Banana Fish Episode #24

Well everyone, seems that Eiji Okumura, Shunichi Ibe, Charlie Dickenson, and Mr. Jenkins are waiting for the arrest of Dino Golzine due to his connection with various US military personnel and politicians related to the Banana Fish drug.

For Eiji Okumura, he’s waiting for Ash Lynx to return, but it’s unlikely to happen given that he’s caught between a rock and a hard place in New Jersey.

But let’s go back to the National Mental Health Institute where there’s heavy fighting between Ash Lynx’s allies and Eduardo L. Fox’s team of mercenaries.

Unfortunately for the likes of Cain Blood and Alex, it’s gonna be a battle of attrition where they might ran out of bullets faster than the professional killers.

That’s until Jessica Randy came and she’s about to throw a grenade at those mercenaries.

And once she throw it, all the mercenaries are caught by the explosion which means that they’re dead. Glad that Jessica brought a grenade to this crucial moment.

In any case, Cain Blood and Alex opened the doors and set those captives free. Good thing they’re not being drugged.

Also, Max Lobo got reunited with his ex-wife Jessica Randy. Aww, isn’t it sweet?

In fact, Max even asked Jessica if she would consider remarrying him.

Um Max, let’s talk about re-marriage with your ex-wife later as there’s still some unfinished business against Dino Golzine.

But let’s go back to Ash Lynx where he told Dr. Mannerheim to stay put and hand over the recipe for the Banana Fish drug.

Unfortunately, Dr. Mannerheim got shot in the head by someone who doesn’t want to surrender the drug to some brat like Ash.

Someone like Colonel Fox as he brought something special, which is a gunship where one of Eduardo L. Fox’s men is about to fire its Gatling gun.

And really, Ash is in deep shit right now as he run for his life. C’mon, an autocannon would sheer Ash’s body in half if he’s not careful.

Meanwhile, here’s both Sing Soo-Ling and Blanca as they arrived at the rooftop to help Ash Lynx by shooting the helicopter pilot.

And in order to do that, Blanca needs Soo-Ling’s assistance by making him as a human bench rest.

Now while Blanca would rather use a bolt action sniper rifle with a bipod, what he has is a Dragunov designated marksman rifle where Blanca needs a stable platform to hit his target.

Anyways, I hope Sing would cover his ears because he might rupture his eardrums once Blanca pulls the trigger.

Fortunately, Blanca got a nice hit on the target as the helicopter pilot got shot in the head.

And the helicopter goes down with it which means that Ash won’t have to worry about getting shredded by a Gatling gun.

On the other hand, Sing Soo-Ling noticed something over there as he goes to another construction site.

Turns out, what Soo-Ling sees is a briefcase that contains the Banana Fish drug and this is important because it’ll serve as evidence against Papa Dino.

Then again, Dino Golzine is slowly dying because of those gun wounds.

Now then, it’s time for Ash Lynx to kill Eduardo L. Fox and end this mess in New Jersey. Then again, Ash will have a hard time putting a former French Legionnaire down.

Worse of all, Colonel Fox is one hell of a deviant as he wants to rape Ash while stabbing his left shoulder.

At this point, Eduardo L. Fox will have his way towards Ash Lynx unless he do something against the colonel.

Fortunately, Ash has something up in his sleeve. See that hand drill over there?

He’s gonna use it to drill a hole onto Eduardo L. Fox’s belly. As you can see, it’s quite painful to handle for the colonel.

But with that said, seems that Eduardo L. Fox is dead thanks to a trusty hand drill. Now the only thing for Ash Lynx to do is to find the Banana Fish drug formula…

…and get out of this scaffolding as it might not last longer because Colonel Fox’s men bombed the construction site.

As for the Banana Fish drug formula, Sing Soo-Ling has it.

But then again, he’s stuck in a rock and a hard place as Soo-Ling is about to fall off the scaffolding.

Well, good thing Ash Lynx managed to grab his hand but Ash told Soo-Ling to let go of the suitcase.

Um Ash, you know that it’s the biggest evidence that you have against Papa Dino and his cronies, so why you have to tell Sing to let that suitcase go?

Regardless, Sing let the suitcase go as the Banana Fish drug won’t be recreated ever again. Well, it can’t be helped then but anyways, time for Ash to pull Soo-Ling back up.

Then again, seems that Eduardo L. Fox is still alive as he points his gun at Ash’s head. Man, this colonel is stubborn, isn’t it?

However, it appears that the former Legionnaire got shot in the head…

…and goes down quickly. Well, good riddance to that sicko colonel, but who shot Eduardo L. Fox?

Oh, it’s none other than “Papa” Dino Golzine. Man, I’m surprised that this bad boss of a godfather is still alive after being shot in the chest, not to mention that he lost so much blood.

But then again, seems that Papa Dino has ran out of steam as he tripped and fell down. I guess his old body couldn’t take it anymore.

But there you have it, Dino Golzine is defeated as he plunge down towards the fiery depths of hell.

For Ash Lynx, he’s finally free from the demonic clutches of his adoptive father, but Ash felt remorse towards Papa Dino as the only good deed that he did was to save his adopted son from Eduardo L. Fox.

Still, what’s important is that he, Sing Soo-Ling, and Blanca are alive as they’re done taking care of this mess in New Jersey.

Now, it’s up to the authorities to handle the biggest conspiracy in US history, with the likes of Arthur Smiles getting arrested for their involvement with Dino Golzine, particularly in child prostitution and using drugs for military purposes.

And while the recipe for the Banana Fish drug is already disposed, Papa Dino’s child prostitution ring has finally come into light and I’m hoping that the victims will finally have the guts to bring justice to those who abused them.

Meanwhile, Sing Soo-Ling paid a visit to Lee Yut-Lung’s mansion where Sing slapped the head of the Lee clan. Killing Yut-Lung is just pointless at this point.

In fact, Soo-Ling couldn’t bring himself to hate Yut-Lung for all of the bad deeds that he did, ranging from siding with the Corsican Mafia to ordering Lao Yuen-Tai on murdering Eiji Okumura because Lee Yut-Lung is very jealous that Ash Lynx has a friend.

In any case, Sing Soo-Ling told him to grow up and let go of the past by bringing peace to Chinatown. I mean c’mon, he already got his revenge and became the head of the Lee clan. It’s already enough for Lee Yut-Lung!

But in all honesty, Lee Yut-Lung is one pathetic and irredeemable character who wants to make Ash Lynx’s life miserable. Really, I hate him for being such a jealous prick!

And now, it’s time to wind things down with an epilogue, starting with Blanca where he decides to return to the Caribbean and live a peaceful life there.

Looks like Blanca (or Sergei Varishikov) will no longer have to fight anymore. On the other hand, where’s Eiji Okumura?

Well, he’s about to board the airplane and head home to Japan. Then again, if only Ash Lynx was here to say goodbye to him, but where is he?

Turns out, he’s outside the library and he received an envelope from Sing Soo-Ling, saying that Eiji wants to give this envelope to him.

And speaking of Soo-Ling, he told Ash to go to the airport and see Eiji for one final time without any regrets.

I’m sure that Ash Lynx will go there but first, what’s inside that envelope?

Turns out, it contains a ticket to Japan and a letter to Eiji Okumura, which he was thankful that he met and befriend Ash throughout his journey.

This prompted Ash Lynx to go to the airport and maybe see Eiji for one last time. Just hoping that nothing bad will happen to Ash.

On second thought, I spoke too soon as he got stabbed by some random thug out of the open.

Said random thug happened to be Lao Yuen-Tai who despite the harsh truth, he won’t forgive Ash Lynx on killing Shorter Wong and he’s afraid that he might kill Sing Soo-Ling someday.

While Yuen-Tai got shot down by Ash, it’s baffling that Lao of all people would ruin a happy ending by stabbing Ash in the gut just because he’s distrustful towards Ash. I guess he remained vengeful till the end, even though Sing Soo-Ling forgave Ash.

But as for Ash Lynx, instead of going to the hospital and treat his wounds, he went to the library where Ash died on the spot… alone yet happy that he manage to earn Eiji Okumura as a dear friend.

In any case, I’m glad that I’ve finished watching Banana Fish and honestly, this show got me hooked after catching-up with the final episode! And while the whole story is intriguing, I feel that the last part is somewhat lackluster, particularly with the arrival of Eduardo L. Fox as he’s just there to be the final boss, not Dino Golzine. And really, I want to see a final confrontation between Papa Dino and his adopted son Ash. Oh, and let’s not forget about Lao Yuen-Tai ruining a happy ending for Ash Lynx by stabbing him until Lao got shot down.

Still, I have to say that MAPPA did an excellent job of adapting an old manga series by Akimi Yoshida which not only updated the story to fit the modern times, but also capture the thrill and suspense that makes Banana Fish looked great. On one final note, Banana Fish will be one of the last shows that Unshou Ishizuka worked on as he passed away on August 13, 2018. He’ll surely be missed…