The Fable ザ・ファブル

2024 spring | Episodes: 25 | Score: 8.1 (29389)

Updated every Sundays at 00:55 | Status: Finished Airing

Type: TV

Producers:VAP | Kodansha | Nippon Television Network | Audio Planning U

Streaming: Disney+ | Hulu

Synopsis

Fable, an assassin who works in organized crime, has been raised to the legendary status of a ruthless killer capable of murdering any man within six seconds. Six years after his debut, his boss fears that Fable has started to attract too much attention from the legal authorities, and he orders him to hide in Osaka for a year. Accompanied by his driver who assumes the identity of his sister, Fable is bound by a special condition: he must act as a civilian and not murder anyone lest he and his partner lose their lives. However, the seemingly well-deserved holiday soon takes a grim turn. Takeshi Ebihara, the second-in-command of the Osaka mafia that officially protects the assassin, sees Fable's presence as a threat and wants to remove him. Constantly monitored by the yakuza and regularly put in life-or-death situations, Fable has no other choice but to outwit Takeshi's schemes if he wants to stay alive. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

Voice Actors

Okitsu, Kazuyuki

News

Reviews

Shydia
03/07/2025, 07:11 PM
WATCH IT. Watch at least 2-3 episode and you'll forget all about the ick you had in early episode. The slow talking? I never find any voice acting more suited to their character. "Bad" animation? I got used to it, it fits the story and i think they got better since the fight scenes looks great to me. The characters are so funny I can't stop laughing, i love them, and they got me to read the manga which has a 10/10 ending. Definitely looking forward to season 2 if they ever decide to make one. I can understand if other still dislike it tho, evenI think reading the manga plays a lot to my high review
CaptainKenshiro
02/15/2025, 09:30 PM
This anime is an odd one as it is worth a one-time watch for combining multiple different genres, but not exactly because the combination of them is all that great, nor because each one of them is handled all that well individually either. First, it is a comedy, with most jokes revolving around how the protagonist is unable to adapt to a common everyday life, and some minor ones about his non-sister trolling men. The first type suffers from no other character reacting to the situation in a way that comes off as funny, but rather having some “ah, I see” with a straight face typeof reactions. It is refreshing to have an anime which humor doesn’t revolve around characters yelling and exaggerating over the most minor things, but unless you are a fan of deadpan comedy, I don’t think these would work on you. Comedy rarely makes me laugh, and when the jokes and delivery themselves don’t even feel like trying to make me to, what can I consider them other than mediocre? The second type comes off as very silly and dragged on to work on me, although I will admit that I found the battle of flirts between the non-sister and that one guy somewhat amusing, and even got a chuckle out of me. The Fable is also a slice of life type of series but the premise itself prevents it from being a properly made common life type of story, how can you have a slice of life when that life is fabricated, out of the ordinary stuff keeps happening in it, and the main character doesn’t quite nail it? It is certainly an uncommon type of series for the genre that might work for people that are not usually pleased with it, but I don’t see how fans of it would fancy this one much. The series is also a thriller, and for the most part it succeeds at presenting the most intense circumstances with suspense, as they involve normal people on risky situations with some rather high stakes. The problem is that the show is also a rule of cool action type of one, and that clashes with the other intentions, as most problems are resolved thanks to the protagonist being awesome. That’s its main issue as a rule of cool type of action series as well. Every properly made work of that subgenre that I’ve seen on anime or live action succeeds primarily thanks to at least one of three main factors: creativity, great spectacle and antagonists that are close to the protagonists in levels of challenge and cool factor. None of these are all that present in the Fable, or at least not with that much success. The situations the main characters have to deal with are presented in ways meant to be cool, but are also more like thrilling than anything else, while also rather typical for its genre and approached on a pretended semi-realistic way, thus their creativity is rather low. The spectacle is easily the weakest aspect in this anime thanks to rather mediocre production values. The directing itself is fine, especially when it comes to saving the action scenes with their so-so animation, but the visuals themselves leave a lot to be desired for a work like this. I can give a compliment to the anime for looking actually dark when it is supposed to, which is a rare thing nowadays, but the artwork is simplistic, the character designs simple and their figures go off model often, the backgrounds rather unimpressive, the animation mostly static and with so-so motions on action scenes as previously mentioned, and the special effects aren’t all that good either, and they even feature some rather mediocre CGI. The audio on the other hand is fine. I don’t like a single song among the two openings and endings of this anime, but the background music itself isn’t bad. The sound effects do their job fine and the voice acting is ok. Like I hinted at previously, nothing so far poses that much of a challenge to the protagonist. There are a bunch of antagonists and secondary characters with their own agency and schemes, and several opponents on each arc, in turn completely outclassed by the ones of the following arcs, making you think that maybe now the main guy will face a proper threat, but no. When the climax of an arc comes, the protagonist resolves everything by being super awesome and far superior to anyone else around him. What the anime ends up working most as ends up being the drama, surprisingly, as there are several really serious and mostly real and plausible situations in it, suffered mostly by women, and the series never tries to mix in some comedy in during those moments. In a general sense, the writing takes its time at presenting the different characters and scenarios and properly excusing grouping them all together. Although rather slow paced and frankly boring to watch in my opinion, once you finish each arc you come to appreciate a proper structure of a well-established build up followed by a far better payoff, making a rather decent whole. Another good aspect is having several characters with their own agency trying to outclass each other, despite everything being resolved by the super awesome protagonist, as well as enough downtime to present the mentality of all of them. There are several scenes where the cast discuss their ideas about the values of lives and deaths, types of people, different eras with different values and ways to act, working attitudes changing over time and generations, and more stuff. I won’t say it’s amazing or anything, especially because I watched About the Movements of the Earth after this anime, but it is the most depth and substance and look into the cast that you will find it, so I think that’s worth the mention, despite how weird and twisted some of their ideologies might be. The weakest aspect of the story is of course feeling like mini arcs with no connection with one another, and the lack of an overall ending. As far as characterization goes, it is easy to dismiss it as being divided between typical good people, mostly women, and typical assholes gagsters and assassins, mostly men, but on a closer inspection, not all yakuzas nor all gangsters are straight up bad, and not all common people are exactly good. In fact an everyday guy is the worst of them all, because at least the criminals themselves recognized that they are scum, while that one dude acts in denial and victimization. What’s to appreciate is how every relevant character has their backdrop story explored, and although I can’t really say that there’s development, the resolutions feel satisfactory in how everyone gets what they deserve. The good guys get some proper peace and a renewed chance at life at the end in a cathartic way, and the wrongdoers get what’s coming to them, not in a sadistic “haha take that asshole” way for the pleasure of the audience, but rather through outcomes that feel bittersweet. In the middle of all of that is the protagonist, who is the only one getting some slight change by becoming more humanized thanks to his newfound everyday life and companions. Too bad he is really serious and dry and rather boring to follow from beginning to end for me to consider him developed or interesting. Honestly is it mostly the same with everyone else, but least they are proactive, while he is mostly reactive and uninterested by mostly everything. Like I said, I wouldn’t say this anime is exactly great, and I certainly didn’t enjoy it, and it has issues both on each one of its genres and as a whole in my opinion, but the combination of all of them and its odd approach to them, with some quality content and satisfactory conclusions here and there, make it a worthy one time watch for me, especially if you are looking for something somewhat different and retro feeling.
Deverant
01/30/2025, 04:04 AM
Fable is one of the greats in adult animation. Every episode is of consistent quality and there's a perfect balance over the season between plot/dialogue and the action youd expect from a story about a hired killer. Its also very funny which I wasnt expecting and the humor reads as a bit western to me (not really like a gag manga or trope-y). I really wanna emphasize what I mean by adult animation because yes the tag is "Seinen" but not all Seinen meet this level of quality. The show takes its time with things and handles them with finesse: basically every character youre introducedto no matter how small they seem is really built out well. They have reasons for existing for how they impact the plot and other characters' development, they aren't just caricatures. The effect this has on the anime/manga is ofc to slow it down a bit relative to what youd get in shounen, so I can understand if people found it exposition heavy or just wanted more fighting, but it also means that the action scenes we do get are just incredible. Its quality over quantity, with most action scenes lasting a relatively short period of time but showing off diverse skills from the characters and really getting the viewer thinking about how everything will play out. One standout scene has two "side" characters duking it out over only 5 seconds canonically (more like a few minutes in show time) and yet its one of the most memorable of the whole season. I honestly find it hard to fault the show but I'm giving it a 9 because I can imagine a world where the animation had a higher budget, even still the unique art style gives it a certain charm that I'll miss. If you're on the fence about this show because the theme isnt what youd normally like but you appreciate other Seinen, I definitely think you should give it a go. Stick through the episodes where it seems mundane and trust the writer to lead you somewhere awesome.
ChiefGamer
01/13/2025, 02:16 PM
I want to start the review by saying that I haven't read the manga but I loved the show. It is slow paced and old school but precisely because of that it presents a different atmosphere entirely compared to the anime of today. The show is mainly about an assassin trying to lead an ordinary life for an year and his interactions with ordinary people while getting into trouble due to his past and handling it while trying to maintain his ordinary life that he comes to enjoy. I won't be spoiling the story any more than this. The characters are very interesting. Most ofthem are certainly in the grey area so don't expect this to be a fluffy feel good slice of life. There is both the nasty and dangerous stuff that people in underworld are typically involved in portrayed throughout the anime. I hope there is a second season for this. It is rated highly but doesn't seem to be popular despite so many anime with worse stories being much more popular. Short Version - It's very interesting as long as you watch it with an open mind and are interested in something different from the usual anime made nowadays.
Ramun_Flame
01/12/2025, 01:31 PM
Man, what a ride. This show is split into two main arcs that split the series in two. After the first arc, I felt it couldn't really be topped and the second arc would die down a bit and just be okay. Boy was I wrong. The second half and ending blew me away. If you like suspense, well written characters, and grounded, believable stories just get to watching it now. No need to read anymore. The premise is a pro hitman needs to lay low for a year, and he's not allowed to kill anyone or cause trouble. This show is technically a comedy aswell as a suspenseful drama, and the funny parts hit for sure. Seeing the MC navigate issues with his restrictions is a real treat. Speaking of the MC, he's a truly unique character. In shows often when you have a character who acts a bit different, it's kinda cartoony and not believable. Here I can totally see someone acting like him, and it mirrors encounters I've had with socially inept people in person. He's a great character, and so is most of the cast. While talking about characters, we have some truly evil people in this show. Usually these kind of characters are written in ways that make them seem cartoonish and unbelievable, but here even the villains' seem believable. They do evil things, but you can see where they are coming from. Now, I have to address the animation. For the most part, it's pretty sparse, and just barely does the job. I'm not an animation nut, and can enjoy a show despite bad animation(I didn't mind One Punch Man season 2, or the later seasons of Seven Deadly Sins). Even I had to cringe a bit when they had an an obviously rotoscoped scene. The thing is, the show is so great I can look past this flaw. Before the second half, I was thinking I would give this a 7 or an 8 based on how it went. I couldn't predict the second half would impress me so much. Now I'm torn between an 8 and a 9. The thing is, I reserve 9s for shows that really make me feel something, whether it be joy, sadness, or whatever. This show made me feel all those things, and I physically had to get up at one point I was so excited about the events. So it's getting a 9, and for sure I recommend it.
patkarunungan
12/25/2024, 02:17 AM
Many people have been telling me how this is an underrated gem. It has a good score in MAL, a little above 8 out of 10. Does this anime live up to that? § Overview An unnamed assassin, who has gained the notorious nickname 'The Fable,' is legendary. He can kill someone quickly and efficiently. Suddenly, his boss decides to have him stop killing people for one year. He and his partner are given false names under the pretense that they are siblings. Together, they try to live an ordinary life. That, however, doesn't go smooth as planned as they attract trouble pretty quick. § Notes1. It has the same mature tone as Golgo 13. I don't know who will win. Both are stoic. Clearly, both are on the autism spectrum. 2. The voice acting of The Fable, who was given the alias Satou Akira, as well as his 'sister' Youko are superb. Satou may be monotone, but his way of talking gives rise to funny situations delivered in a dry way. Also, Youko has a quirky personality. She pretends to be drunk but beats the guys who want to hook up with her in the drinking game. Her voice acting is distinctive. 3. The art style is said to be ugly, and they are not entirely wrong. It's just that it fits the tone of the show. The design of male characters are distinctive enough. I have an issue with the design of the female characters. They are said to be beautiful, but they don't really look so. Worse, they resemble each other too much. If male character design is satisfactory, the female character design flunks so hard. 4. There's a natural lid on how exciting this is. We are shown Satou's full capabilities as an assassin in Episode 1. But after that, we are only shown a shadow because most of the plot involves him trying to live an ordinary life, including having a job. Whenever he needs to help other people, he is handicapped as he is not supposed to kill people. It's interesting why he is able to function well despite his handicap and how he became that capable. But at the end of the day, it could have been better. 5. With its slow pace, not everyone will like it. The action scenes are nice to watch because they are few. If you only want constant action, this is not for you. § Conclusion It's a very good anime with mediocre execution. It's a gem if you watch it patiently and don't get mad at how dull the main character is and how slow the pacing may be.
JJMFREAP
12/01/2024, 02:42 AM
Right, this'll be a bit of a weird one, but I'll do my best to put into words how I feel about this show. In short though, it was a really fun anime that got better and better as it went on. Nonetheless, it has some issues. Here we go. Let's just get some of the obvious stuff out of the way. The animation for this series was just not there. All the characters looked plain and uninspired, the posing and movement was stiff and lifeless, lots of reused scenes and no visual flare to speak of. A lot of times, characters lacked expression too, whichis very important in a thriller. Seriously, it feels like for the most part, they did the absolute bare minimum to get the point across. So expect a lot of by the numbers shot-reverse shot dialogue sections, lots of still frames and minimal movement outside of action scenes. The studio can be damn thankful that the story is more than good enough to make this worthwhile and that the music and especially the voice acting did A LOT of heavy lifting to make this come together. Trust me, were this a lesser story, this anime would've been relegated to a dustbin right away. Right, let's get into the good stuff though. The Fable is another awesome entry in the growing genre of "former Yakuza/hitman tries to live a normal life, but his past keeps catching up to him" alongside other series like Gokushufudou or Sakamoto Days. It's also great how, despite sounding very similar on paper, all of them have a very different approach to their story and are very distinct from one another and any other series out there. The Fable is absolutely brilliant in the way that it manages to balance comedy, action and tension. There's lots of jokes and many scenes got a good laugh out of me. Despite this, it also weaves a fantastic yakuza crime thriller in there too and both aspects only serve to enhance each other. It's a very delicate task to try and make your audience laugh, while also consistently keeping them on their toes at all times but dammit, it works! The fight scenes are also handled very uniquely, without prolonged exchanges of blows but instead were these physical games of chess, focused on very cerebral decision making between highly intelligent characters. Without gratuitous inner monologues, we get battles of wit punctuated by lighting fast John Wick-style showdowns. In a battle of professional assassins, the outcome can be decided in the blink of an eye, so every moment counts. This brings us to another of the core strengths - the characters. It's often a slippery slope and quite hit or miss when anime try to have highly intelligent characters. However here, this is done wonderfully. Characters who are meant to be clever actually feel that way and the decisions they make are logical and creative. The outsmarting going on is very engaging and adds to the great sense of anticipation during every direct conflict. The way Fable also uses his genius in his field to handle every situation while keeping his promise not to kill anyone is thoroughly fascinating. Beyond conflict though, the characters are also all very charismatic, engaging and interesting. All of them have depth and a mixture of realistic, believable flaws, all sprinkled with just the right amount of exaggerated absurdity to make them slot right in with the overall comedic tone of the story. They absolutely steal the show and this makes this overall very dialogue heavy series never drag or feel dull and as I said earlier, the fantastic voice acting carries a lot of the weight in order to make the whole experience come together well. I mean, both Kenjiro Tsuda and Takehito Koyasu showed up, so we've checked all the boxes of making a proper yakuza thriller. Overall, I enjoyed what I saw from this anime, but there were definitely glaring flaws. The story is excellent and unique and the characters are easily the greatest thing about it, but I can't lie, the really cheap visuals detracts greatly from the experience. The stiff and janky animation makes the emotional scenes less impactful than they should be and the dull, generic, bright colour palette used detracts from the cool neo-noir atmosphere that I feel befits this kind of story. Were this tale less exciting than it was, this anime would've been given no more than a 5 on here and it would've been swiftly forgotten about. My final verdict is that this is still an enjoyable experience overall and still worth a watch, but I'll definitely be deferring to the superior manga for the full story. If and when this gets greenlit for a second season, I would very much rather a different more passionate studio be given the job. TLDR: Божката пука/10
No-LifeKing_26
11/28/2024, 07:47 PM
Fable has a very slow start to the beginning but halfway through it picks up. I enjoyed the humor, action, and how the plot progresses after the midway point. I think it was interesting how they blended in something so dark with so much humorous content. The animation is a bit and older than I would like, as if it was done on purpose. There was quite a few scenes where it was too dark and even though I could see the characters and setting, I had to focus to do so. The characters themselves reminded me a lot of Hiroshi Iwaaki's (Parasyte) drawing style.It was very entertaining when the plot or is progressed and I was always looking forward to the next episode. Definitely worth a watch.
A_Madao
11/08/2024, 07:56 AM
Fable is an excellent example of how to mix comedy with action and a sprinkle of a slice of life. The story is about a legendary assassin whose next mission is to learn how to live like normal people, with one condition: He must not kill anyone during this time. The visuals are great, the fights are pretty good, and the character development is on point! But... there is one problem: the pacing is so slow that it kills suspense and makes the overall story kinda dull. However, overall, the anime is really fun to watch and does not really take itself seriously, which givesyou 'chill' vibes.
Pokeboy626
10/30/2024, 07:00 PM
I was pleasantly surprised by this anime. The animation isn't anything special, but it was serviceable. The characters are interesting. Especially the protagonist. I grew to like his personality and odd mannerisms. I also liked his sister, who was much more capable than I expected her to be. Overall this was an enjoyable anime. I do not regret watching it. Its a shame that more people aren't talking about it. But I heard a lot of positive reviews from people who did watch it, so I gave it a chance. Hopefully it gets greenlit for a season 2. Jackal. Jackal. Jackal. Jackal.
Avieshek
10/14/2024, 12:08 AM
The amazing thing about Fable is that, there are no ups and downs in terms of delivery even with a single episode but still manages to surprise as-well-as entertain multiple times with each being different while carrying the same pace. Usually, this type of planned direction and consistent execution comes from huge projects like Attack on Titan but this is just a surprising dark horse out of nowhere that still isn't eager to attract attention and yet serving high value to those who are faithful. The thing about Fable is being original where everything makes sense than retooling used tropes to serve old wine innew bottle as apparent with average animés these days looking for a quick buck to make. Nothing is overused here and is carefully flavoured with an ambient balance (while not being bland) with a sprinkle of everything (action, comedy, depth, drama, plot, dialogue…) without an iota of cliché. One wouldn't honestly expect but this animé would still serve some surprising elements even that far in the story progression (Episode 20 for example) before the ending finale which just shows how much organic content it has artfully saved up without the fear to run out of originality - This is something very very rare in any story let alone in an animé that too served so delightfully, Fable truly is an underwhelming rare gem served in today's time. *claps x3
Flakeoff
10/13/2024, 07:15 AM
This Anime is truly a masterpiece without exaggeration. The characters, The Pacing and the Plot are all on point. The animation style is charming in its own way and not too flashy. It has a great balance of Comedy and Seriousness, The MC is respectable yet hilarious and the "sister" is hilarious, Scary....and yet respectable. But they are all written soo damn good! There is no fanservice here, Which is a good thing. This is one series i don't want to give to many details about through a review as i want people to really jump into it themselves and experience it. It is a VERYwelcome and nice change of pace from the usual isekai and romcoms we have been getting.
Handler-_-One
10/06/2024, 10:30 PM
The premise of this anime looked really good and gave me hopes that this might be "IT" to watch and enjoy it fully. But although the plan looked good, it was kinda poorly executed. The characters never really seemed to develop from what they are and that is bad news for anime that is 25 eps... i mean it would be ok for me for they to stay the same if it was 12 eps but not acceptable for 25 ep anime. Also if you think oh its anime about a legendary pro hitman and crime and its going to have some hot action packed and stacked....well think again it has only the bare minimum. And dont even bother with the "comedy" and "suspense" genres. i mean there is almost no comedy, at least i didnt find it funny, interesting? perhaps but not funny to make you laugh, and nothing suspenseful in this anime, since we all know how things will end every time after the first thing that happens. In general this is an anime that had great potential but squandered it and honestly i cant fully recommend it although it is not bad, its nothing special, its interesting enough to fill your time if you dont have anything to do or any better anime to watch, but i cant say its a must watch sadly.
algoPotaku
10/01/2024, 01:20 PM
A very interesting anime where we see a murderer who has to live a normal life. We see how he only knows how to live as a murderer and what changes or does not change in this time. The animation is very correct, the soundtrack is good and the best thing about it is the design, character development plus the relationship between the protagonist and his "sister", I think it is very good the relationship between everything is very comical, it is a very anime recommended. I just finished the anime, for God's sake, pure character development, with epic but very good moments. I hopethere is more content because I was surprised by how good the anime is, I didn't expect anything and I ended up hooked. It reminds me a lot of a movie called Perfect Days, which is about seeing the little things in life and its good things. It's very cute and entertaining. The character development is masterful. If you want an unusual comedy, I recommend it. En español: Un anime muy interesante donde vemos un asesino que tiene que hacer una vida normal. Vemos cómo solo sabe vivir cómo asesino y lo que cambia o no en este tiempo. La animación es muy correcta, la banda sonora está buena y lo mejor que tiene es el diseño, desarrollo de personajes más la relación entre el protagonista y su "hermana", me parece muy bueno la relación entre todo es muy cómica es un anime muy recomendado. Recién termine el anime, por Dios puro desarrollo de personajes, con momentos épicos pero muy buenos. Ojalá haya más contenido porque me sorprendió lo bueno que es el anime no me esperaba nada y me termino enganchado. Me recuerda mucho a una película que se llama perfect days, que se trata de ver las pequeñas cosas de la vida y sus cosas buenas. Es muy lindo y entretenido. El desarrollo de personaje es magistral. Si queres una comedia fuera de lo común te lo recomiendo.
Chuy_diazz
09/30/2024, 07:05 PM
Sometimes masterpieces just happen upon you. I've never felt the phrase "Don't judge a book by its cover" so deeply in my being. At the beginning I was hoping to have a story that would navigate a line similar to stories like John Wick. A super lethal assassin who tries to live a quiet life but the business takes him back against his will. The Fable goes a little further than that premise and really tries to give the hitman a quiet life. We see a hitman who really tries to live a normal life, of course being a professional he does this as a mission.The mission of living like a civilian, looking for a job and paying his bills. Deepening this conflict of a middle-aged man trying to find the meaning of what is "a normal life" is more interesting than it may seem at first. This is one of those anime where the narrative surpasses what the animation section can offer you. They could give you a stick man animation and you would still stay because of how well structured the script is. The script always maintains the goal of not breaking with the essence of the character, to do so it has one of the most difficult jobs in this type of story. Having the professional hitman solve the conflicts of the underworld but without killing anyone in the process. The setup chapters and seeing the protagonist's train of thought is a delight for the viewer, as they are showing you many layers of the professional assassin character archetype. Still, the least interesting is the underworld part, what keeps us here is the everyday life part. Seeing how our protagonist strives to get a raise at work, catch up on the soap opera that his favorite comedian is on, or pick out a pet. Those little things in everyday life that we overlook, but for our protagonist it is a completely new experience. With this in mind, the story also gives a new perspective on things that we take for granted. For a good protagonist to stand out, good villains or antagonists are needed. The work knows this and gave us two villains with an introduction, development and conclusion that is rarely seen, even surpassing the most popular works in the medium. They don't just seek to write a villain, but they take advantage of it to make social criticisms of the least mentioned topics today. Although these topics have zero relation to the protagonist, they serve to build a hateful villain but at the same time make sense if we want to extrapolate it to real life. The villains seen here, it's not that we could imagine them in real life, it's that they are people who already exist in real life, we just don't know about them. This work is too human, which is ironic because it reflects people who had to leave their humanity behind when they decided to live this life. The Fable is one of those works so unique that it's very likely that we'll never see something like it again. A work made with a lot of love, so much that it will remain engraved somewhere in your person.
bossunhimeswitch
09/29/2024, 12:53 PM
This was my favorite anime of the season. The characters and the premise drew me in and every week things unfolded in fascinating ways. The ending was good and kind of closed up any lose ends relevant to the arc but left me wanting more nonetheless. One of the best aspects of the story was watching Akira not only try to get around the stipulations placed on him by his boss but also watching him acclimate to having a life split between the mundane and the criminal. It was really compelling. I'm really looking forward to a season two. I will be there with bellson when/if it happens. If you enjoy yakuza stories that have a little breathing room to them and don't mind touchy, tough subjects then you'll likely enjoy this anime. If you want something more grounded in the yakuza and how it works or something that doesn't touch on things like forced prostitution and murder, then you'll want to look elsewhere.
gingerholic
09/29/2024, 12:37 AM
This anime was certainly a rollercoaster ride - if my score was a reflection of how my journey went over the last six months it would be as follows: How it began: 3 By the time it ended: 7 Let’s start with the bad: voice acting was unconventional, sleepy and sluggish. The first few episodes were so unbearable I thought the protagonist was mentally challenged (despite the premise of him being a legendary assassin), or that I had set the playback speed at 0.5x by accident. The animation felt cheap and the jokes were corny. I couldn’t drop the show fast enough. However part of me felt that somethingain’t right - like eating sushi for the first time at a third rated restaurant but deep down you know the same dish can potentially taste so much better at an authentic Japanese joint. Even though yakuza plotlines are a dime a dozen, a story can’t be that awful if there are two live action movies made for it right? Following that train of thought, fast forward a few weeks after dropping the anime I proceeded to watch the live action movies - boy so glad I did. None of the aforementioned issues were present in the live action movies. The casting for Akira, Yoko, and Misaki in the live action was perfect. The comedy was on point. If you’ve never read the manga like myself, highly recommend watching the live action first BEFORE diving into the anime - it’s a game changer. Went back to watch the anime after the live action experience and everything became instantly better. Albeit still not a fan of the sluggish voice acting but it became tolerable because the story started to pick up. The Fable ended up being the casual slice of life yakuza show that I didn’t know I needed. Oh, and Kuro-chan is the MVP.
PanzerIV-J
09/28/2024, 11:16 PM
Fable is a fantastic anime with one major flaw—its pacing. There’s no doubt that Fable is an amazing anime. It’s got a unique premise, cool characters, and an awesome story. But it’s not perfect, and there are a couple of issues that stop it from being truly great. 1. Pacing: Fable probably has the worst pacing of any anime I’ve ever watched. It's so slow, in fact, that I would even go as far as saying that multi-season TV shows like "Breaking Bad" and "Better Call Saul" handle pacing better than this. If they compacted all the filler, slow dialogue, drawn-out scenes, and cliffhangers; the producers probably could'vemade the 25 episode season into a 20 episode season. Instead, the dragged-out pacing makes the anime harder to watch, if you, perhaps, are not as interested in this anime's themes and genres and just watched out of curiosity. 2. Weekly Cliffhangers: This somewhat ties into the pacing issues I have described previously. The cliffhangers here are by far some of the worst I’ve seen, and it feels like they’re deliberately designed to frustrate viewers. And when I say cliffhangers, I mean it, almost every episode ends on a cliffhanger, which is more aggravating than suspenseful, which makes it feel like the anime is trying to annoy its audience on purpose. This might not be as big of a deal since you won’t have to wait a week between episodes since the anime is done airing, but if you have to pause this anime to go to work or something similar, it might be tough to find a good episode to stop at. 3. Animation Quality (Minor Issue): While the action scenes (especially the ones with Akira and Youko) look great, the rest of the animation is kind of hit-or-miss. The non-action scenes just don’t get the same level of attention, which is disappointing. It’s not bad enough to ruin the show, but considering how good the story is, I wish they’d put a little more effort into the animation overall. Onto the good: 1. The Voice Acting is Great: The voice acting is one of the show’s strongest points. Akira’s voice actor, in particular, absolutely nails it, making him super memorable even though he’s a quiet, odd character. The casting across the board is really solid, and the voices definitely help distract from some of the other issues, like the animation. 2. The story is a masterpiece: If you’re wondering whether Fable has a great story, the answer is a big, resounding YES. The synopsis honestly doesn’t do it justice. It’s about a hitman who’s been raised in that life, trying to live a somewhat normal existence, but his past and present keep colliding in ways that affect everyone around him. And if you’re asking whether there’s action—absolutely. There’s plenty of it. You get detailed weapons (knives, guns), intense hand-to-hand combat, and some pretty brutal death scenes. Despite the slow pacing and those annoying cliffhangers, the story was so good that I couldn’t help but get excited for each new episode as soon as it came out. Overall, Fable is still one of my favorite anime this season. Sure, the pacing and cliffhangers can get annoying, but the story, voice acting, and action more than make up for it. If you plan to binge-watch, these issues might not bother you as much. Definitely worth checking out if you’ve got the time! 9/10, I greatly recommend this to anyone looking for a good watch. [Thanks for reading!]

The Fable ザ・ファブル

2024 spring | Episodes: 25 | Score: 8.1 (29389)

Updated every Sundays at 00:55 | Status: Finished Airing

Type: TV

Producers:VAP | Kodansha | Nippon Television Network | Audio Planning U

Streaming: Disney+ | Hulu

Synopsis

Voice Actors

Okitsu, Kazuyuki

News

Reviews

Shydia
03/07/2025, 07:11 PM
WATCH IT. Watch at least 2-3 episode and you'll forget all about the ick you had in early episode. The slow talking? I never find any voice acting more suited to their character. "Bad" animation? I got used to it, it fits the story and i think they got better since the fight scenes looks great to me. The characters are so funny I can't stop laughing, i love them, and they got me to read the manga which has a 10/10 ending. Definitely looking forward to season 2 if they ever decide to make one. I can understand if other still dislike it tho, evenI think reading the manga plays a lot to my high review
CaptainKenshiro
02/15/2025, 09:30 PM
This anime is an odd one as it is worth a one-time watch for combining multiple different genres, but not exactly because the combination of them is all that great, nor because each one of them is handled all that well individually either. First, it is a comedy, with most jokes revolving around how the protagonist is unable to adapt to a common everyday life, and some minor ones about his non-sister trolling men. The first type suffers from no other character reacting to the situation in a way that comes off as funny, but rather having some “ah, I see” with a straight face typeof reactions. It is refreshing to have an anime which humor doesn’t revolve around characters yelling and exaggerating over the most minor things, but unless you are a fan of deadpan comedy, I don’t think these would work on you. Comedy rarely makes me laugh, and when the jokes and delivery themselves don’t even feel like trying to make me to, what can I consider them other than mediocre? The second type comes off as very silly and dragged on to work on me, although I will admit that I found the battle of flirts between the non-sister and that one guy somewhat amusing, and even got a chuckle out of me. The Fable is also a slice of life type of series but the premise itself prevents it from being a properly made common life type of story, how can you have a slice of life when that life is fabricated, out of the ordinary stuff keeps happening in it, and the main character doesn’t quite nail it? It is certainly an uncommon type of series for the genre that might work for people that are not usually pleased with it, but I don’t see how fans of it would fancy this one much. The series is also a thriller, and for the most part it succeeds at presenting the most intense circumstances with suspense, as they involve normal people on risky situations with some rather high stakes. The problem is that the show is also a rule of cool action type of one, and that clashes with the other intentions, as most problems are resolved thanks to the protagonist being awesome. That’s its main issue as a rule of cool type of action series as well. Every properly made work of that subgenre that I’ve seen on anime or live action succeeds primarily thanks to at least one of three main factors: creativity, great spectacle and antagonists that are close to the protagonists in levels of challenge and cool factor. None of these are all that present in the Fable, or at least not with that much success. The situations the main characters have to deal with are presented in ways meant to be cool, but are also more like thrilling than anything else, while also rather typical for its genre and approached on a pretended semi-realistic way, thus their creativity is rather low. The spectacle is easily the weakest aspect in this anime thanks to rather mediocre production values. The directing itself is fine, especially when it comes to saving the action scenes with their so-so animation, but the visuals themselves leave a lot to be desired for a work like this. I can give a compliment to the anime for looking actually dark when it is supposed to, which is a rare thing nowadays, but the artwork is simplistic, the character designs simple and their figures go off model often, the backgrounds rather unimpressive, the animation mostly static and with so-so motions on action scenes as previously mentioned, and the special effects aren’t all that good either, and they even feature some rather mediocre CGI. The audio on the other hand is fine. I don’t like a single song among the two openings and endings of this anime, but the background music itself isn’t bad. The sound effects do their job fine and the voice acting is ok. Like I hinted at previously, nothing so far poses that much of a challenge to the protagonist. There are a bunch of antagonists and secondary characters with their own agency and schemes, and several opponents on each arc, in turn completely outclassed by the ones of the following arcs, making you think that maybe now the main guy will face a proper threat, but no. When the climax of an arc comes, the protagonist resolves everything by being super awesome and far superior to anyone else around him. What the anime ends up working most as ends up being the drama, surprisingly, as there are several really serious and mostly real and plausible situations in it, suffered mostly by women, and the series never tries to mix in some comedy in during those moments. In a general sense, the writing takes its time at presenting the different characters and scenarios and properly excusing grouping them all together. Although rather slow paced and frankly boring to watch in my opinion, once you finish each arc you come to appreciate a proper structure of a well-established build up followed by a far better payoff, making a rather decent whole. Another good aspect is having several characters with their own agency trying to outclass each other, despite everything being resolved by the super awesome protagonist, as well as enough downtime to present the mentality of all of them. There are several scenes where the cast discuss their ideas about the values of lives and deaths, types of people, different eras with different values and ways to act, working attitudes changing over time and generations, and more stuff. I won’t say it’s amazing or anything, especially because I watched About the Movements of the Earth after this anime, but it is the most depth and substance and look into the cast that you will find it, so I think that’s worth the mention, despite how weird and twisted some of their ideologies might be. The weakest aspect of the story is of course feeling like mini arcs with no connection with one another, and the lack of an overall ending. As far as characterization goes, it is easy to dismiss it as being divided between typical good people, mostly women, and typical assholes gagsters and assassins, mostly men, but on a closer inspection, not all yakuzas nor all gangsters are straight up bad, and not all common people are exactly good. In fact an everyday guy is the worst of them all, because at least the criminals themselves recognized that they are scum, while that one dude acts in denial and victimization. What’s to appreciate is how every relevant character has their backdrop story explored, and although I can’t really say that there’s development, the resolutions feel satisfactory in how everyone gets what they deserve. The good guys get some proper peace and a renewed chance at life at the end in a cathartic way, and the wrongdoers get what’s coming to them, not in a sadistic “haha take that asshole” way for the pleasure of the audience, but rather through outcomes that feel bittersweet. In the middle of all of that is the protagonist, who is the only one getting some slight change by becoming more humanized thanks to his newfound everyday life and companions. Too bad he is really serious and dry and rather boring to follow from beginning to end for me to consider him developed or interesting. Honestly is it mostly the same with everyone else, but least they are proactive, while he is mostly reactive and uninterested by mostly everything. Like I said, I wouldn’t say this anime is exactly great, and I certainly didn’t enjoy it, and it has issues both on each one of its genres and as a whole in my opinion, but the combination of all of them and its odd approach to them, with some quality content and satisfactory conclusions here and there, make it a worthy one time watch for me, especially if you are looking for something somewhat different and retro feeling.
Deverant
01/30/2025, 04:04 AM
Fable is one of the greats in adult animation. Every episode is of consistent quality and there's a perfect balance over the season between plot/dialogue and the action youd expect from a story about a hired killer. Its also very funny which I wasnt expecting and the humor reads as a bit western to me (not really like a gag manga or trope-y). I really wanna emphasize what I mean by adult animation because yes the tag is "Seinen" but not all Seinen meet this level of quality. The show takes its time with things and handles them with finesse: basically every character youre introducedto no matter how small they seem is really built out well. They have reasons for existing for how they impact the plot and other characters' development, they aren't just caricatures. The effect this has on the anime/manga is ofc to slow it down a bit relative to what youd get in shounen, so I can understand if people found it exposition heavy or just wanted more fighting, but it also means that the action scenes we do get are just incredible. Its quality over quantity, with most action scenes lasting a relatively short period of time but showing off diverse skills from the characters and really getting the viewer thinking about how everything will play out. One standout scene has two "side" characters duking it out over only 5 seconds canonically (more like a few minutes in show time) and yet its one of the most memorable of the whole season. I honestly find it hard to fault the show but I'm giving it a 9 because I can imagine a world where the animation had a higher budget, even still the unique art style gives it a certain charm that I'll miss. If you're on the fence about this show because the theme isnt what youd normally like but you appreciate other Seinen, I definitely think you should give it a go. Stick through the episodes where it seems mundane and trust the writer to lead you somewhere awesome.
ChiefGamer
01/13/2025, 02:16 PM
I want to start the review by saying that I haven't read the manga but I loved the show. It is slow paced and old school but precisely because of that it presents a different atmosphere entirely compared to the anime of today. The show is mainly about an assassin trying to lead an ordinary life for an year and his interactions with ordinary people while getting into trouble due to his past and handling it while trying to maintain his ordinary life that he comes to enjoy. I won't be spoiling the story any more than this. The characters are very interesting. Most ofthem are certainly in the grey area so don't expect this to be a fluffy feel good slice of life. There is both the nasty and dangerous stuff that people in underworld are typically involved in portrayed throughout the anime. I hope there is a second season for this. It is rated highly but doesn't seem to be popular despite so many anime with worse stories being much more popular. Short Version - It's very interesting as long as you watch it with an open mind and are interested in something different from the usual anime made nowadays.
Ramun_Flame
01/12/2025, 01:31 PM
Man, what a ride. This show is split into two main arcs that split the series in two. After the first arc, I felt it couldn't really be topped and the second arc would die down a bit and just be okay. Boy was I wrong. The second half and ending blew me away. If you like suspense, well written characters, and grounded, believable stories just get to watching it now. No need to read anymore. The premise is a pro hitman needs to lay low for a year, and he's not allowed to kill anyone or cause trouble. This show is technically a comedy aswell as a suspenseful drama, and the funny parts hit for sure. Seeing the MC navigate issues with his restrictions is a real treat. Speaking of the MC, he's a truly unique character. In shows often when you have a character who acts a bit different, it's kinda cartoony and not believable. Here I can totally see someone acting like him, and it mirrors encounters I've had with socially inept people in person. He's a great character, and so is most of the cast. While talking about characters, we have some truly evil people in this show. Usually these kind of characters are written in ways that make them seem cartoonish and unbelievable, but here even the villains' seem believable. They do evil things, but you can see where they are coming from. Now, I have to address the animation. For the most part, it's pretty sparse, and just barely does the job. I'm not an animation nut, and can enjoy a show despite bad animation(I didn't mind One Punch Man season 2, or the later seasons of Seven Deadly Sins). Even I had to cringe a bit when they had an an obviously rotoscoped scene. The thing is, the show is so great I can look past this flaw. Before the second half, I was thinking I would give this a 7 or an 8 based on how it went. I couldn't predict the second half would impress me so much. Now I'm torn between an 8 and a 9. The thing is, I reserve 9s for shows that really make me feel something, whether it be joy, sadness, or whatever. This show made me feel all those things, and I physically had to get up at one point I was so excited about the events. So it's getting a 9, and for sure I recommend it.
patkarunungan
12/25/2024, 02:17 AM
Many people have been telling me how this is an underrated gem. It has a good score in MAL, a little above 8 out of 10. Does this anime live up to that? § Overview An unnamed assassin, who has gained the notorious nickname 'The Fable,' is legendary. He can kill someone quickly and efficiently. Suddenly, his boss decides to have him stop killing people for one year. He and his partner are given false names under the pretense that they are siblings. Together, they try to live an ordinary life. That, however, doesn't go smooth as planned as they attract trouble pretty quick. § Notes1. It has the same mature tone as Golgo 13. I don't know who will win. Both are stoic. Clearly, both are on the autism spectrum. 2. The voice acting of The Fable, who was given the alias Satou Akira, as well as his 'sister' Youko are superb. Satou may be monotone, but his way of talking gives rise to funny situations delivered in a dry way. Also, Youko has a quirky personality. She pretends to be drunk but beats the guys who want to hook up with her in the drinking game. Her voice acting is distinctive. 3. The art style is said to be ugly, and they are not entirely wrong. It's just that it fits the tone of the show. The design of male characters are distinctive enough. I have an issue with the design of the female characters. They are said to be beautiful, but they don't really look so. Worse, they resemble each other too much. If male character design is satisfactory, the female character design flunks so hard. 4. There's a natural lid on how exciting this is. We are shown Satou's full capabilities as an assassin in Episode 1. But after that, we are only shown a shadow because most of the plot involves him trying to live an ordinary life, including having a job. Whenever he needs to help other people, he is handicapped as he is not supposed to kill people. It's interesting why he is able to function well despite his handicap and how he became that capable. But at the end of the day, it could have been better. 5. With its slow pace, not everyone will like it. The action scenes are nice to watch because they are few. If you only want constant action, this is not for you. § Conclusion It's a very good anime with mediocre execution. It's a gem if you watch it patiently and don't get mad at how dull the main character is and how slow the pacing may be.
JJMFREAP
12/01/2024, 02:42 AM
Right, this'll be a bit of a weird one, but I'll do my best to put into words how I feel about this show. In short though, it was a really fun anime that got better and better as it went on. Nonetheless, it has some issues. Here we go. Let's just get some of the obvious stuff out of the way. The animation for this series was just not there. All the characters looked plain and uninspired, the posing and movement was stiff and lifeless, lots of reused scenes and no visual flare to speak of. A lot of times, characters lacked expression too, whichis very important in a thriller. Seriously, it feels like for the most part, they did the absolute bare minimum to get the point across. So expect a lot of by the numbers shot-reverse shot dialogue sections, lots of still frames and minimal movement outside of action scenes. The studio can be damn thankful that the story is more than good enough to make this worthwhile and that the music and especially the voice acting did A LOT of heavy lifting to make this come together. Trust me, were this a lesser story, this anime would've been relegated to a dustbin right away. Right, let's get into the good stuff though. The Fable is another awesome entry in the growing genre of "former Yakuza/hitman tries to live a normal life, but his past keeps catching up to him" alongside other series like Gokushufudou or Sakamoto Days. It's also great how, despite sounding very similar on paper, all of them have a very different approach to their story and are very distinct from one another and any other series out there. The Fable is absolutely brilliant in the way that it manages to balance comedy, action and tension. There's lots of jokes and many scenes got a good laugh out of me. Despite this, it also weaves a fantastic yakuza crime thriller in there too and both aspects only serve to enhance each other. It's a very delicate task to try and make your audience laugh, while also consistently keeping them on their toes at all times but dammit, it works! The fight scenes are also handled very uniquely, without prolonged exchanges of blows but instead were these physical games of chess, focused on very cerebral decision making between highly intelligent characters. Without gratuitous inner monologues, we get battles of wit punctuated by lighting fast John Wick-style showdowns. In a battle of professional assassins, the outcome can be decided in the blink of an eye, so every moment counts. This brings us to another of the core strengths - the characters. It's often a slippery slope and quite hit or miss when anime try to have highly intelligent characters. However here, this is done wonderfully. Characters who are meant to be clever actually feel that way and the decisions they make are logical and creative. The outsmarting going on is very engaging and adds to the great sense of anticipation during every direct conflict. The way Fable also uses his genius in his field to handle every situation while keeping his promise not to kill anyone is thoroughly fascinating. Beyond conflict though, the characters are also all very charismatic, engaging and interesting. All of them have depth and a mixture of realistic, believable flaws, all sprinkled with just the right amount of exaggerated absurdity to make them slot right in with the overall comedic tone of the story. They absolutely steal the show and this makes this overall very dialogue heavy series never drag or feel dull and as I said earlier, the fantastic voice acting carries a lot of the weight in order to make the whole experience come together well. I mean, both Kenjiro Tsuda and Takehito Koyasu showed up, so we've checked all the boxes of making a proper yakuza thriller. Overall, I enjoyed what I saw from this anime, but there were definitely glaring flaws. The story is excellent and unique and the characters are easily the greatest thing about it, but I can't lie, the really cheap visuals detracts greatly from the experience. The stiff and janky animation makes the emotional scenes less impactful than they should be and the dull, generic, bright colour palette used detracts from the cool neo-noir atmosphere that I feel befits this kind of story. Were this tale less exciting than it was, this anime would've been given no more than a 5 on here and it would've been swiftly forgotten about. My final verdict is that this is still an enjoyable experience overall and still worth a watch, but I'll definitely be deferring to the superior manga for the full story. If and when this gets greenlit for a second season, I would very much rather a different more passionate studio be given the job. TLDR: Божката пука/10
No-LifeKing_26
11/28/2024, 07:47 PM
Fable has a very slow start to the beginning but halfway through it picks up. I enjoyed the humor, action, and how the plot progresses after the midway point. I think it was interesting how they blended in something so dark with so much humorous content. The animation is a bit and older than I would like, as if it was done on purpose. There was quite a few scenes where it was too dark and even though I could see the characters and setting, I had to focus to do so. The characters themselves reminded me a lot of Hiroshi Iwaaki's (Parasyte) drawing style.It was very entertaining when the plot or is progressed and I was always looking forward to the next episode. Definitely worth a watch.
A_Madao
11/08/2024, 07:56 AM
Fable is an excellent example of how to mix comedy with action and a sprinkle of a slice of life. The story is about a legendary assassin whose next mission is to learn how to live like normal people, with one condition: He must not kill anyone during this time. The visuals are great, the fights are pretty good, and the character development is on point! But... there is one problem: the pacing is so slow that it kills suspense and makes the overall story kinda dull. However, overall, the anime is really fun to watch and does not really take itself seriously, which givesyou 'chill' vibes.
Pokeboy626
10/30/2024, 07:00 PM
I was pleasantly surprised by this anime. The animation isn't anything special, but it was serviceable. The characters are interesting. Especially the protagonist. I grew to like his personality and odd mannerisms. I also liked his sister, who was much more capable than I expected her to be. Overall this was an enjoyable anime. I do not regret watching it. Its a shame that more people aren't talking about it. But I heard a lot of positive reviews from people who did watch it, so I gave it a chance. Hopefully it gets greenlit for a season 2. Jackal. Jackal. Jackal. Jackal.
Avieshek
10/14/2024, 12:08 AM
The amazing thing about Fable is that, there are no ups and downs in terms of delivery even with a single episode but still manages to surprise as-well-as entertain multiple times with each being different while carrying the same pace. Usually, this type of planned direction and consistent execution comes from huge projects like Attack on Titan but this is just a surprising dark horse out of nowhere that still isn't eager to attract attention and yet serving high value to those who are faithful. The thing about Fable is being original where everything makes sense than retooling used tropes to serve old wine innew bottle as apparent with average animés these days looking for a quick buck to make. Nothing is overused here and is carefully flavoured with an ambient balance (while not being bland) with a sprinkle of everything (action, comedy, depth, drama, plot, dialogue…) without an iota of cliché. One wouldn't honestly expect but this animé would still serve some surprising elements even that far in the story progression (Episode 20 for example) before the ending finale which just shows how much organic content it has artfully saved up without the fear to run out of originality - This is something very very rare in any story let alone in an animé that too served so delightfully, Fable truly is an underwhelming rare gem served in today's time. *claps x3
Flakeoff
10/13/2024, 07:15 AM
This Anime is truly a masterpiece without exaggeration. The characters, The Pacing and the Plot are all on point. The animation style is charming in its own way and not too flashy. It has a great balance of Comedy and Seriousness, The MC is respectable yet hilarious and the "sister" is hilarious, Scary....and yet respectable. But they are all written soo damn good! There is no fanservice here, Which is a good thing. This is one series i don't want to give to many details about through a review as i want people to really jump into it themselves and experience it. It is a VERYwelcome and nice change of pace from the usual isekai and romcoms we have been getting.
Handler-_-One
10/06/2024, 10:30 PM
The premise of this anime looked really good and gave me hopes that this might be "IT" to watch and enjoy it fully. But although the plan looked good, it was kinda poorly executed. The characters never really seemed to develop from what they are and that is bad news for anime that is 25 eps... i mean it would be ok for me for they to stay the same if it was 12 eps but not acceptable for 25 ep anime. Also if you think oh its anime about a legendary pro hitman and crime and its going to have some hot action packed and stacked....well think again it has only the bare minimum. And dont even bother with the "comedy" and "suspense" genres. i mean there is almost no comedy, at least i didnt find it funny, interesting? perhaps but not funny to make you laugh, and nothing suspenseful in this anime, since we all know how things will end every time after the first thing that happens. In general this is an anime that had great potential but squandered it and honestly i cant fully recommend it although it is not bad, its nothing special, its interesting enough to fill your time if you dont have anything to do or any better anime to watch, but i cant say its a must watch sadly.
algoPotaku
10/01/2024, 01:20 PM
A very interesting anime where we see a murderer who has to live a normal life. We see how he only knows how to live as a murderer and what changes or does not change in this time. The animation is very correct, the soundtrack is good and the best thing about it is the design, character development plus the relationship between the protagonist and his "sister", I think it is very good the relationship between everything is very comical, it is a very anime recommended. I just finished the anime, for God's sake, pure character development, with epic but very good moments. I hopethere is more content because I was surprised by how good the anime is, I didn't expect anything and I ended up hooked. It reminds me a lot of a movie called Perfect Days, which is about seeing the little things in life and its good things. It's very cute and entertaining. The character development is masterful. If you want an unusual comedy, I recommend it. En español: Un anime muy interesante donde vemos un asesino que tiene que hacer una vida normal. Vemos cómo solo sabe vivir cómo asesino y lo que cambia o no en este tiempo. La animación es muy correcta, la banda sonora está buena y lo mejor que tiene es el diseño, desarrollo de personajes más la relación entre el protagonista y su "hermana", me parece muy bueno la relación entre todo es muy cómica es un anime muy recomendado. Recién termine el anime, por Dios puro desarrollo de personajes, con momentos épicos pero muy buenos. Ojalá haya más contenido porque me sorprendió lo bueno que es el anime no me esperaba nada y me termino enganchado. Me recuerda mucho a una película que se llama perfect days, que se trata de ver las pequeñas cosas de la vida y sus cosas buenas. Es muy lindo y entretenido. El desarrollo de personaje es magistral. Si queres una comedia fuera de lo común te lo recomiendo.
Chuy_diazz
09/30/2024, 07:05 PM
Sometimes masterpieces just happen upon you. I've never felt the phrase "Don't judge a book by its cover" so deeply in my being. At the beginning I was hoping to have a story that would navigate a line similar to stories like John Wick. A super lethal assassin who tries to live a quiet life but the business takes him back against his will. The Fable goes a little further than that premise and really tries to give the hitman a quiet life. We see a hitman who really tries to live a normal life, of course being a professional he does this as a mission.The mission of living like a civilian, looking for a job and paying his bills. Deepening this conflict of a middle-aged man trying to find the meaning of what is "a normal life" is more interesting than it may seem at first. This is one of those anime where the narrative surpasses what the animation section can offer you. They could give you a stick man animation and you would still stay because of how well structured the script is. The script always maintains the goal of not breaking with the essence of the character, to do so it has one of the most difficult jobs in this type of story. Having the professional hitman solve the conflicts of the underworld but without killing anyone in the process. The setup chapters and seeing the protagonist's train of thought is a delight for the viewer, as they are showing you many layers of the professional assassin character archetype. Still, the least interesting is the underworld part, what keeps us here is the everyday life part. Seeing how our protagonist strives to get a raise at work, catch up on the soap opera that his favorite comedian is on, or pick out a pet. Those little things in everyday life that we overlook, but for our protagonist it is a completely new experience. With this in mind, the story also gives a new perspective on things that we take for granted. For a good protagonist to stand out, good villains or antagonists are needed. The work knows this and gave us two villains with an introduction, development and conclusion that is rarely seen, even surpassing the most popular works in the medium. They don't just seek to write a villain, but they take advantage of it to make social criticisms of the least mentioned topics today. Although these topics have zero relation to the protagonist, they serve to build a hateful villain but at the same time make sense if we want to extrapolate it to real life. The villains seen here, it's not that we could imagine them in real life, it's that they are people who already exist in real life, we just don't know about them. This work is too human, which is ironic because it reflects people who had to leave their humanity behind when they decided to live this life. The Fable is one of those works so unique that it's very likely that we'll never see something like it again. A work made with a lot of love, so much that it will remain engraved somewhere in your person.
bossunhimeswitch
09/29/2024, 12:53 PM
This was my favorite anime of the season. The characters and the premise drew me in and every week things unfolded in fascinating ways. The ending was good and kind of closed up any lose ends relevant to the arc but left me wanting more nonetheless. One of the best aspects of the story was watching Akira not only try to get around the stipulations placed on him by his boss but also watching him acclimate to having a life split between the mundane and the criminal. It was really compelling. I'm really looking forward to a season two. I will be there with bellson when/if it happens. If you enjoy yakuza stories that have a little breathing room to them and don't mind touchy, tough subjects then you'll likely enjoy this anime. If you want something more grounded in the yakuza and how it works or something that doesn't touch on things like forced prostitution and murder, then you'll want to look elsewhere.
gingerholic
09/29/2024, 12:37 AM
This anime was certainly a rollercoaster ride - if my score was a reflection of how my journey went over the last six months it would be as follows: How it began: 3 By the time it ended: 7 Let’s start with the bad: voice acting was unconventional, sleepy and sluggish. The first few episodes were so unbearable I thought the protagonist was mentally challenged (despite the premise of him being a legendary assassin), or that I had set the playback speed at 0.5x by accident. The animation felt cheap and the jokes were corny. I couldn’t drop the show fast enough. However part of me felt that somethingain’t right - like eating sushi for the first time at a third rated restaurant but deep down you know the same dish can potentially taste so much better at an authentic Japanese joint. Even though yakuza plotlines are a dime a dozen, a story can’t be that awful if there are two live action movies made for it right? Following that train of thought, fast forward a few weeks after dropping the anime I proceeded to watch the live action movies - boy so glad I did. None of the aforementioned issues were present in the live action movies. The casting for Akira, Yoko, and Misaki in the live action was perfect. The comedy was on point. If you’ve never read the manga like myself, highly recommend watching the live action first BEFORE diving into the anime - it’s a game changer. Went back to watch the anime after the live action experience and everything became instantly better. Albeit still not a fan of the sluggish voice acting but it became tolerable because the story started to pick up. The Fable ended up being the casual slice of life yakuza show that I didn’t know I needed. Oh, and Kuro-chan is the MVP.
PanzerIV-J
09/28/2024, 11:16 PM
Fable is a fantastic anime with one major flaw—its pacing. There’s no doubt that Fable is an amazing anime. It’s got a unique premise, cool characters, and an awesome story. But it’s not perfect, and there are a couple of issues that stop it from being truly great. 1. Pacing: Fable probably has the worst pacing of any anime I’ve ever watched. It's so slow, in fact, that I would even go as far as saying that multi-season TV shows like "Breaking Bad" and "Better Call Saul" handle pacing better than this. If they compacted all the filler, slow dialogue, drawn-out scenes, and cliffhangers; the producers probably could'vemade the 25 episode season into a 20 episode season. Instead, the dragged-out pacing makes the anime harder to watch, if you, perhaps, are not as interested in this anime's themes and genres and just watched out of curiosity. 2. Weekly Cliffhangers: This somewhat ties into the pacing issues I have described previously. The cliffhangers here are by far some of the worst I’ve seen, and it feels like they’re deliberately designed to frustrate viewers. And when I say cliffhangers, I mean it, almost every episode ends on a cliffhanger, which is more aggravating than suspenseful, which makes it feel like the anime is trying to annoy its audience on purpose. This might not be as big of a deal since you won’t have to wait a week between episodes since the anime is done airing, but if you have to pause this anime to go to work or something similar, it might be tough to find a good episode to stop at. 3. Animation Quality (Minor Issue): While the action scenes (especially the ones with Akira and Youko) look great, the rest of the animation is kind of hit-or-miss. The non-action scenes just don’t get the same level of attention, which is disappointing. It’s not bad enough to ruin the show, but considering how good the story is, I wish they’d put a little more effort into the animation overall. Onto the good: 1. The Voice Acting is Great: The voice acting is one of the show’s strongest points. Akira’s voice actor, in particular, absolutely nails it, making him super memorable even though he’s a quiet, odd character. The casting across the board is really solid, and the voices definitely help distract from some of the other issues, like the animation. 2. The story is a masterpiece: If you’re wondering whether Fable has a great story, the answer is a big, resounding YES. The synopsis honestly doesn’t do it justice. It’s about a hitman who’s been raised in that life, trying to live a somewhat normal existence, but his past and present keep colliding in ways that affect everyone around him. And if you’re asking whether there’s action—absolutely. There’s plenty of it. You get detailed weapons (knives, guns), intense hand-to-hand combat, and some pretty brutal death scenes. Despite the slow pacing and those annoying cliffhangers, the story was so good that I couldn’t help but get excited for each new episode as soon as it came out. Overall, Fable is still one of my favorite anime this season. Sure, the pacing and cliffhangers can get annoying, but the story, voice acting, and action more than make up for it. If you plan to binge-watch, these issues might not bother you as much. Definitely worth checking out if you’ve got the time! 9/10, I greatly recommend this to anyone looking for a good watch. [Thanks for reading!]

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