Hit the “Random” button and see what comes up! In this feature, we take a look at whatever manga the Random Number God decides to throw at us and find out if it’s worth your time.

This time: Banana no Nana, by Oniyazu Kakashi

Premise:

In this world, everyone is born with a special power granted upon them, which determines their rank in society. Some people have a powerful ability, like the power to control water. But our protagonists aren’t very powerful at all – in fact, they have some of the lowest ranked abilities around. The eponymous Nana’s special power is the ability to bend bananas to her will, and her best friend Ringo has super strength, but only in her legs. Together, they adventure to find the mystical land known only as Oz, where they can make their wishes and dreams come true.

Thoughts:

Oh man, where to start with this one?

The set-up is as generic shonen as it could possibly be – enthusiastic protagonist wants to go on an ADVENTURE, but is held back by social status and her supposedly weak ability,  and strives to be the best and reach their goal despite that. So she goes and a journey and recruits like-minded individuals on the way. That said, this manga enough odd twists to mix it up a bit. For example, the aforementioned abilities. Banana no Nana is rather reminiscent of One Piece or JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure in the regard that you get some really odd powers and some more conventional ones.

Like I mentioned, you get the people with stuff like controlling water or having the strength of a gorilla – simple enough. But then you have Nana, who can control bananas to a frankly ridiculous degree, or Hoshi, who can do housework really fucking fast and takes advantage of that by hiding a sword inside her broom. Part of the fun of this is seeing what sort of weird abilities people pull out of their sleeves, and then watching the ridiculous fights that ensue. And speaking of the fights, they aren’t actually that bad. People throw around special techniques left and right, calling their attacks (BANANA SHIELD) and giving long-winded explanations in just the way you’d expect.

In a slight twist on the formula, people don’t get their powers for free – they always have a “Risk”, a price or a form of compensation that people have to pay on a daily basis. Nana’s is that she has to eat a whole lot of bananas every day. The woman who can control water sits in a tub for 20 hours of the day. And Ringo? She’s the resident Kick Chick, so her compensation is that she has to wear a miniskirt at all times, providing ample opportunity for panty shots. You’d think she’d take a cue from Chie and wear bike shorts.

This manga has a highly comedic tone, if you haven’t realized that by now. It plays its ridiculous premise so seriously that you can’t help but laugh, and you’re always left wondering what new application for bananas Nana is going to pull out of her skirt next. The borderline lesbian relationship between Nana and Ringo is brought up frequently, and milked for as much humor as is humanly possible. In typical fashion, every person the duo meets on their journey has their own weird quirks to make them stand out from the crowd.

So far, only eight or so chapters have been scanlated, and my understanding is that the entirety of the manga is only around two volumes anyway. This is good, because if Banana no Nana were any longer, it would definitely end up overstaying its welcome. As it stands, its good for maybe an hour or two of ridiculous laughs.

Verdict: This Shit is B A N A N A S

This is one of the silliest manga I’ve read in a long time, and if you’re up for it I’d say it’s worth your time. If you’re looking for something you can stick with and enjoy consistently, you probably want to look elsewhere, but Banana no Nana is great for a shallow afternoon romp.