The Fable

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]

Satou, Akira Main

Okitsu, Kazuyuki Japanese

Satou, Youko Supporting

Sawashiro, Miyuki Japanese

Ebihara, Takeshi Supporting

Ootsuka, Akio Japanese

Shimizu, Misaki Supporting

Hanazawa, Kana Japanese

Jackal Tomioka Supporting

Fukushima, Jun Japanese

Kuroshio, Ryou Supporting

Iwasaki, Ryouta Japanese

Matsu Supporting

Mizuuchi, Kiyomitsu Japanese

Kainuma, Etsuji Supporting

Asahina, Takumi Japanese

Boss Supporting

Komura, Tetsuo Japanese

Master Supporting

Ichijo, Kazuya Japanese

Wakabayashi, Hirokazu Producer

Takahashi, Ryousuke Director

Urakami, Yasuyuki Sound Director

Matano, Hiromichi Episode Director

Reviews

Apr 20, 2024

ShadowReacts

Recommended

Preliminary (3/25 eps)

NOTE: This review is purely for the first 3 eps of The Fable anime. I have not read the manga or watched the live action adaptation, so I won't be referencing those in this.

The Fable is an interesting anime. Here's the premise: Satou Akira, our main protagonist, is known as the infamous genius "Fable". A lot of things are easy for him, but being a normal member of society isn't. He has been given a special mission: not to kill anyone for a long period of time. Believe it or not, this may be the toughest mission he has yet to take on.

The Fable reminds ... me of a more serious version of Way of the Househusband. The MC is a badass Yakuza member, who is often oblivious to his own surroundings, and has to work with others in order not to blow his cover. Just like Househusband, Fable has very good comedy imo. It's one thing to write good comedy on paper, but delivery is just as, if not, more important imo. Saying a dumb joke with a deadpan voice might illicit a completely different reaction than if u were to say it with a cheery voice.

Characters: I enjoy the cast of The Fable a lot. Akira is a very enjoyable main character, he has that "dead inside" vibe which I tend to like with these types of shows. He's clearly tired of life, constantly making jokes about how others will outlive him and such, so he's trying to find different things to look forward to, even if it's the stupidest shit (like a certain third rate comedian that he loves). Youko Satou is also enjoyable to watch. She is disguising as Fable's sister and her lines are funny too, the main thing she is looking forward to is "a good man".

Score: 9/10

Sound: The sound in this show is very good. From the SFX to the voice acting, they have nailed this aspect down to the tee. The fights feel real and have stakes, you can feel every hit and punch. As I mentioned, the voice acting is also top tier. The cast of VA's is stacked, seeing as there are big names such as Miyuki Sawashiro, Akio Ootsuka, and Kana Hanazawa. Additionally, the chemistry between Miyuki Sawashiro (Youko) and Kazuyuki Okitsu (Akira) is very natural and smooth. Their character interactions are dynamic, quirky, and overall engaging.

Score: 10/10

Animation: I saw a lot of people complaining about this, saying that "Tezuka production ruined another great manga... blah blah blah". Look, I don't think the animation is S tier, but it's certainly not bad. In fact, it's pretty good. Even though this is the weakest part of the show, the fights still look fluid and are well composed and choreographed. The character art could be a little better, but even so, I ain't complaining.

Score: 7/10

OP and ED: I love the op, ALI once again delivered. Visuals aren't anything out of this world, as it mainly consists of still shots of the various characters, but the song is an absolute vibe, so for that reason alone I enjoy the opening theme a lot.

The ending however leaves a lot to be desired. Not only is the song really bad (it's shitty autotune rap) but the visuals don't stand out as they just roll credits and have slideshow visuals. You can definitely skip the ED and u won't be missing out on anything.

Opening Score: 9/10
Ending Score 3/10
Combined Score: 6/10

Overall, I believe that The Fable is a very enjoyable show that anyone can enjoy. It has an excellent cast of characters, good comedy, fights, serious moments, sound design, and an overall interesting and gripping atmosphere and plot.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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May 11, 2024

Eathus

Mixed Feelings

Preliminary (6/25 eps)

Read the manga instead. The animation presented in this adaptation is unfortunately nearly nonexistent. This adaptation simply didn't get the budget and/or care/love it deserved. It is such a shame because the manga is truly a hidden gem with an extremely unique take on a slice-of-life meets comedy and action genre. The characters are written to feel like real people unlike the annoying anime tropes that we're all used to at this point. The humor is subtle but really hits home and the story pulls you in and gets you extremely invested in what's gonna happen next. The manga is around 240 chapters of pure ... gold. I promise you it's worth the read and you'll probably end up binging it in 3-7 days like I did.

With all this in mind, the only reason you should watch this anime in my opinion is if you've already read the manga and want to see the story animated and voice acted no matter how lazily it's done because the source material is just that good.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Apr 21, 2024

MeanEYE

Not Recommended

Preliminary (3/25 eps)

From first three episodes all I could gather is that we are in for one hell of a boring show. While story started somewhat interesting it went nowhere. Nothing of interest happens ever. After exciting first episode main character turns into a wimp and goes pet shopping. I do realize writers are trying to portray his cool and calculated nature by making him emotionless and talk slow but in reality it's just bad.

There are still 22 episodes left and am assuming story will pick up at some point which is when I might decide to come back and skip the boring stuff, but as ... it now it's not worth anyone's time. Humor is dull, pacing is stupidly slow, main character is unlikable and most importantly nothing ever happens. They go shopping for curtains. Yay!

Save your time until all the episodes are our, or at least majority. Then you can skip bunch of boring stuff and go to the point. Speed watching is mandatory with this one.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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2024 anime watch (part 1)

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Anime where MC has no emotions

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In this thread, you'll find a comprehensive list of Spring 2024 titles with an accompanying promotional video, commercial, teaser, or trailer. This post will be...read more

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	Poll: The Fable Episode 12 Discussion Stark700 - Jun 22	24 replies	by LordKirkis »» 55 minutes ago
	Poll: The Fable Episode 11 Discussion Stark700 - Jun 15	46 replies	by SouthRzVa »» Jun 21, 2:53 PM
	Live-Action vs. Anime Adaptation Aragane - Jun 17	5 replies	by xdiesp »» Jun 19, 11:08 PM
	Poll: The Fable Episode 3 Discussion Stark700 - Apr 20	32 replies	by Softhenic03 »» Jun 17, 2:28 AM
	Poll: The Fable Episode 2 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Apr 13	63 replies	by Softhenic03 »» Jun 17, 2:20 AM