Banana Fish (Anime)

***Banana Fish*** (バナナフィッシュ, stylized *BANANA FISH*) is an anime series based on the manga of the same name by Akimi Yoshida. It is produced by Fuji TV. The first season began airing July 6th, 2018, and the second season airing October 11th, 2018. The adaption revises the setting of the series from the 1980s to the present day, adding modern references such as smartphones, and substituting the Vietnam War with the Iraq War. The series was produced as a part of a commemoration project to mark the 40th anniversary of Yoshida's debut as a manga artist.

## Plot

In New York, Ash Lynx attempts to survive as a gang leader. The secret that drove Ash’s older brother mad in Vietnam has now fallen into the hands of “Papa” Dino Golzine, at the worst time when Eiji Okumura meets Ash.

## Characters

### Main

* **Eiji Okumura** (Kenji Nojima)

* **Ash Lynx** (Yūma Uchida)

### Secondary

* **Max Lobo** (Hiroaki Hirata)

* **Jessica Randy** (Rica Fukami)

* **Yut-Lung** (Jun Fukuyama)

* **Shorter Wong** (Makoto Furukawa)

* **Sing Soo-Ling** (Shoya Chiba)

* **Shunichi Ibe** (Shinji Kawada)

* **Blanca** (Toshiyuki Morikawa)

* **Dino Golzine** (Unshō Ishizuka)

* **Frederick Arthur** (Yoshimasa Hosoya)

* **Skip** (Ayumu Murase)

* **Marvin Crosby** (Katashi Ishizuka)

* **Antonio Jenkins** (Mitsura Ogata)

* **Eduardo L. Fox** (Kenyu Horiuchi)

### Additional

* **Detective** (ep 1) (Akinobu Imai)

* **Weisenberg** (ep 2)

* **Alex** (Haruki Ishiya)

* **Garvey** (Kenjiro Tsuda)

* **Lao Yen Tai** (Soma Saito)

* **Nadia Wong** (Umeka Shouji)

* **Charlie Dickinson** (Yoji Ueda)

* **Willard Evanstine** (Yoshimitsu Shimoyama)

* **Abraham Dawson** (Yuu Hayashi)

## Episodes

Main article: List of Banana Fish Episodes
## Musical score

Opening Theme:

1) “found & lost” by Survive Said The Prophet

2) "FREEDOM " by BLUE ENCOUNT

Ending Theme

1) “Prayer X” by King Gnu

2) "RED " by Survive Said The Prophet

## Banana Fish Key Image

### 2nd Key Animation

* A-Real
* animo caramel
* GONZO
* Satelight
* Seven Seas
* Snow Light Staff
* Studio Massket
* WHITE FOX Izukōgen Studio

### Backgrounds

* Moon Flower
* Studio Pinewood

### In-Between Animation

* A-Real
* Chiptune
* Dr. Movie
* FAI
* HORNETS
* MAPPA
* Sakura Create
* Snow Light Staff
* Studio CL
* Studio Gimlet
* Studio Lings
* Synod
* WHITE FOX
* World Anime Networks
* Xenron

### Paint

* A-Real
* DEFA
* Dr. Movie
* FAI
* M.S.J Musashino Production
* MAPPA
* R.I.C
* Studio CL
* Studio Elle
* Studio Gimlet
* Studio Massket
* World Anime Networks
* Xenron

## Staff

* Japanese Staff

* Screenplay: Koji Seko
* Storyboard: Hiroko Utsumi
* Director: Hiroko Utsumi
* Assistant Director: Hashiguchi Junichiro
* Series Composition: Hiroshi Seko
* Animation Director: Akemi Lin
* Assistant Animation Director: Mashima Jiro, Koji Hisaki
* Music: Shinichi Osawa
* Art Director: Toshiharu Mizutani

## Awards and Nominations

### Tokyo Anime Award Festival

* The Banana Fish anime was voted #1 by the fan votes for the Tokyo Anime Award Festival. It topped the 100 anime titles from a total of 524 titles that aired and were released in Japan between October 15, 2017 - October 13, 2018.
	+ It would go on to outright win the "Anime Fan Award" with 68,507 votes at Tokyo Anime Award Festival 2019 in another vote held from January 14th to February 13th

### Crunchyroll Anime Awards

* The anime was nominated in the "Best Director" category at the Crunchyroll Anime Awards 2019.
	+ Banana Fish would also be nominated in two of the bonus categories announced: "Best Drama" and "Best Romance".

### Anime Trending Awards

The Banana Fish anime was nominated in the following categories:

* Anime of the Year: Banana Fish
* Man of the year: Ash Lynx, Eiji Okumura
* Couple of the Year: Ash x Eiji
* Supporting Man of the Year: Shorter Wong
* Best in Adaption
* Best in Ensemble
* Best in Sceneries and Visuals
* Best in Soundtrack
* Action or Adventure Anime of the Year
* Drama Anime of the Year
* Opening Theme Song of the Year: 'found & lost' - Survive Said The Prophet
* Ending Theme Song of the Year: 'Prayer X' - King Gnu
* Best Voice Acting Performance by a Male: Yuuma Uchida - Ash Lynx (Banana Fish)

### The Banana Fish Official Tour

* The BANANA FISH Official Tour in NY, held in February 2019, received the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Award for the “Tour Grand Prix 2019”.[1]

## References

1. ↑ Crunchyroll
2. ↑ AnimeNewsNetwork
3. ↑ Crunchyroll Announcement
4. ↑ Anime Award Bonus Categories