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I have mixed feelings about this anime. There are so many aspects that I hate. Spoilers below!!!

Negatives:
- One of the biggest problems in this anime is the excessive use of sexual assault and rape. It is not handled very well. It is not a problem if authors using rape but only if it is used moderately and has a huge impact on story and character is the most important thing. Unfortunately, Banana Fish uses it so much that it becomes a joke after a while. Literally every homosexual person is a pedo and wants to rape our mc Ash. As a bisexual person myself and ... when we look at it from a homosexual person's point of view, it is very discomforting that every homosexual person in this anime is a pedophile and rapist. Isn't this a bit exaggerated? Like hell even a random guardian is homo pedo. And they are only attracted to Ash. And the author is like trying to make Ash a very tragic character by using mostly sexual assault and rape. Ash and Eiji staying only "best friends" while they are being like literally lovers. Their relationship was good but them only staying as "best friends and that brother relationship" was annoying. And in the last episodes, a very unnecessary character is getting introduced. And guess what? He is also a homosexual pedo and rapist. Was it really necessary that Ash getting raped again by a very unnecessary character Foxx?! Wasn't the big bad guy Golzine? The big bad guy becomes Foxx in the end. This was very unnecessary and annoying. I was literally punching my head when Ash was getting abused and raped again by a really and totally unnecessary character. And at that moment we already saw how Ash was abused and raped in his entire life. That was very unnecessary.

- Why the hell is no one talking about Golzine's death? Why he has such a dramatic death? He is the biggest scum in this anime and yet he is saving Ash while having two bullet wounds in his chest and dies. When I was watching his death I thought "so we must feel bad for this scum? Why the background music is so sad in this death scene? What the fuck are you trying to do?" I dont know what the hell author was thinking but I HATED it and found it very unsatisfying. It's like Joffrey from Game of Thrones getting a heroic death 🗿

- And there is Ash's death. I didn't cry but it was sad and my sadness was mostly from disappointment. After all he's been through and survived so many gun fights and mafia wars, he is getting killed by a side character that no one cared about. At that moment, I didn't recognize him, didn't know who it was. Such unmemorable character. I had forgotten his motive too at that point. It was so random.


Positives:
- I liked first half. It was solid although not perfect because in the first episodes it was like I was watching it in 2x speed. So much happened without build up. But it can be ignored easily. First half was good. Beginning of second half was a bit boring and weak though.

- Ash is a good character I guess? Eiji's character should've been more fleshed out and developed though. Their relationship and dynamic was good.

- Some of the side characters are solid like Blanca.

- Animation is great. The music and soundtrack too although not memorable, they are decent.

- It's good that this anime shows how mafia gangs are the biggest scums and corrupted things. Also the mafia don in this anime is stupid ngl. But at the same time it shows like he is a big brain dude. 🗿 I prefer the portrayal of mafiosos in The Godfather movies. Much more realistic, much better and the same time terrifying and corrupted human beings. Actually the mafias in this anime is nowhere near like in The Godfather. It's an insult to Godfather's portrayal of mafiosos. Leagues above. Uncomparable. Anyways. That's it.

SUCH A GREAT MANGA!

This review contains a little bit spoilers!

First of all, I wanna say that this manga is not some fairy tale. It's all tragedy, drama, gore and violence. This manga is a story of downfalls. In a way it's such a realistic work too. It shows the mindset of people in that period very well. Also none of the characters are 'morally' good. Each one of them definitely had done something bad due to their ambitions such as seizing power, extreme sense of loyalty, honor and pride. There are characters who killed their mother, lover and teacher for these reasons. But the ... interesting part is that we cannot hate these characters. Because it's the circumstances that pushed them to do these bad actions. In a way they are victims of that hierarchical society system and their ambitions. And we can see a crticism to this system while reading this manga.

So, if you are looking some sweet, wholesome, fairy tale moments, this manga is definitely not for you. If you like historical, drama, tragedy and seinen, then you may like it. This manga is not for everyone for sure!

My only negative comment about this manga would be the filler chapters. There are some really unnecessary fillers in the second half.

Also let's not forget the art. The art is absolutely amazing. Very detailed and beautiful. There are some scenes that shows characters as tiger, dragon, bull and frog. I loved those symbolic drawings.