Banana Fish

__Banana Fish, a story about the macabre of the human heart with a twist of romance.
__

First of all, I went into this looking at the demographic and I can't believe that this is a Shoujo. From my point of view, it should be a Seinen or a Josei. I just don't see it.

It was first published in 1985 so the art is a bit sketchy and it is a bit outdated so keep that in mind before buying it. Being an old series, the art is relevant to that period but I think that it has its charm.

Everything starts in Vietnam where a group of soldiers hangs out one night away from the front when suddenly one of them goes nuts and starts shooting and killing his comrades while saying "I saw Banana Fish". That's right, you just got hit with the name of the series and with a mystery.

After this incident, we're taken over 10 years in the future where a series of mysterious suicide cases are piling up on the desk of 2 detectives.

On the second stage, we get to follow a character, Ash Lynx, 17 years old, a street punk with good looks and a bad attitude, head of a gang of runaway kids from Manhattan and with ties with the Corsican mafia. One night, on a dark alley he finds a dying man who gives him a vial and tells him to go to LA and search for Banana fish, just before he dies. Booom. We're hit again with the name of the series.

On the third stage, we're introduced with two reporters from Japan, Eiji 19 years old and Ibe who kind of acts as his guardian. These guys are visiting NYC to write an article about the street gangs of America. And guess what? They plan to interview our boy, Ash.

On the fourth stage we have the Corsican mafia, Triad. A whole bunch of sadistic fucks who somehow are involved in all of this.

Put all these four together and you end up with a story where nothing goes as planned and where you always end up with the impression that things can get worse. On the other hand, there are that whole intrigues around Banana Fish.
All of this has managed to keep me interested in reading the next volume.

As an overall vibe, I must say that it reminds me of an old cop movie but with everything bad in this world thrown at it. It's an enjoyable read, a little bit text-heavy and I'm glad that it got a reprint and that I get to experience it.

So those were my thought on Banana Fish from what I read so far. I recommend it but keep in mind that this is not a series for the light-hearted. If you can get over all of the horrific incidents that happen in it you will definitely get to love it.