Banana Fish

2018 • TMDB 8.6 • 1 season • 24 episodes • Animation, Drama, Action & Adventure, Mystery, Crime • Fuji TV

Where to Watch

In the US, Banana Fish streams on Netflix (1 season) and Netflix Standard with Ads (1 season). Availability checked against US listings on October 29, 2026.

Overview

In New York City, Ash Lynx is a teenage gang leader with a brilliant mind and a brutal past — a boy raised by the mafia boss Dino Golzine, who now wants him dead. When a dying man whispers the words “banana fish” and hands Ash a mysterious vial, Ash is pulled into a conspiracy reaching from the Vietnam War to the highest levels of power. At his side is Eiji Okumura, a gentle Japanese photographer’s assistant whose friendship becomes the one soft place in Ash’s violent world. Banana Fish is not a typical anime: it is a gritty crime drama about loyalty, freedom and the cost of survival, where gunfights matter less than the bond between its two leads. Across 24 episodes, Ash fights to uncover the truth about the drug called Banana Fish, protect the people he loves, and escape a past that refuses to let him go. Beautiful, heartbreaking and utterly gripping, it is one of the most emotionally devastating anime ever made.

Main Cast

The main voice cast includes:

• Yuma Uchida as Ash Lynx (24 episodes)
• Kenji Nojima as Eiji Okumura (24 episodes)
• Unsho Ishizuka as Dino Golzine (24 episodes)
• Hiroaki Hirata as Max Lobo (24 episodes)
• Jun Fukuyama as Yut-Lung Lee (24 episodes)
• Yoshimasa Hosoya as Arthur Frederick (24 episodes)
• Makoto Furukawa as Shorter Wong (24 episodes)
• Soma Saito as Yuen-Tai Lao (24 episodes)
• Shoya Chiba as Su Rin Sing (24 episodes)

Seasons Snapshot

• Season 1 — 24 episodes, premiered July 6, 2018

Finale: “The Catcher in the Rye” (1×24) aired December 21, 2018.

Why Watch Banana Fish?

• Ash and Eiji — one of anime’s most beloved and heartbreaking relationships.
• A gritty, grounded crime drama — New York gangs, conspiracies and a mystery drug.
• A story that never flinches — tragedy, loyalty and the price of freedom.
• A classic manga, faithfully adapted — Akimi Yoshida’s masterpiece on screen.
• An ending you will never forget.

Trailer

Watch the official trailer on YouTube (Fuji TV).