The original Banana Fish manga is an action-filled crime drama taking place in New York (and a bit in LA) in the mid 1980s–i.e., when the manga itself was written. The currently airing anime is largely the same story but with a twist–it is now set in modern day.
Image source: TVアニメ「BANANA FISH」公式 on Twitter
Banana Fish is the tale of Ash. A victim of childhood abuse, he escaped to the streets of New York City and–after years of struggle–carved a life for himself in the criminal saturated underworld. Now the leader of a gang, he works loosely under Mafia boss Dino Golzine. However, when he discovers a connection between a mysterious drug in Golzine’s possession and his catatonic brother’s condition, Ash starts down a road filled with the bodies of his friends and foes alike.
In the original manga, 1980s New York is as much of a character as any of the people in the story. It’s dirty, violent, and anything but safe. People roam the city in bright colors and oddly patterned clothes. Kidnappings and murders are all but ignored even by the non-corrupt members of the police force. Gangs battle in the streets with impunity and the mob controls much of the police and the judiciary.
It’s a wonderful setting for a crime drama, but in the case of the anime, the big problem comes when you attempt to leave all this the same while nominally moving the setting 30 years into the future. A lot has changed in that time–and it’s safe to say that the city has become quite a bit more progressive.
Thus much of the original cultural context is lost and/or misplaced in the anime version’s modern-day take on the tale. However, most of the time, it is possible to ignore these eccentricities thanks to the exciting story. Unfortunately, what can’t be ignored is the great technological wonder known as the smartphone.
From an 80s point of view, the smartphone is a piece of magic.
Image source: TVアニメ「BANANA FISH」公式 on Twitter
As a Phone
Speaking as a child of the mid-80s, personal cell phones were almost unheard of. My family’s first cell phone was a footlong brick that weighed a ton and had to be plugged into a car’s cigarette lighter port to work. It wasn’t until a decade later that personal cell phones really became an everyday thing–and another decade before smartphones became affordable.
Banana Fish’s story is designed for a world where if a person is not at home or work–i.e., the places with a landline–it’s basically impossible to get in contact with them. And if you’re trying to get in touch with someone who has gone to ground, you have no choice but to pound the pavement and search the old-fashioned way.
Because of this, despite the anime’s modern setting, characters act as if they can’t just call (or text) each other. Any time the characters are searching for each other, they conveniently forget that they have instant contact devices in their pockets.
Image source: TVアニメ「BANANA FISH」公式 on Twitter
Now the anime does try to incorporate smartphones into the story, but it doesn’t do so in any meaningful way. Phone conversations that were had in an office are now had in a car. When out and about, smartphones are used instead of payphones.
Moreover, the show goes out of its way to break the character’s phones (or have them taken away) at certain points throughout the story to preserve the plot. However, logically, getting a new one–even if it’s a cheap burner phone instead of a smartphone–is simple, to say the least. Not to mention that the tactical advantage of instant communication is so vital that it would be insane for them to not have cell phones with them at all times–especially when they’re being hunted by the mob.
Image source: TVアニメ「BANANA FISH」公式 on Twitter
As a Camera
Smartphones also act as cameras–both video and traditional. Find a notebook or photograph as you’re unraveling the mystery? Take a photo of it. Now you have a copy that’s even easier to carry. People are commiting crimes (like attempted murder) in front of you? Record that shit–it’s evidence. If nothing else, you have a listening device on you at all times. But what makes it even better is that destroying the phone doesn’t necessarily destroy the evidence–after all, the cloud exists.
Image source: TVアニメ「BANANA FISH」公式 on Twitter
As a Computer
The computer has changed the world over the past 30 years, no doubt, but it’s the smartphone that made it mobile and put it in the palm of our hands. In Banana Fish, Dino Golzine wants Ash and his friends dead for various reasons, but the most common one is the simple fact that they know too much. As some of them are reporters, they have a very real ability to expose him should they get what they know to their editors. In the 80s, this wouldn’t be an easy task. In 2018, it’s as easy as an email. Every night, either of the journalists could easily upload everything they know and send it whenever they want. Dino Golzine has no way of stopping them from sharing the information.
Then there’s the little thing called the internet–aka the repository for all human knowledge real and imagined–and a smartphone puts it right in the hands of every character. The series tries to sidestep this by saying that both Banana Fish and Dr. Dawson don’t appear on the net at all.
Image source: TVアニメ「BANANA FISH」公式 on Twitter
But with mysterious deaths in Iraq, a string of suicides, and an ever-growing number of people who seem to have known about the project, the idea that Banana Fish is completely absent from the net is insanity. It’s hard to believe it wouldn’t at least appear on some crazy conspiracy board with online sleuths theorizing about what it is.
And as for Dr. Dawson, the idea that someone who came of age in the 90s and 2000s doesn’t have at least some kind of internet footprint is unlikely in the extreme. Before joining the army and becoming a mad scientist, it’s pretty likely he was a normal person with a MySpace or Facebook page. The idea of scrubbing him from the internet after the fact is likewise laughable. After all, as we see more and more these days, the internet never forgets.
Image source: TVアニメ「BANANA FISH」公式 on Twitter
In the end, Banana Fish is much more compelling as a period piece. Not only does the lack of modern technology–e.g., smartphones–add to the sense of danger prevalent throughout the story, it gives a snapshot on how popular culture viewed 80s New York in that time period as well.
If you’re just looking to see the crime drama in action and don’t care about the little plot holes the change in technology is responsible for, then don’t worry: the fun story is still there to enjoy. But if you want to ruin Banana Fish for yourself as you’re watching, just keep asking yourself why they aren’t using their smartphones at nearly every twist and turn.
Banana Fish can be viewed in English on Amazon Prime Video.
Top Image Source: TVアニメ「BANANA FISH」公式 on Twitter
The series for this week’s article was chosen by Patreon Supporter Hideo Teramoto as part of the $15 reward tier. If you would like to choose a currently airing series for me to write about, I’d love it if you would do the same.
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