history

[jadedlynx]

Notes

◦ There are contradictions between the official timeline and things said in the series. Some are hardline contradictions, some just don't make sense in terms of narrative flow. I try to work to mesh these as much as possible, but sometimes, I just had to choose what I felt best fit in with the story we see.

◦ Among these contradictions is Ash's age. We're told he's 17, but this was later retconned to make him 16, having not yet turned 17. This was done because the authoress wanted him to share her birthday, which is in the latter half of the year. Since this was changed while the series was still ongoing, it does affect the age he is during certain key events so I'll be going with the 16-year-old age. As a note, even though this was known by the time the anime was created, the contradiction was left in.

◦ The original Banana Fish manga was set during the 1980s. The anime has been updated for a modern feel, though the year is unknown. While some characters do change a bit, and some events change in detail, Ash's events and their impacts on the story and his life are roughly the same. I play largely from the anime and thus, the anime will be my main focus. However, when not in contradiction, I'll be using the manga events to fill in some blanks. That said, since Ash would know the year, I'm going to say 2016 to best adjust for the timeline events.

◦ Headcanon will be limited, but for the sake of understanding, I will add events and thoughts that I believe canon suggests that I believe would shape Ash.

【Please read so as to be warned. There will be no more warnings past this point. Ash's history is littered with sexual abuse, both by a single individual and as a larger ring, including the distribution of illegal images and DVDs. There will also be mention of the following: child death, children being forcefully drugged, child neglect to a sickening degree, and physical/mental abuse of children. To a minor degree, there will also be talk of war, gangs, and abuse of power.

There will be no graphic descriptions, but this will be a full dive into the canonical history and some assumptions I draw from the material so as to connect his history to his character so I also won't shy away from details. If you prefer a condensed, summary version, the wiki offers a decent skim of it here. 】

Cape Cod

◦ Aslan Jade Callenreese is born on August 12, 2000, in Cape Cod, Massachusetts to an unnamed mother and Jim Callenreese, father. Ash also has one brother, Griffin Callenreese. His mother, only 18-19 years old herself, runs away, leaving Ash in the care of his father, though the responsibility to raise him falls on Griffin, who is only in his mid-teens. His father soon after begins to date and likely marries Jennifer.

〉Ash and Griff live in a house by themselves while Jim and Jennifer live in another home, likely the Green Hill Diner, a small diner they own/run. While it's likely Jim gives them enough money for bills/food/etc, his otherwise neglectful attitude makes it unlikely he gives them a lot of money for extras. His father takes a very hands-off approach, leaving a teenager to raise a very young child, which makes Griff the center of Ash's world.

〉On a rare occasion when Jim does step in for Ash, he makes him a pumpkin costume for Halloween. While hiding to try and scare Griff, Ash catches a glimpse of himself in a car window, thinks it's a monster and runs away. This creates a lifelong fear of pumpkins.

〉Worth noting is that Griff and Ash have different mothers. Jim dumped and kicked Griff's mother from his life for Ash's mom, who then ran off after giving birth. After, he seems to move onto Jennifer quickly though the relationship seems unhealthy with Jim's attitude lacking respect. It doesn't create the strongest opinion of marriage or love.

〉 Despite this, these years weren't unhappy for Ash. Griff is a doting, loving older brother, and Ash seems happy enough with his simple life. I'm sure there are moments he has to wonder why his father and mother don't love him the way others do, but overall, he's found true joy with Griff. Once old enough, he joins the little leagues with Griff as his support.

◦ Griff goes to war, leaving Ash alone - 2007

〉In the manga, he was drafted into the Vietnam war. However, due to the update, this becomes the Iraqi war in the anime, which has no draft in our world. Due to Griff's nature and knowledge of Ash's circumstances, it seems unlikely he'd willingly go to war and leave Ash alone. For this reason, I assume the Iraqi war did have a draft in this universe.

〉There are some contradictions, but based on the flashbacks, it wouldn't fit to have Ash be younger than 6-7. For continuity, I'm going to say he was 7, and thus it happened in 2007.

〉There are hints that even after Griff left, Ash is left to live alone. I assume Jennifer still prepared him meals and kept him fed since the diner wasn't too far from the house.

◦ Ash is attacked and raped by Carter Wilson (Robert Peterson in the manga), his baseball coach - 2007

〉It's likely that Carter saw an opportunity to attack Ash once Griff was gone since he was essentially a child that no one cared enough to look after.

〉Ash shows up at the diner, clothing ripped, and Jim concludes what happened. Dragging Ash to the police station, a report is filed. However, Carter is a war hero, a town icon, and the police are hesitant to believe it. Instead, they put the onus on Ash, going so far as to ask Ash if he seduced the coach. My read of this is that they're willing to sacrifice Ash in order to keep the town hero loved and that when weighed against one another, Carter came out as more important. No arrest happens

〉Jim, angry, tells Ash that if he's attacked again, shut up and let it happen. However, he also says he should make sure the guy pays for his time and get a cash reward after.

〉The attacks continue to happen for a year. The worst implication of this is that no one takes any measures to protect Ash. In order for Carter to attack, he needs to be alone, without an adult. Even with the awareness that he's being targeted, Ash is often left alone in order to be attacked.

〉During this time, Griff continues to write Ash, but I play under the assumption that he doesn't know about the attacks.

◦ Stealing Jim's gun, Ash kills Carter during one of the attacks - 2008

〉During the investigation, it's discovered that Ash wasn't Carter's first victim, but he's the first to live. His usual MO was to grab kids, sexually assault them, and then kill them. An unknown number of bodies were found in his basement.

It's like Ash was the only local boy since I believe his attack on Ash would have connected him to local disappearances. Ironically, it's possible Carter felt secure in keeping Ash alive since it's shown he'd have continued, easy access to him, further cemented by the 'payment'.

This earned him the name of Bluebeard of Cape Cod.

〉Though it's suggested Ash spent a little time in jail, the youngest inmate at 8-years-old, he's cleared of all charges. However, there are a lot of rumors and talk around the town.

New York
◦ Unable to handle the talk, Jim sends Ash to live with his sister in Philly. Instead, he runs away to New York - 2008

◦ Get's kidnapped and sold to Dino - 2008

〉Originally, he's kidnapped by Frank Sanchez (Froggy), Marvin Crosby, and other unidentified men. While in their possession, he's kept with other children, raped, and photographed/recorded on a regular basis. He's then sold to Dino Golzine though Marvin seems to be somewhat obsessed with him and will remain in his life for a long time.

〉The narrative itself states Golzine buys Ash at 11, though the official timeline shows it happening when he's 8. I believe the reason for the contradiction is that the authoress was still working out Ash's earlier timeline when writing the manga, and it carried over to the same line in the anime. While I normally prefer the series itself as a source, 8 fits in better with the rest of the timeline.

〉Dino Golzine is part of the French Mafia and controls the sect based in New York. For profit and his own sick tastes, he runs Club Cod, a club where the rich and powerful are able to buy underaged boys for sex. Since blond hair and green eyes are the most popular, Ash soon becomes the most expensive boy until Dino prices him out for his own use. During this time, all of the boys are kept drugged to make them more compliant. Sometimes, they travel to visit the men at their request, something Ash notes when recognizing a Senator at a previous 'client'.

〉It's also worth noting that all of the boys are runaways, a central theme to Banana Fish: those forgotten or hated by society and what they suffer.

〉At least by age 11, and so I'll say at age 11, Ash is given a little more freedom and allowed time on the streets outside of the club.

〉Also at age 11, Ash meets with two police investigators to collaborate on a serial killer case as he targets blond boys. He's vital in catching the killer.

〉Though it's not expanded upon, it's mentioned that Ash also has a history of prostitution on the streets that the police know about. A hotel clerk we see in Private Opinion confirms Marvin and other men often bring Ash to the hotel for sex though Marvin does so without payment.

〉It's unknown at what age Ash is pulled from the club and placed for Dino exclusively, but I assume it happens when he's 13. We know that before this, he was being sold for $10,000-$20,000 a night. Street prostitution likely continues.

〉Recognizing that Ash is more than a pretty face, Dino hires the best tutors to teach Ash a variety of different subjects, including advanced mathematics, computers, etc. The intent is to groom Ash as his eventual successor. In spite of not finishing 3rd grade, he takes to the lessons well and excels. He's also taught about more sophisticated topics such as good foods, wines, and expensive clothing.

〉In addition to refinement and classes, Ash also begins to learn the streets. Some of this is his own exploration and involvement in gangs, some of it is due to intentional lessons.

〉Dino also begins to give Ash jobs related to the mafia. I assume these jobs begin as running drugs or weapons, but they do eventually involve murder. Dino states Ash is a mess when killing his first man but is able to kill without too much remorse at 14 so I'm going to assume he kills his first target at 12.

〉Unable to escape but deciding to use his time as best as he can, Ash begins to gather information. Using moments where others assume he's too hurt or distracted to focus, he manages to gather passwords, passcodes, and other pieces of information.

◦ Ash loves and loses - 2014

〉Ash has been gaining notoriety in the streets and respect within the gang community. During this time, he meets a girl. Her canon name is unknown though I'll call her Sophie. He falls in love, but others assume her to be his girlfriend, which results in her death.

◦ Enter Blanca - 2014

〉As Ash begins to grow and evolve, Dino requests that 'Blanca' come to tutor him. Ex-military, current assassin, and extremely skilled, Blanca originally plans to decline but takes a liking to Ask and agrees.

〉Though he's already skilled in fighting, Ash's skills are honed in this time when he gains a greater knowledge in combat, guns, espionage, strategy, and other military-related skills.

〉We see that Ash has become accustomed to killing and will kill to defend himself without blinking an eye.

〉Though Blanca is aware of his situation and complies with Dino in his training, he does step in to stop Marvin's abuse. I consider this the time when Ash also stops being sold on the streets.

〉It's noted that while Blanca does teach him how to fight, he doesn't teach him how to hold back as his intention is to never have Ash to go for less than a kill.

〉Ash's training continues until he's 15. Since it's stated that Blanca teaches him for 2 years, I'm assuming it's from when he freshly turned 14 until he's into late 15.

◦ Juvenile Detection and Shorter - 2015

〉Due to his rising fame in the gang world, Ash is framed by Frederick Arthur (goes by Arthur) for murder. Instead of getting him out of trouble as Dino normally does, he allows Ash to be sent to juvie in hopes of breaking him.

〉Worried about the trouble his good looks may cause, the staff assigns Shorter the task of guarding him, but their relationship doesn't start off well due to Ash's attitude. Nonetheless, he sticks by Ash's side and notes how nonchalantly Ash manages to handle all of the comments.

〉During a fight, Ash nearly kills another man, but Shorter yells his name and the weapon hits and avoids a kill. Ash notes this as one of his first lessons in holding back.

〉Also during this time, we see Ash using sex for his own gain and protection. When Shorter confronts Ash, he grows angry and asks why it's so bad to use them when they plan to use him in return. However, after hearing Shorter's argument that he should be better than them, his opinion changes. While Ash will still use sex when necessary, it isn't his first option after this point.

〉Arthur sends an assassin to try and kill Ash, but Ash manages to fight off the group of men, earning him the respect of the other inmates. After this, the comments and danger fade away.

〉Two months after Ash's arrival, Shorter is released, but they remain best friends. At some unknown point after, Dino also has Ash released.

◦ Ash turns 16, and life gets busy - 2016

〉The following events aren't given specific dates, but they do happen between the detection center and canon so this is where I file them in the timeline.

〉Before now, Ash has always been small and skinny, comparable to a beautiful, boyish girl than a girly boy (per Shorter). However, he finally hits puberty and begins to fill out a bit more.

〉Gaining his own following, he becomes the boss of his own gang.

〉With more experience under his belt and a rising antagonism with Arthur, the two engaged in a knife fight over territory. Ash wins, but Arthur tries to cheat and shoot him as he's walking away. Ash realizes what's happening, dodges, and slices Arthur's fingers until they're too injured to ever use a gun.

〉Searching various Veteran centers for Griff, he finally finds him. However, Griff is paralyzed and though he's awake, fully unresponsive to stimuli. Ash brings him back to his place and begins to care for him. During this time, he begins to sell himself to Dino (as opposed to being purely forced) for the money to buy Griff's medication. Dino doesn't know about Griff's existence.

End history. Canon events here