BANANA FISH: Episode 1

Perhaps a little early to call, but I can easily see this being my favourite show this season. Animation is slick and stylish, the setting is rather unique, you don't see many anime that take place in contemporary America, and there's a good central mystery to get you hooked. I really hope they do develop a relationship between Ash and Eiji like they seem to hint at, their two conflicting personalities would certainly make for an interesting pairing. I do wish they spent a little more time establishing the power hierarchy, as I'm not entirely sure how Dino's gang and Ash's gang are linked. I think that Ash has control over the local gangs, and then Dino is more of a mafia type? They didn't really explain it overly well, and the relationship between the two seems reluctant. Perhaps it will be explored later. Either way, I'm hyped to see more!
 
I’m surprised people did watch it as it seemed to have no hype coming up to its release even though it was a MAPP An acclaimed manga and Free!’s original director. So I am surprised people watched and Viz giving it a reprint. In terms of the actual I loved it like I knew I would and probably will be my fav “new” show even though it is two Cour
 
I was surprised to see how interesting the gang stuff was. I knew the show was based on a popular manga, but admittedly I didn't know a huge amount about it before going in. I also want to see Ash and Eiji become friends/more than friends as I think there is the potential for a really cool dynamic here.

Definitely one to keep an eye on this season.
 
IncendiaryLemon said:
I think that Ash has control over the local gangs, and then Dino is more of a mafia type?
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I'm kind of guessing, but I think it's meant to be like Ash leads the teenage street thugs, while Dino is the head of a proper mafia family - kind of like the relationship between the delinquent gangs and the yakuza.
 
This definitely looks like something I would like, except it's on Amazon Prime, so I won't be able to watch it.

What I want to know is, what elementary school kid wrote the synopsis for the first episode, the one next to the thumbnail. wow.
 
just watched the first episode it looks like it's going to be a very good series and it's got a pretty good soundtrack so far.
 
I always wanted to read this when the manga first did the rounds but I couldn't afford to collect it. So I'll definitely be watching! Gritty shoujo adaptations are rare.

They've done a good job of updating the setting to appear more modern and the designs are great. The pacing of the first episode felt quite rushed; they wanted to get to a dramatic stopping point (which they certainly achieved) but there were moments where they were cutting between slices from Ash's day very quickly without much time for my old brain to catch its breath. I did wince when one of the characters said something unfortunate about homosexuality; it made sense in context but given the rest of the content of the episode I think it could have been phrased better without losing any of the implications at all. I'll chalk it up to being that character's perspective.

(I like how it doesn't actually come up on Prime's search under 'anime' so you have to already know that it's there in order to be able to find it...)

R
 
The way they've handled the setting actually bothers me a little - given the overall theme, I think they've made this rough part of New York look rather too glossy and appealing. Minor complaint.
 
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Seems like it'll be a good show. Intriguing mystery about the drug and charismatic character in Ash. I wonder if Eijis arc will be like that of Rokurou from Black Lagoon.

It's always a bit weird watching Western characters speak fluent Japanese. Although it never really crosses my mind when I watch a very Japanese centric show in English.
 
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