Banana Fish 12
Posted: May 13, 2009 Filed under: Banana Fish 5 Comments »Serving up chilling moments seems to be all Banana Fish is about lately. This volume really got to me once again, this time because of Ash nonchalantly shooting himself in the head. Yao-Si’s reaction afterwards went along with that nicely. Holy crap, It’s been a while since a series has got to me as much as the past couple volumes of this one have.
This entire volume was very goosebump-inducing. Ash and Eiji are stalked the entire time by a very skilled assassin, one that preemptively takes out Ash’s prey before he has a chance to strike. It’s kind of amazing how the tension just keeps building up through the entire volume and ends with the scene I mentioned above. Once again, this series is simply amazing.
The interaction between Ash and Eiji continued to be quite good, too. I always expect their happy moments to be interrupted with more melodrama, but Eiji at the very least was still very content all the way through here. He even suggested he and Ash flee to Japan, which seems like it would make a lot of sense given the fact that they are being hunted. I’m sure that’s not where the story is going, though. One of the most touching scenes so far was a vow Ash made while Eiji was sleeping. I know nothing will ever happen between the two, but these hints keep getting heavier and heavier. I mean… he shot himself in the head. Do we really need to dance around this anymore?
[...] on vol. 12 of Banana Fish (Slightly Biased Manga) Casey Brienza on vol. 2 of Battle Royale: Ultimate Edition (ANN) Michelle [...]
Hee. I almost feel sorry for Yau-Si during the head-shooting sequence, because he so obviously wants Ash to at least *hesitate*. I think he probably had a whole speech planned.
(and, although admitting this will probably bump up my obsessive fan girl status a significant number of points – I do in fact have a copy of a Gackt song, called Aslan Dream, which is sung from the point of Ash watching Eiji sleep…)
Holy crap, a song like that exists? From Gackt, no less? That’s pretty amazing.
Also, yeah, I loved all the implications in that Yau-Si scene. It was one of the few times I’ve actually one of the few times a manga made me pause and consider what was going on. His reaction really is priceless.
Apparently, Banana Fish is Gackt’s favourite manga :) I got this vital information (and the song) from a Banana Fish fansite, to which I am totally prepared to provide the link once you’ve finished the series…
Excellent. I will take you up on your offer when I am finished.