#bananafish has my whole heart and more

[relentlesslycravingsummer]

will never get over the fact that i won't be a dark-haired teenage boy sharing a relationship with a light-haired teenage boy that surpasses love in every way (what comes after soulmates, again?)

[solcomfortssouls]

Tokyo Revengers

Solid quickly moving plot with high stakes

Delinquents with morals like Toman. Tough fighting loving guys who care about their friends and doing the right thing

Protag is a clumsy awkward crybaby, but it's obviously on purpose. It's acknowledged in universe and it's part of his greatest strength. Being able to feel so intensely for others and being moved so easily it gives him some amazing drive.

It's one of those where the character where endurance for the protag counts and inspires more than raw skill or strenght. But it's kept realistic because the protag doesn't get miraculous upgrades and power ups in fights. He wins in that characteristic clumsy awkward, but he does the insane and impossible.

Good people actually recognize his character. Getting respect from such badass monsters is so much fun to watch.

Also his arc from doormat to someone who stands up for himself and others is very relatable and well-done. Hanagaki had broken spirit, always running away, always apologising and giving up everything after a fall becoming a useless doormat adult. It's amazing to watch as he realizes where he gave up and what he needs to do - the plot goals force him to stand up for himself to save others from tragedy - and it's so rewarding because it's so insanely hard. He knows what to do and has the clue info from his time travel, but he is still the same weak awkward gangly kid who can't fight well - but he sure as hell can endure.

Established relationship with protag's girlfriend Hina. It's such a fresh take to skip the getting to know each other and will they/won't they tension to them just caring for each other and trying to get closer, which is a gradual careful process on itself.

Hina is a sweet girl. Driven to do the right thing and step up for herself and what she believes in, caring for people around her. It's nice having a girl with good personality you can see why is worth so much trouble.

Mikey and Draken. My heart. This duo is so cute. Both overpowered monster fighters who make the closest duo and hold a giant growing gang together.

Mikey is the talented small and frail looking guy who can mop the floor with you without getting out of breath. From what I have seen his journey is more about what's the right thing to do with such power and charismatic influence and his tendencies to go darker and cheat for the people he cares about - his whole gang is like family to him he feels responsible for.

Mikey's switching between cheerful childish airhead to dead serious badass leader is hilarious and awesome.

The fact Mikey can recognize true willpower and a good person and can value people outside of the one-sided fighting view that would be typical for delinquents of his world. He sees Hanagaki, recognizes his drive and immediately wants to be his friend.

Ahh Draken. He is the more mature and kinder of the two. Don't get me wrong, his tall dragon tattooed appearance, fame and fighting skill, his calm to the point blunt approach and stoicism make him an intimidating vice commander to Mikey. But the kindness and principles under that exterior to even deeper. He is perceptive, does the right thing, cares about people and what they wish for and is less of a slave to his emotions and whims unlike Mikey and Hanagaki.

Doesn't hurt that Draken has such a cool design. Mikey is easy on the eyes too. What pretty tough boys.^^

Hanagaki's middle school bunch of boys are surprisingly of the good sort. Akkun definitly made an impression. The boy's got a darker murdering potential in him starting with his abuse, and he cares so much about his friends he is quite ruined after falling to the underworld. Hanagaki might just be able to save him from going there.

I haven't been this invested in a show since Bananafish and Megalo Box. We really need more anime about gangs (more handsome boys bloody fighting for friendship). The high stakes, the potential and actual injury playing such a big part of the setting is amazing and really forces the characters out into their true personalities. I will be going into the mange right away.

[wellhellothereboys]

BF Episode Names + Work Summaries (Part 1)

These summaries are my OWN and WILL contain spoilers. Some, but not all works will be related back to the show. Thank you!

Click episode names for links to online versions of the works by the way :D And please let me know if you think I made an error, I’m more than willing to fix it

I literally read all of these in three days so I’ll be posting for eps 13-24 in less than a week (I hope)

E1: A Perfect Day For Bananafish by J.D. Salinger

Muriel and Seymour, her husband (who Muriel calls “see-more”), are staying at a hotel near a beach. Muriel calls her mom to reassure her that everything has gone well, but her mother is anxious about Seymour’s state since he returned from war. Of course, Muriel says everything is fine and that Seymour is down at the beach. The reader can assume that Muriel takes a nap shortly after the call with her mother. At the beach, Seymour talks to a little girl (Sybil) and goes to swim with her and just play around. He proposes that they try to look for bananafish. He mentions that these fish eat bananas (strange) in spaces between rocks that they are then unable to escape because of weight gain from the food and they die. Sybil eventually says that she saw a bananafish, which for some reason prompts Seymour to kiss her foot (something you wanna tell us, Seymour?). Sybil runs inside when they get out of the water, and Seymour goes up to his and Muriel’s room. In the elevator, he claims that a woman is staring at his feet (honestly Seymour, what’s with the FEET?). When he gets to the room, Muriel is asleep. Without much further explanation, he grabs a gun and shoots himself. 

We can obviously see the correlation between the drug in the show and the fish in the story, as both of them prompt the victim to cause harm to themselves. Seymour was also affected by mental illness after being at war, which could relate to Griffin’s character.

E2: In Another Country by Ernest Hemingway

During a war, Nick (the narrator) is in a hospital with Italian soldiers. Nick can be interpreted as an extension of Hemingway himself within the story. Nick meets three soldiers at the hospital that have earned medals for brave actions. This makes Nick feel bad, because his medal was awarded to him simply because he was an american fighting in the war and was accidentally injured. Nick also meets a younger soldier who wears a cloth over half of his face (an injury that he got BEFORE the war). Because this soldier is the only person who hasn’t gotten a medal for bravery, Nick finds ease in talking to him. Oh! I should probably mention that this story is supposed to be a reflection of Hemingway’s war experiences as well. Anyway, during physical therapy one day, a major is quite rude to Nick and tells him not to get married (Nick brought up the topic) because his wife would leave him. Later, the major apologizes and says that his wife passed away not long ago. For the rest of the story, the major looks out the window instead of focusing on his therapy.

E3: Across The River And Into The Trees by Ernest Hemingway

This one far easier to explain. Essentially, a middle aged man named Cantwell can feel that he’s going to die soon and has a relationship with a 19 year old girl in his last few months. As is typical with Hemingway, there is mention of war happening during this time. However, war is not the focal point of the story (this time). The young girl, Renata, is referred to several times during a flashback that tells the reader of Cantwell’s time in World War I. Apparently, Cantwell knew Renata for a while and was romantically involved with her. Cantwell’s friend, Jackson, urges him to stay with Renata for his final days. Cantwell decides to do just that, and so his final days are spent having sex with a girl less than half his age. Renata seems like she doesn’t give half a crap about it either so that’s... better? Idk all of this is nasty. Anyway, as you can tell, Cantwell ends up dying. He has a heart attack in the back of a car. He quotes Stonewall Jackson before he dies and leaves a note along with his body that basically just says to return a set of guns to someone. ALSO I feel like I should mention that Cantwell literally called Renata his DAUGHTER and she didn’t mind it, even though they were also getting drunk and having sex like all the time. 

Obviously, the pedophilia relates to Dino and his whole category of people in BF. That’s about all I can get out of this one. 

E4: This Side Of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald

This one is a LONG boy but the concept can be shortened so that’s what I’m gonna do. Basically a guy named Amory goes to Princeton but he’s SUPER lazy. He doesn’t pay attention in class but he still learns from friends/books. World War I starts and of course he joins. His mom dies while he is away. When he gets back he falls in love with a woman named Rosalind. She loves him too but she doesn’t want to marry anyone poor (and Amory is kind of broke). She breaks off their engagement and marries a rich guy instead. Amory drinks to forget until alcohol becomes illegal. Later, he has a fling with a girl named Eleanor. Then, his friend gets caught with a girl but Amory says it was his fault to keep his friend from having to deal with the consequences. Amory finds out that a his last close family friend has passed away. He runs into one of his dad’s other friends who gives him a short life lessons before he keeps walking back to Princeton. Amory is still not over Rosalind, so he thinks about her on the way home. The book ends with a really emotional (but kind of overdramatic) scene of Amory looking up at the sky and reflecting on his life, saying that the only person he really knows is himself.

E5: From Death To Morning by Thomas Wolfe (this link is kind of a pain sorry)

This is NOT a single work, but rather a collection of many. It’s a whole book of short works of fiction, so rather than explain each and every one of them, I’m just going to give you some major themes so you get the idea. Thomas Wolfe was admired by William Faulkner, who’s works are used later in Banana Fish. In From Death To Morning, all of the 14 stories featured have a theme of loss. Even the titles themselves make that clear. A majority of them involve death, and a solid amount take place in different parts of New York.

Death happens a LOT in BF. Loss is also a powerful motivator for Ash (because of his dead brother) and Eiji (because of his pole-vaulting career). Other characters are also motivated by losses of their own.

E6: My Lost City by F. Scott Fitzgerald

This is a nonfiction essay written by Fitzgerald. It talks about his life in New York, and has a depressing approach. There isn’t necessarily a flowing plot, but some very important points are made throughout the story. The author discusses his expectations of New York (celebrity life, luxury, freedom) and then moves to mourn the loss of such dreams. Real life in New York was not as great as he thought, to no one’s surprise. He leaves the city a couple of times, in hopes that he’ll regain his appreciation for the city. Most people have heard of The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald’s most famed work. The exciting parties mentioned in the book, along with the tragedies and the melancholy tone of some parts is a reflection of his feelings towards the city. In My Lost City, he is connecting the New York of his dreams to reality. However, he also feels that he cannot part with the city. Every time he plans on getting out of the situation he’s found himself in, he finds himself coming back to where he started.

Honestly, I see one of the largest BF to Lit connections with this one because of the way Eiji saw the city. He came to New York with a certain mindset, and he was being sort of a “fanboy” of the city. He was SO excited about everything, but then every expectation was ruined within the first few hours of his stay. Though he came in with an image of a movie-like city, he ended up being introduced to the world of violence, drugs, and just about every crime you could imagine. And yet, like Fitzgerald, he stayed and kept hope for happier times. (And as we know, he found happiness with Ash.)

E7: The Rich Boy by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The rich boy in the story, named Anson Hunter, believes him to be sort of above other people because of his money. This is basically a projection of how Fitzgerald thought of the upper class. Anson, however, is not the narrator. This will be important later. In the beginning of the story, Anson is in love with a girl named Paula (whom he met when he was in the Navy), and believes he has control over her. This arrogance causes her to become frustrated with him and she leaves him. Anson then moves on to be in a relationship with a girl named Dolly. She is a lot more playful and does not let Anson control their relationship, but he tries to anyway. They’re a very good match, honestly. He is playing with her feelings but she’s playing him right back. The problem, however, is that Anson still loves Paula. So, he leaves Dolly and goes on to fuck up other people’s relationships like he fucked up his own. He hears that his aunt is cheating on his uncle with someone, and he makes a big scene out of it even though it wasn’t any of his business. The man that she was with kills himself soon after. The next time Anson sees Paula, she says she never loved him. Obviously, he’s saddened by that but apparently it isn’t enough to make him change his ways. Paula dies when giving birth to her second husband’s child. At the end of the story, Anson drinks with the narrator (his friend for all this time), but leaves as soon as he sees an attractive woman nearby.

E8: Banal Story by Ernest Hemingway

In this story, the narrator is not named. He sits and eats an orange in the beginning, while he reflects on past events that don’t really have anything to do with him (Mesopotamia, cricket games, etc.). He reads a magazine as he reflects. Then, the story shifts and all of a sudden it’s talking about a dying bullfighter’s funeral. Apparently, people come to the funeral basically just for clout. He’s pretty popular, so everyone wants to be able to say they knew him. A bunch of people buy pictures of him but don’t actually care about them. Hemingway says the people basically just shove them into their pockets and don’t pay much attention to them. While this happens, other bullfighters are glad that this guy will no longer be a part of the competition. Essentially, this famous dude dies and no one seems to give half a crap. I think this might be related to the beginning of the story in some way. My personal theory is that the bullfighter’s death may be portrayed as unimportant to people, but in the future someone may think back on it? I’m not exactly sure, but it could be a sort of loop to the man thinking about the past in the beginning.

E9: Save Me The Waltz by Zelda Fitzgerald (yes, F. Scott’s wife)

This is vaguely an autobiography about Zelda’s life, divided into four sections. The main character is named Alabama Braggs, even though she technically represents Zelda. There’s a lot of content, so I’ll give you the most important parts of each section instead. Part one involves Alabama’s life until around the age of 20. Alabama sees her older siblings experience heartbreak while she lives a life trying to act older. She begins to act spontaneously. She drinks excessively, sleeps around, and woos as many men as she can. She eventually falls in love with a man named David. Alabama had always dreamed of moving to New York, and David was planning to do so. She doesn’t like the idea of being tied down, but she loves David. In the second part, she is engaged to him. They soon get married. He doesn’t have much money, but Alabama is unaware of this. Although the family runs out of money a lot (which makes Alabama realize her husband is poor, but she loves him regardless), they still live luxurious lives. They irresponsibly spend money on parties and such. When Alabama gets pregnant, her parents visit her. They are unhappy with her life, but Alabama does not seem to pay any mind to this. David and Alabama become bored of NYC and decide to go to France. Alabama is anxious on the way there and spends most of her time on the boat in their cabin with her daughter (Bonnie) while David drinks. After they get settled in France, Alabama has an affair with a guy who later moves to China, leaving her lonely. When David has an affair after they move to Paris, Alabama takes up dancing with a famous ballerina who is willing to teach her. In part three, the couple’s relationship becomes more strained when Alabama chooses to commit to ballet instead of her relationship with David. They stay in Paris a while longer before splitting apart. In part four, Alabama lives in Italy, where she performs for a ballet. David sends her flowers, but does not visit. Bonnie visits once, but doesn’t like her mom’s life. Eventually, they all go back to America to see Alabama’s dying dad. She gets to spend time with him before he passes, and the book ends with them throwing a party (like the good old days) and her cleaning up the mess afterwards. The family decides to all move somewhere together afterwards.

E10: Babylon Revisited by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Oh great, another complicated one. This summary will explain the general progression of events, but I WILL be leaving out some things that you might think are important so I strongly encourage you to read this one. As the story opens, Charlie is coming to visit his daughter, who greets him with excitement. The other people in the house seem to dislike Charlie. He used to drink a lot and act recklessly, but he’s stopped engaging in that lifestyle a long time (~1.5 years) ago. Others still seem to keep that impression of him. While Charlie does not specifically try to regain trust from the others in the household, he continues to cherish his daughter throughout. He does everything that is expected of a loving father. After a lot of convincing, Lincoln (an adult in the household) tells Charlie that he can live with Honoria (Charlie’s daughter). Marion (the other adult in the household) continues to hold a grudge against Charlie because his wife was her sister and she died after cheating on him. In the end, Charlie is separated from his daughter because of something that affected Lincoln at the time. He decides to continue to send Honoria gifts even though he knows he should be doing more.

E11: The Beautiful And Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Anthony Patch is the main character in this. His grandfather tried to get him to start a career in writing for a very long time, but Anthony has not paid much attention to it. He claims he is working, but does not (big mood). He falls in love with a girl named Gloria who uses her looks to get anything she wants. Gloria likes a movie director for a period of time, but drops him and gets with Anthony as soon as Anthony expresses his interest. They start out happy together, but soon realize their differences and struggle in their relationship. When they realize they do not have enough money, they push that problem off to the future and throw parties instead. His grandpa shows up to one of these parties without warning and scolds Anthony for his behavior. He disinherits him and dies shortly after. The grandpa’s secretary writes Anthony out of his will, so Anthony is left with little to nothing. Gloria and Dick (Anthony’s friend) go to fight in court for the money. This whole time, by the way, Gloria gives no shits about her own life. She doesn’t fear death at all. She is sad, however, when her old interest tells her that she is too old to be a lead actress. Anyway, Anthony goes into town and tries to find someone who could loan him any money. No one agrees, not even his best friend. After being tossed around because of his lack of money, Anthony makes it home. A few weeks later, Gloria and Dick come home to Anthony being emotionally nostalgic on the bathroom floor (he’s drunk, too) declaring that they had won the case. At the end of the novel, Anthony is described in distant 3rd person. He is said to have been physically and mentally drained by a family friend’s suicide. His money has also been taken away from him.

E12: To Have And Have Not by Ernest Hemingway

A man named Harry Morgan is a smuggler and takes money to do jobs for people. He agrees to help a Chinese man named Sing smuggle people across the border. Once he does this and gets the money, however, he kills Sing instead. Almost a year later, he is smuggling alcohol but becomes injured by Cubans. Harry and his friend decide to sink the alcohol and come back for it later or have another ship take it. A U.S. official sees this happen and reports the action. Harry gets his boat taken away and his arm is cut off as a result. Harry steals his boat but then gets it taken away from him again. He visits his family one last time and his wife gives him a loaded gun to take with him. Harry leaves, but is hurt by Cubans soon after. He gets away while his friend is killed. Eventually, Harry gets to a rich area that takes him in to a hospital where he dies during surgery. He gets to know these people a little before he dies, and their lives contrast the way Harry lived for the whole first section of the book. Among these rich families is a gay couple (because Hemingway is what the kids call, “woke”) and a bunch of people with various backgrounds, both good and bad. Marie ends up not going to his funeral because of guilt. 

Harry’s wife reminds me of Jessica from BF honestly because she cares a lot about him and is also really badass while trying to protect him.

[imagine-fight-write]

RANDOM - BANANA FISH DISCUSSION - I’M SO VAGUE

Hello, Everyone!

No excuse for this being late, it just is.

Note: This is just me rambling about a certain subject in relation to Banana Fish which is totally vague (but that’s probably all in my head.)

If you’re enjoying my Banana Fish Review series, Vol. 1: Part 3 will be up either later today or Saturday!

Unless Time sabotages me again. They might.

* I like to think of Time as having a female persona. What do you think?

Anyway . . . 

This one is more in-depth musings about a certain subject & character, rather than analysis of a scene. It’s deeply vague & confusing (probably because I’m thinking too deep about it. But I don’t care. It’s fun to theorize.) If you want to continue reading delightful gushing about scenes & characters in Banana Fish in chronological order (mostly), please check out Part 3 of my Banana Fish review.

Determining Ash’s sexuality is marvelously tricky. *Also Eiji’s, now I think of it. 

So far as I know, Eiji hasn’t have any / very little romantic or sexual experience (or is he simply shy? Who knows?). Thus, he can’t know who he likes & neither can the reader (for certain.) His attraction to Ash is vague enough that valid arguments can be made for anything from friends to soul mates to lovers. Isn’t it wonderfully maddening?

Otaku, She Wrote has a great article about this, here:

https://otakushewrote.wordpress.com/2018/06/22/more-than-friends-more-than-lovers-exploring-ash-and-eijis-love/

I think readers tend to gravitate towards lovers because there’s this nasty, prevalent idea that romantic relationships are somehow more & deeper & better & closer than friendship (which I hate & I will fight people over.) To be clear: If you like the idea of Ash & Eiji being a couple, that’s valid. 

It makes sense.

If you like to go with the easy route of saying Ash clearly likes Eiji, therefore he’s gay, I salute you for your acceptance of obvious things.

(This is so cute. I love animal motifs!)

I personally can’t view it that simply, due to both Ash’s extremely traumatic past & the world he grows up in.

However, if you take that (saying Ash is gay) & dismiss or look down on those who like to think as Ash & Eiji as soul mates or friends, 

I will fight you.

And if you take Ash & Eiji as friends & dismiss those who like them being a couple, I will also fight you.

Because this is a story about fictional characters, people have multiple different experiences which color their perspective of it, so in a very real sense no one is wrong . . . Unless they have no concrete proof from the text to back them up. Or author.

I mean, you could argue Ash is secretly a ware-lynx, & that’s why he’s so strong & clever, but why would you? There’s no evidence in the story. Anyway.

Before I begin: An Important Note.

I was attempting to look up Ash’s step-mother’s name (& couldn’t find it, I’ll have to check my manga) & I found 2 fascinating reddit threads, who’s subjects I will add to later:

https://www.reddit.com/r/BananaFish/comments/9efv87/while_watching_banana_fish_with_my_father_he/

(2nd 1 contains minor spoilers, if you don’t know who Blanca is, don’t read)

https://www.reddit.com/r/BananaFish/comments/a2s0cj/yoshida_interview_on_why_she_decided_not_to_have/

The important part about the 2nd article is that the author states something which I agree with, which is 

“Editor: "Certainly, Ash isn't active when it comes to sex."

Yoshida: "I think that's because Ash's character is sick of sex. He's been hurt over and over by sex... he's sick of it and he doesn't feel the need to have it. He's devoted his life to it, and he's had enough of it.”

Which appears to validate my idea that Ash is willfully asexual. He could easily be aromantic and / or have romantic or sexual desire for Eiji, sure (or other people. 1 person in the above link supposes Ash might be bi, which isn’t something I considered, but is certainly possible.)

Regardless, it’s clear that, whatever relationship or desire Ash might have for someone, Ash certainly dislikes / wouldn’t have sex with them.

I personally see them as friends/soul mates. To be specific, Ash firmly keeps himself asexual (key word, keeps) to such a degree it’s impossible to know if he’d actually be asexual or not if he’d had a normal life. It is simply impossible to know, and it’s tragic. Note, I’m not saying Ash is asexual, but that he actively tries to be. Yes, he flirts & acts sexy & kisses people. Except these are all acts a person can do & yet not feel any real desire or want to do them. I realize that sounds confusing, but it’s true. Some femme fatales do this all the time.

And as Otaku, She Wrote said, Ash is a combination of Femme Fatale & Rambo.

The manga also makes it clear, more than once, that Ash uses such moves as weapons or tools to get people to either drop their guard or convey a message as part of a plan.

He can do this & yet not feel any actual sexual desire. Also, I do want to stress, the idea that trauma will make a person asexual is wrong. Wrong. Yes, trauma can make people hesitant to start or continue a sexual relationship, or any close relationship at all, with other people. But. It won’t change if they feel sexual desire for someone else or not. So is Ash asexual? Who knows. I’ll explore this & my reasons more a little later.

First, I want to point out Eiji is probably asexual, given that he’s almost 20 & never had a romantic relationship (that I know of, up to vol. 10 of the manga.) However, he could be the type to slowly develop feelings for someone overtime. Eiji strikes me as rather shy & lonely - he hasn’t talked about anyone specific in Japan except his sister, so far as I’ve read. Or they could both be “once in a lifetime” types, which could be true for both being best friends / soul mates or a couple. As I said, from what I’ve read so far, it’s all vague enough you could argue in a lot of different ways about their relationship. (I love it.)

Now, my logic for why Ash is asexual. Ach, this section is grim & terrible & sad.

First, due to his past, it’s highly unlikely Ash can view any gay man in a positive light (or any man at all, really, his relationship with Max & Ibe is SO important & in many ways, a complete miracle).

(Ash teasing Max never gets old.)

Considering it’s also the 1980’s, there’s also a definite air of “gay men are bad” which Ash would pick up on (and has, I think.)(Even if he were gay.) Note, Dino Golzine is clearly a pedophile. Whether he considers himself gay is up for debate (so far as I know.) And unless he considers himself gay, or it’s otherwise stated, he’s not gay, but a pedophile. 

To explain: I have yet to know of any evidence that he sleeps with any men in a consensual relationship (which would mean he’s gay.) Only young men & boys, all considerably younger than him, and for various reasons, clearly not with him by choice.

* IN FACT, I have yet to know of Dino Golzine sleeping with ANYONE consensually (Have I mentioned I hate this man? Because I do.) Brrr. I told you this is all painful. Here is an adorable kitten.

Anyway, also related to Ash’s trauma, it’s unlikely Ash can easily accept any sexual or romantic relationships as good or enjoyable. He clearly views close contact as dangerous.

 As I said, the manga makes it clear on more than 1 occasion that Ash clearly uses his sex appeal & romantic gestures, such as kissing, as tools in his arsenal of weapons, divorced from his emotions, wants, or desires (mostly.) This isn’t to say he couldn’t be aromantic. 

I mean, Ash did have a crush on a girl when he was 14. That’s got to count for something, surely, given the environment he was living in.

*I mention this because someone reminded this of me in that 2nd reddit link I put above, & they immeaditly dismissed it!

Um, hello? Crushes are sexual desire 101.

Of course, regardless of if he’s asexual or not, he could still care about his friends as deeply as he does. Remember, asexuality is about sexual desire, not emotions in general. You can love someone & not have sexual desire for them. People do this all the time with family & friends.

All of Ash’s tender scenes with Eiji? (that I’ve seen up to Vol. 10) I’ve had a bunch of similar heart to hearts with close friends over the years, & I’m super protective about my friends. But I still don’t have sexual desire for any of them. They’re my friends.

Friendship is so hard to define, isn’t it?

(I looked up friendship gifs & found this. Precious.)

On a related note, I have no doubt Ash has had a bunch of self loathing & hatred over his good looks (can you really blame him? Because a lot of people like to blame his good looks as the reason why they attack him. Which is so gross I have no words.) (Victim Blaming 101) And clearly Ash would take any tender or protective emotions he might have for another boy (or anyone) as something twisted, wrong, & dangerous. 

(Again, given his past, can you really blame him?) Because I can’t think of any gay men, or anyone really, who’s been a good role model & decent human being, who is a grown man, except maybe the cops, but there’s a whole level of complexity there with Ash being a gang leader & linked to Dino Golzine that I don’t feel like getting into 

(unless you want me to in another post!)

And yet Ash does care, deeply. I’m so glad he has friends in his various gang members & Shorter. They’re so important. He even has great moments with Max

(which is such a miracle, I’m going to cry if I think about it too hard. After being raised by a man like Dino & their twisted relationship, it’s astonishing Ash can trust any grown-up man, ever.)

Anyway, moving to a slightly different topic, consider that Banana Fish is clearly a world of men, and boys. Women and girls are few & far between (the main ones are great, but still few.)

(I can’t wait until we get to the part of Ash is disguised as a nurse, because I still don’t know what that’s about & I love it already.)

Anyway. Moving on.

Theory: Ash doesn’t view women as sexual cos that’s not the world he grew up in.

(Pictured Above: Not a lady)

Correction: Ash does mock the obi-gyn’s secretary with some pretty crude language. (which I will not forget & he needs to apologize for & never do again.)

Clearly he’s picked up on the disgusting idea of women as being 2nd class to men & also their value tied to their sexuality.

(Gee, I wonder who knows how that feels.)

However, far as we know, Ash has never slept with a woman (or girl.) Ash has never been sexually assaulted by a woman or girl.

Well, apart from those nurses. but that’s a long ways away in my reviews. 

I will not forget!

Also, considering all his sexual encounters have been with men, and I must stress, grown-up men (again, so far as we know), it makes sense to me that Ash wouldn’t have any interest in women the way most men do.

I’m not saying he wouldn’t find them attractive or react to a nude photo - of course he would (unless he’s actually gay or asexual & has no sexual desire for women, or anyone at all.) However, even if he’s straight, I still don’t think he’d automatically think of women as being sexual / desire them in the way most men /boys would. Most women exist in a world apart from his. The most Ash does is talk to the secretary. He barely interacts with Jessica (that I remember, just wait til we get to that part) or his step-mom. I don’t think he even interacts with Shorter’s sister.

Yes, Dino Golzine asks if Ash has a girlfriend, but it’s done in almost jest, and Ash’s reaction makes it clear he has no interest in one. Again, because he has no personal experience of women as sexual beings (that we know of) it’s doubtful he’d easily think of them as such, despite his words to the secretary. He only knows men have sex with women because men talk about it, & there’s pictures & magazines. Again, this is difficult because there’s so few women in Banana Fish it’s hard to tell. So this is just a theory.

To sum, personally I think Ash might be asexual. Most likely, aromantic.

But again, given the complexity of Ash’s life, it’s really hard to tell. Yes, he kisses a boy at some point. But it was a cold blooded kiss, meant to pass along a secret message. It was part of a plan.

Ash never mentions this kiss again (far as I know, up to vol. 10 of the manga) and he freaks out ( is afraid & embarrassed) at a joke  about wanting to view his public hair.

Again, is that due to his past of being abused, or is he simply asexual? Who knows. (The author knows, I’m sure.)