Max Lobo

* Anime
* New York Sense

**Max Lobo** is a major supporting character, as well as a journalist in Banana Fish.

An army vet of the Vietnam (manga)/Iraq (anime) war, Max was friends with Griffin Callenreese and later allied himself with Ash Lynx to figure out and stop the plans relating to Banana Fish.

## Appearance

Max has short, light brown hair, and thin eyebrows above his blue eyes. He usually wears casual attire not limited to a greenish-blue jacket over an unbuttoned white shirt with a red collar.

In New York Sense, he is shown to have an older appearance and now wears glasses.

## Personality

A kind-hearted, brave, and often times funny man, Max is caring and affectionate, and would do anything for his friends, family, and those he is loyal to. Being a veteran and former prisoner, Max has combat experience. This side of him can show in certain situations.

## History

Max served in the United States army alongside his friend, Griffin, and was part of the NYPD for a while. After which he became a reporter.

## Abilities

Being a former soldier from the Vietnam war (Iraq in the anime), Max Lobo has experience in both hand-to-hand combat and marksmanship and is physically adept in all of these despite years of being off any battlefield.

His fighting ability is more than proven when he was able to confront Ash in a fistfight that ended in a stalemate and is seen repeatedly when Ash is forced to fight hostiles.

His quick-thinking has saved him and Ash on multiple occasions, making Max one of Ash's greatest allies.

## Relationships

* **Griffin Callenreese**: Max and Griffin served together in the army and were in the same squad unit. Although their relationship is not greatly detailed, their friendship appeared quite strong as Max was riddled with concern and guilt when he had to stop Griffin after he'd been infected with Banana Fish and when he learned of his death. He later mentions that one of the reasons he looks out for Ash was because he wanted to honor Griffin's memory.

* **Jessica Randy**: Max's ex-wife who greets him with a shotgun when they meet again. Despite their friction, they share the love of their son, and reconcile after a dangerous incident. Even knowing how strong and capable Jessica is, Max is still protective of her and often looks out for her in dangerous situations. They are later stated to have re-married.

* **Ash Lynx**: Max is shown to cooperate well with Ash but not so much as when they first met in jail. The two develop a deep respect for each other as the series progresses. Max even admits that Ash is like a son to him. Max has shown to be one of the people with the most understanding of Ash, as seen during Ash's seeming betrayal and was able to realize that it was because Eiji's life was in danger without Ash confirming it. Max is also caring for Ash's deep sexual abuse trauma and burned all the recordings and photos of Ash's mistreatments both to avoid using it as evidence that would expose his miserable times for the world to see, but also to give Ash respite.

* **Eiji Okumura**: He considers Eiji to be nice and is keenly aware of his significance to Ash. At the same time, he notes Eiji to be Ash's Achilles heel.

* **Shunichi Ibe**: Ibe met Max through his publisher in which the publisher had done a special project on the NYPD the year before. Max defends Ibe and they escape together from Golzine's mansion when imprisoned.

## Episode Appearances

* Episode 01 A Perfect Day for Bananafish

* Episode 03 Across the River and into the Trees

* Episode 04 This Side of Paradise

* Episode 05 From Death to Morning

* Episode 06 My Lost City

* Episode 07 The Rich Boy

* Episode 08 Banal Story

* Episode 09 Save Me the Waltz

* Episode 10 Babylon Revisited

* Episode 11 The Beautiful and Damned

* Episode 12 To Have and Have Not

* Episode 13 The Snows of Kilamanjaro

* Episode 14 Tender is the Night

* Episode 15 The Garden of Eden

* Episode 16 Lo, The Poor Peacock

* Episode 17 The Killers

* Episode 18 Islands in the Stream

* 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

> "*1*"
> ― 2[source]
>
>

 (To Jessica) "*We need to stay apart so at least one of us survives.*"

## Trivia

* Akimi Yoshida, the mangaka, has based his likeness on actor Harrison Ford.

## References

1. ↑ Banana Fish Production Book. Photos found here.