Banana Fish

Legitimately the first anime to make me cry, the characters feel realistic with their struggles and ideals, and the bond between the two characters and seeing it develop to something that goes beyond friendship is heartwarming, especially when they are together, or heartbreaking when they are separated. One of MAPPA's best works.

It has great, great potential; it may be one of the richest anime from a character portrayal point of view. If only they didn't fall into the trap of a constant kidnapping theme (given the underlying bondage atmosphere, I see where that comes from but it didn't do the story any good). The weirdest thing about this anime is how brutally frank it is about all the really messed-up stuff (rape, child abuse, porn, torture) while being so abashed about the actual main theme of a young gay couple.