In the japanese photo book Lonely Boy: River Phoenix published by Screen Magazine in 1993, there’s a tribute to River by Akimi Yoshida.
Yoshida is the creator of the manga series Banana Fish (1985-1994), at a certain point in the story, she started to base her main character Ash Lynx on River’s features and, in this tribute, she showed how much she admired River.
Translation:
October 31, 1993 has become an unforgettable day. Who could have imagined him to pass away so young? The word ‘Yousetsu/夭折’ has a sentimental sound, but in reality it is too cruel (Yousetsu/夭折 = The premature death of talented young person). River was a vegan, and worked on environmental protections with passion. (However,) Alcohol, tobacco and drugs coexisted with that without any contradiction on the inside of him…. how complex human beings are. Even so, his brilliance will never be lost. 'Stand by Me’ 'Mosquito Coast’ 'Running on Empty’… all of the boys he played knew that they had to grow up an adult. And River was not a weird boy “I want to stay a kid forever” like Peter Pan, so he continued to grow up steadily. Even though he knew that he would lost something big by becoming an adult, the eyes of River looking straight ahead were beautiful and having a strong will. That may have been the point of reach of 'Beauty of boys’ in a sense. I can’t see him in the real world any more. However, he will remain in my heart forever. In the hearts of many people who loved him and was saved by him, too.
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