#and like. please feel free to tell me I'm wrong and they're more thematically/tonally similar than I can remember/realize

[neversetyoufree]

I think that Mochizuki was also inspired by Banana Fish in terms of relationship dynamics, tone, and themes. Do you see similarities between the two?

Mm, maybe? Full disclosure that my experience with Banana Fish is that I binge read roughly 70-80% of it in a day or two like 10 months ago, and I have not finished it or revisited it since those couple days, so my impression of it may not be the most accurate.

Off the top of my head, there's a similarity in that they're both stories of relative outsiders who become entwined in the life of a very doomed young man with horrifically traumatic past. I know Eiji is a photographer, but I don't actually remember whether there's any element of him documenting Ash's life, so I can't comment on if him and Noé have that similarity. There's also the prevalence of sexual assault as a theme and source of trauma in both, and the way that both series are sort of straddling the shonen/shoujo line. VnC is a shonen that very much feels like it's being written for women (or at least, not particularly aimed at teenage boys most of the time lmao), and Banana Fish is an uncommonly violent and action-heavy shoujo.

That said, I definitely can't say I find the tones or vibes to be very similar. VnC is a series defined by the intricacies in its relationships. There's a good deal of action and flash, but it's also a series in which every little glance and expression is meant to be read into. It shines in its characters and relationships and in the way it continually loops back on itself to psychologically examine its characters and drive them closer together.

My experience of Banana Fish, on the other hand, was defined by how much it felt like a whirlwind of an 80s action movie. That's not to say that it doesn't have quieter scenes or develop the relationships between its characters, but I certainly wouldn't call it relationship-driven like I would for VnC. Also, though we do certainly get a lot about Ash and his history and how he ended up the way he is, Banana Fish is not The Case Study of Ash Lynx. It's not about examining him in the same way that VnC is about examining Vanitas.

I might not be articulating this super well bc I'm writing this post while very tired, but overall, I'm guessing Banana Fish probably wasn't that direct an inspiration for Mochijun. She's talked a lot about her inspirations for VnC, and it hasn't come up, and though there are interesting parallels, I don't think the vibes or content *quite* match up.

However, it is a really interesting comparison to talk about. Sometimes something isn't an inspiration for something else, but it is a fascinating touchpoint to hold in up against. I'd love to hear anyone else's thoughts on this.