Banana Fish

Banana Fish (2018)

My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars


I started looking into this because I kept seeing it compared to Yuri!!! on Ice, which is one of my favorite anime to date. Have to say that personally I don't see enough in parallels to make those comparisons warranted. The entire premise and the main characters are vastly different from what some would call their YoI counterparts.

Not to say that this series doesn't have it's own pool of interesting characters to pull from. Ash especially seems to be hard to predict, and keeps revealing new reactions and past information that makes many prior questionable behaviors make a lot more sense. Eiji, on the other hand, seems all to innocent and naive, yet seems to have a surprising amount of conviction himself when it comes to getting things done. Still not as sure of himself, especially when it comes to weapons in this mafia riddled universe, but he's made his choice to stick with Ash and never wavers from that conviction. Surprising for a mellow journalist, past high jumper, who has never even held a gun prior to meeting Ash in the first place.

The modernization of the series to fit the new release of the anime also seems to do well for both the characters and the adaptation. I looked up the manga art and it is definitely more old school in style. Can't say much beyond that at this point however. I plan to finish the anime currently, but we'll see if that changes depending on the series itself with the coming releases considering we're only through the first 6 out of 24 planned episodes.

Yuri!!! on Ice

Yuri!!! on Ice (2016)

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed this series. The the animation style shows typical to many others (exaggerated long limbs in dancing/skating moves for example), the overall choreography and references used are based on actual routines and skating abilities, giving the story a bit of realism in all the animation. On top of that is the hilarious array of characters. Each one brings something new to the line up, and the combination is hard to resist. Considering I haven't been able to get the music out of my head for a week, I'd say it definitely is catchy.

Attack on Titan

Attack on Titan (2013)

My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars


Done by the makers of Death Note, the art style is somewhat inconsistent. The titans are somewhat androgynous and disproportionate. An especially telling detail is the eyes and the way the hollowed out/haunted faces are done - very similar to the earlier series. The story line itself is rather twisted and complex. It takes time to sort out and make sense of what is going on or has happened leading up to current events. Even with these gaps, each episode ends with a hook that leaves you thinking "it's just another 20 minute episode..." until you realize it's well past bedtime and you really do need sleep more than you need to see that next episode, no matter how badly you want those answers from the story. Rather dark and bloody, it's not for the faint of heart in that regard. A little on the disturbing side overall.