I’d never write a review normally but I can’t physically stress enough just how absolutely incredible this anime is, in the most gut-wrenching horrible way possible. I’m not going to spoil anything YET, but here’s the basic breakdown from Imdb:

“Ash Lynx is raised by an infamous gangster, Dino Golzine. When Ash grows up, he has his own gang and he must stop Dino from catching hold of the Banana Fish, a mysterious drug that causes insanity.”

So, with that said, let’s dive into what makes this anime so disturbing.

In my opinion, the main thing that makes this series hit you so hard is the fact that everything that happens in it is completely real. No, I don’t mean it’s a true story in the literal sense, but the things that happen in this anime really do happen in real life and you’re painfully aware of that as you watch it. The child sexual abuse, the torture, the absolute degradation of people’s humanity, it’s all in here.

Don’t get me wrong though, it’s not just constant disturbing stuff happening, there are lots of happy moments too, but that’s exactly what makes all the horrible moments so much worse. The way this anime just plays around with your emotions like toys is so insane, I’ve never experienced anything like it, and that’s coming from someone who has watched A LOT of heartbreaking animes.

The only true negative I have for this anime is just that I feel it did overstay it’s welcome a bit. I must make it very clear that I didn’t get bored of it once, but I do think it probably could have been cut down by a few episodes. That’s it for my no-spoiler review.

NOW, DON’T READ AHEAD HERE IF YOU HAVEN’T WATCHED THE COMPLETE SERIES YET.

I REPEAT, DO NOT READ AHEAD.

ONE LAST CHANCE.

Okay so, I do have one other minor negative, and it’s about the final episode. Look, I need to make it very clear that this really isn’t a huge issue at all, it’s just something that bugged me a bit after I finished the episode and thought about it. I really think there could have been a better way to execute Ash’s death, and I don’t mean everything that happened after the stabbing, that was perfect, but I mean the stabbing itself.

Are we really supposed to just accept that this borderline invincible guy that survived multiple gunshots and disgusting abuse his entire life, would really have just died from a single stab to the abdomen? Look, I understand the message, but it just would have been a lot less weird if they just had Lao stab him a few more times before getting shot, just so it’d be a bit more believable that this is really the end for Ash. But seriously, that’s how good this anime is, the only other complaint I could think of apart from excessive run-time is something as petty and trivial as that. It’s nothing.