Yuma Uchida and Kenji Nojima onstage at "BANANA FISH" event report

As part of manga artist Akio Yoshida's 40th anniversary project, an anime adaptation of "BANANA FISH" was announced on October 22, 2017. The anime broadcast is scheduled to begin on July 5 (Thu), and an advance screening event of episodes 1 and 2 was held at Shinjuku Wald 9 on June 30 (Sat) from 7:00 p.m. The event was attended by many fans of "BANANA FISH" such as "Umi Machi diaries" and "Kai Machi diaries.

BANANA FISH" is one of the best works by Akio Yoshida, a manga artist who has created numerous hits such as "Umimachi diary" and will be adapted into an anime on Fuji Television Network's "Noitamina" in 2018 as part of its 40th anniversary project. The staff includes director Hiroko Utsumi ("Free!"), series composition by Koji Seko ("Inuyashiki"), character design by Akemi Hayashi ("Doukyusei"), and animation production by MAPPA (Yuri!!! on ICE). on ICE") will produce the animation.
⇒2018 Summer Anime

The event was held at Shinjuku Wald 9 on June 30 (Sat.) from 7:00 p.m., with an advance screening of episodes 1 and 2, just prior to the start of the anime broadcast on July 5 (Thu.).

The cast members on stage were Yuma Uchida, who played the role of Ash Lynx, and Kenji Nojima, who played the role of Eiji Okumura. The MC for the event was Kyoko Uryu, producer of Aniplex, who is also the producer of the film. The following is the official report from the event.

Official Report

Fans in the audience, who had been waiting for this day, welcomed the event with loud applause.
The talk event was held right after the screening of the first and second episodes of the anime, so the audience had just seen the main story, and the two cast members talked about scenes that were particularly impressive to them. The discussion focused on the charm and worldview of "BANANA FISH," which has been loved for a long time, especially about Ash and Eiji, but also about the characters whose future roles we can expect to see in the future.
Mr. Uchida talked about episodes with other cast members during recording sessions. Mr. Nojima also revealed various behind-the-scenes stories, such as how he focuses on "purity" when playing the role of Eiji.
The director of the film, Hiroko Utsumi, also sent a letter to the audience, Ms. Uchida, and Mr. Nojima, which Ms. Uchida read out.

The event ended on a high note with words of gratitude to the fans who have continued to support the work and enthusiasm for the first episode, which will finally begin airing on July 5 (Thursday).

Comments】 ※Titles omitted

Yuma Uchida (playing the role of Ash Lynx):
We have seen the first and second episodes of "BANANA FISH," and everyone really put their lives on the line, and we have done our best to put on a good show.
We were directed to keep Ash's age (17 years old) in mind, so we played his role while respecting his life-size, age-appropriate charm and his sexy charm.
This film was made with great passion, including the directors!　I am looking forward to sharing this matured world with you all. We have put our lives into making this work for the sake of everyone who has been waiting for it, and for the characters who are living this "BANANA FISH" to the fullest. The TV broadcast will start soon, and I hope that everyone will enjoy the first episode.
Please continue to support the TV animation "BANANA FISH"!

Kenji Nojima (Actor: Eiji Okumura):
Today, I was able to watch the work together with everyone, and once again, my heart was filled with feelings that cannot be expressed in words.
I am trying to be as close to Eiji as possible in the recording. When I met Eiji, I was attracted by his purity and kindness, and I thought that he could be the only one who can save the world of "BANANA FISH".
I am sure that everyone who has seen the show today has gotten the same impression, and the content of the show really does not disappoint! Some of the episodes have already been recorded, but all of them have contents that cannot be missed, and I hope that you will enjoy the work with these expectations in mind.
I hope that you will enjoy the work with these expectations in mind, especially the first two episodes, which are packed with a lot of content! I hope that you will watch the episodes as many times as possible to learn more about this world and enjoy the story from various characters' perspectives, so I hope you will enjoy it repeatedly.
Please continue to support "BANANA FISH". Thank you very much!

Production information】 ※Honorific titles are omitted.
TV anime "BANANA FISH

＜Anime Broadcast/Distribution Information
Broadcasting will begin in July on Fuji Television's "Noitamina" and other channels!
Exclusive distribution in Japan and overseas on Amazon Prime Video

＜Cast

Ash Links: Yuma Uchida
Eiji Okumura: Kenji Nojima
Max Lobo: Hiroaki Hirata
Dino F. Golzine: Unsho Ishizuka
Shorter Wong: Shin Furukawa
Frederick Orser: Yoshimasa Hosoya
Shunichi Ibe: Shinji Kawada
Eustis: Jun Fukuyama
Blanca: Tomoyuki Morikawa

<Staff> (Japanese only)
Original Story: Akio Yoshida "BANANA FISH" (Shogakukan Flower Comics)
Director： Hiroko Utsumi
Series Composition： Koji Seko
Character Design： Akemi Hayashi
Chief Animation Director: Ayumu Yamada, Shinpei Kamada
Hard-boiled Supervisor: Koji Hisaki
Color Design: Chikako Kamata
Art Director: Toshiharu Mizutani
Director of Photography: Yusuke Awawa
Editor: Hiroshi Okuda
Music: Shinichi Osawa
Sound Director: You Yamada
Animation Production: MAPPA

Opening theme:Survive Said The Prophet "found & lost" (ZESTONE RECORDS)
・Ending theme:King Gnu "Prayer X" (PERIMETRON)

Recommended Articles