Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Banana Fish" in Indonesian language version.
Fujimoto: "Why did Ash die?" Yoshida: "I was conflicted about that. I had two endings in mind, one where he dies and another where he doesn't, but I'd decided a long time ago that he would die, so I felt I couldn't change that."
Akira: "Was this Ash person Okumura-san's... uh... well, lover?" Sing: "He was more than that. Which doesn't mean their relationship was sexual, because it wasn't. But they did love each other... maybe the way lovers do."