Banana Fish: 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Eiji Okumura

Eiji’s person is an open book with masses of screentime, however, there are some things even the most important Eiji lovers may have ignored.

Originally published monthly in a manga mag from 1985 to 1994, the story of Banana Fish is a bittersweet one that turned into animated by using MAPPA in 2018. The anime was a success upon its launch and it turned into syndicated through Amazon for viewers to observe the show the world over on Prime Video.

The series accompanied the existence of Ash Lynx, a 17-year-old gang chief, who befriended Eiji Okumura, a photojournalist assistant from Japan. Eiji visited New York City to interview Ash, but he instead located himself entangled in Ash’s complicated adventure to uncover the truth behind banana fish. Most fanatics would agree that Eiji’s caring and compassionate nature makes it easy for visitors to fall in love with him, almost as difficult as Ash did. As the deuteragonist, Eiji’s individual is an open book with lots of screentime, but there are a few matters even the biggest Eiji lovers may also have overlooked.

10. His Favorite Dish Is Natto

As distinct humans with two exceptional cultures, Eiji and Ash rarely shared equal taste in delicacies. While Ash was aware of American dishes, Eiji’s weight loss plan consisted of more traditional Japanese dishes.

Eiji excitedly expressed his love for Japanese food frequently before, but he made positive to factor out that his favored meal turned into natto, fermented soybeans. Natto is typically served as a breakfast dish, so it got here as no wonder to fanatics while Eiji effectively organized some for Ash to consume inside the morning.

9. He Was Born & Raised In Izumo, Japan

Unlike Ash, who lived a fast-paced lifestyle within the huge metropolis, Eiji became a small-city boy. He mentioned to Ash that he become from Izumo, a small city in Japan referred to as the Land of the Gods.

A description of his life in Izumo, Japan was told in the epilogue manga, Fly Boy In The Sky, which targeted the story of the way Shunichi Ibe met his assistant, Eiji. In the anime, Eiji made numerous attempts to persuade Ash to stay a nonviolent lifestyle and pass back to Izumo with him, however lamentably, Eiji’s wish in no way got here authentic.

8. His Homelife Wasn’t As Stable As Ash Assumed It Was

The side story, Fly Boy In The Sky, which uncovered the events previous to Banana Fish, targeted Eiji’s existence before flying to New York City to meet Ash. Although Eiji had a seemingly sheltered upbringing and strong home existence, he nonetheless handled family issues and turmoil returned in Izumo, Japan.

His father had fallen sick because of liver headaches, and it changed into implied that his mom turned into having an affair throughout her husband’s restoration on the health center. Despite his father’s health status and his mom’s unfaithfulness, he remained natural and optimistic.

7. His Relationship With Ash Is Literally Indescribable

After the very last episode of the series aired, Eiji and Ash’s courting on the legitimate website changed from”first-class pal” to a single black line. This turned into executed to explicit that their dating had passed the restriction of any platonic or romantic relationship that had ever come before it.

The bond between Eiji and Ash has become one that couldn’t be defined with words. The love they shared become deeper than any emotions they had for every person else. To Ash, Eiji become the best man or woman in life that became worthy of protection in any respect value.

6. Ash Was His First Kiss

As someone who knew Eiji considering the fact that he changed into a younger boy, Shunichi Ibe showed that Eiji hadn’t kissed each person earlier than Ash. Disguised as a passionate kiss, Ash’s plan to switch a hidden message to Eiji became a fulfillment.

Ash wrote a message, concealed it inside a hollow pill, and held the capsule in his mouth till he give up of the visitation. Without warning, Ash shared a goodbye kiss with Eiji and finished his scheme undetected earlier than returning to his prison mobile.

5. The Gender Of His Character Was Intentional

Many visitors noticed that Eiji became a totally emotionally sensible man or woman that became unafraid of expressing his emotions. Recognizing that the ones are developments that are more related to female characters, the writer Akimi Yoshida explained that she purposefully made Eiji a boy to emphasize the extensive range of feelings that pass into relationships among individuals of the identical gender.

With Ash because the male protagonist, Eiji had to be a younger man who developed an immeasurably near friendship with him.

4. .He Remains Friends With Sing Years After The Series Finished

In the postscript manga titled Garden of Light, the lives of the characters seven years after the events of Banana Fish were defined. The tale focused on Eiji and his vintage friend, Sing Soo-Ling, who both were residing in New York on the time.

Eiji has become an executed photographer, and Sing became a pupil at CUNY and the co-chief of the Chinese mafia. Eiji and Sing controlled to live close friends over time and lived collectively as roommates in Greenwich Village, a neighborhood on the west of Manhattan in New York City.

3. He Believes Ash Is His Soulmate

Based on their journey together and the emotions they shared, it’s miles clear that Eiji and Ash’s souls are for all time tied. Despite not engaging in romantic sports, Eiji became taken into consideration to be Ash’s cherished, and Sing pointed out that the two boys shared a bond between their souls.

In his farewell letter to Ash, Eiji stated, “My soul is always with you,” which indicated that the love they have for one another became now not, isn’t always, and in no way will be restricted through distance, time, or even demise.

2. He Is Nearsighted While Ash Is Farsighted

Although their character traits made them polar opposites, Eiji was the Yin to Ash’s Yang. Everything from their persona to their physical appearance confirmed that they were very different humans, however, their inseparable bond proved that opposites entice.

They vary in hair color, upbringing, nationality, race, morals, and unusually enough, eye situations. Eiji suffered from nearsightedness, in any other case referred to as myopia, which avoided him from seeing definitely from afar. Conversely, Ash becomes farsighted, which explains why he becomes desirable at capturing from a protracted distance but wished glasses to study.

1. He Ended His Pole Vaulting Career Because Of An Injury

Among the ones in Ash’s team, Eiji noticeably was the one with advanced athletic capacity. Before visiting New York City, Eiji became a longtime pole vaulter in Izumo, Japan. He received numerous scholarships and offers to pursue a professional career in pole vaulting, but, he became not able to accept any of the offers because of a career-ending injury.

Eiji changed into compelled to retire as an athlete, but he met Shunichi quickly after all through an interview and commenced working as his assistant. He later used his competencies to store himself and Ash in an existence-or-death situation.