyes
- The story of the beginnings of Ash Lynx's friendship with
Shorter Wong.
- Private Opinion
- Details Ash's first memories of meeting and coming to trust
Blanca.
- Hikari no Niwa, or The Garden with Holy Light
- A short story set after the events of Banana Fish, in
which the characters Eiji and Sing, now several years older deal
with the shadows of their past and try to cope with their present
lives together.
Reception
Frederik L. Schodt identifies
Banana Fish as:
...one of the few girls' manga a red-blooded Japanese male adult
could admit to reading without blushing. Yoshida, while adhering to
the conventions of girls' comics in her emphasis on gay male love,
made this possible by eschewing flowers and bug eyes in favor of
tight bold strokes, action scenes, and speed lines.
– [1]
References
- ^
Schodt,
Frederik L. (1996) Dreamland Japan: Writings on Modern
Manga - Japanese Comics for Otaku. Berkeley, California: Stone
Bridge Press. ISBN 1-880656-23-X
Further
reading
External
links
Shogakukan
VIZ
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