Yoshida - Tumblr Posts
God cursed the world when he gave me the ability to draw.
Major misconceptions about Banana Fish debunked by Yoshida Akimi, the writer
(spoilers)
Misconception: “Ash dying in the end was editorial meddling because Yoshida wasn’t allowed to write a story where gay people survive and become happy, so actually Ash should survive and move to Japan and live happy ever after with Eiji.”
Sato (Yoshida’s editor): “If I wasn’t your editor, I’d probably have thought a female Blanca [who hooks up with Ash] would have been fun to read too. I don’t remember what I said at our meeting [to change Yoshida’s mind], but I probably looked like I wasn’t pleased with it.”
Yoshida: “Did you think that Ash having sex with a woman wouldn’t fit?”
Sato: “Not really… I wonder what I was feeling?”
Yoshida: “For me, you know, there’s no sex scenes with women [in BF]. So I felt like I’d like to show that hey, Ash is a guy! Since Ash isn’t actually gay.”
Yoshida: “I had Ashita no Joe in mind [when I wrote the ending].”
Sato: “Yeah, you talked about that back then.”
Host: “In HIkari no niwa, it says directly that Ash died.”
Yoshida: “I said he died! (laughs) There were people who kept writing to me saying Ash has to be alive and that he has to come to Japan, kept saying ‘He’s actually alive, right?’“
Host: “They insisted he’d use the ticket he got from Eiji and come to Japan?”
Yoshida: “Nothing that specific, but I wonder why some girls think of happiness in that sort of context. They kept saying, ‘He’ll come to Japan and the two of them will be happy, right?’ and I always wondered, why would you insist that coming to Japan will make him happy? What is happiness?”
Host: “Do you think fans will get mad when you say that?”
Yoshida: “I do wonder. I always worry about how to deal with my protagonists who are criminals. Obviously they’re hurt by killing people, but still. […] They kill because otherwise they’d be killed, but they’re still murderers. I feel giving a proper ending to people like that is very difficult, and in the end in Banana Fish I decided that he shouldn’t survive.”
Fujimoto: “Why did Ash die?”
Yoshida: “I was conflicted about that. I had two endings in mind, one where he dies and another where he doesn’t, but I’d decided a long time ago that he would die, so I felt I couldn’t change that.”
Fujimoto: “What was the ending like where he didn’t die?”
Yoshida: “Nothing special, he just doesn’t die (laughs).”
Fujimoto: “Nothing happens between him and Eiji, they just part ways and…”
Yoshida: “Yes, like that. But I felt that the ending I’d thought of first was the most fitting.”
Fujimoto: “So when you started this series, your plan was that Ash would die.”
Yoshida: “Exactly. To say the truth, I only became conflicted about whether he would die or not quite late on in the serialization.“
Fujimoto: “When was it exactly?”
Yoshida: “When River Phoenix died (laughs). I began thinking this wasn’t a joke. But my original theme for this story was that there’s something fascinating about people who die young, like how this person lived his full life in 17 years rather than the 70 years it takes for normal people. But in reality, people dying young is a terrible tragedy. So I thought maybe I shouldn’t go there. But when it comes down to it, Ash is a killer. I feel that regardless of what might have been behind the killings, people who take another person’s life need to make up for it with their own life. So that’s why I wrote that ending. Also, I didn’t think Ash would get to live long anyway (laughs).”
Fujimoto: “Some writers say it takes a lot of energy to kill off their characters. How do you feel about killing off your characters?”
Yoshida: “Me? That’s not really an issue for me. I’d killed off a lot of characters before, and it wasn’t a big deal. The only thing was that River Phoenix died young in real life, so I thought ‘This is bad.’ If that hadn’t happened, I wouldn’t have felt anything about it. I don’t think dying young is an unhappy thing. Whether people were happy or not doesn’t depend on how long they lived. I always wonder if people were happy just because they had a long life.”
Misconception: “Banana Fish is actually shonen manga, and if Yoshida had her way or if it had been written today, it would have been shonen or seinen (or BL).”
Headline: “I like shojo manga because anything goes”
Fujimoto: “Don’t you get a lot of offers from magazines aimed at men?”
Yoshida: “I do, but I think writing for boys is boring. Their wants and desires are too obvious (laughs). And I feel they’re conservative… or how should I say it, they refuse to believe in magic? They don’t believe in magic and instead believe in their own sexual desires (laughs). I’m envious of how simple they are (laughs). But girls aren’t like that. They’re confusing and complicated and I don’t know what they’ll react to and how, and on the flip side that means anything goes.”
Sources: Shojo manga-damashii, Banana Fish official guidebook
Hello! With the discussion of Yoshida with your recent analysis, what's your perspective on Yoshida offering Denji the choice before: of being chainsaw man or having his family and how much of that was Yoshida enforcing his own ideas of what's good for denji vs his efforts to help denji in the limited scope of his position? I feel like this could have been talked about before on the blog but with added context from csm 156 interested in how this develops too
Denji is Yoshida's reflection that he refuses to see
The answer might be easy if I aligned myself with my own position, the one I established in my analysis 156, which attempts to theorize that Yoshida is on Denji's side
But you know I know I haven't convinced everyone with my blindness around Yoshida's hidden goodness. So I'm going to answer your question, but from the opposite position: let's explain Yoshida's reactions, whether as a non-ally of Denji or as an enemy. I know this may confuse you because you'd like me to analyze chapter 133 in relation to what I analyzed about chapter 156. But even if I assumed the opposite, I would have come to the same conclusion.
I love Yoshida, and even though I seem to have left him out of my analyses, I've always reflected on every one of his interventions. And something strikes me, Yoshida often seems to be talking to himself, even deluding himself almost as if to hold on.
In chapters 120/121, Yoshida invites Asa. Now fans (like me!!!) are fantasizing about rivals, a fake love triangle and a date. But in reality, it all falls depressingly flat.
But this chapter remains interesting for two reasons: two people share their experience of solitude as the only way to avoid disappointment and be happy. However, Asa projects herself into a possible love with Yoshida.
It's like reciting something to convince yourself but secretly wishing for the opposite…
But what's interesting is that we take the position of thinking that everything Yoshida said was linear.
Let's review. Yoshida knows that Asa was leering, that she looked depressed, and since he's watching Denji, he must have known about the date, hence the warning that comes later. So why get involved? As Asa's Nayuta-altered memory made him the executioner, why make her pain worse?
Because Yoshida must have had a childish reaction. It's as if, for once, he hadn't quite accepted his role as a spectator of events. I think Yoshida must have seen himself in Asa in some way. In chapter 121, Asa is all silence and Yoshida is for once almost in monologue. It was as if everything he said would convince him a little more out loud. Whether it was his theory of happiness up to........ "stay away from Denji". That point. Part of the points that concern him as much as they concern Asa.
I think and I'm convinced that even by not interpreting Yoshida as an ally, he became more sensitive and involved with Denji's plight and didn't always know how to place an emotional wall between them. Because Denji catches him off guard, makes Yoshida's smiling mask fall off. And this is something I've never verbalized before, but it's a pillar in my interpretation:
Being with Denji pushes you to be yourself.
Because Denji refuses the social game, doesn't tend to judge as teenagers of this age usually would, and has extremely sincere reactions that are so unpredictable that they don't allow for calculated responses, responses that form the shell of other characters like Asa and Yoshida.
What Asa liked about Denji, above all, was that he was able to give her confidence and make her proud when everyone else was putting her down. You don't like fish, so what? Eat starfish. Because yes, even if it was boring, I saw you, I listened to you and you made an impact on me. Because you're not insignificant.
Denji has that effect on Yoshida. Very symbolically, during their new interaction in part 2, the protagonist doesn't remember Yoshida. Of course, it's quite funny, because it can be interpreted in all sorts of ways, like the fact that Denji is so uninterested in guys that he forgets them so easily. But it's symbolic for Yoshida's character. He's so fake and so in control that Denji doesn't perceive anything in him.
And it's when he becomes more and more desperate as a result of these reactions, and when his mask gradually breaks, that Denji finally remembers his name. Because Yoshida acts less like a public hunter and more like himself, like Yoshida.
I think in chapter 133, it's really a way of trying to wake Denji up and help him. But then again, it helps to weaken Yoshida's mask. When Yoshida repeats that Denji has only two choices, that of his family or Chainsaw Man, Denji repeats that he has two. From Yoshida's point of view, this is fundamental.
The system offers only one choice, only one possible path. But Denji opposes both. In a chapter about protest, we also talk about his position towards the system. Oppose it, protest as if in the background, claim the symbol of Chainsaw Man or oppose it, see it as a societal evil, a danger of undermining the system. For I repeat, Yoshida has decided to believe in the system when Denji distrusts it.
So Yoshida gets angry, belittling Denji as if he can't see the absurdity of this dilemma imposed on a boy who has been given a choice. Who was only told there were only two choices when there were three. Rehearsing allows Yoshida to convince himself, but we see that this controlled mask has completely disappeared, giving way to anger and a kind of panic. Because Yoshida's ideals are unravelling.
Denji is a reflection.
Reflecting the cruelty of the mafia that Katana doesn't want to admit, the dream of going to school that Reze is trying to forget, allowing the trust that Asa thought impossible and the reflection of Yoshida: a teenager, who will trace a third path to the two that will be reserved for him.
If Chainsaw Man allows you to project what you want, have or be in him, hence the pandemic of CSM wannabe. Denji, hidden behind it, is doing something far more unbearable: showing us who we are.
Aki's vengeance gives way to a desire to be surrounded by loved ones, loved ones he may not be able to protect. Thinking only of oneself shows Power, through her sacrifice for Denji, that she is capable of love even if it goes against her survival.
So chapter 156 takes on a softer version. I repeat: why did you wake Denji up just to tell him he'd lost?
That Yoshida had warned him? Once again, through a strategy of self-conviction and self-protection, what Yoshida is doing is reminding us that complete alienation from the system is better than individual affirmation (which is what Denji is punished for, having repeated that he is Chainsaw Man). This identical public hunter's costume is the symbol of this submission. Yoshida is no longer even a fake high-school student. He's just a public hunter.
But I find this chapter takes on an air of funeral and goodbye. Yoshida's costume, taking on that of someone in mourning in a symbolic way.
Because saying goodbye to Denji.
It means saying goodbye to yourself.
So I ask you, Anon, and you, the reader, does Yoshida really want to continue refusing to see his reflection ?
father and son
yapping underneath
i'm not good w/ words but you guys have to understand my vision here: connor, basically a dog to the police. wants to carry out his mission no matter what, but his own emotions poke holes into his will and he starts doubting what he was programmed to do. i feel like yoshida's starting on an arc like that. in part one he wasn't really told much and he wasn't curious enough to dig. no additional details, just paid to do his job. but in part 2 he's emotionally invested in a way. he's developed (or tried to develop) relationships with both the war fiend AND chainsaw man. so now guilt follows whenever he carries out his job's demands—an emotion he isn't used to feeling when doing his job.
Hello! With the discussion of Yoshida with your recent analysis, what's your perspective on Yoshida offering Denji the choice before: of being chainsaw man or having his family and how much of that was Yoshida enforcing his own ideas of what's good for denji vs his efforts to help denji in the limited scope of his position? I feel like this could have been talked about before on the blog but with added context from csm 156 interested in how this develops too
Denji is Yoshida's reflection that he refuses to see
The answer might be easy if I aligned myself with my own position, the one I established in my analysis 156, which attempts to theorize that Yoshida is on Denji's side
But you know I know I haven't convinced everyone with my blindness around Yoshida's hidden goodness. So I'm going to answer your question, but from the opposite position: let's explain Yoshida's reactions, whether as a non-ally of Denji or as an enemy. I know this may confuse you because you'd like me to analyze chapter 133 in relation to what I analyzed about chapter 156. But even if I assumed the opposite, I would have come to the same conclusion.
I love Yoshida, and even though I seem to have left him out of my analyses, I've always reflected on every one of his interventions. And something strikes me, Yoshida often seems to be talking to himself, even deluding himself almost as if to hold on.
In chapters 120/121, Yoshida invites Asa. Now fans (like me!!!) are fantasizing about rivals, a fake love triangle and a date. But in reality, it all falls depressingly flat.
But this chapter remains interesting for two reasons: two people share their experience of solitude as the only way to avoid disappointment and be happy. However, Asa projects herself into a possible love with Yoshida.
It's like reciting something to convince yourself but secretly wishing for the opposite…
But what's interesting is that we take the position of thinking that everything Yoshida said was linear.
Let's review. Yoshida knows that Asa was leering, that she looked depressed, and since he's watching Denji, he must have known about the date, hence the warning that comes later. So why get involved? As Asa's Nayuta-altered memory made him the executioner, why make her pain worse?
Because Yoshida must have had a childish reaction. It's as if, for once, he hadn't quite accepted his role as a spectator of events. I think Yoshida must have seen himself in Asa in some way. In chapter 121, Asa is all silence and Yoshida is for once almost in monologue. It was as if everything he said would convince him a little more out loud. Whether it was his theory of happiness up to........ "stay away from Denji". That point. Part of the points that concern him as much as they concern Asa.
I think and I'm convinced that even by not interpreting Yoshida as an ally, he became more sensitive and involved with Denji's plight and didn't always know how to place an emotional wall between them. Because Denji catches him off guard, makes Yoshida's smiling mask fall off. And this is something I've never verbalized before, but it's a pillar in my interpretation:
Being with Denji pushes you to be yourself.
Because Denji refuses the social game, doesn't tend to judge as teenagers of this age usually would, and has extremely sincere reactions that are so unpredictable that they don't allow for calculated responses, responses that form the shell of other characters like Asa and Yoshida.
What Asa liked about Denji, above all, was that he was able to give her confidence and make her proud when everyone else was putting her down. You don't like fish, so what? Eat starfish. Because yes, even if it was boring, I saw you, I listened to you and you made an impact on me. Because you're not insignificant.
Denji has that effect on Yoshida. Very symbolically, during their new interaction in part 2, the protagonist doesn't remember Yoshida. Of course, it's quite funny, because it can be interpreted in all sorts of ways, like the fact that Denji is so uninterested in guys that he forgets them so easily. But it's symbolic for Yoshida's character. He's so fake and so in control that Denji doesn't perceive anything in him.
And it's when he becomes more and more desperate as a result of these reactions, and when his mask gradually breaks, that Denji finally remembers his name. Because Yoshida acts less like a public hunter and more like himself, like Yoshida.
I think in chapter 133, it's really a way of trying to wake Denji up and help him. But then again, it helps to weaken Yoshida's mask. When Yoshida repeats that Denji has only two choices, that of his family or Chainsaw Man, Denji repeats that he has two. From Yoshida's point of view, this is fundamental.
The system offers only one choice, only one possible path. But Denji opposes both. In a chapter about protest, we also talk about his position towards the system. Oppose it, protest as if in the background, claim the symbol of Chainsaw Man or oppose it, see it as a societal evil, a danger of undermining the system. For I repeat, Yoshida has decided to believe in the system when Denji distrusts it.
So Yoshida gets angry, belittling Denji as if he can't see the absurdity of this dilemma imposed on a boy who has been given a choice. Who was only told there were only two choices when there were three. Rehearsing allows Yoshida to convince himself, but we see that this controlled mask has completely disappeared, giving way to anger and a kind of panic. Because Yoshida's ideals are unravelling.
Denji is a reflection.
Reflecting the cruelty of the mafia that Katana doesn't want to admit, the dream of going to school that Reze is trying to forget, allowing the trust that Asa thought impossible and the reflection of Yoshida: a teenager, who will trace a third path to the two that will be reserved for him.
If Chainsaw Man allows you to project what you want, have or be in him, hence the pandemic of CSM wannabe. Denji, hidden behind it, is doing something far more unbearable: showing us who we are.
Aki's vengeance gives way to a desire to be surrounded by loved ones, loved ones he may not be able to protect. Thinking only of oneself shows Power, through her sacrifice for Denji, that she is capable of love even if it goes against her survival.
So chapter 156 takes on a softer version. I repeat: why did you wake Denji up just to tell him he'd lost?
That Yoshida had warned him? Once again, through a strategy of self-conviction and self-protection, what Yoshida is doing is reminding us that complete alienation from the system is better than individual affirmation (which is what Denji is punished for, having repeated that he is Chainsaw Man). This identical public hunter's costume is the symbol of this submission. Yoshida is no longer even a fake high-school student. He's just a public hunter.
But I find this chapter takes on an air of funeral and goodbye. Yoshida's costume, taking on that of someone in mourning in a symbolic way.
Because saying goodbye to Denji.
It means saying goodbye to yourself.
So I ask you, Anon, and you, the reader, does Yoshida really want to continue refusing to see his reflection ?
father and son
yapping underneath
i'm not good w/ words but you guys have to understand my vision here: connor, basically a dog to the police. wants to carry out his mission no matter what, but his own emotions poke holes into his will and he starts doubting what he was programmed to do. i feel like yoshida's starting on an arc like that. in part one he wasn't really told much and he wasn't curious enough to dig. no additional details, just paid to do his job. but in part 2 he's emotionally invested in a way. he's developed (or tried to develop) relationships with both the war fiend AND chainsaw man. so now guilt follows whenever he carries out his job's demands—an emotion he isn't used to feeling when doing his job.
“You’re mine now, right?”
Kimi ni Todoke, Shiina Karuho
Mf now all he has to do is bring a couple more people back otherwise I will need emotional replacements
Mfs acting as if he wasn’t the one protecting denji like a body guard 💀
Yoshida: why are you even chainsaw man, what do you get out of it, it’s so annoying why do you do it?
Denji:
I just know denji’s going to be a little too obsessed with her now and Yoru is going to love it whether she knows he’s chainsaw man or not
Screaming, crying, throwing up, banging my head violently against the wall, setting myself on fire
She really said fuck this shit I’m out
StaWp, not a devil starting to have feelings probably hopefully, I’m not saying I could change her I’m saying I could make her worse-
Yoshida could snatch me u-
Fucks sake like I get it denji you are a hero that’s all you want to be but like SO DID SHE, SHE WANTED TO BE A HERO TOO MF SHE JUMPED ON A ROOF AND LIED DOWN GO FUCK YOURSELF OI YOSHIDA COME PICK THIS BITCH UP
Kind of pissing me off man, you cannot out do the doer
Wait….
He’s either a poser orrrrr
My head hurts am I stupid, am I right, Fujimoto stop hurting my mind and soul
She really is the famine devil because fuck am I hungry I hate myself why am I like this
Girl wtf is you doing there this conversation has nothing to do with you, I want you to take your nose and stick it up your own ass instead of in their business.
