

ザ・ファブル
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]
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]
Main
Supporting
Supporting
Supporting
Supporting
Supporting
Supporting
Supporting
Supporting
PanzerIV-J
September 28, 2024
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!]
Avieshek
October 14, 2024
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
Chuy_diazz
September 30, 2024
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.
SuperUnoCard
May 29, 2025
The Fable is one of the most unique anime to come out in recent years. It’s about a professional hitman who’s told by his boss to take a break from killing and live a “normal” life for a year—no assassinations, no fighting, no trouble. Just live quietly under a fake identity with his “sister.” It sounds like a setup for a gag anime, but what we get is a surprisingly deep and clever series that mixes dark comedy, intense action, and subtle character development in a way that’s hard to describe and harder to forget. Story – 10/10 The story is easily the anime’s strongest point. Whilethe premise is simple, it’s executed masterfully. Watching Akira (aka “The Fable”) awkwardly try to blend into society while suppressing his instincts creates some of the funniest and tensest moments I’ve seen in a while. The plot constantly shifts between calm, everyday slice-of-life moments and brutal underworld drama, but never feels disjointed. Even when nothing "big" is happening, it’s strangely compelling. Characters – 9/10 Akira is a standout protagonist. He barely talks, is socially clueless, and treats everyday life like a battlefield—but somehow, you end up loving him. His “sister” Youko steals every scene she’s in. She’s chaotic, loves to drink and tease men, and is secretly just as dangerous as Akira. The supporting cast—gangsters, civilians, coworkers—all feel real and serve the story well. Pacing – Mixed Bag Here’s where The Fable stumbles. The pacing is slow. Sometimes painfully slow. Scenes drag on longer than they need to, and it often feels like the show is stretching things out just to meet a 25-episode count. If you’re binging it, it’s more manageable. But watching it weekly? The drawn-out cliffhangers and slow scenes can be frustrating. Animation – 7/10 The animation is serviceable, but not amazing. Action scenes are well-directed and choreographed—especially the hand-to-hand fights—but outside of those, things can look a bit flat. It’s clear the studio had a limited budget. That said, the character expressions are solid, and nothing looks bad, just underwhelming at times. Sound – 9/10 The voice acting is excellent across the board. Akira’s VA perfectly captures his weird, emotionless vibe. Youko’s voice actress balances her playful menace and sincerity flawlessly. And the opening theme by ALI? Absolute banger—right up there with their other hits like Beastars and *J “You don't have to understand everything. Just live. That's enough.” — The Fable Highly recommended. 9/10.
Shydia
March 7, 2025
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
Rank
#514
Popularity
#2284
Members
105,192
Favorites
817
Episodes
25