Curate, connect, and discover
I think, what made me love Banana Fish so much despite the many sad, violent, and tragic things that went down was the very broad relationship of Ash and Eiji. Cliche to say? Maybe. I will always be grateful that Yoshida chose this direction than have it as another het story. With what those two have they didn't need to be in specifics on who they are to each other or what it means to be together. I remember in Garden of Light, Sing described their relationship as "more than romantic" got to me. That shifted a lot of things within my aroace mind and heart. Anyone can interpret it as romantic or platonic alike or possibly both. It's just great that, you can simply love someone so much by just existing as themselves, without, and together.
Ash and Eiji's first meeting felt like two universes colliding. You can feel the entire room shift even when there's nothing to shake it, and see the colors turn a bit brighter than usual. The moment they locked eyes it feels uncertain yet they were so sure of each other at the same time.
I guess Ash is somewhat guarded since Ibe's there. Knowing how he can't trust adults so much. Yet the next scenes that come after their first eye contact, Ash is interested, testy or maybe teasing even towards Eiji. To say the least they were both interested in each other. Curious.