This is one of the earliest illustrations from the anime. It first appeared on the cover of the Kyarabii TV magazine’s summer 2018 edition (volume 32). I scanned it from a clear file. Link to the full-size scan is in the source. I’d appreciate it if you don’t reupload the image elsewhere. Feel free to use it for edits.

Banana Fish Exhibition official art. I think this is my favorite picture of Ash and Eiji from the creators of the anime. I scanned it from a clear file. Link to the full-size scan is in the source. I’d appreciate it if you don’t reupload the image elsewhere. Feel free to use it for edits.

Special card set that came with the ANGEL EYES art book if purchased from the Noitamina Shop for a limited time. 

The one with Ash and Eiji sleeping is one of my favorite illustrations. Notice how Ash is sleeping in English and Eiji in Japanese.

Link to the full-size scans is in the source. I’d appreciate it if you don’t reupload the images elsewhere. Feel free to use them for edits.

BANANA FISH Image Album

An image album with music inspired by the Banana Fish manga was released in 1988. It features seven instrumental tracks arranged by Junko Miyagi and one song in English performed by Loretta Heywood. The album was rereleased in 1991 with one additional instrumental track and one additional song (shown with *).

I recently discovered that the booklet of the album’s vinyl release contains all sorts of interesting information. Just take a look at the insert cover above. I don’t think I’ve seen this official art anywhere else.

There are notes about how the album was conceived and the inspiration behind each track, often referencing memorable scenes from the manga. The note about the last track (Heaven) caught my attention. 

With bloodstained hands and the heart of an angel

Will his destination be heaven or hell?

Also check out the last verse of the song.

The album’s release date is late 1988, so the story was far from complete by then. And it’s probably just a coincidence but I felt like this verse kind of served as a premonition for what is to come.

The booklet scans can be found in the source link. I just slightly retouched the cover image above. The text is more or less legible (just not legible enough for my Japanese level). 

Ash and Eiji in Cape Cod. Illustration by Akemi Hayashi, the character designer of Banana Fish. This postcard comes with the KNOX pen case “souvenir” that went on sale on Ash’s birthday last year.

Link to the full-size scan is in the source. I’d appreciate it if you don’t reupload the image elsewhere. Feel free to use it for edits.

You can find the English translation of the Japanese lyrics of RED here. Thanks once again to @iamtrashforash for translating.

The “Survive Said The Prophet×BANANA FISH SPECIAL MOVIE” in the bonus DVD is basically two music videos of “found & lost” and “RED” (TV-size versions), featuring scenes from the Banana Fish anime.

Feel free to use these scans. They’re not great but still I’d appreciate if you could give credit to me by linking back to this blog.

Moment, animenin soundtrack’ında benim en sevdiğim sevdiğim parçalardan bir tanesi... 10 Nisan 2019′da piyasaya sürülecek animasyon rehber kitapçığına bu ismi vermeyi uygun görmüşler. Çok da iyi etmişler. Şöyle bir düşününce Ash ve Eiji’nin ilişkisi hep belli “an”lar üzerine kurulu. Zaten birlikte geçirdikleri zaman bir “an”da geçip gidivercek kadar kısa. 

Bu official art’la ilgili söyleyecek çok şey var. Ben de etrafta biraz bir şeyler okudum. Başkalarının söylediklerini kendi düşüncelerimle kabaca derledim. 

Çayırdaki başaklardan bu karenin animenin ikinci kapanışından bir “an” olduğunu anlıyoruz. Eiji açık havanın ve Ash’in yanında olmanın tadını çıkarırken Ash onun kadar rahat değil. Gözlerini Eiji’den ayıramıyor. Ona bakışı ise Eiji yanı başında olmasına rağmen hasret dolu. Sanki Eiji (ya da kendisi?) aslında orada değilmiş gibi. Sanki gözünü kapatıp açsa Eiji kaybolacakmış gibi. Halbuki elini azıcık oynatsa ona dokunabilir. Ama dokunmuyor. Bu “an” Eiji’nin Ash’e ne kadar yakın ama aslında ne kadar da uzak olduğunu çok ama çok güzel anlatıyor.

Twitter’da eijjang ve AslanFishbone resimde ‘gerekli’ editing’i yapmış. Elinize sağlık!

Banana Fish’in animesinin Tokyo’da (ve sonradan Osaka’da) düzenlenen sergisi için yayınlanan official art. 

Stitched and cleaned by @divakaashi. Thank you so much!

Link to the full-size version is included in the source.

Külkedisi demişken...

Kuş mevzusu bitemedi… Yok ama bunu ayrıca paylaşmak zorundaydım, çünkü şimdi bir şey fark ettim. Banana Fish’in animatörü Noriko Itou, bu tweet’i animenin son bölümü yayınlandıktan sonra atmış. Bir de Eiji’nin mektubuna gönderme yaparak “Kuş da hep seninle” yazmış XD