Q 01/05

The title of Banana Fish borrows from a short story first published in The New Yorker by which author?

A) Truman Capote

B) J. D. Salinger

C) John Steinbeck

D) William Faulkner

Answer · why

B) J. D. Salinger

J. D. Salinger published A Perfect Day for Bananafish in 1948. Its imaginary fish gorge themselves until they cannot move, and the story ends with a s...

Q 02/05

Banana Fish, a gritty crime story, first ran in a monthly manga magazine aimed at which readership?

A) Teenage boys

B) Adult men

C) Teenage girls

D) Young children

Answer · why

C) Teenage girls

Teenage girls were the intended readers, yet the gritty crime story drew so many men and adult women that it became a rare crossover hit.

Q 03/05

Ash Lynx's look in later chapters of Banana Fish was modelled on which Stand by Me actor?

A) River Phoenix

B) Corey Feldman

C) Wil Wheaton

D) Kiefer Sutherland

Answer · why

A) River Phoenix

River Phoenix became the model after the creator saw him in The Mosquito Coast. His death in 1993 briefly made her rethink the ending she had always p...

Q 04/05

Before injury ended his athletic career, Eiji Okumura of Banana Fish competed in which field event?

A) High jump

B) Long jump

C) Triple jump

D) Pole vault

Answer · why

D) Pole vault

Pole vault training saves him early on: held captive by Ash's enemies, Eiji escapes by vaulting over a wall.

Q 05/05

In the final scene of Banana Fish, a wounded Ash Lynx dies inside which Manhattan landmark?

A) Grand Central Terminal

B) New York Public Library

C) St. Patrick's Cathedral

D) Staten Island Ferry Terminal

Answer · why

B) New York Public Library

New York Public Library's main branch is where Ash dies smiling over a letter from Eiji. The library later credited a rise in gift shop revenue to vis...