Banana Fish
Banana Fish
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Banana Fish

"Love is dangerous"

8.6
Yr 2018
Rt 23m
Status Ended
Animation Drama Action & Adventure Mystery Crime
Your Verdict
Unrated

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Series Brief

Overview

A teenaged gang leader in New York City faces his abuser and rival gangs alongside a photojournalist from Japan as they investigate a deadly new drug.

Status

Latest

  • Banana Fish receives official English dub on Netflix — reported July 13, 2026
Critical Reception

What critics are saying

Score 85 /100

Banana Fish is widely praised for its high-octane action and high-quality animation produced by MAPPA. The series is frequently noted for its compelling narrative, which navigates complex themes involving mafia politics and deeply personal struggles, anchored by a dual-antagonist structure that raises the stakes for the protagonist, Ash Lynx.

While the series is lauded for its storytelling, critical reception notes that the conclusion can be polarizing. Some viewers may find the final trajectory of the plot leaves a conflicted or unpleasant impression, despite the show's overall technical and narrative achievements.

“Banana Fish has amazing action, some beautiful animation (Thanks to MAPPA) and a story to match it all even if the end might leave a bad taste in some people's mouth.”

“It is not often that you see a series with two main antagonists but Banana Fish gives it to you here.”

Transmission Paths

Where to Watch

Netflix
US • CA • UK
Netflix Standard with Ads
US • CA • UK
Production Board

Crew

Director
Yusuke Kubo Daisuke Tokudo Naoki Hishikawa Yuki Nishibata Nobuyoshi Arai Yasunori Goto Kaori Makita
Storyboard Artist
Yusuke Kubo Nobuyoshi Arai
Production Assistant
Kaede Hirata
Assistant Art Director
Kim Jeong-ryeon
CGI Director
Tomoko Washida
Special Effects
Chieko Tokuda
Prop Designer
Akitsugu Hisagi
Assistant Director
Sunghoo Park Junichiro Hashiguchi
Editor
Hiroshi Okuda
Key Animation
Takahiro Kagami Yoshimi Shizuka Shinya Ito
Theme Song Performance
Kazuki Arai Yu Seki
Music Producer
Toshihiro Funahashi
Background Designer
Liang Shuang
Original Music Composer
Shinichi Osawa
Costume Design
Natsuki Yokoyama
Art Designer
Hisako Akagi
Sound Effects
Naoto Yamaya
Director of Photography
Yusuke Tannawa
Character Designer
Akemi Hayashi
Signal Match

Similarity

Where Banana Fish overlaps with other shows, and exactly what they have in common.

Keyword Cloud

Keywords

prison rape anti hero photography revenge mafia conspiracy tragedy urban fugitive orphan drugs hard anime classic literature guns anxious psychological suspense foreign dramatic assassins adventure depressing
Technical Sheet

Details

First Aired
July 06, 2018
Status
Ended
Episode Runtime
23 minutes
Origin
JP
TMDB Votes
936