Banana Fish Episode 8 Review: Banal Story

Contrary to the episode’s title, this week’s episode is anything but banal. It has so many twists and turns, you’ll be on the edge of your seat in anticipation of the next big reveal! When it rains, it pours as Ash and his merry band of freedom fighters find themselves backed into a corner. When danger is pressing in from all sides, it’s only a matter of time before someone gets hurt! Find out who in this week’s review of Episode 8, Banal Story!

Plot

When Ash and co. get a little too close to the truth, Golzine sends his men to attack Max’s ex-wife and son, prompting Ash and Max to rush off to their rescue. Unbeknownst to them, Shorter is working with Yut Lung, and the pair kidnaps Eiji and carts him off to Chinatown to await his fate. Before they can set off to rescue their friend, Ash, Max, and Ibe meet someone that sheds some light on ‘Banana Fish’.

Episode Highlights

Character Title Cards: This week we see Golzine entertaining some rather high profile clientele, both of which are heads of government and the military. In order to convey the importance of these seemingly one-off characters, the characters have their names and professions displayed on the screen during their initial introduction.

Show and Tell: BANANA FISH goes above and beyond the call of duty. Not only do they take care to explain some of the more ‘complex’ plotlines, but, they also give a visual representation of whatever it is the characters are explaining. The visual is usually a bit of an art shift from that of the usual animation style, typically incorporating a much more abstract or surrealist animation style.

Themes & Trivia

Meaningful Title: All of the episode titles have been references to novels and short stories by famous American authors. This week’s episode is no different, borrowing its title from Ernest Hemingway’s 1926 short story, Banal Story. The story was published in an issue of The Little Review, before being reprinted in 1927 in Hemingway’s short story collection, Men Without Women. Banal Story is Hemingway’s shortest story, coming in at just two pages.

Spidey Sense: Ash has an almost inhuman ability to sense when someone is sneaking up on him, similar to the Marvel superhero Spiderman’s aforementioned Spidey Sense, a special power that alerts him to incoming attacks or enemies.

Brotherly Love: Hua Wang and Wang Lung all have a rather unhealthy relationship with their brother, Yut Lung… It’s implied that they both may have sexually assaulted him on a number of occasions.

Comments

There are a lot of points in the story so far where the anime only implies that something happened, whereas the manga straight out says it. Case in point, the scene at the beginning with Jessica, it is heavily implied that she was sexually assaulted by DIno’s men, but in the manga, she straight up tells Max what happened when he comes to her rescue. I get it, gotta keep their PG rating, and it doesn’t necessarily take away from the flow of the story… I suppose. I’m just being nitpicky.

Also… Shorter was definitely bald in the manga and I don’t mean buzz cut, I mean BALD like a newborn baby (well most babies)… I guess the change was made to make him much more acceptable to modern audiences and trust me, I love his purple mohawk, it’s a definite improvement!

All Hell Breaks Loose

This week’s episode definitely keeps up the momentum, Eiji is in the clutches of Yut Lung and Papa Dino, while Ash, Max, and Ibe are left reeling after uncovering the truth behind ‘Banana Fish’. A lot of plot points are coming to a head at once and it’s hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but, it’s an enjoyable ride nonetheless!

I’ll be back next week with another BANANA FISH review, but in the meantime, be sure to check out MANGA.TOKYO’s other amazing Summer 2018 reviews!!