The Fable

The Fable (ザ・ファブル) 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 volumes. A sequel series, titled The Fable: The Second Contact, ran in Weekly Young Magazine from July 2021 to July 2023.

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 June 2024, the manga had over 25 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.

Plot
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, banned from 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.

Characters

 * Akira Satō (佐藤 明)
 * He is a quietly spoken but highly skilled hitman, known only as "Fable". He has had a female assistant and driver for the past year and knows nothing about her or her name. They are ordered to lay low for a year and he is given the name and identity of Akira Sato and his assistant will act as his sister, Yoko.
 * He is a quietly spoken but highly skilled hitman, known only as "Fable". He has had a female assistant and driver for the past year and knows nothing about her or her name. They are ordered to lay low for a year and he is given the name and identity of Akira Sato and his assistant will act as his sister, Yoko.
 * He is a quietly spoken but highly skilled hitman, known only as "Fable". He has had a female assistant and driver for the past year and knows nothing about her or her name. They are ordered to lay low for a year and he is given the name and identity of Akira Sato and his assistant will act as his sister, Yoko.


 * Yōko Satō (佐藤 洋子)
 * A woman with long brown hair and a photographic memory who acts as Fable's assistant and driver. She is ordered to lay low with him for a year, acting as his sister and given the name Yoko Sato.
 * A woman with long brown hair and a photographic memory who acts as Fable's assistant and driver. She is ordered to lay low with him for a year, acting as his sister and given the name Yoko Sato.
 * A woman with long brown hair and a photographic memory who acts as Fable's assistant and driver. She is ordered to lay low with him for a year, acting as his sister and given the name Yoko Sato.


 * Boss (ボス)
 * The man who assigns Fable his jobs but then tells him to take a year off to lay low in Osaka with the Maguro clan.
 * The man who assigns Fable his jobs but then tells him to take a year off to lay low in Osaka with the Maguro clan.
 * The man who assigns Fable his jobs but then tells him to take a year off to lay low in Osaka with the Maguro clan.


 * Misaki Shimizu (清水 岬)
 * A woman who lives alone in an apartment near where Fable and his assistant stay in Osaka. She works multiple jobs to repay her father's debts, but she is blackmailed into agreeing to become a call girl by Kojima when he learns of her former career as a gravure idol.
 * A woman who lives alone in an apartment near where Fable and his assistant stay in Osaka. She works multiple jobs to repay her father's debts, but she is blackmailed into agreeing to become a call girl by Kojima when he learns of her former career as a gravure idol.
 * A woman who lives alone in an apartment near where Fable and his assistant stay in Osaka. She works multiple jobs to repay her father's debts, but she is blackmailed into agreeing to become a call girl by Kojima when he learns of her former career as a gravure idol.


 * Jackal Tomioka (ジャッカル富岡)
 * A popular comedian who Fable thinks is really funny.
 * A popular comedian who Fable thinks is really funny.
 * A popular comedian who Fable thinks is really funny.


 * Hiroshi Hamada
 * Chief in the Maguro clan who accepts the arrangement to shelter Fable and his assistant.
 * Chief in the Maguro clan who accepts the arrangement to shelter Fable and his assistant.
 * Chief in the Maguro clan who accepts the arrangement to shelter Fable and his assistant.


 * Takeshi Ebihara (海老原 剛士)
 * Captain in the Maguro clan, Ebihara is unhappy about the arrangement to shelter Fable and his assistant. He is suspicious of Fable's motives, but after suffering a heart attack he involves Akira in his operations.
 * Captain in the Maguro clan, Ebihara is unhappy about the arrangement to shelter Fable and his assistant. He is suspicious of Fable's motives, but after suffering a heart attack he involves Akira in his operations.
 * Captain in the Maguro clan, Ebihara is unhappy about the arrangement to shelter Fable and his assistant. He is suspicious of Fable's motives, but after suffering a heart attack he involves Akira in his operations.


 * Kojima (小島)
 * Middle-ranking member of the Maguro clan who has spent the last few years in prison. Upon his release, he decides to advance his career within the clan and encroaches on Sunagawa's territory.
 * Middle-ranking member of the Maguro clan who has spent the last few years in prison. Upon his release, he decides to advance his career within the clan and encroaches on Sunagawa's territory.
 * Middle-ranking member of the Maguro clan who has spent the last few years in prison. Upon his release, he decides to advance his career within the clan and encroaches on Sunagawa's territory.


 * Kuroshio
 * A lowly member of the Maguro clan.
 * A lowly member of the Maguro clan.
 * A lowly member of the Maguro clan.


 * Katsuya Takahashi
 * A lowly member of the Maguro clan.
 * A lowly member of the Maguro clan.


 * Shūichi Sunagawa
 * Middle-ranking member of the Maguro clan who runs a call girl business and who sees Kojima as a threat.
 * Middle-ranking member of the Maguro clan who runs a call girl business and who sees Kojima as a threat.
 * Middle-ranking member of the Maguro clan who runs a call girl business and who sees Kojima as a threat.


 * Matsu


 * Kenjirō Takōda
 * Misaki's boss and the manager of Octopus Ltd. who gives Fable a temporary job as a delivery driver.
 * Misaki's boss and the manager of Octopus Ltd. who gives Fable a temporary job as a delivery driver.
 * Misaki's boss and the manager of Octopus Ltd. who gives Fable a temporary job as a delivery driver.


 * Etsuji Kainuma
 * A young male employee at Octopus Ltd. who is secretly obsessed with Misaki.
 * A young male employee at Octopus Ltd. who is secretly obsessed with Misaki.
 * A young male employee at Octopus Ltd. who is secretly obsessed with Misaki.


 * Master


 * Yūki Kawai


 * Rei Utsubo


 * Hinako Saba


 * Hiroshi Suzuki


 * Tsutomu Isaki

Manga
Written and illustrated by Katsuhisa Minami, The Fable was serialized in Kodansha's manga magazine Weekly Young Magazine from November 1, 2014, to November 18, 2019. Kodansha collected its chapters in 22 volumes, released from March 6, 2015, to June 5, 2020.

A sequel, titled The Fable: The Second Contact (ザ・ファブル The second contact), ran in Weekly Young Magazine from July 19, 2021, to July 10, 2023. Its first volume was released on November 5, 2021.

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, to February 26, 2019. A collected tankōbon, which also includes other stories by Minami, was published on June 5, 2020.

In March 2022, Kodansha USA announced it had licensed the series for English digital publication; in October 2023, it was announced that the manga is planned to be published in print, with the first volume released on April 9, 2024.

Live-action films
A live-action film adaptation directed by Kan Eguchi premiered in Japan on June 21, 2019. The film stars Junichi Okada as Fable.

A sequel film, titled The Fable: A Hitman Who Doesn’t Kill (ザ・ファブル 殺さない殺し屋), was originally announced to premiere on February 5, 2021; however, a month prior to the planned release date, it was announced that the film would be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and it eventually premiered on June 18 of that same year.

Anime
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. The series premiered on April 7, 2024, on Nippon TV and its affiliates, and will run for two consecutive cours. The first opening theme song is "Professionalism feat. Hannya" (Professionalism feat. 般若), performed by ALI, while the first ending theme song is "Odd Numbers", performed by Umeda Cypher. The second opening theme song is "Switch" (スイッチ), performed by Umeda Cypher, while the second ending theme song is "Beyond feat. Mari" by ALI. The adaptation was announced to be produced under Disney's partnership with Kodansha. It is streaming on Disney+ worldwide and Hulu in the United States.

Reception
By January 2021, the manga had eight million copies in circulation; 15 million copies in circulation by March 2022; over 20 million copies in circulation by October 2022; and over 25 million copies in circulation by June 2024.

The Fable won the 41st Kodansha Manga Award for the general category in 2017. Alongside Blue Period, the series ranked 14th on Takarajimasha's Kono Manga ga Sugoi! list of best manga of 2020 for male readers. It was picked as a nominee for "Best Comic" at the 51st Angoulême International Comics Festival, held in 2024.