The series is further noted for achieving crossover success between audiences of shōjo manga (girls' manga) and shōnen manga (boys' manga). Though Banana Fish is not a boys' love (BL) series, critics have noted the series' depiction of homosexuality and homoeroticism as having been influenced by (and in turn having influenced) the boys' love genre. Banana Fish follows the relationship between Ash Lynx, a teenage gang leader in New York City, and Eiji Okumura, a Japanese photographer's assistant. It was serialized in the monthly manga magazine Bessatsu Shōjo Comic from 1985 to 1994, and collected into nineteen tankōbon volumes by Shogakukan. Banana Fish (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Akimi Yoshida.
