The Fable (Japanese: ザ・ファブル, Hepburn: Za Faburu) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Katsuhisa Minami. It was serialized in Kodansha's seinen manga magazine Weekly Young Magazine from November 2014 to November 2019, with its chapters collected in 22 tankōbon volumes. A sequel series, titled The Fable: The Second Contact, ran in Weekly Young Magazine from July 2021 to July 2023.
The Fable | |
ザ・ファブル (Za Faburu) | |
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Genre | |
Manga | |
Written by | Katsuhisa Minami |
Published by | Kodansha |
English publisher | |
Imprint | Young Magazine KC |
Magazine | Weekly Young Magazine |
Demographic | Seinen |
Original run | November 1, 2014 – November 18, 2019 |
Volumes | 22 |
Manga | |
Written by | Katsuhisa Minami |
Published by | Kodansha |
Magazine | Comic Days |
Demographic | Seinen |
Original run | March 6, 2018 – February 26, 2019 |
Volumes | 1 |
Live-action film | |
Directed by | Kan Eguchi |
Written by | Yūsuke Watanabe |
Studio | |
Released | June 21, 2019 |
Runtime | 123 minutes |
Live-action film | |
The Fable: A Hitman Who Doesn’t Kill | |
Directed by | Kan Eguchi |
Written by |
|
Studio |
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Released | June 18, 2021 |
Runtime | 131 minutes |
Manga | |
The Fable: The Second Contact | |
Written by | Katsuhisa Minami |
Published by | Kodansha |
Imprint | Young Magazine KC |
Magazine | Weekly Young Magazine |
Demographic | Seinen |
Original run | July 19, 2021 – July 10, 2023 |
Volumes | 9 |
Anime television series | |
Directed by |
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Written by |
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Music by | Shuichiro Fukuhiro |
Studio | Tezuka Productions |
Licensed by | Disney Platform Distribution |
Original network | NNS (Nippon TV) |
Original run | April 7, 2024 – present |
Episodes | 3 |
A live-action film adaptation premiered in Japan in June 2019 and a sequel premiered in June 2021. An anime television series adaptation produced by Tezuka Productions premiered in April 2024.
By October 2022, the manga had over 20 million copies in circulation, making it one of the best-selling manga series. In 2017, The Fable won the 41st Kodansha Manga Award for the General category.
Equipped with his favorite weapon, an anthracite-colored Nighthawk pistol, "Fable" is a professional killer feared by all the Japanese underworld, politicians, mobsters and public figures. This assassination genius can send any of his targets six feet under and in six seconds, if his heart tells him. One day, his sponsor orders him to put everything on hold and lead the life of an ordinary citizen, in the hideout of a yakuza clan in Osaka, ban on killing or attacking anyone for an entire year. For this human weapon with an unpredictable temperament, surrounded by trigger-happy criminals, the hardest contract begins.
Written and illustrated by Katsuhisa MinamiKodansha's seinen manga magazine Weekly Young Magazine from November 1, 2014,[4] to November 18, 2019.[5] Kodansha collected its chapters in 22 tankōbon volumes, released from March 6, 2015,[6] to June 5, 2020.[7]
, The Fable was serialized inA sequel, titled The Fable: The Second Contact (ザ・ファブル The second contact), ran in Weekly Young Magazine from July 19, 2021,[8] to July 10, 2023.[9] Its first volume was released on November 5, 2021.[10]
A spin-off, also titled The Fable, but written in hiragana (ざ・ふぁぶる) instead of katakana, was published on Comic Days online platform from March 6, 2018,[11] to February 26, 2019.[12] A collected tankōbon, which also includes other stories by Minami, was published on June 5, 2020.[13][14]
In March 2022, Kodansha USA announced they licensed the series for English digital publication;[15] in October 2023, they announced that the manga is planned to be published in print starting in Q2 2024.[16]
A live-action film adaptation directed by Kan Eguchi premiered in Japan on June 21, 2019. The film stars Junichi Okada as Fable.[17][18]
A sequel film, titled The Fable: A Hitman Who Doesn’t Kill (ザ・ファブル 殺さない殺し屋, Za Faburu Korosanai Koroshiya), was originally announced to premiere on February 5, 2021, however, in January 2021, it was announced that it would be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic,[19] and it premiered on June 18, 2021.[20][21]
An anime television series adaptation was announced on July 10, 2023. It is animated by Tezuka Productions and directed by Ryōsuke Takahashi, with scripts supervised by Yūya Takashima and co-written by Mayumi Morita, character designs handled by Kyuma Oshita, Saki Hasegawa and Junichi Hayama, and music composed by Shuichiro Fukuhiro.[22] The series premiered on April 7, 2024, on Nippon TV and its affiliates, and will run for two consecutive cours.[2][b] The opening theme song is "Professionalism feat. Prajñā" (Professionalism feat. 般若), performed by ALI, while the ending theme song is "Odd Numbers", performed by UmedaCypher.[23] The adaptation was announced to be produced under Disney's partnership with Kodansha, streaming the series on Disney+ worldwide and Hulu in the United States.[24]
No. | Title [25][c] | Directed by [d] | Written by [d] | Storyboarded by [d] | Original air date [27][b] | |
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1 | "Moving" Transliteration: "O Hikkoshi" (Japanese: お引っ越し) | Shintaro Matsui | Yūya Takashima | Takashi Kamei | April 7, 2024 | |
After Fable finishes a job, killing a minor boss and his henchmen, he and his female assistant share grilled fish with his boss who informs him that this will be the last job for a year. They both must spend a year laying low in Osaka with the Maguro clan and not kill anyone during that time. He is given the name and identity of Akira Sato and his assistant will act as his sister, Yoko. On their way there, Yoko stops for a coffee and while waiting, Akira is accosted by two minor thugs. Acting on instinct, he almost kills them when one touches him and he realizes laying low may be more difficult than he thinks. They arrive in Osaka and Akira throws his internal "switch" and changes to speaking with an Osaka dialect. Meanwhile, only Chief Hamada and Captain Ebihara of the Maguro clan know of the arrangement. | ||||||
2 | "A Wonderful Night" Transliteration: "Subarashī Yoru" (Japanese: 素晴らしい夜) | Hiromichi Matano | Yūya Takashima | Kazuo Terada | April 14, 2024 | |
Akira and Yoko meet Hamada and Ebihara dressed as holidaymakers and appear quite ordinary, although Akira's eye for detail upsets Ebihara. Ebihara allocates them two nearby apartments and warns them not to damage his vintage Hakosuka car. Akira quickly removes all the hidden surveillance cameras in his apartment. Outside, Ebihara tells his underling Takahashi that he wants to get rid of them. When Yoko invites Akira out for drinks, Takahashi hires a local kickboxer to hassle Akira. He challenges Akira outside the bar, but rather than fight back, Akira feigns weakness while accepting a few blows to avoid a serious confrontation. He is offered a handkerchief for his bloody nose by a female neighbor that he noticed earlier in the day. | ||||||
3 | "Tag" Transliteration: "Onigokko" (Japanese: 鬼ごっこ) | Daisuke Nakajima | Yūya Takashima | Daisuke Nakajima | April 21, 2024 | |
Ebihara is surprised when Takahashi reports that Akira took a beating and seemed cowered. Boss sends a message recommending that the Satos each get a pet. Akira decides on a black-headed parrot from Brazil, which he later names names "Captain", and Yoko selects a hamster. While at the pet store, Akira sees the kickboxer from the previous night and takes off pretending to be frightened, outrunning the kickboxer and jumping from a high overhead bridge to escape. Ebihara gives some money to Takahashi to invite Yoko out for the evening and get background information on Akira, while Ebihara invites Akira out for the night. Ebihara takes Akira to a secluded spot and asks him to kill a strong local thug who owes the clan money. He expects Akira to win in six seconds to prove he really is the killer he is supposed to be and not an imposter. Akira touches his forehead to throw his internal "switch", dons a three-hole balaclava, and races out of the car towards his opponent. | ||||||
4 | "Chatting About Life" Transliteration: "Inochi no hanashi‥‥." (Japanese: 命の話‥‥。) | TBA | TBA | TBA | April 28, 2024 |
By January 2021, the manga had 8 million copies in circulation.[19] By March 2022, the manga had 15 million copies in circulation.[28] By October 2022, the manga had over 20 million copies in circulation.[29]
The Fable won the 41st Kodansha Manga Award for the general category in 2017.[30] Alongside Blue Period, the series ranked 14th on Takarajimasha's Kono Manga ga Sugoi! list of best manga of 2020 for male readers.[31] It was picked as a nominee for "Best Comic" at the 51st Angoulême International Comics Festival, held in 2024.[32]