BANANA FISH

Attachment 1842

"* Based on an action shoujo manga by Yoshida Akimi.

1973, Vietnam - an American soldier goes mad and guns down his buddies. Since then, the only words he has uttered are "Banana Fish"...

Nowadays, 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..."

-from Anidb

Genre(s): Mystery, Drama, Action, Mob

Banana Fish - 01 [720p]
Banana Fish - 02 [720p]

________________________

So, apparently this is classified as a "shoujo" manga because it was printed in the 80s, and in the 80s, one or more gay men = shoujo.


This feels like the kind of weird crossover anime that takes great inspiration from western media, in this case pulp Noir, and draws on that to make a strangely approchable series, not counting the gore and crude content. Though it was originally set in the 80s, it has been adapted to take place in modern times with an 80s sensibility: people have smart phones, but no one hardly uses them except at a desk or street corner where a handset might have been found 30 years ago... Speaking of the 80s, apparently the wild west never really went away: the disorganized police are unable to react to gang activity or the seedy underbelly of New York. Characters can have shootouts in the street with no visible consequences, and everybody knows to "keep yer head down or lose it" when the bullets go-a-flying.

What I'm saying is, girls have apparently gotten soft in the last 30 years if this is what was marketed to them back when I was a wee little one. Joking aside, the first two episodes are promising, and I'm a sucker for a thriller.