Banana Fish

Episode 7

This week, Banana Fish finally arrives in LA. Shorter Wong is leering out the window at the California girls, while Ash and Eiji look on in gay confusion. Yet it's Max who seems the most nervous about the trip, as his stomach gets the better of him on the side of the road. It turns out there's a reason for this: California is where he left his past—more specifically, his family. It's his son Michael's birthday, so Max needs to make a pit stop, but that also involves dealing with his prickly ex, Jessica.

Jessica is the type of one-off female character I like in these male-centered shows: a feisty woman who seems like she has a life of her own. She doesn't put up with Max's crap, only letting him in because Ibe is there. She even has a cool job, working for Banana Fish's version of Playgirl. I like the visual where Ash and Eiji excitedly imagine posing for a fashion magazine, only to discover to their chagrin that there's a little more exposure involved. Thankfully for them, there's no more dirty talk allowed in front of the birthday boy. This opening scene also has one of the coolest tracks I've heard in an already-excellent soundtrack, a bass-and-steel-drums tune that adds to the beachy California vibe. Alas, rest and reprieve never lasts long in this show. It's on to the Dawsons' mansion to learn more about the secret of Banana Fish.

It was pretty obvious from the get-go that the titular "Rich Boy" was more than he seemed. The Banana Fish OP frames him as a villain, alongside baddies we already know like Dino and Arthur. That being said, it is impressive just how long they delay that revelation, to the point where you start to wonder if it's all a red herring. I figured there was more to him mostly because of Ash's suspicions. He never seems to be wrong about this stuff in Banana Fish, which is ironic given his hangups. Ash's life has made him automatically distrusting of everyone around him, so it would be plausible for him to see malice in someone who seems too innocent. Banana Fish is convinced Ash is the coolest, most street-smart, and badass-est teen ever, and that seems to come with him being a sharp judge of character. So at a glance, he can tell the genuinely innocent—Eiji—from the pretenders—the mysterious Yut Lung. I'm still impressed by what a dramatic turnaround he delivers once he's ready to reveal his identity, not just in personality and demeanor but even the sound of his voice. He clearly knows what he's doing, which means bad news for poor Shorter. But I'm excited to have a villain who seems more complex and charismatic than the baddies we've seen so far. Yut Lung is genuinely fun to watch at work, unlike anybody from Golzine's gang.

We get more revelations about the Banana Fish drug this week, thanks to Ash searching the Dawsons' computer. I assume Ash being a hacker was modernized in the show, which makes me wonder how it was depicted in the original 1980s manga. It adds to Banana Fish's goal to show him as the coolest and smartest teen, but it also sticks out—like so many attempts to update the show's setting—that we haven't seen anything about this talent until now. Still, it results in a big infodump on the mysterious substance. Now, I'm no expert on drugs, but it is a little weird that this deadly superdrug is constantly being compared to LSD and psilocybin, two drugs that in real life have a relatively low potential for physical harm. If you wanted a drug to assassinate someone, as Dino told us last week, you wouldn't exactly reach for acid or mushrooms. I'm guessing this comes out of Akemi Yoshida's particular set of inspirations for the manga. In this interview, she acknowledges the influence of films like Midnight Cowboy, which came out in 1969 and shows vivid depictions of the controversial 1960s counterculture, where LSD was THE drug. It was also one of the drugs tested in the infamous 1950s CIA program MKUltra as a potential form of mind control. So it fits in characterizing Banana Fish as part of some government or military conspiracy. When Max learns more about how deep this goes, he urges Ash to stay out of it, since he can't take this monster down by himself. When Ash insists, Max decides to go with him back to New York.

In the meantime, they have to convince Eiji to go back to Japan with Ibe. This scene was beautifully designed, both through the soft lighting and the gentle music. Banana Fish sure does love putting Ash and Eiji in these romantic sunset vistas. Even if they don't actually do much more than their episode 3 kiss, Banana Fish is determined to frame them as loving and affectionate—especially in contrast to the other relationships around them. The show's marketing hasn't shied away from this, even using the kanji for "koi," which more specifically refers to the romantic crush kind of love, in an official ad. At the same time, this scene also sees Ash tell us how Eiji is important to him largely because he doesn't expect anything from him, including sex. No one else in his life has done that for him. I hope at some point, Ash is able to work past his trauma enough to have a healthy consensual sexual relationship with someone he loves, even if it's probably not going to be Eiji.

None of that's happening anytime soon though, as Yut Lung orders Shorter to kidnap Eiji. He's largely been on the sidelines as a sidekick and comic relief, but the Lee gang's trick will likely force him into a confrontation with Ash soon. I really feel for him, being forced to choose between friends and family and putting both in danger regardless of what he decides. He's not even between a rock and a hard place; he's just out of options, period. Still, I'm curious to see how he deals with this situation. In the final scene, the Lees work to keep Max in place by showing up at Jessica and Michael's home. I really hope they don't get fridged right away, especially given how much potential Jessica shows as a character. But I can't say I'll be surprised if that happens.

This episode is largely setting the scene for the next arc, but it does a great job of it. There's an obvious contrast with the new sunny California setting and the boys still being mired in peril. We meet new characters who add energy and intrigue to the story. It feels like the world of Banana Fish is opening up, and yet our characters continue to run in circles around the mob. The only sure thing is that this show hasn't begun to slow down.

Rating: A

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.