Banana Fish 14
Posted: May 17, 2009 Filed under: Banana Fish 3 Comments »Aah, Banana Fish does not disappoint. Here’s all the action that the pause in the last volume was leading up to. As expected, Eiji and Ash’s boys storm the party Dino Golzine is throwing. They are assisted by Sing and Cain Blood and their respective gangs. The mechanics of how this work are actually pretty impressive, but more due to the protective measures Dino takes with Ash in bringing him to the party (administering drugs to keep him blind) and what exactly was going on with Yut-Lung and Blanca. Blanca is pretty devious, and his intentions are very interesting. He’s still something of a wildcard though, since every small kindness is followed with a really devious plan/action/thought process. I’m extremely curious to see where his story is headed.
Storming a party full of members of the Corsican mafia is a pretty bold move even for the big crowd that Eiji, Sing, and Cain have assembled, and I was surprised that the getaway was way more colorful and interesting than actually getting into the party. In a totally unexpected move, most of the second half of the volume takes place inside the New York sewer system, with the gang members being hunted down like rats. Ash can stay one step ahead of Dino and Yut-Lung’s men, but those two have Blanca, who can apparently read Ash like a book. The back and forth between what Blanca expects Ash to do and what actually happens is incredibly suspenseful, and I absolutely flew through these parts.
This book also leaves off on a fairly evil cliffhanger that would have made me curse heavily had I been reading the books as they were coming out. Luckily, I’ve got the next volume right here, and I think I will indulge myself right now.
I don’t know how anyone coped with reading this as it came out! (why yes, I did end up finishing the series – about a month ago – at 2.30am on a workday…)
I was a bit iffy about Blanca when he first showed up, but the parts where he’s predicting Ash’s actions are just great. The dynamic between him and Yut-Lung is also fascinating, with what he will and won’t do for him.
Yeah, I have a feeling the end of this series is definitely going to come at an early morning hour for me. These volumes just keep getting better and better.
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