Someone should always be talking about Banana Fish, and today that someone is Arwen Spicer at The Geek Girl Project. Billed as a “Review & Ramble,” the article also links to additional resources, including a LiveJournal entry from the same author, in which she discusses Banana Fish in the context of 1980s BL. That post was especially enlightening for me, but both are must-reads.
I’ve discussed Banana Fish frequently here at Manga Bookshelf, most notably in my “persuasion post,” Making the case for Banana Fish, and in company with the brilliant minds of Robin Brenner, Eva Volin, Michelle Smith, Connie C., Khursten Santos, and (occasionally) Kate Dacey for the epic roundtable Breaking Down Banana Fish. Arwen’s discussion on 80s BL brings yet another perspective to the series, and is simply not to be missed, especially if (like me) you’ve spent time insisting that Banana Fish isn’t BL.
So go! Read!
PS: Eiji.
JRB says
August 10, 2012 at 4:50 pm“Arwen’s discussion on 80s BL brings yet another perspective to the series, and is simply not to be missed, especially if (like me) you’ve spent time insisting that Banana Fish isn’t BL.”
Well, I agree that Banana Fish uses 80’s BL tropes, but I also believe that it’s technically not BL. “Technically not BL” manga is common to the point of being practically its own genre, whether it’s fujoshi-bait shounen à la [insert GFantasy title of your choice] or innuendo-only shoujo like The Betrayal Knows My Name or No. 6. They all nod at contemporary BL tropes because they’re trying to draw in the BL audience (and/or because the creator likes it), even if they’re not themselves actually BL.
And Viz needs to bring Banana Fish back into print. An omnibus edition would be great, but I’d settle for digital.
Melinda Beasi says
August 10, 2012 at 5:22 pmWhat I really appreciated about her post is that it really put it in the context of the time. I see Banana Fish a bit differently than the GFantasy titles and so on, partly because it existed so many years before those titles did. I remember Khursten mentioning in the roundtable that there really weren’t BL-specific magazines when Banana Fish was being published—at least that’s what I *think* she said. I don’t know enough about the era to make any claims, but that influences the way I see it, too. Still, I’ve always maintained that it isn’t BL. But I really appreciated the additional perspective. :)
And Viz needs to bring Banana Fish back into print.
YES YES A THOUSAND TIMES YES.
JRB says
August 10, 2012 at 6:22 pm“I remember Khursten mentioning in the roundtable that there really weren’t BL-specific magazines when Banana Fish was being published”
That’s mostly true; the late great dinosaur June (which goes back to 1978) and a couple of its spinoffs were around, and there were a couple of short-lived mags that may have overlapped with part of it. But aside from doujinshi, BL and sorta-BL stuff in the 80’s was mostly running in shoujo/josei magazines.
Nonetheless, there was a fair amount of it; stuff like Emperor of the Land of the Rising Sun (Hana to Yume & LaLa, 1980-1984), Nemureru Mori no Binan/Tomoi (Petit Flower, 1986-1988), Earthian (Wings, 1988-1994), or Zetsuai (Margaret, 1989-1991). BL already had an established set of tropes (which are a bit different than the current ones – much more brutality and tragedy), it was just a lot less segregated than it is now. We don’t have the contemporary-BL context for Banana Fish because the US market is so crushingly disinterested in older manga; I’d give a finger (… well, a fingernail) for Emperor of the Land of the Rising Sun.
Melinda Beasi says
August 10, 2012 at 6:26 pmI just noticed that the DMG has rescued Earthian. I’d really love to see more of this older BL, too. Much, much more. The US market and I don’t really see eye-to-eye on these things. :)
Melinda Beasi says
August 10, 2012 at 6:31 pmBy the way, I’d just like to say once again how much I hope you’ll start your own blog at some point. You’re so knowledgeable, I’d be thrilled to read anything you’d put in it. Or better yet, come write a BL column for Manga Bookshelf! :D
JRB says
August 10, 2012 at 11:25 pmThanks for the flattery, but I’m strictly amateur-class. My main advantage is that I have access to an excellent university library and thus can rummage through all the academic writing on the subject, allowing me to pilfer ideas from the people who actually know what they’re talking about. ;)
Akiko Mizoguchi has written some excellent articles on the history of BL; unfortunately, they’re mostly in journals that aren’t digitized and are insanely difficult to get except through major universities. (Seriously, guys, get with the program; having to order photocopies through ILL is sooo 1990.)
Melinda Beasi says
August 11, 2012 at 4:22 pmI think the line between professional and amateur is really blurry in this field. Most of us who blog here are just fans who discovered that we have a talent for talking passionately about stuff we like. Anyone who reads this site could potentially be the same.
Sara K. says
August 11, 2012 at 7:56 amI really should read Emperor of the Land of the Rising Sun one of these days. After Rose of Versailles, it’s the easiest 49er shojo to get a hold of in Taiwan. I don’t know whether that’s a reflection of Taiwanese culture, or if there is just somebody with power in the Taiwanese publishing industry who really digs it.
And I assure you that I am amateur class myself, yet I’m writing a column for Manga Bookshelf. Let Melinda worry about whether or not your writing is good enough to add you to the roster – if you’re actually interested in writing for Manga Bookshelf, you should go for it (if you’re not interested, that’s okay too).
CJ says
August 11, 2012 at 6:18 am“Someone should always be talking about Banana Fish”
Isn’t this the truth? I’m always willing to talk about it for one, I convinced a friend on MAL to read it, and it quickly joined his top 5 over there! I felt so accomplished!
And yeah, if they reprinted Banana Fish, I would buy it all over again just to give Viz more money. Heck, if anyone published anything by Akimi Yoshida, I would buy it to give them money. I wonder if Viz is purposely ignoring us by not reprinting the big 3 shojo (BF, PSME, and Basara), but everytime they have a questionaire on Facebook related to this subject, me and about 500 other people always say these three.
Melinda Beasi says
August 12, 2012 at 8:07 amI suspect VIZ didn’t make money on the first runs of those big 3 (this is total speculation, I have no idea) and they don’t want to do that again. But man, I wish they would. :)
CJ says
August 12, 2012 at 10:47 amBut I feel like a lot of people who got into anime and manga with the Toonami era are now old enough to appreciate some of these manga series. I know if I had read Banana Fish when I was first starting out that I wouldn’t have appreciated it, I was just too young. And with their Viz Sig focus, I feel like now is the time to bring back some of these series (oh and Sanctuary, it’s more than just these three titles). And over time, what with more and more internets, I feel like some of these series have gotten a second wind. I personally never saw Banana Fish in bookstores, I wouldn’t have known about it (or Firefighter Daigo, also never saw that in stores) without the internet. But I feel like Viz doesn’t seem to understand there are people out there who only recently learned of these series and would gladly throw money at them for a chance to get it in print form for an affordable price.
Sara K. says
August 13, 2012 at 5:55 amI also suspect that they didn’t make money on the original runs (though, to be fair, they gave Banana Fish several shots). But they already have translations on hand, so I would think they could, at the very least, release a digital version and make a profit.
And, technically, I first learned of Banana Fish when I saw it at the comic book store closest to my home, though it was years before I actually read it.
Arwen says
August 21, 2012 at 1:07 amThanks for the rec for my post. :) I agree that someone should always be talking about Banana Fish… and also making an anime out of it and ideally a really classy Japanese-American live action movie. But meanwhile, I can report that the theatrical version is lots of fun, though very much a dramedy in tone.
Melinda Beasi says
August 21, 2012 at 11:34 amI would like a re-issue of the manga, preferably a nice, large, omnibus series, with added color artwork and all that fancy stuff. :D