First of all, thank you for all your content, you help me to understood better (and love more, if possible) Banana Fish ! I just watch the artbook Angel Eyes, and at this end there is photographs of Ash&Eiji at Cap Gode during the summer of 85. They are standing under a tree, shirtless, and Ash wakes up and supposedly watchs Eiji. Do you think there is a connection with the second ending of the anime ?

iamtrashforash:

Thank you so much for reading my blog, Anon! I’m really glad and humbled that my ramblings could help you understand and love BF more.

Regarding the tree, I think the anime tree is an homage to the Angel Eyes tree. It’s a wink at the people who have read the manga and the art book Angel Eyes and know what they are supposed to associate with the idea of Ash watching Eiji under a tree. A bonus of emotional punch to the knowing fans, as I might say. It reminds me of the anime add-on of Shorter gazing at the image of an angel in Episode 9, which made knowing fans immediately recall the short story Angel Eyes and get served with an extra helping of pain, recognising that the angel image made Shorter remember his affection for Ash and regain his last moment of lucidity.

Because Cape Cod, 1985 is such a depiction of Ash and Eiji being carefree and having fun and being together, because it is such a bittersweet portrayal of nostalgia (recall the ending line: “The last season where we could be boys.”), knowing fans who recognise the tree as a call-back scene are served with the one-two emotional punches of Cape Cod, 1985 and the emotions evoked by the music video of Red itself.

I also like how Red uses the lone tree in field to echo the feel of a private shelter from the world. A similar feeling is found in Cape Cod, 1985, partly emphasised by the sunlight-shadow interplay and mostly because that short sequence is set after the readers have found out the fates of Ash and Eiji. By putting the emphasis on how the tree is the only shelter as far as the eyes can see, Red transmits a similar feeling even to anime-only watchers.

foxyfandoms:

I’d like to report this article is just as horribly pretentious as you would assume.

It’s a long ass essay of the author trying to paint the vague genre of “rock” as dying with mental gymnastics so he can feel like a hipster for name dropping big name alt-rock and metal bands like Avenged Sevenfold.