Banana Fish: Volume 4

by Akimi Yoshida, 188 pages

The gang heads first to Ash's hometown, where they encounter painful reunions and even more painful goodbyes, and then to L.A. on the trail of the mysterious "Banana Fish."  But what they find there, and what they don't, may just complicate things even more.

Ouch.  Ash has had a life of one tragic hardship after another and it just keeps getting worse.  Despite knowing it's "for the best," I think he needs to not push his friends away for their own good.  Besides, if they're Eiji, I've a feeling they'll find a way to turn up again, anyway (either because they don't follow directions well or because the bad guys know good bait when they see it).  Besides, those party shirts have got to have a positive effect on him psychologically. They just brighten up the room!  Hee hee hee.  Also, there's a snake in the grass, but he seems just as trapped by his circumstances as those whose hands he's forcing.  I do enjoy sympathetic bad guys....