# Banana Fish (2018)

> A teenage gang leader in New York and a Japanese photojournalist uncover a deadly new drug while Ash Lynx confronts his abuser and rival gangs.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/69077

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 24
- Episode runtime: 23 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: animation, crime, drama
- Network: Fuji TV, Iwate Menkoi Television, Sakuranbo TV
- Cast: Yuma Uchida, Kenji Nojima, Unsho Ishizuka, Hiroaki Hirata, Jun Fukuyama, Yoshimasa Hosoya, Makoto Furukawa, Soma Saito
- TMDB rating: 8.1/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8515016/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: graphic
- Tone: tense, melancholic, emotionally raw, stylized, gritty

## What critics say

Audiences rate the series positively for its gripping crime plot, emotional intensity and the bond between its two leads, though its dark subject matter is demanding.

## Synopsis

Banana Fish (2018) is a Japanese animated crime drama series created for Fuji TV, produced by the anime studio MAPPA. Teenage gang leader Ash Lynx (voiced by Yuma Uchida) is a hardened fighter in New York City who has survived a childhood of abuse, and he is pulled into a hunt for a deadly new drug alongside Eiji Okumura (voiced by Kenji Nojima), a Japanese photojournalist whose camera becomes his moral anchor. Their investigation puts them against mafia families, rival gangs, and a powerful crime boss named Dino Golzine (voiced by Unsho Ishizuka). Each episode pushes the pair deeper into a conspiracy where every alliance is provisional and every betrayal costs something real. The series runs as a single 24-episode season told as one continuing story, and its tone is tense, melancholic, and emotionally raw, with tender moments between the leads set against brutal street violence. Set in 1980s New York, it balances gritty urban atmosphere with a stylized anime sensibility. Fans of Cowboy Bebop, Death Note, and Narcos will find resonance in its blend of criminal intrigue, morally grey characters, and doomed devotion.

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