Banana Fish is undeniably one of the most influential pieces of media that I have ever consumed.

There is not a single moment during the anime or manga where I wasn't on the verge of tears or when my heart wasn't clenching and threatening to burst out of my chest due to stress and pain. There is something so visceral about Banana Fish that it took me a while to even begin to compose coherent thoughts about it.

The characters are one thing; you easily fall, creating a deep and harsh connection with almost every single one of them. That connection can be filled with hate, love, remorse, and pity; whatever that may be, the connection is there. They are so well written it is almost unimaginable to think that such authenticity was poured into a piece of work. I could understand why certain characters made those decisions, even if I hated them.

Yut Lung, for example, is an enigma of a character. He makes so many stupid decisions, ones that made me hate him with every bone in my body, but at the same time, I could completely understand why he made such rash decisions. The reason is his past. He was never showed any form of love before, only ever being surrounded by hate and conflict. That changed him. That made him become a hateful person, one that didn't even really knew what they wanted.

Ash Lynx, however, is the complete opposite of him. Despite being raised in similar situations, they turned out different. Ash is loving. He is caring. He is understanding. He devotes his time to taking care of and protecting those that he loves, even if it means that he will be in harm's way. He is like that for a reason; the reason being that he has felt love. Love from Skipper, from Shorter, from his brother, and eventually, from Eiji.

The dynamic between Ash and Eiji is so raw and authentic that it almost hurts to see. They are the true definition of what I think love is. It's painful, but also so incredibly compelling, that I can't bother to look away no matter how much it hurts. They are in love, it's incredibly foolish to deny that, but if you go into Banana Fish thinking that it is simply a romance/boys love, then you are setting yourself up for disappointment.

Banana Fish is a lot more than that. It is a story about healing and finding hope where there seems to be none, the abuse of power, and most evidently, it is about the corruption of America and how it constantly fails its people, especially its children (evidence of this is the scene between Ash and Papa Dino where he yells in a bittersweet tone, "Is the American dream?!"). Ash is a reflection of a character who could've been saved from pain (Blanca, for example, could've somehow aided Ash and removed him from the situations that he was in) but he never got that help. He had to be his own hero and try and save himself from the world that he was in, or else he never would've survived.

Seeing Banana Fish as a boy's love is so narrowminded, because that perspective does not capture the true essence of the show! As a pansexual person, I will say that it would've been nice to add Banana Fish to my pile of "feel-good gay shit romance", but I simply cannot. That's not what the anime and manga are for, and that is not what I (or anyone, really) should categorize them as.

Banana Fish is a timeless piece of art, one that truly depicts the idea of corruption and abuse. I would 100% recommend it to anyone that is not extremely sensitive to themes such as child abuse/prostitution, gang life, and violence, as well as drug abuse. It heavy and hard to read and watch, but God, do I love it. I hope my love for Banana Fish can somehow be shared through this review.