Blanca

* Anime
* Manga

**Blanca**, real name **Sergei Varishikov**, is a character in *Banana Fish*. He is a Kazakh professional assassin later turned into somewhat of a bodyguard-gun for hire.

## Appearance

Blanca is a handsome man with shoulder-length dark brown/black hair that is pulled back in a low ponytail. He has thin eyebrows and narrow eyes. Amongst his clothing attire, Blanca opts for a beige suit and fedora. He also seems to wear thin framed silver glasses at times. He is quite tall and has a broad, yet muscular upper body and a slightly slender lower body. He often dresses in casual-business attire depending on the situation. He also often wears a trench coat.

## Personality

Blanca is for the most part a serious and level-headed individual, but not necessarily stoic and emotionless. Contrasting with his otherwise colder traits is a smile that he shows often along with having a penchant for jokes.

Like Ash Lynx, Blanca admits that he is a person who did not know love and he was raised only to be given tasks and the means to accomplish them. He was however able to find someone who loved him and love in turn. This allows Blanca to feel compassion and kindness to those he is close to, namely Ash and Yut-Lung and shows concern for both in his own way, given that their backgrounds are similar.

## History

Blanca entered Moscow University at eighteen years old and after graduating he joined Spetsnaz after undergoing military service of which he was on the road to becoming a top elite of the military. As a former KGB lieutenant, he defected from the Soviet Union after his wife Natasha Karsavina, who was a political dissenter, was murdered. His nickname, Blanca, comes from his wife's nickname, who was from Belarus.

Prior to the events of the series, he was employed by Dino Golzine to train Ash Lynx to become the latter's heir. During that time, Blanca came to know Ash quite well and was quickly able to pick up on the constant sexual abuse the young teen was suffering as well as figuring out that Ash is of Irish lineage from hearing a slight accent. He also looked into Ash's background and learned of what he had been through prior to coming under Golzine's care.

He subsequently retired to the Caribbean but is called out of retirement by Golzine to capture Ash.

## Relationships

* **Natasha Karsavina**: Natasha is Blanca's wife from the Republic of Kazakhstan of the Soviet Union. He received his code name of "Blanca" from her and abandoned his post when he suspected she was targeted and killed in what was reported as a terrorist attack. Blanca admits to having never known real love until he met his wife and appears to have suffered great emotional turmoil upon her passing.

* **Dino Golzine**: Blanca has appeared to known Dino for an unknown time prior to Dino obtaining Ash. Blanca is respectable toward Dino but is not shy about being displeased regarding some of his distasteful traits. He is also not hesitant about warning Dino about potential retaliation from Ash but will let the mafia boss face his decisions if needed.

* **Yut-Lung**: Blanca signs a contract with Yut-Lung to be his bodyguard and to protect him from threats such as Ash. He carried out his duties professionally defending Yut-Lung from harm but does not attack Ash or Eiji directly under the pretext of defending Yut-Lung. The suspicion that Blanca allowed himself to be hired on purpose to in fact defend Ash strains their relationship and ultimately causes Blanca to request the contract be severed. This is not before Blanca provides some parting words of advice to Yut-Lung meant to help him as he saw how much pain he was in due to his family.

* **Ash Lynx**: When Ash was in his early teens, Blanca was hired by Golzine to be Ash's mentor. After witnessing Ash's potential and hardships, Blanca agreed to be his mentor and made it clear to those around them, minus Golzine, that no one was to harm Ash or else face his wrath. He then proceeded to tutor Ash in various fields, including marksmanship, espionage, combat, hand to hand fighting, and many others. Blanca views Ash as family and is very protective of him after figuring out the trauma Ash has suffered.
 From how well he had gotten to know Ash, Blanca can accurately predict Ash's course of action and read his emotions. When Ash admits how much Eiji means to him, Blanca could tell that he would go so far as to sacrifice his own life to ensure Eiji's safety but also saw how happy he was to know someone cared for him so purely and how much it saddened Ash at having to say goodbye.

* **Eiji Okumura**: Although he had no affiliation with the Japanese boy, Blanca was forced to target him when it was made clear that Eiji was Ash's greatest weakness. In time, Blanca would see the kind of effect Eiji would have on Ash and sees why Ash cares for him so greatly.

* **Sing Soo-Ling**: He first met Sing while visiting Yut-Lung. A comical duo, the two get along rather well and are shown to work well in the midst of a fight. Although Sing is somewhat intimidated by Blanca's large build, Blanca is always friendly to him.

## Abilities

Being a former Russian operative since his early teen years, Blanca is an expert in the arts of assassination, firearms, close combats and any technique associated with the profession. Being Ash's mentor, he has taught the teen boy everything he knows from marksmanship, hand to hand combat, assessment situation, and even multiple forms of torture designed not to kill.

His skill is such that Ash admitted that he could not defeat Blanca as he was, and this is proven to an extent when Blanca gives Ash a severe beating on their first meeting in years. The battle at the Museum, however, suggests that Ash can indeed give even his mentor a tough time on his home turf.

By far Blanca's most powerful skill is that in his sniping ability, as he can shoot far beyond the range of an average sniper. He can even perfectly snipe the man piloting a helicopter to bring that down in a single shot despite unfavorable conditions, such as excessive wind.

## Etymology

* "Blanca" is a code name that previously belonged to his wife.

* His birth name of "Sergei" is a Russian name.

## Episode Appearances

* Episode 17 The Killers

* Episode 18 Islands in the Stream

* Episode 19 Ice Palace

* Episode 20 The Unvanquished

* Episode 21 The Undefeated

* Episode 22 As I Lay Dying

* Episode 23 For Whom the Bell Tolls

* Episode 24 The Catcher in the Rye

## Quotes

* (To Ash) "Yes, Honey."

* “That’s for you to decide for yourself” (when Ash asks him if a book is good)

* “What’s wrong? You can’t punch me from that far back.”

* “This will be the last time I give you a word of advice.”

* (To Yut-Lung) "As you wish, young sir."

* “We have to do something about them.”

* (To Dino) "Time is an ironic thing. For us, it means to age. But for boys like him, it means to grow."

* (To Yut-Lung) "I love all women. They're beautiful and strong. Like life itself."

* (To Yut-Lung) "You must not take Eiji Okumura away from Ash. It would only be making another one of us. Unloving, unloved. A sad being living only on hatred and emptiness."

## Trivia

* His codename, Blanca, comes from the nickname he used to call his wife as she came from the White Russia (the eastern part of present-day Belarus).

* The novel Blanca mentions in episode 18 is *Islands in the Stream* by Ernest Hemingway.

* In Private Opinion, Blanca is revealed to have degrees in psychology and psychiatry.

* Based on his name, education, and career, Blanca is possibly of Russian nationality.

## References

1. ↑ Banana Fish Production Book. Photos found here.
2. ↑ Episode 18
3. ↑ Episode 24 The Catcher in the Rye