Banana Fish – 10 [Babylon Revisited]

Banana Fish, so consistently good that I am running out of interesting ways to start these posts. This week we have a jailbreak, miscommunication and a blond haired Rambo. Lets jump in!

General stuff first, Banana Fish was all go this week. Really, its sorta been that way for awhile, but this episode was explosions and bullets and death, oh my. There were some small issues with the animation I noticed this week. It was stilted in places, and really any scene without Ash didn’t seem to get as much attention. It’s nothing back breaking, as the entire episode still works and didn’t hurt enjoyment much, but it did catch my eye. Luckily Banana Fish’s thin line design and sort of muted colors, in contrast of normal anime’s bright and vibrant ones, makes it very hard to notice most of the time. The music also continues to be on point, really adding to every scene. Every instrumental Banana Fish puts out knocks its scene up another notch in quality. Non-spoilers out of the way, time to go into specifics.

Now before I get to the big ones, there are some smaller ones I want to touch on. For instance, I am glad that Max’s military experience with Griff came back. Banana Fish could have let this sit as just backstory for Max and Griff. Letting Ash being the man/sole combatant of the group. Instead it brought Max forward again, making use of his past to actually make him useful. I’m glad, because with Shorter gone, RIP, the group needs another frontliner. Sure, Max has held his own up until now, but we have yet to actually get a scene of him being a badass. Beyond when he was initially meeting Ash at least. I hope this revitalizes Iraq veteran gets some solo/lead scenes in the future, because Max deserves it. If only so he can die tragically in front of his son 10 episodes from now.

I am also glad that Banana Fish managed to get Dino out of the house for this jailbreak. Meeting with the politicians again, after testing the drug, is a perfectly valid reason for the final showdown not to happen yet. We also get to see more of his plot. I don’t know how happy I am that the plot is getting close to “saving the country” levels though. I like how small Banana Fish’s story has been to this point. It’s a very personal story, for the most part, focusing on Ash and his personal revenge. I often find these personal stories to be far more compelling than grand “save the world” ones as well. Ash also doesn’t strike me as the kind of person to care about saving the world. Hopefully Banana Fish stays focused on Ash’s personal revenge and doesn’t sacrifice it for some grander arc.

Lastly, before I get to the big one, Yut Lung and Sing. This 3 way war that is shaping up between Ash, Dino and the Lung’s is a recipe for great things I think. It helps that every side has a personal connection to each other. Sing wants revenge for Shorter on Ash, while Yut stole Dino’s drugs and so on. It makes the upcoming gang war much more personal for some of these characters, which is a great thing. Specifically, I am looking forward to what comes of Ash and Sing. Normally the whole “miscommunication” trope like this is a bad thing. It’s a stupid drama builder. Here though, I think it works, because its in Ash’s character. It’s been established Ash blames himself for Shorter, and he’s also currently grieving. Maybe he even wants Sing to hate him for it, and so the trope works here.

Speaking of Ash, it’s time for the big one. Banana Fish blew this one out of the park. Ash had so many emotions, so many scenes, this week it’s hard to touch on them all. So I will focus on my favorites. Like Ash getting his revenge on Abraham, the Scientist. There are a lot of reasons to love this scene. Like how Ash, after killing Abraham, finds it doesn’t cure his grief. The image right below, of him kneeling and screaming, is fantastic. But my favorite part of the episode is how Ash, without a word, just walks up and unloads an entire clip. Often a series will, to make them seem the good guy, will have a Protagonist let an enemy live. They will be “the bigger man”. But we know Ash isn’t a good guy, and so does Banana Fish. And now, so does Abraham.

The other scene I quite enjoyed with Ash was when he finds Eiji. So much was said in their rather short dialogue here. For one, Ash looks like an American Action Hero in basically every scene, with his ripped shirt, toned abs and bullet wounds. So when he busts down Eiji’s door and stands in the frame, it’s quite a sight. As far as dialogue goes though, there are 2 standouts to me. The first is Ash refusing Eiji a gun. Even after everything that has happened, Ash refuses to arm him, for one simple reason. He wants to protect Eiji’s innocence, he doesn’t want Eiji to become like him. The second though reinforces my point about Ash and Sing, blaming himself for Shorters death. I love how quickly Ash regrets yelling at Eiji, though he clearly meant the words. Really, Banana Fish’s VA’s have been doing a fantastic job.

So, all in all, do I really need to say it? I love Banana Fish. It’s my favorite of the season and you can guarantee that, if it keeps this up, I am going to push for it as one of the best of the year. It has it’s problems, its not perfect. But if I required perfection to name something a 10/10, nothing would ever get that score. Right now, Banana Fish is a flawed Masterpiece, and I love it. I get that my constant praise of it might annoy some people, I do. But after the disappointment that Steins;Gate 0 has become, Banana Fish has saved these last 2 months of anime for me. If you haven’t go watch it.

What about you? I know last week was a tad to melodramay for some people, and I get that, though I disagree. It’s a matter of taste. But did this week rise up to fill the void? Did it make up for the melodrama of last week? Or did it continue the problem? Let me know below, and I will see you next week!