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 Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 7:50 pm
 1 :: Story 2 :: Creator 3 :: Volumes
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Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 7:52 pm
Story
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.
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Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 7:54 pm
Creator
Akimi Yoshida made her manga debut in 1977 with the college manga story her college story, A Slightly Strange Neighbor. Her immensely popular series Banana Fish, her longest work to date, ran from 1985 to 1994 and made her a superstar in the shojo manga world, injecting a new realism and narrative energy into the genre and attracting a large male crossover readership. Yoshida was honored twice with the top annual prize for excellence in shojo from Japanese publishing giant, Shogakukan.
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Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 7:56 pm
Volumes
Status in Japan :: complete at 19 volumes
Status in US :: 19/19 released
Volume 1
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.
Volume 2
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...
Volume 3
The idea that Ash Lynx would be more controllable in jail has worked out for nobody, because in between gang rape and random assaults, Ash has not only managed to get Eiji to carry out info to his allies in Chinatown, but he's met cellmate Max Lobo, another survivor of his brother's unit in Vietnam. That means as soon as Ash makes bail, he's only headed for bigger trouble. But what's more dangerous for him, confronting Papa Dino or his real father...?
Volume 4
After a failed attempt to kill Golzine, Ash is on the lam with his friends: Shorter, a Chinese gang-member; Eiji, a Japanese reporter who is developing feelings for Ash; Eiji's boss Ibé; and Max Lobo, a journalist and Griffins's former army buddy. Ash heads for his childhood home in Cape Cod and a tragic meeting with his real father. Meanwhile, the group learns that Griffin knew his killer--one Abraham Dawson--back in Vietnam. Could Dawson hold the secret of Banana Fish?
Volume 5
In search of more information about the substance, Ash flees to Los Angeles with a band of allies, where he clashes with Yau-Si, an alluring and duplicitous young assassin. Drawn in by Yau-Si, one of Ash's so-called allies betrays him to the Chinese mafia. Once again Ash is handed over to the rapacious Dino Golzine, who will do anything to cash in on Banana Fish!
Volume 6
Eiji Okamura, a young photographer from Japan, has made Ash's acquaintance; just in time to fall with him into this bloody whirlpool. Now the Chinese Lee syndicate has delivered Ash, Max Lobo, Ibé and Dr. Alexis Dawson to Papa Dino. Banana Fish has been used to brainwash Shorter Wong and manipulate him into mutilating Eiji right before Ash's very eyes!
Volume 7
Ash has only one hand of cards--a loyal posse of street thugs, an investigative reporter, and a sympathetic cop, as he plays his one draw with tricks, trumps, and the hand jive from a .357 Magnum...
Volume 8
Ash squares off with Arthur in a final showdown, but can Arthur be trusted to stick to the rules that he has set up? This showdown has Ash and Arthur surf a sea of blood through the bowels of the New York subway system.
Volume 9
The epic battle between Ash and Arthur reaches its gruesome conclusion. Ash is left hospitalized, but not out of reach from the sinister hands of Papa Dino. Unbeknownst to Ash's crew, Dino has arranged Ash's transfer to a medical facility with a very special purpose in mind. Yut-Lung has finally begun to unveil his plans, but mystery still surrounds him.
Volume 10
The announcement of Ash's death on television news has young Eiji in shock and denial. Ash's body is prepared for autopsy, but Max Lobo is convinced that the body has only been made to look like Ash. Meanwhile, the real Ash Lynx is transferred to a medical compound controlled by the Union Corse and corrupt Senator Kippard, where he will be a guinea pig for the dreaded Banana Fish. But neither Ash nor his friends are content to let him rot there, and they begin their own independent escape plans!
Volume 11
Ash struggles to escape the Mental Health facility with Dr. Alexis Dawson, the surviving brother of the duo that created Banana Fish. Unbeknownst to Ash, Max and Ibe are also attempting to free him. Ash litters the complex sterile hallways with the corpses of the guards who try to stop him. Blanc, a mysterious new character with a link to Ash past emerges and Dino has hired him to get Ash.
Volume 12
Ash has finally escaped from the mental institution where he was held captive and has brought with him crucial evidence of the proof and power of the drug known as Banana Fish. Golzine has hired Blanc, the man responsible for Ash's training in the fighting arts, to bring Ash "home" at any cost!
Volume 13
In a desperate attempt to save Eiji, Ash accepts the role of Papa Dino's right-hand man. He then threatens Max at gunpoint to give him the magazine story on Banana Fish before it hits the press. Grooming Ash to become his successor, Dino sets in motion a chain of events that will truly make him part of the "Family."
Volume 14
Blanca accepts a contract to become Yau-si's bodyguard after a failed assassination attempt on Yau-si. Ash, desperate to protect the life of a friend, agrees to become the legally adopted son and heir of Dino Golzine. Meanwhile, Eiji, Sing, Cain and Ash's crew stage a daring attempt to free Ash during a party held by Papa Dino.
Volume 15
Ash, freed from the clutches of Dino, races to find Eiji, but Dino's men beat him to the punch. A deadly battle rages at the National History Museum, and Ash captures Yut-Lung. Perhaps a deal can be struck and hostages exchanged...
Volume 16
Ash and his crew are faced with a new deadly enemy, as Golzine has hired ex-member of the French Foreign Legion Colonel Fox and his elite cadre to destroy them. To fight back, Ash has formed alliances with local Chinese and African-American gangs. While the two sides clash in an all-out melee in New York's garbage-strewn back alleys and abandoned buildings, Yau-Si is still obsessed with the notion of killing Eiji...
Volume 17
Ash is held captive and interrogated by the brutal Colonel Foxx who does everything in his power to get information on Golzine's "ace in the hole" against the U.S. government. But a caged animal can be held only so long before it bites back. Chaos erupts and Eiji's life hangs in the balance while Ash's key players are captured and brought to Mannerheim's dreaded complex.
Volume 18
Donning the uniform of a doctor, Ash visits the hospital where Eiji is being treated. Ash is alarmed by Eiji's condition, and in a shocking turn of events, makes an alliance with a man from his past. It's time for him and his crew to make their move on Golzine, and the streets will once again be filled with the stench of blood.
Volume 19
The final volume of Banana Fish contains the same dichotomy of darkness and light that characterizes both Ash and Eiji. Harsh reality and soft dreamlike memories find themselves hand-in-hand with heartbreak and hope, sentiment and cynicism, love and murder.
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