49 Shows Like Banana Fish (2018) to Watch When You're Done
A teenaged gang leader in New York City faces his abuser and rival gangs alongside a photojournalist from Japan as they investigate a deadly new drug.
Updated June 2026
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This intense anime follows Ash Lynx, a brilliant teenage gang leader in New York, who teams with a young Japanese photojournalist to unravel a deadly conspiracy tied to his abusive past. Dark, propulsive and emotionally raw, it fuses crime thriller with a tender bond. If its gritty stakes and aching connection gripped you, seek out crime and drama anime that pair brutal worlds with deep, fragile relationships.
If you loved Banana Fish (2018) by Nobumasa Sawabe, here are 49 TV series that share its content DNA. iRankMovies measures real similarity using cosine similarity across eight weighted dimensions — genre (50%), tone (12%), pace (10%), structure (8%), era (7%), theme (6%), audience (4%) and narrative perspective (3%) — not just the rating. The closest matches according to our analysis are Kakegurui, BEASTARS, Monster. Every title is ranked by how closely it matches and backed by the iRank Score, a composite of IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic and TMDb across 12,000+ analysed titles.
49 Shows Similar to Banana Fish
Kakegurui
2017
Run by a corrupt and sadistic school council, the “system” at Hyakkaou is based on gambling, with losers who cannot cover their debts being demeaned by their peers and forced to serve their debtholder
In common: Animation · Crime · Drama
BEASTARS
2019
In a world where beasts of all kinds coexist, a gentle wolf awakens to his own predatory urges as his school deals with a murder within its midst.
In common: Animation · Crime · Drama
Monster
2004
Kenzou Tenma, a Japanese brain surgeon in Germany, finds his life in utter turmoil after getting involved with a psychopath that was once a former patient.
In common: Animation · Crime · Drama
Death Parade
2015
There is a place after death that’s neither heaven nor hell. A bar that serves you one chance to win. You cannot leave until the game is over, and when it is, your life may be too.
In common: Animation · Drama · Mystery
Classroom of the Elite
2017
Kiyotaka Ayanokouji enrolls at the prestigious Tokyo Koudo Ikusei Academy, but is assigned to Class 1-D, where students with behavioral problems are housed. The school awards points equivalent to 100,
In common: Animation · Drama · Mystery
Black Lagoon
2006 · Jungo Maruta
The story follows a team of pirate mercenaries known as the Lagoon Company, that smuggles goods in and around the seas of Southeast Asia in the early to mid 1990s. Their base of operations is located
In common: Action & Adventure · Animation · Crime
Serial Experiments Lain
1998
Lain—driven by the abrupt suicide of a classmate—logs on to the Wired and promptly loses herself in a twisted mass of hallucinations, memories, and interconnected-psyches.
In common: Animation · Drama · Mystery
ERASED
2016
Satoru Fujinuma is a struggling manga artist who has the ability to turn back time and prevent deaths. When his mother is killed he turns back time to solve the mystery, but ends up back in elementary
In common: Animation · Drama · Mystery
You
2018 · Sera Gamble
A dangerously charming, obsessive man goes to extreme measures to insert himself into the lives of women who fascinate him.
In common: Crime · Drama · Mystery
Elfen Lied
2004
The Diclonius, a mutated homo sapien that is said to be selected by God and will eventually become the destruction of mankind, possesses two horns in their heads, and has a "sixth sense" which gives i
In common: Action & Adventure · Animation · Drama
Death Note
2006
Light Yagami is an ace student with great prospects—and he’s bored out of his mind. But all that changes when he finds the Death Note, a notebook dropped by a rogue Shinigami death god. Any human whos
In common: Animation · Mystery
Detective Conan
1996
The son of a world famous mystery writer, Jimmy Kudo, has achieved his own notoriety by assisting the local police as a student detective. He has always been able to solve the most difficult of crimin
In common: Animation · Crime
The Promised Neverland
2019
Emma, Norman and Ray are the brightest kids at the Grace Field House orphanage. And under the care of the woman they refer to as “Mom,” all the kids have enjoyed a comfortable life. Good food, clean c
In common: Animation · Drama · Mystery
The Apothecary Diaries
2023 · Takahiro Sato
Maomao lived a peaceful life with her apothecary father. Until one day, she's sold as a lowly servant to the emperor's palace. But she wasn't meant for a compliant life among royalty. So when imperial
In common: Animation · Drama · Mystery
BAKI
2018
While martial arts champion Baki Hanma trains hard to surpass his legendary father, five violent death row inmates descend upon Tokyo to take him on.
In common: Action & Adventure · Animation · Crime
Redo of Healer
2021 · Shun'ichi Okabe
In a world of monsters, adventurers and magic, some of the most gifted healers are subjugated to brute force. Keyaru gains the ability to rewind time and turns the tables on those who’ve exploited him
In common: Action & Adventure · Animation · Crime
Luther
2010
A dark psychological crime drama starring Idris Elba as Luther, a man struggling with his own terrible demons, who might be as dangerous as the depraved murderers he hunts.
In common: Crime · Drama · Mystery
Another
2012 · Tsuneo Takechi
When Kouichi arrives at his new school, he immediately senses something frightening in the atmosphere of his new class, something that no student wants to talk about and that seems to be related to a
In common: Animation · Drama · Mystery
Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-
2016
Natsuki Subaru, an ordinary high school student, is on his way home from the convenience store when he finds himself transported to another world. As he's lost and confused in a new world where he
In common: Action & Adventure · Animation · Drama
Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun
2020 · Yohei Fukui
To be united with her crush, a hopeless romantic summons the ghost in the girls' bathroom at her school. But she's shocked when the ghost is a boy!
In common: Animation · Mystery
Charlotte
2015
All thanks to the special ability that he developed, Yuu was able to cheat his way into a very prestigious high school. With his power, he thought nothing was going to stand in his way, until he met
In common: Animation · Drama
Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas
2009
The Sacred war tale that took place during the 18th century is now unveiled. Tenma, Alone and Sasha, three orphans living their childhood protecting each other and then separated at diferent ages made
In common: Action & Adventure · Animation · Drama
Candy Candy
1976
This story is about a girl, Candy, who is a orphan. She is a nice and optimistic girl and she has a warm heart. When she was a child, she lived in an orphanage called Pony's Home. She had a good frien
In common: Animation · Drama
Parasyte -the maxim-
2014
A species of parasitic aliens descends on Earth and quickly infiltrates humanity by entering the brains of vulnerable targets; insatiable beings that gain total control of their host and are capable o
In common: Action & Adventure · Animation · Drama
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
2009
Disregard for alchemy’s laws ripped half of Edward Elric’s limbs from his body and left his brother Alphonse’s soul clinging to a suit of armor. To restore what was lost, the brothers seek the Philoso
In common: Action & Adventure · Animation · Drama
Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion
2006
Japan has been invaded and conquered by the Britannian Empire. Japan is now known as Area 11 and its citizens known as Elevens. The Britannian Empire takes away Japan's autonomous power and imposes it
In common: Action & Adventure · Animation · Drama
Saint Seiya
1986
Ages ago, the goddess Athena was served by fighters called Saints who channeled the power of the Cosmos within them. Now a youth named Seiya has trained to become a Saint himself by earning the mystic
In common: Action & Adventure · Animation · Drama
High School of the Dead
2010 · Hiroyuki Omori
A small group of students at Fujimi High are fighting for their lives after surviving a zombie outbreak. It is up to Takashi to unite the survivors and escape the horrors that surround them. In this n
In common: Action & Adventure · Animation · Drama
Vinland Saga
2019
For a thousand years, the Vikings have made quite a name and reputation for themselves as the strongest families with a thirst for violence. Thorfinn, the son of one of the Vikings' greatest warriors,
In common: Action & Adventure · Animation · Drama
Golden Time
2013
Banri Tada is a freshman at a Tokyo law school. After an accident, he suffers severe memory loss. Despite the incident, he befriends fellow freshman, Mitsuo Yanagisawa, which leads him to the beautifu
In common: Animation · Drama
xxxHOLiC
2006
Kimihiro Watanuki is a high school student plagued by ayakashi spirits, both of which are invisible to everyone else but him. The series begins when Watanuki stumbles, seemingly by chance, into a shop
In common: Animation
Neon Genesis Evangelion
1995 · Hideaki Anno
At the turn of the century, the Angels returned to Earth, seeking to wipe out humanity in an apocalyptic fury. Devastated, mankind's last remnants moved underground to wait for the day when the Angels
In common: Animation · Drama
Violet Evergarden
2018 · Masayuki Nishide
The war is over, and Violet Evergarden needs a job. Scarred and emotionless, she takes a job as a letter writer to understand herself and her past.
In common: Animation · Drama
Criminal Minds
2005
An elite team of FBI profilers analyze the country's most twisted criminal minds, anticipating their next moves before they strike again. The Behavioral Analysis Unit's most experienced agent is David
In common: Crime · Drama · Mystery
The Mentalist
2008 · Tom Szentgyorgyi
Patrick Jane, a former celebrity psychic medium, uses his razor sharp skills of observation and expertise at "reading" people to solve serious crimes with the California Bureau of Investigation.
In common: Crime · Drama · Mystery
The Blacklist
2013 · T Cooper
Raymond "Red" Reddington, one of the FBI's most wanted fugitives, surrenders in person at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C. He claims that he and the FBI have the same interests: bringing down dang
In common: Crime · Drama · Mystery
Dexter
2006 · Jace Richdale
Dexter Morgan, a blood spatter pattern analyst for the Miami Metro Police also leads a secret life as a serial killer, hunting down criminals who have slipped through the cracks of justice.
In common: Crime · Drama · Mystery
Medium
2005
Allison Dubois works in the District Attorney’s office using her natural intuition about people and her ability to communicate with the dead to help to solve crimes. Her dreams often give her clues to
In common: Crime · Drama · Mystery
Elementary
2012
A modern-day drama about a crime-solving duo that cracks the NYPD's most impossible cases. Following his fall from grace in London and a stint in rehab, eccentric Sherlock escapes to Manhattan where h
In common: Crime · Drama · Mystery
CSI: NY
2004
Follow the investigations of a team of NYPD forensic scientists and police officers identified as "Crime Scene Investigators".
In common: Crime · Drama · Mystery
High Potential
2024 · Kaitlin Olson
Morgan is a single mom with an exceptional mind, whose unconventional knack for solving crimes leads to an unusual and unstoppable partnership with a by-the-book seasoned detective.
In common: Crime · Drama · Mystery
White Collar
2009 · Nick Thiel
In exchange for his freedom, charming con artist Neal Caffrey provides his expertise to help straight-man FBI agent Peter Burke catch elusive white-collar criminals.
In common: Crime · Drama · Mystery
Evil
2019
Skeptical forensic psychologist Kristen Bouchard joins priest-in-training David Acosta and technology expert Ben Shakir as they investigate supposed miracles, demonic possessions, and other extraordin
In common: Crime · Drama · Mystery
Lie to Me
2009 · Brian Grazer
The world's leading deception researcher, Dr. Cal Lightman, studies facial expression, body language and tone of voice to determine when a person is lying and why, which helps law enforcement and gove
In common: Crime · Drama · Mystery
Tokyo Revengers
2021 · Haruki Satomi
Takemichi Hanagaki is a freelancer that’s reached the absolute pits of despair in his life. He finds out that the only girlfriend he ever had, in middle school, Hinata Tachibana, had been killed by th
In common: Action & Adventure · Animation · Crime
Steins;Gate
2011
A group of friends have customized their microwave so that it can send text messages to the past. As they perform different experiments, an organization named SERN who has been doing their own researc
In common: Animation · Mystery
Tokyo Ghoul
2014 · Kazumichi Ueda
Ken Kaneki, a bookworm college student, meets Rize, a girl his own age with whom he shares many interests.
In common: Animation · Drama
Winx Club
2004
In a magical universe, witches, warriors begin fighting in the name of good .vs. evil! At a magic school, five teenage girls are selected to defend the universe with their magic.
In common: Action & Adventure · Animation
Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated
2010
This incarnation of the popular cartoon series finds Scooby and the gang living in Crystal Cove, a small town with a long history of ghost sightings, monster tales and other mysteries ripe for the sle
In common: Animation · Mystery