Is Banana Fish a yaoi?

The famous (and inimitable) Banana Fish is back in force with a superb Perfect edition.

If you’ve been locked in a cave in the past few months and haven’t heard of Banana Fish yet don’t worry, we’ll explain everything to you (laughs). Oh yes! How many fiery readers have not yet told us about this UFO, this manga completely unclassifiable by usual standards? Since Banana Fish has been one of the biggest phenomena around since the release of its animated adaptation, probably none. But is hiding behind this strange title?

It all began in 1973, during the Vietnam War, when an American soldier literally loses it and commits suicide by gunshot, killing many of his comrades in the process. The last words were: “Banana fish”.

Twelve years later, the story heads to New York and the Bronx, where a strange murder by unexplained strangulation occurs. It is the third one in a strange wave of assassinations and weirdly connected to them are the words “banana fish”. In short, the plot thickens …

It is only after these two mysterious scenes that Ash, our protagonist, appears. Young, handsome blond, tightly stuck to the mob’s 17-year-old gang leader in New York with a big heart and a soul enamored of justice, Ash will soon find himself immersed in the Banana Fish mystery when a compromised stranger gives him a small capsule containing an unknown white powder.

Written by Akimi Yoshida in 1985, Banana Fish marks a turning point in her career by being her first series translated outside Japan, positioning her among the greatest authors after a very prolific and promising debut in her career (it would seem, since her previous manga have not yet been translated).

The original series has 19 volumes, but in this Perfect edition, each volume will be composed of two titles, and, therefore, will have a total 10 volumes. Yes, 19 does not divide by 2, and that is why the 10th and final volume will be enriched with several short stories, enough to uncover Akimi Yoshida’s past work.

What makes Banana Fish special, besides its storyline with multiple twists that thicken the plot from page to page, is the plethora of interesting characters. We get attached to them easily and each of their personalities is so nuanced that the line between good guys and bad guys blurs intermittently, at the author’s whim. These curious and enigmatic characters will reveal themselves to us little by little throughout the story, whether it is with their past, with a hidden facet of their personality or with an unexpected reaction.

Banana Fish is a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic manga, and it is such rare instance it has to be emphasized. The action is set in New York, so the characters are American, but the most important supporting character, Eiji, is Japanese. We also find Skip, Ash’s best friend, a black character far from the usual clichés and who brings us a little freshness in this world of brutes; Shorter, a worthy representative of the Chinese immigrant community and loyal to Ash through and through; and many other characters who constitute a beautiful endearing gang despite their quirks.

On the graphics side, the influence of Otomo (Akira) is widely present, both in faces, facies, expressions, but also in the Americanization of features and characters. It is recalled that Banana Fish was written in 1985, so only five years after Akira‘s release, and Akira‘s influence on the manga industry was overwhelming at the time. Also, the choice of view angles and perspectives, and the very static aspect of the shots give a very pleasant American comic look to the work.

The slow pace of the story might not be for everybody. Even though there’s lots of actions, the key points in the story are quite sparse. Also, the sequence of events is sometimes a little difficult to follow due to a lack of controlled transition between the scenes and the characters, of which there is a lot of, tend to look very similar. However, once we have become accustomed to the style of the author, these small inconveniences are not enough to take away the pleasure of reading this series, and especially not the impatience of discovering what is the Banana fish mystery.

We now come to the subject you are waiting for: is Banana Fish a yaoi?

I must admit, we can’t wait for you to share your opinion with us! The profusion of male characters and the almost-absence of women, the fact that a large part of them are gay including Ash, our main character, the fact that relationships between men are mentioned many times, tends to make popular work among yaoi fans. The fact that Banana Fish was published in a shojo magazine, and therefore clearly targets a female audience, reinforces this impression. But is that enough to put this manga in the yaoi category? The plot turns more around the world of the underworld, gang wars, mystery, police investigation. Change the characters to other more cliché, more conventional ones, and the doubt will no longer be allowed. For our part, and whatever the answer is to this question, we appreciated reading an avant-garde manga for its time, which does not hesitate to display its colors and assert its identity, which emphasizes on the suspense of its scenario while displaying unusual characters who themselves are not the center of the work but come to support the scenario in their own way.

If we wanted to sum up Banana Fish, it would say: original, full of suspense, unmissable. It is therefore an important work in the manga heritage, to discover absolutely.

And now it’s up to you! Share your opinion on Banana Fish!

If you’re too eager to wait for the upcoming new edition, you can always order the regular edition on our website!