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Banana Fish and Yasha scans from Akimi Yoshida 40th Anniversary Book

Sorry it gets so blurring around the bind my printer just do that 🙏🏼

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reminded me of ash

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Ash & Eiji sketches from Akimi Yoshida’s 40th Anniversary book

Going to scan these for better lighting and other pages tomorrow…

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Romeo & Cinderella

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Happy Halloween!

I was reading volume eight today which is probably my favorite volume (real reason is the Coney Island fight LMFAO the illustrations are sooo cool) because you get so much information on the actual underlying story (the drug) which is reeaaally interesting to me because I love fictional stories that surround government/military and is either symbolic or allusion to the real thing. Never see many fans talk about the actual storyline like the entire point of banana fish use is because the US gov is afraid of the spread of communism in South America after Nam and the correlation with mafia is to filter money through.

In Max and Ash’s conversation Ash brings up the ignorance of American citizens when it comes to government issues and there’s not really any hiccups within it either which is pretty cool to me when you think the story is coming from a Japanese person’s perspective during a time where there was no internet so she was really learning stuff from her visits, movies, articles that made it over. Point is it really blows me away sometimes that there’s not many inconsistencies on how American culture is portrayed imo (again with making a story with only limited resources)….

Also I highly recommend machine translating the guidebook. The analysis shit is really fucking cool. She basically gives whole history lessons and you really see the characters so in depth. There’s a bunch of pages on LSD, MKultra and psychological factors behind ptsd/sexual abuse that you see reflected in Ash’s character like his hatred for men or the way he reacts to things and his self depreciation especially around Eiji as he really starts going into a downward spiral towards the end of the series.

Anyway, just ordered some more books so expect scans soon!

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Coney Island :P (they had a lot of warriors 1979 merchandise) also that is the platform ash and Arthur fought on lol met up with internet friend and we got awesome hot dogs at Chelsea market too

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Scans from All About Akimi Yoshida 1984

Sorry these were scanned kinda poorly it was a quick throw together 😭 various pages from the book, it’s pretty long and my copy is pretty water damaged at the spine which means the scans really do not show well for half of the page so I don’t think I’ll be able to scan all of it but I’ll do the best I can.

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hiii everyone I reorganized the banana fish memorial scans since they were sort of messy. So if you reposted to save they might be deleted but now all the parts are up in order under #banana fish memorial below

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BANANA FISH MEMORIAL 1999 SCANS (Part 4)

Finished! The last scans of the BFM. The organization is pretty bad because on the mobile app I can only insert ten images yet on computer its 30, so if you see posts missing/edited they'll be reuploaded for easier access. I will also make a master post link pin for easier navigation as well :)

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BANANA FISH MEMORIAL 1999 SCANS (Part 3)

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Ash doodle :P playing around with colors and I really love this scene. This must be the place by talking heads reminds me of him

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BANANA FISH MEMORIAL 1999 SCANS (Part 2)

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BANANA FISH MEMORIAL 1999 SCANS (Part 1)

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Banana Fish & Films PART 1

Recommendations based on aesthetics, themes, decade etc…

These are just my personal recommendations for movies similar to Banana Fish. Most of these films from 1960-90s revolving around some sort of street culture gangs, prostitution, trafficking, drugs all that good stuff…also a few of these I haven’t watched in years so the description may be a little off LOL

TAXI DRIVER 1976

“All the animals come out at night. Whores, skunk-pussies, buggers, queens, fairies, dopers, junkies. Sick and venal.”

Taxi Driver follows a former Vietnam solider insomniac 26-year-old Travis (Robert De Niro) who takes night shifts as a cab driver in NYC. The story is mostly told through his inner monologue, where he talks about his his loneliness and depression along with telling stories of his interactions with his customers. He crosses paths with a 12-year-old prostitute Iris, (Jodie Foster) whom he tries rescuing from her situation.

This film was recommended by Yoshida.

THE WARRIORS 1979

“Since when the fuck are you a diplomat?”

After being blamed for the killing of a rival gang leader in the Bronx, the Warriors have dozens of New York City street gangs are out for revenge battling over turf that ranges from Bronx to Coney Island where the Warriors reside.

STREETWISE 1984

“No one to tell you where to go or what to do.”

A documentary on Street Kids in Seattle Washington 1984. Many of the teenagers do dangerous hustling gigs to survive on the streets.

There’s a story about a girl who is a prostitute with her mother’s knowledge, though her mother is against the idea she doesn’t stop her since it brings in money. Similar situation with Ash and his father..I have seen people say “I can’t believe his father would do that!” or that it’s totally unrealistic. Unfortunately these terrible things do happen, and even though Banana Fish is fictional and exaggerated, the crimes featured are really not far off for the time. Child exploitation human trafficking was huge, that’s one of the reasons how the milk carton missing persons started back in the eighties, especially through mafia/politicians in Europe.

PLATOON 1986

“Any way you cut it, Barnes is a fucking murderer.”

This movie was recommended by Yoshida.

Chris Taylor (Charlie Seen) leaves university to enlist in the Vietnam war. His experiences in combat fades his idealisms of what war is really about and what the troops are fighting this war for. His two Sargents, Barnes (Tom Berneger) and Elias (Williem Dafoe) are constantly arguing together over their morals. Barnes has violent approaches and believes the villagers are harboring Vietcong, while Elias has a more sympathetic view of the villagers and the war. Their disagreements began putting soldiers up against each other, as well as the enemies.

CRUISING 1980

“They told me that there was some... special assignment... and that I was right for it.”

Steve Burns (Al Pacino) is tasked to go undercover cop as a gay man infiltrating New York’s S&M clubs for a psychopath who’s been violently killing homosexuals. Steve begins immersing himself in the subculture and club hopping. While this is going down, he becomes increasingly distant with his girlfriend and the police forces homophobia becomes more apparent as the case goes on.

KING OF NEW YORK 1990

“ I spent half my life in prison. I never got away with anything, and I never killed anybody that didn't deserve it.”

The biggest Kingpin of the underground Frank White (Christopher Walken) just got released from prison. He’s different from most gangsters though. He shares his benefits with the poor, opening children’s hospitals and protecting the wellbeing of underprivileged citizens. Though the streets are much tougher than before. The mafia, Chinatown and Colombian gangs are running the streets partaking in child human trafficking and prostitution, unnecessary killings and racketeering. Frank’s not a fan of how they do business, and puts an end to it.

One of my favorites..the ending even ends similar to Banana Fish and there’s these two gay ass cop partners that the one kisses him towards the end (no spoilerrr) Frank is a super morally grey gangster and very similar to Ash in his beliefs. Film features many famous 90s actors. Must watch.

THE OUTSIDERS 1983

“I used to talk about killing myself all the time, man. But I don't wanna die now. It ain't long enough. Sixteen years ain't gonna be long enough.”

Based on the novel of the same name, an American classic most of us had to read in middle school.

A teenage gang in 1960s Oklahoma, the Greasers have constant clashes with another rival gang the Socs. When Ponyboy (C. Thomas Howell) and Johnny (Ralph Macchio) get into a brawl that leads to the death of a Soc member, they are forced to run away into hiding. With help from their friend Dally (Matt Dillon) he tells them a place out in the rural part of town they can hide until the situation dies down. They are eventually forced to return back to their town after a tragic incident with Johnny happens, and they’re subjected to the consequences of their violent lives once again.

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was finally able to purchase it..the price was really up there (let’s not talk about that LMFAO for something that originally costs $7 but the things we do for hyperfixations) so omg im so excited to post all the photos when I get it since there’s none online. I still need to upload photos from All About Akimi Yoshida but school and work been killing me will get around to it 🚬

Also need to make a little directory so it’s easier for you guys to find things on my page lol

Banana Fish N.Y Memorial Magazine (1999)

I was searching through JP Mercari when I came across this booklet. Its market price is really expensive, due to it being a rare item and I couldn’t find any scans online of it so these images are from the sellers. It is a location guide from 1999 of Yoshida’s visit to NYC. If anyone else has any scans/photos please share as I have noticed there’s not many archives on banana fish content

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Banana Fish Postcards 2019

Usually don’t post the anime’s merchandise, but I thought these were cute and unique. Another fun thing is at the back bottom of the postcard, has the actual permission license from NYC to market it.