Sayonara: Saying Goodbye – “Banana Fish”

By JOHN CARTER JR

Tiger Media Network

This review was written based on the English Sub of the anime

Saying goodbye is hard. Whether due to unsettled business, not feeling it is time for you to part ways, or because the future is uncertain. The prospect of bidding farewell can weigh down on you. When the time comes, how do you do it? How do you let go with so much of your time, energy, and self-investment? The adaptation of Akimi Yoshida´s “Banana Fish,” directed by Hiroko Utsumi, addresses this challenge at the end of the long drama. The “Banana Fish” 2018 anime series tells the story of two young men, Ash Lynx and Eiji Okumura, as they experience great trials, explore their history, and grow to love each other. 

To avoid the most spoilers possible, here is a brief description of the series: Ash Lynx is a young gang leader and a child abuse survivor. His victimizer and mafia boss Dino Golzine in association with certain government figures developed a secret project called Banana Fish which is linked to cases of people suddenly losing their minds and becoming violent towards those around them. Eiji Okumura goes to America, with Shunichi Ibe (a photojournalist), to do a story on street gangs. As Ash and Eiji meet, the two become entangled in each other’s lives. They go on to resist the Corsican (led by Dino) and Chinese mafias (represented by an assassin and illegitimate heir Yut-Lung Lee), try to discover the secrets of Banana Fish and attempt to reveal their findings to the world. While there is much more than in this description I hope you will check out the complete series for more of a complete picture.

What this series does so well is build up the relationship between its main protagonists. The elaborate crime drama is not simply the backdrop to their relationship, but rather their love threads together an even greater narrative. Ash Lynx has experienced various types of serious abuse. He has been massively traumatized by his experiences and engages in various risky behaviors as a result of his history. Eiji on the other hand, understands to an extent that of a normal young person who has had previous experiences of loss but nothing to prepare him for what he would see when he got to America. Through their differences and shared feelings, these individuals grow closer and closer. They fall in love. As established in my previous reviews, to have love for someone is to want them to be happy, and safe, and to do your best to see those things.

We see Ash often use his body, whether through violent means or using his attractiveness, to get things done in life. The only time he kisses Eiji is to help him while he is in prison to pass a note. Yet throughout the rest of the series, the two become deeply attached to each other. They become vulnerable and express deep concern and trust in each other. They both want what is best for each other. Eventually, the characters live together and act like an old couple in all the ordinary ways. The series also has some moments of reprieve for its characters. The protagonists eat together, teach each other phrases (like Eiji teaching Ash Sayonara), explore childhood fears like Ash’s fear of pumpkins, and more. While they do fall in love, the most physical expression we see between the two is Ash being embraced by Eiji when he is falling apart, this is definitely for the best at that point in their relationship. Throughout Ash’s entire life, he has never been able to have a normal experience with his sexuality or even with his body. He has always been abused and victimized. In episode 18, after being beat up by Blanca in front of Dino and Yut-Lung (who deserves his own essay along with Sing and Shorter), Ash says to his former teacher:

“Leave me alone. I’m happy now. Because I know there’s at least one guy… one guy who cares for me and wants nothing in return. I can’t believe how lucky I am. It’s the happiest feeling in the world” 

To have someone like Eiji come in, wanting to be there for Ash and see him through this long, difficult tunnel of suffering, must have felt scary while also opening his desire to trust Eiji. It is this openness and subsequent reception of unconditional love that brings Ash happiness. It fills him with the hope that started pouring the day Eiji pole-vaulted out the clutches of their captors and over the wall of their subjugation. While Eiji has his own desires and hopes for Ash, regardless of what the young gang leader decides to do (even when Ash wants to send Eiji back to Japan or keep him by his side), he loves him. Even when they are separated or disagree or argue, Eiji loves him and for Ash that is everything. 

As this story comes to its conclusion, we are left with that question posited at the beginning. How do you say goodbye after everything you’ve been through? In the final moments of the story Ash and Eiji must separate but Eiji leaves a letter to Ash. This letter is all that this relationship has been leading towards. Its purpose in the story was to convey hope and faith in the prospects of a better future. In his words to Ash, he expresses how he is worried for him, he tells him they have different skin or eye colors and are from different places but they are friends and that he has never feared him. He further expresses how Ash has been through so much and even seems stronger than him but that he feels the need to protect him. Finally, he expresses to Ash that he is not alone and his soul is always with him. Eiji says Sayonara to New York but says he won’t say this to Ash. He asserts he knows they will meet again no matter how far apart. In this letter, Eiji expresses the wisdom he has acquired throughout his journey with Ash. He has grown to understand his differences and similarities with Ash; he has seen the truth of Ash’s trauma and felt the urge to protect him from any more suffering. His commitment to his closest person to meet again is his faith and hope made into action. He intends on seeing him again.

“Banana Fish” is a thrilling and heartbreaking story centering around two young men from different backgrounds who survive a great deal of tragedy together. While the series has various other important facets, characters, and story, it is Ash’s Relationship with Eiji that holds it all together. Throughout their journey, they grow to deeply love each other and subsequently don’t want to lose each other. What this story teaches us is that, through their parting, if someone truly matters to you, goodbye is not an option. If someone has truly affected you, their “soul” stays with you. That bond you formed with another human being has changed you and has added to your accumulation of experiences in an altering way. Truly connected people are never truly gone from each other. In the end, “goodbye” becomes “see you soon” and “I keep you with me.” When true love, respect, and deep understanding are involved, those words become realized as actions. 

“Whenever there is a meeting, a parting shall follow. But that parting need not last forever. Whether a parting be forever or merely for a short while… that is up to you.” –

The Happy Mask Salesman, “The Legend of Zelda Majora’s Mask”