Regarding Banana Fish’s content

thatshamelessyaoishipper:

dailybananafish:

Episode 2 might have given everyone a taste of what to expect from this story from now on, but I figured it’s time to clear up some misunderstandings I’ve seen around in the fandom so far.

Yes, Banana Fish is originally a shoujo manga, meaning the main demographic were female readers, but it’s not at all what most people would expect a story in the shoujo genre to be, nor is it something only female readers/viewers can enjoy.

Something I’ve also seen a lot is people recommending Banana Fish and promoting it as “Yuri on Ice, but a bit darker”. That is not true ! Please do not go into this thinking you’ll get a fluffy pairing with some ocassional angst sprinkled in. Banana Fish is a plot-heavy story and the relationship between Ash and Eiji grows slowly and subtly.
Yuri!!! on Ice has absolutely no other common ground with Banana Fish beside the fact that both of these are produced by MAPPA.

Banana Fish’s story focuses on streetgang warfare, corruption, drug abuse, rape and child pornography.
The main character Ash Lynx is a CSA victim and continues to be sexually harassed and assaulted many times in the story. These things happen off-screen, but it is a vital part of the story which Akimi Yoshida portrayed with great care in the original manga.

I really hope this helps first time watchers get a better impression on what to expect from Banana Fish.

Again, important for those who might be gaining interest in Banana Fish!

Though just to be clear: none of the difficult topics presented in Banana Fish are romanticized or fetishized in any way – they’re shown like the horrible crimes they are (in fact they’re not shown at all, only referenced). But these are still difficult topics and if they make you uncomfortable, you should be aware of them before you begin the anime.

So far it’s shaping up to be a great anime but please remember that it won’t be for everyone and that’s okay.

(Also as a side-note: another common ground with Yuri on Ice is the fact that they’re both directed by female directors (who are few and far between in the anime industry), but then again that doesn’t make Banana Fish any less dark.)