Banana Fish

Episode 4

Banana Fish continues in the same mold this week for better and worse. Episode 4 is a step in the right direction for focusing more on the characters around Ash and deepening his relationship with Max, but it also throws into sharp relief that the series' approach to peril and conflict can be a little one-note.

But first, I got some flack last week for referring to Banana Fish as "BL," not realizing that this was a contentious statement. The argument goes that this series is technically a shoujo, in reference to the type of magazine it ran in during the 1980s. But keep in mind, this was an era when BL-only magazines largely did not exist yet, certainly not in wide enough circulation to be significant. The truth is that the four "genre" pillars of shonen, shojo, seinen, and josei are much more flexible and even almost meaningless in terms of describing the tone or style of content published in any magazine with that label. Banana Fish clearly relies on a ton of BL-specific tropes, and it was formative in the development of the genre for female readers. As a critic, I'm less interested in using strict marketing-based terminology than in tracing how works relate to each other, describing them more on the basis of content and influence. Other critics and pop culture historians may refer to even earlier works (like Moto Hagio's influential manga Heart of Thomas) as BL, even though such a term would never have been used back then, so I think it's fair to use for Banana Fish. Acknowledging these connections, even if it must be done in retrospect, leads to far more interesting conversations than pretending that connection doesn't exist.

Anyway, back to that "one-note" type of peril I mentioned earlier. Banana Fish has to find something other than sexual violence as a source of danger for its leads. You can tell Banana Fish wants to take this threat more seriously, as something that would seriously impact its characters' lives. You can already see how it has impacted Ash's life, viewing sex as a way to manipulate people more than anything else. (Even the kiss from last week reflects that.) The problem comes less from the story itself than the way that it's presented. After a certain number of rape threats have passed, they've just become a mundane part of this series' dark world. Rape shouldn't just be background flavoring to show how dark your world is supposed to be. From what I've seen of the manga, it does look like Banana Fish delves into this more later. I hope we get there soon, because this is a serious drawback to a series I'm otherwise enjoying.

This is a good place to mention that one unsavory aspect of Banana Fish's gritty world is Amazon's fault. For whatever reason, the English subs keep translating more generic insults (like "asshole" or "pervert") as specifically homophobic ones. It makes it seem like the other characters hate Dino and others for being gay, instead of for molesting children. That's something to keep an eye out for as you watch the show. Hopefully Amazon's translators will recognize this problem and fix it, because if you didn't know any better, it would seem like Banana Fish was equating homosexuality to pedophilia in most scenes, which is not true to the original Japanese context.

So now that I've front-loaded all my problems with this episode, let's talk about what makes it work. I think Banana Fish's greatest strength is the fundamental tenderness at its core. For all the story's grit, its primary interest is in the human relationships underneath the horror. That's most obvious in the connection between Ash and Eiji and their various friends. This arc's beating heart is the triad of Ash, Griffin, and Max. Griffin and Max obviously shared a deep relationship that helped Max get through the war in One Piece, and he likewise did the same in helping his brother Ash survive. This brings the two survivors together, despite Ash's anger and bitterness. The scene where they mourn Griffin is the series' most powerful yet, and its subdued aesthetics really help illustrate their bond with him. This is especially true for the music, which continues to wow me every episode.

Even within the other characters' stories, you can see signs of how their friendships and family connections drive their lives. There are signs of Eiji's growing affection for Ash everywhere. His first thought upon hearing of Griffin's death is how to tell Ash about it. There's also the way he reacts to Ibe's suggestion that he leave. Eiji never explicitly says it, but it's clear that he wouldn't consider staying without Ash. Even now, Eiji acts like leaving is out of the question. I really want to see more of the leads interacting, so I hope Ash breaks out of the slammer soon. If Banana Fish can tell us that much about their relationship with them separated, it'll be all the more powerful when they're back together.

The other biggest asset for this show is its rich and suspenseful storytelling. We get some questions answered about Banana Fish, but what we don't learn left me all the more curious. Banana Fish the Drug is some type of hallucinogen similar to LSD, but with much longer-lasting and more devastating effects. It can make its users suicidal, or at least that's what it did to the rats in its trials. It was developed by one of the guys in Arthur's group, who goes by the name "Banana Fish." That's also what Griffin calls him when he cries out before he gets shot. The connection to Griffin's war experience is interesting. Was it tested as a chemical weapon? Were other soldiers using it? Were they part of the experiment? And if "yes" to any of those, why—what were the drug's creators trying to achieve?

For me, those two big pluses more than balance out Banana Fish's detriments. Still, those problems could start to wear down on me if the show doesn't change gears soon. Episode 4's choice to separate Ash's story from others makes that even more obvious. While the rest of the story runs full speed ahead, it just seems like so much of Ash's solo arc is about him dodging sexual assault. For now though, Banana Fish remains one of the strongest shows of the summer season. I hope it leans more into its core tenderness, so it can continue to soar.

Rating: B+

Banana Fish is currently streaming on Amazon Prime.

Rose is a Ph.D. student in musicology, who recently released a book about the music of Cowboy Bebop. You can also follow her on Twitter.