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BANANA FISH #2
Banana Fish, Vol. 2
Nature made Ash beautiful; Nurture made him a killer!
VICE NEW YORK IN THE 80s...
Nature made Ash Lynx beautiful; nurture made him a cold ruthless killer. A runaway brought up as the adopted heir and sex toy of “Papa” Dino Golzine, Ash, now at the rebellious age of seventeen, forsakes the kingdom held out by the devil who raised him. But the hideous secret that drove Ash's older brother mad in Vietnam has suddenly fallen into Papa's insatiably ambitious hands--and it's exactly the wrong time for Eiji Okamura, a pure-hearted young photographer from Japan, to make Ash Lynx's acquaintance... Epic in scope, and one of the best-selling shojo titles of all time in Japan, Akimi Yoshida put an electric shock into the genre and gained a huge crossover audience through Banana Fish 's stripped-down, non-stop style.
When Dino arranges Ash's frame-up for the murder of a man he had motive to kill twenty times over, an "accident" behind bars is on the agenda. But in the same prison is Max Lobo, a journalist himself on the trail of the enigma code-named Banana Fish ...
VICE NEW YORK IN THE 80s...
Nature made Ash Lynx beautiful; nurture made him a cold ruthless killer. A runaway brought up as the adopted heir and sex toy of “Papa” Dino Golzine, Ash, now at the rebellious age of seventeen, forsakes the kingdom held out by the devil who raised him. But the hideous secret that drove Ash's older brother mad in Vietnam has suddenly fallen into Papa's insatiably ambitious hands--and it's exactly the wrong time for Eiji Okamura, a pure-hearted young photographer from Japan, to make Ash Lynx's acquaintance... Epic in scope, and one of the best-selling shojo titles of all time in Japan, Akimi Yoshida put an electric shock into the genre and gained a huge crossover audience through Banana Fish 's stripped-down, non-stop style.
When Dino arranges Ash's frame-up for the murder of a man he had motive to kill twenty times over, an "accident" behind bars is on the agenda. But in the same prison is Max Lobo, a journalist himself on the trail of the enigma code-named Banana Fish ...
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 26, 1987
96 people are currently reading
1587 people want to read
About the author
Akimi Yoshida
187 books250 followersAkimi Yoshida (Japanese: 吉田秋生, Yoshida Akimi) is a Japanese cartoonist from Tokyo, best known for her manga series Banana Fish.
Yoshida studied at the Musashino Art University in Tokyo and made her professional debut in 1977. Despite serialising her works in shōjo manga (girls' comics) magazines, most notably in 'Bessatsu Shōjo Comic' and 'Monthly Flowers', during the 80's she developed a visual style akin to the aesthetics of shōnen manga (boy's comics) of that era, contributing significantly to creating a bridge between these two traditions. This is particularly evident in her international best-seller Banana Fish (1985-1994), a thriller set in New York City blending action and homoerotic romance. Among her other major works are the series Yasha (1996-2002) and Umimachi Diary (2006-2018).
Yoshida's comics have received a number of accolades in Japan, including three Shogakukan Manga Awards (1983 and 2001 in the category 'shojo', 2015 in the general category), an Excellence Award for manga at the Japan Media Arts Festival (2007) and the 6th Manga Taishō award (2013).
Yoshida studied at the Musashino Art University in Tokyo and made her professional debut in 1977. Despite serialising her works in shōjo manga (girls' comics) magazines, most notably in 'Bessatsu Shōjo Comic' and 'Monthly Flowers', during the 80's she developed a visual style akin to the aesthetics of shōnen manga (boy's comics) of that era, contributing significantly to creating a bridge between these two traditions. This is particularly evident in her international best-seller Banana Fish (1985-1994), a thriller set in New York City blending action and homoerotic romance. Among her other major works are the series Yasha (1996-2002) and Umimachi Diary (2006-2018).
Yoshida's comics have received a number of accolades in Japan, including three Shogakukan Manga Awards (1983 and 2001 in the category 'shojo', 2015 in the general category), an Excellence Award for manga at the Japan Media Arts Festival (2007) and the 6th Manga Taishō award (2013).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 238 reviews
September 14, 2019
Eiji is a beautiful cinnamon roll that must be protected at all costs.
July 5, 2022
So.... who's gonna bust Ash out of jail? 🤨 2 volumes in and my heart is already feeling the fracture lines. Ash and Eiji simply cannot do this to me.
April 21, 2020
what the fuckitty fuck
March 21, 2023
Ignore this i am going through my yearly banana fish depression<<<333
January 2, 2019
This is the first book I finished for 2019 and it shattered my heart into millions of pieces.
Reading the second volume of Banana Fish is a rollercoaster ride for me. I found myself at the edge of my seat. There is a lot of shocking revelations that I felt my mind stopped processing everything that I have just read.
I have never encountered a character who is more disgusting than Dino Golzine. Marvin, too. That bastard deserved to die. I hope Dino, Arthur, and his whole squad rots soon in hell. Let us not forget that prick from the police who framed Ash. And for most of the people from the prison who did that to Ash, I hope you get served with the most disgusting jail food everyday and rot there in jail forever.
Ash's past was hinted at this volume and I felt my heart clenching into too much pain. I can't believe I lived after reading that. The pain was too unbearable to read. Thanks Banana Fish, I didn't need my heart anyway.
Remember when Eiji returned back from Ash's room after he tried to convince him to talk? That was a whole lot of mood for the whole volume.
I found myself cheering for Ash Lynx the whole time. And Max Lobo is a blessing in disguise. I can't thank his character enough.
I hope the next volume is not heavy as this. I'm not sure if my heart can take too much pain. 😭
Reading the second volume of Banana Fish is a rollercoaster ride for me. I found myself at the edge of my seat. There is a lot of shocking revelations that I felt my mind stopped processing everything that I have just read.
I have never encountered a character who is more disgusting than Dino Golzine. Marvin, too. That bastard deserved to die. I hope Dino, Arthur, and his whole squad rots soon in hell. Let us not forget that prick from the police who framed Ash. And for most of the people from the prison who did that to Ash, I hope you get served with the most disgusting jail food everyday and rot there in jail forever.
Ash's past was hinted at this volume and I felt my heart clenching into too much pain. I can't believe I lived after reading that. The pain was too unbearable to read. Thanks Banana Fish, I didn't need my heart anyway.
Remember when Eiji returned back from Ash's room after he tried to convince him to talk? That was a whole lot of mood for the whole volume.
I found myself cheering for Ash Lynx the whole time. And Max Lobo is a blessing in disguise. I can't thank his character enough.
I hope the next volume is not heavy as this. I'm not sure if my heart can take too much pain. 😭
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 29, 2022
The costume change Eiji makes from the plainest clothes possible into the gayest 80s clothes possible, within two pages of having his first gay kiss is everything to me
May 19, 2025
rip to the one kiss of the series 💔
January 4, 2025
The way I'm constantly biting my nails while reading this series
August 30, 2020
ahhh this is too high stakes it HURTS. I'm so nervous for Eiji and Ash.
July 28, 2021
Siempre sufro mucho por todo lo que Ash tuvo que pasar desde my pequeño. Llore muchísimo porque siempre pienso que en la vida real hay niños que pasan por estas atrocidades y eso rompe mi corazón.
December 4, 2022
ash :((
February 17, 2023
Check your triggers if you want to read these books. I adore the realness of this book, despite the many difficult themes the author used.
June 23, 2023
Why isn't every shoujo manga a crime drama set in 80s New York?
January 26, 2021
I told myself I wouldn't be continuing this series due to me already knowing the ending and the pain I've felt reading the first one but I'm a basic depressed woman who loves to suffer so here I am.
Ash is my man and I WILL give him peace of mind in my mind at least because he doesn't have a break. Also, Eiji is so soft and love their friendship, very intense even if they know each other for not too long.
Ash is my man and I WILL give him peace of mind in my mind at least because he doesn't have a break. Also, Eiji is so soft and love their friendship, very intense even if they know each other for not too long.
January 18, 2026
"He would be useful if he could be tamed. But a lynx is a lynx. He can't be made into a house cat."
Reading Banana Fish, Vol. 2 felt like crossing a line where the story stops warning you and just lets things get brutal. This is where the series becomes genuinely hard to sit with. There are scenes that made me pause, not because they were confusing, but because they were disturbing in a way that feels uncomfortably real. It’s not shocky or exaggerated. It’s heavy, ugly, and relentless, and I think that’s intentional. The lack of safety is exhausting, but it also makes the story feel honest. Nothing here feels softened for the reader. I wouldn’t recommend this volume lightly, especially to anyone sensitive to dark subject matter, but I also can’t deny how deeply it pulled me in.
What stayed with me most were the characters, especially Ash. Watching him endure everything thrown at him without ever fully breaking is both impressive and painful. He doesn’t lash out constantly or fall apart on the page. He just hardens, thinks, and keeps going, and that somehow makes his situation feel worse. His moments with Eiji were the only times I felt any emotional relief, and even those were tense and fragile. Eiji isn’t fearless or heroic in a traditional way, but his fear feels real, and his loyalty feels earned. I also found myself deeply unsettled by the adults around Ash. Their guilt, excuses, and half-measures made the story feel more realistic and frustrating in a way that stuck with me after I closed the book.
The pacing is intense, with barely any room to breathe, and I often felt overwhelmed while reading. Still, I think that discomfort is part of why this volume works. It doesn’t offer hope easily, and it doesn’t pretend survival comes without damage. I finished it feeling drained, angry, and weirdly impressed. This isn’t a volume I enjoyed in a comfortable way, but it’s one that stayed with me long after I put it down.
Date Read: 2026.01.10
Reading Banana Fish, Vol. 2 felt like crossing a line where the story stops warning you and just lets things get brutal. This is where the series becomes genuinely hard to sit with. There are scenes that made me pause, not because they were confusing, but because they were disturbing in a way that feels uncomfortably real. It’s not shocky or exaggerated. It’s heavy, ugly, and relentless, and I think that’s intentional. The lack of safety is exhausting, but it also makes the story feel honest. Nothing here feels softened for the reader. I wouldn’t recommend this volume lightly, especially to anyone sensitive to dark subject matter, but I also can’t deny how deeply it pulled me in.
What stayed with me most were the characters, especially Ash. Watching him endure everything thrown at him without ever fully breaking is both impressive and painful. He doesn’t lash out constantly or fall apart on the page. He just hardens, thinks, and keeps going, and that somehow makes his situation feel worse. His moments with Eiji were the only times I felt any emotional relief, and even those were tense and fragile. Eiji isn’t fearless or heroic in a traditional way, but his fear feels real, and his loyalty feels earned. I also found myself deeply unsettled by the adults around Ash. Their guilt, excuses, and half-measures made the story feel more realistic and frustrating in a way that stuck with me after I closed the book.
The pacing is intense, with barely any room to breathe, and I often felt overwhelmed while reading. Still, I think that discomfort is part of why this volume works. It doesn’t offer hope easily, and it doesn’t pretend survival comes without damage. I finished it feeling drained, angry, and weirdly impressed. This isn’t a volume I enjoyed in a comfortable way, but it’s one that stayed with me long after I put it down.
Date Read: 2026.01.10
September 6, 2025
Having 90% of your antagonistic characters be gay, pedophile rapists isn't just problematic I'd go as far as calling it homophobic.
That plus the racist undertones and rampant fatphobia from the apparent "good guys" I just can't.
That plus the racist undertones and rampant fatphobia from the apparent "good guys" I just can't.
July 18, 2025
that was so intense woah poor ash :(((
(ps eiji in that black tank top and button down? ya !!!)
(ps eiji in that black tank top and button down? ya !!!)
November 1, 2023
İlk cildi beğenmiştim ama bu cilt ile seviye farklı bir noktaya taşınmış. Hikaye artık açılmaya başladı derken karakterler de yerinde durmuyor. Onları da ayriyeten sevdim bu ciltte. Daha çok yönden tanıma imkanı buldukça hepsi ayrı bir yer edindi. Harika bir suç dramı olmakla beraber araya atılan komik sahnelerle de güldürmeyi başarıyor. Tabii bu mizah hikaye akışını baltalamayacak şekilde yapılıyor. Keşke daha erken okusaymışım.
June 25, 2020
4.5
I think this volume definitely got into the more interesting part of the story and I really liked seeing Eiji being brave and taking things into his own hands (even if not everything went according to plan). Ash's backstory is slowly being unveiled and honestly I hate having to see it all over again because it truly makes me sick.
I think this volume definitely got into the more interesting part of the story and I really liked seeing Eiji being brave and taking things into his own hands (even if not everything went according to plan). Ash's backstory is slowly being unveiled and honestly I hate having to see it all over again because it truly makes me sick.
January 23, 2021
A lot happened in this volume. Us getting to know Eiji a little bit more, more of Ash's backstory, a little insight on what Banana Fish is. It was really interesting and upsetting to see things happening again.
February 9, 2022
No thoughts, just Eiji pole vaulting over the prison wall while Ash stares at him in awe.
June 20, 2022
“Si pudiera vivir sin tener que depender de una pistola… no lo cambiaría por nada.”
January 3, 2024
Even better than the first — Banana Fish is singular in the way it addresses incredibly heavy topics and experiences of trauma alongside humor and a fast-paced, no-frills action plot.
March 13, 2024
3.75/5 (rounded up)
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January 5, 2026Hmmm what have I gotten myself into (I can’t stop now)
February 25, 2026
where banana
where fish
where fish
June 17, 2025
I don't even know what to say, I feel so bad for Ash I just want to hug him.
July 14, 2025
Vous sentez l'obsession arriver ? Moi je sens l'obsession arriver
July 7, 2024
j'ai trop hâte de lire la suite, eiji est vraiment trop mims j'ai peur
February 24, 2023
I hate men...
Displaying 1 - 30 of 238 reviews