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Banana Fish Manga:

BF Manga Volumes 1 - 19: Manganelo, Mangaone, Mangahere

Garden of Light: Kissmanga

Angel Eyes (Manga): Kissmanga

Angel Eyes (Artbook): Youtube, Tumblr

Capecod, 1985: Imgur (creds to Asphodel’s Haven)

Private Opinion: Tumblr

New York Sense: Imgur (creds to serya-chan)

BF Relationships Chart: Tumblr

BF Events Timeline: Tumblr

BF Character Refs/Insps: Tumblr

List of some Eiji facts from Fly Boy in the Sky: Tumblr

“BL” Interview with Yoshida: Dreamwidth

Interview with Yoshida on Banana Fish’s ending: Tumblr

Interview with Yoshida about Garden of Light: Tumblr

Banana Fish Anime:

BF anime eps 1 - ongoing: Gogoanime, Kissanime, 9anime

BF episode previews: Twitter

Opening Song translations: Blogspot

Ending Song translations: Wordpress

Interview with BF Director and Character Designer: Wordpress

Interview with Eiji’s VA: Wordpress

Interview with BF Producer: Wordpress

Banana Fish Journal: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 (creds to maehustisya)

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New York Sense ~ illustrations of Eiji Okumura

*WARNING-spoilers ahead. Proceed only if you’ve read the manga and are willing to move on ahead

This is the text that appears in the preface of New York Sense, a book of illustrations by Akimi Yoshida, published as a companion to the Banana Fish series.

It gives a fictional account of an adult Eiji Okumura’s life as a photographer in New York City in the 1990s.

I found this to be really interesting, an outsider’s viewpoint of Eiji’s life and career.

The artbook contains photos taken by Eiji, and a little bit about his subjects.

Originally uploaded by @serya-chan in the website here. Go check it out!

This is the original image:

Here’s what I could decipher from it.

One picture taken by Eiji Okumura changed the image of New York completely.

New York Sense, August 1994.

New York photographer Eiji Okumura was born in 1966 in Shimane prefecture, Japan. While still competing as a pole vaulter in high school, he became acquainted with college student photographer Shunichi Ibe. This was the start of a new series of events which in 1985 culminated in 19-year old Okumura’s first overseas trip to New York City. Okumura is reticent to talk about that era. “It was a turbulent time for me” he said in a recent interview. “And I can honestly say that it changed my life.” Despite Okumura’s own reluctance, his New York fans can ever be grateful for Okumura’s encounters with the metropolis. Upon his return to Japan, Okumura made a wonderful debut as a freelance photographer, and soon returned to the United States to ply his trade. In 1992, the United States government granted the 20-year old Okumura a permanent visa, and two years later, the success of a private exhibition increased the spread of his suddenly skyrocketing fame.

Eiji okumura’s star is still rising. This book represents the first collection of his photographic prowess, reprinting many of the images featured in the pages of Newsweek. In this compilation, one will find all aspects of New York - living areas, the streets, skyscrapers, and the New Yorkers themselves, captured vividly and with an intimacy that reveals not only the emotions of each subject, but the photographer’s own emotions as well. As has been said of Okumura, his heightened senses captures the common sense of New Yorkers.

The critical consensus is that Okumura’s photography conveys an indescribable tenderness that sets him apart. His fresh perspective about his subjects captured the attention of the U.S. art scene. He commented on the critics and his impressions of new York in a recent article in the Voice, “New Yorkers certainly are more aggressive than anyone else I’ve met, and I’m not one to judge whether that’s good or bad. I love both sides - light and darkness. Maybe that’s why critics refer to my photography with the word ‘tenderness’ ”

One photo in the collection received the most critical attention, ‘Early Morning, 1987’. Its subject, Ash Lynx, has already gained an urban legend status in New York. His blond hair, green eyes, gentle demeanour, and 180 plus IQ have all worked to garner him the reputation of the loveliest  and most dangerous man in the City. However, Okumura’s photographs belies every stereotype. Perhaps Ash Lynx is the man most benefited by Okumura’s “indescribable tenderness”.

At the start, Okumura’s original purpose was to assist Ibe in his report on the ‘stars’ of New York’s street gangs. That could be where Ash Lynx and Okumura may have met for the first time. Speculation has it that Okumura was caught at the centre of the gang violence at  the time and those frightening events culminated in his flight from the country. Certainly the New York-street scene could be the ‘darkness’ Okumura talked of, and Ash Lynx may have been the light. But that remains a story yet to be told.

But for now, Japan should be pleased that its young, budding genius has bloomed in the concrete jungle of New York city.

*****

What’s really interesting are these panels from the manga, Garden of Light, sequel to Banana Fish. Here we see an adult Eiji in the very same interview that’s being talked about above :

The photograph of Ash in question, is this one :

The whole arc of Garden of Light brought a closure to Ash and Eiji’s story, and even though painful to accept at first, I came to terms with it.

The dedication page reads as : 

“This book is dedicated to my friend A, who’ll be known to me as Dawn.”

                                                                                         ~Eiji Okumura

Some more pics from the book :

1 Officer Jenkins and his five daughters - Lisa, Maria, Rona, Dora and  Arissa (1997)

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2 Max Lobo and his son Michael. (1998)

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3 Sing Soo Ling and Akira Ibe, on their wedding day. (1999)

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4 Ash in the apartment he shared with Eiji in New York. (1987)

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5 An adult Eiji, now a photographer, with his dog, Buddy.

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New York Sense - Eiji Okumura

I took some pictures of the New York Sense booklet included in the last Banana Fish box. Sorry if the quality is not great, I wanted to scan it at first but I was scared of damaging it so I preferred taking pictures instead ;w; New York Sense is a collection of photographs taken by Eiji. Some of the pictures are actual New York photographs, the rest are illustrations by Akimi Yoshida. All the texts are written in English ^^ WARNING : it’s spoilery, so I advise you not to look at it unless you’ve finished reading the manga.

I only took pictures of the illustrations, you can see them ! here ! :D Feel free to use.

preview : 

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Jack Posobiec at CPAC: “Welcome to the end of democracy. We are here to overthrow it completely. We didn’t get all the way there on Jan. 6, but we will endeavor to get rid of it.”

Trump’s Republican Party openly wants to end democracy. We must stop them.

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Concept art from a pitched Batman Beyond animated feature film — From Writer/Director Patrick Harpin (My Dad the Bounty Hunter) & Production Designer/Producer Yuhki Demers (Into the Spider-Verse, Across the Spider-Verse)

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my mom walked upstairs in her seal skin boots. Fjonka (my rabbit) came running to greet them (her seal skin boots). she sniffed them for a second. nuzzled them, before realizing they weren't breathing. horror dawned on her. she begun to understand she was dealing with something she couldn't comprehend. she backed off, without letting them out of her sight. she STOMPED to let them (the seal skin boots) know that she did NOT like this situation. my mom stomped back. Fjonka stomped harder, exhibiting a bravery and assertedness I had no idea she possessed. mom turned and went back down the stairs. Good job, Fjonk. You sure showed those undead vampire rabbits who's boss.

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he will use every chance he gets to be a drama queen and if he doesnt have one he will create one

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Thank god she didn’t overreact

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streets of gotham

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He was shook

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pussie

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Altoona Tribune, Pennsylvania, October 15, 1938

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Boston Post, Massachusetts, July 7, 1921