labingi | Entries tagged with banana fish

I’ve been compiling a mental list of favorite pairings for years, and I thought I’d write some of it out. We can also make it a “meme”: I’d love to see your list linked in the comments!

What I mean by a “love pairing”: two people who come to love each other so deeply that this relationship is pivotal to their lives. I’m a friendship bonder, and I’m not distinguishing between sexual and non-sexual love. I am leaving out literal and metaphorical close family relationships (parent-child, siblings). Expect big spoilers (like character death & ending) for any story mentioned. Below the cut are some favorite picks, some ranked, some unranked, with explanations.

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(Light spoilers for Banana Fish)

I love a lot of things about the manga Banana Fish, and one of them is the fact that it's set in the USA. I particularly enjoy that the character of Ash, like me, is white American. The reason is basically this: a character like Ash helps me spring free of imaginative false dichotomy between American Exceptionalist master narratives and their Jungian mirror: that we (especially white) Americans suck. Americanness in Banana Fish represents neither of these things.

The United States is a country founded on denial. Its existence is based on slavery, racism, dispossession, genocide, and ecocide, yet to this day, it has not apologized for most of this or even acknowledged much of it. It desperately needs a Truth and Reconciliation Commission but is nowhere near having the internal cultural pressure to get one. Instead, the mainstream culture continues to trumpet the idea that the US is a beacon of democracy and opportunity and the greatest country in the world. Though the US, in my view, does deserve some credit for being a trailblazer of modern democracy, at least today, none of those things is true.

Like anyone in denial, the US collective conscious overcompensates. In popular action narrative, this typically means that the white American hero is set up as the hero savior of the world. Though there are many exceptions to this, it's persistent enough to be powerful trope. Historically, figures like Superman and Captain America come to mind—and, yes, I know both these characters have been widely reinvented and nuanced, but the originary images still hold iconic power. Captains Kirk and Pike are in this mold. (I like them both, but they fit that mold.) Buck Rogers. Pick your John Wayne character. (Light spoilers follow for Farscape and heavier spoilers for Babylon 5, only in the next paragraph.)

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As I continue to deepen my Buddhist practice, I find myself engaging with old favorite texts through a more Buddhist-informed lens, and this had led me to think about some old favs in terms of the characters' attachments. I wanted to explore some contrasts through possibly my three favorite love stories in the world:

Naoe and Kagetora in Mirage of Blaze
Vash and Wolfwood in Trigun
Ash and Eiji in Banana Fish [1]

(Spoilers follow for all three, not detailed but significant. This post assumes you know the basic stories—no summary.)

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A friend asked my why I like Banana Fish. She has just seen the anime and wasn't quite getting the appeal. I wrote so much in reply that I figured I'd post it here or anyone else who might want to read thoughts on BF. (Spoilers for the whole shebang)

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Vague spoilers for/info about both series below (I don't think anyone cares enough for me to put this brief post behind a cut...)

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For those who are MoB and Banana Fish fans, I have figured it out: Minako is reincarnated as Eiji! No, seriously: it makes a lot of sense. She died in 1963. He was born in 1966 (in the manga), which seems like very plausible timing. They have basically the same personality, except he's a guy so he's allowed to have more personality. They both fall for super-powered, angsty men with rape trauma. Both are willing to transform their whole lives around said men.

In all seriousness, I have a fan fic about this brewing in my head, though Lord knows if or when I'll have the time to actually write it.

Behind the cut is a response to the very interesting reviews and discussion thread on the new Banana Fish anime at Anime Feminist.

"Banana Fish: A Defense of Ash and Eiji's Relationship as Non-Sexual"

I am so happy to have found these reviews and this discussion thread. I love—and miss—this kind of engagement with fandom. The degree to which reading these perspectives keys up my emotions also shows me how invested I am in the relationship between Ash and Eiji.

Like many in this conversation, I am invested, in a large part, because I care about representation, because I don’t want to see aspects of human experience erased, silenced, or distorted to create an oversimplified portrait of acceptable norms. I completely agree that BF participates in this erasure and distortion (especially with race and homosexuality), but I also love it because it represents my experience in a way very few, if any, other works do. With that backdrop I will argue that it does a disservice to human diversity to read Ash and Eiji as necessarily gay—or to argue they necessarily should/would have been written as gay but for the 1980s. Their relationship is doing something else.

( Light Spoilers for minor textual details )

Kyoto was a whirlwind. We, alas, only had time to see two sights: Higashi Hongan-ji (down the street from our hotel) and the aquarium.

Temple

We stumbled upon Higashi Hongan-ji (temple), which is undergoing renovation but is still partly open to the public. It’s interesting to spy the pre-renovated temple under the scaffolding vs. the part that’s already completed; they’re doing an amazing job at cleaning and brightening it.

( Chatter and Pics )

I've been revisiting Banana Fish after having reviewed it for The Geek Girl Project.

sixish and I are currently about halfway through the Japanese stage play of Banana Fish (sadly difficult to obtain outside Japan). It is very good! It differs from the manga a lot in tone, being much broader and spun toward comedy, though it still has its many angsty and tragic moments. But it works! Eiji is a bit of miss for me, but everyone else is quite good. The guy who plays Yut-Lung is one of the best cross dressers I've seen a long time. Sixish and I both initially thought the character was played by a woman.

They really need to make an anime or a good-quality live action movie out of this series. I don't know why they haven't (at least an anime). It has broad appeal to diverse audiences. Surely it could capitalize on '80s nostalgia?

Title: "Love in a Finite Place"
Fandom: Mainly Banana Fish
Characters: Ash, Eiji, Sing
Pairings: Ash/Eiji, Eiji/Sing
Spoilers: All of BF, light spoilers for Death Note and DN-Bodyverse
Warnings/Rating: References to physical and sexual violence, swearing, light sexual content; cautious R.
Summary: After 60 years, Ash and Eiji meet again.
A/N: This story is a sequel to "Love Letters", but you don't need to have read it to understand this one with a few spoilers: due to magicky, Death Note stuff, Ash is now 12 years younger than Eiji; due to life in a rough Russian prison, Ash has lost his two index fingers. Plotwise, this story crosses with a mainly Death Note story

louderandlouder is writing that will address Ash's employment. Kokoro translation by Edwin McClellan. New York: Dover, 2006, p. 188

Teaser: "Now, I feel such self-righteous fury over losing you," Ash went on. "But underneath all that, I feel fury at myself 'cause I let it happen."

( Love in a Finite Place )

Title: "Love Letters"
Fandom: Mainly Banana Fish
Characters: Ash, Eiji, Sing
Spoilers: All of BF, light spoilers for DN and DN-Bodyverse
Warnings/Rating: References to physical and sexual violence, swearing; rated R this section for reference to bodily injury.
Summary: Ash escapes and contacts Eiji.
A/N: The friends Ash escapes with come from the universe of The Body, Death Note fic. Ash, of course, codes their names.

Teaser: Eiji: Part of me has trouble writing this and not yelling at you for going away again, for coming back to go away again, like my heart believes you will. But I won't pay attention to that part.

Letters 1987-1990 and Author's Notes
Letters 1994-1998
Letters 2003-2004
Letters 2006-2010
Letters 2020
Letters 2025-2026
Letters 2031-2032
Letters 2036
Letters 2038-2044

( Letters 2047 )

Title: "Love Letters"
Fandom: Mainly Banana Fish
Characters: Ash, Eiji, Sing, cameo by Yut-Lung
Spoilers: All of BF, light spoilers for DN and DN-Bodyverse
Warnings/Rating: References to physical and sexual violence, swearing; rated R this section for angst.
Summary: Eiji falls; Ash gets dumped; Russian politics take a turn for the worse.
A/N: The reference to weirdness in Colorado is from The Body, Death Note fic.

Teaser: Ash: I was willing to sleep with him. I even enjoyed it sometimes. I told him so, even though he never believed me. What the hell did he want?

Letters 1987-1990 and Author's Notes
Letters 1994-1998
Letters 2003-2004
Letters 2006-2010
Letters 2020
Letters 2025-2026
Letters 2031-2032
Letters 2036

( Letters 2038-2044 )

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has marked as possibly inappropriate for anyone under the age of 18. )

Title: "Love Letters"
Fandom: Mainly Banana Fish
Characters: Ash, Eiji, Sing, mentions of other BF/DN characters and OCs
Spoilers: All of BF, light spoilers for DN and DN-Bodyverse
Warnings/Rating: References to physical and sexual violence, swearing, R for angst in this section.
Summary: Sing faces deportation. Eiji is pissed.
A/N: I feel somewhat guilty posting a plotline that takes a negative view of future!Japan in light the current crisis there. It should go without saying that I created this plotline for dramatic effect and not as a commentary on how I think Japan will conduct its affairs in the 2030s (moreover, all countries sometimes do things that are stupid). I intend nothing but support for the nation in its time of need and always.

Teaser: Eiji: "Damn Anti-Immigrant &&@*$"

Letters 1987-1990 and Author's Notes
Letters 1994-1998
Letters 2003-2004
Letters 2006-2010
Letters 2020
Letters 2025-2026

( Letters 2031-2032 )

Title: "Love Letters"
Fandom: Mainly Banana Fish
Characters: Ash, Eiji, Sing, mentions of other BF/DN characters and OCs
Spoilers: All of BF, light spoilers for DN and DN-Bodyverse
Warnings/Rating: References to physical and sexual violence, swearing, R for angst in this section.
Summary: Ash and Eiji have a fight.
A/N: In my universe, everyone quotes Tori Amos.

Teaser: Eiji: "I even dealed with what is the worst possible consequence for me: you being killed. Over and over. Two false alarms, then the real thing. I dealed with you being dead for 10 years. You have no idea what my life was like. Don't patronize me."

Letters 1987-1990 and Author's Notes
Letters 1994-1998
Letters 2003-2004
Letters 2006-2010
Letters 2020

( Letters 2025-2026 )

Title: "Love Letters"
Fandom: Mainly Banana Fish
Characters: Ash, Eiji, Sing, mentions of other BF/DN characters and OCs
Spoilers: All of BF, light spoilers for DN and DN-Bodyverse
Warnings/Rating: References to physical and sexual violence, swearing, R for angst in this section.
Summary: Ash goes prison, but he and Eiji write letters... for decades... and decades...
A/N: This section crosses over into the Death Note--Bodyverse. The Bhagavad Gita quote is via Peter Brook's movie of the Mahabharata. The song is "Lay My Love," Brian Eno.

Teaser: Eiji: "You are my rebirth into a more alive life, and it is pain every day."

Letters 1987-1990 and Author's Notes
Letters 1994-1998
Letters 2003-2004
Letters 2006-2010

( Letters 2020 )

Title: "Love Letters"
Fandoms: Banana Fish, Death Note, Death Note--Bodyverse
Characters: Ash, Eiji, Sing, mentions of other BF/DN characters and OCs
Spoilers: All of BF, light spoilers for DN and DN-Bodyverse
Warnings/Rating: References to physical and sexual violence, swearing, PG-13 this section.
Summary: Ash goes prison, but he and Eiji write letters... for decades... and decades...
A/N: This is the only substantial Death Note crossover chapter.

Teaser: Ash: "It doesn't surprise me one bit that a guy who calls himself 'L' is Japanese."

Letters 1987-1990 and Author's Notes
Letters 1994-1998
Letters 2003-2004

( Letters 2006-2010 )

Title: "Love Letters"
Fandoms: Banana Fish, Death Note, Death Note--Bodyverse
Characters: Ash, Eiji, Sing, mentions of other BF/DN characters and OCs
Spoilers: All of BF, light spoilers for DN and DN-Bodyverse
Warnings/Rating: References to physical and sexual violence, swearing, PG-13 this section.
Summary: Ash goes prison, but he and Eiji write letters... for decades... and decades...
A/N: I'd be happy to attribute the computer haiku if anyone knows who originated it.

Teaser: Ash: "Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose." I can feel you and me getting freer by the moment.

Letters 1987-1990 and Author's Notes
Letters 1994-1998

( Letters 2003-2004 )

( Love Letters--1994-1998 )

Title: "Love Letters"
Fandoms: Banana Fish, Death Note, Death Note--Bodyverse
Characters: Ash, Eiji, Sing, mentions of other BF/DN characters and OCs
Spoilers: All of BF, light spoilers for DN and DN-Bodyverse
Warnings/Rating: See section by section for special warnings; General warnings: references to physical and sexual violence, swearing, mostly PG-13--R.
Summary: Ash goes prison, but he and Eiji write letters... for decades... and decades... up to 2047.

( Author's Notes and First Part of the Fic Below the Cut--Spoilers Follow )

Sex and Sexual Orientation in Banana Fish

The following is conjectural since Banana Fish is famously inexplicit about its characters' sexuality (apart from child prostitution and the like). Nonetheless, I want to take a swing at combining textual evidence and supposition to examine the sexuality of Ash and Eiji. From there, I want to make a gentle attempt at identifying the issues involved in credibly slashing them.

( Expect Spoilers )