Review The Fable 👮🏻 How to Not Kill for a Year

Welcome to another art post here in the community.

I didn’t know much about The Fable before watching it. I had only read somewhere that it was an anime about a hitman who had to live peacefully for a year without killing anyone. It sounds simple, but what I found was one of the most fun, weird, and even unexpectedly absurd experiences I’ve had with an anime.

Right from the start, the premise had me hooked, I think.

The protagonist, known only as Fable, is a professional hitman who never fails or never used to. He does the job calmly, without getting worked up, wasting time, or showing emotion. He seems like a machine (Anyone here know Hitman?). But after so many years of killing, his boss decides to give him some “forced vacation.” The order is clear: he must live like a normal person for a year. No killing anyone.

Not even in self-defense.

The funniest part is that Fable takes this new mission as seriously as any assassination contract. He starts introducing himself as Akira Satō.

He moves to Osaka with his “sister” (who’s actually his assistant, the hilarious alcoholic Yōko). That’s where everything begins to unfold.

The big twist in The Fable is the contrast.

You take someone who can kill in a thousand ways, who has modern ninja reflexes, and throw him into a world where the biggest challenge is understanding how to talk to people or working as a fried chicken mascot illustrator.

Yes, seriously.

He gets a job as an illustrator for a chicken mascot.

And he takes it seriously...

The comedic part of the anime works really well. Fable is completely disconnected from human emotions, but at the same time, he tries to be “normal.” He studies how to laugh at jokes. He finds it weird to sleep eight hours. He trains every day but hides it like an addiction. Unlike other comedies that rely on forced gags, here everything flows naturally. We laugh not because he’s clownish, but because he genuinely doesn’t know how to be human.

But The Fable isn’t just jokes. There’s real action, with well-choreographed scenes, chases, and fights against mobsters and criminals who have no idea who they’re dealing with. And that’s another high point: the way the anime blends humor with real danger. The villains are cruel. There are tense scenes, innocent people at risk, and Fable has to restrain himself from breaking the no-kill rule.

The animation isn’t amazing, I’ll be honest.

It’s not on the level of Jujutsu Kaisen or Attack on Titan. It’s simple, and at times even feels a bit static. But it never really bothered me.

The writing and characters carry the anime with ease. In fact, the simplicity of the animation might even match the show’s down-to-earth vibe.

The side characters are also really good. As I mentioned, Yōko steals the scene multiple times. She’s a sarcastic alcoholic but smart, and she balances Fable out. There are also yakuza members watching him some trying to start fights, others trying to protect him. The anime handles relationships well, even if subtly.

One thing that surprised me was how the anime handles violence. Even though it’s a story about a hitman, it’s not a gore anime. There’s no pointless blood splatter. When violence happens, it’s quick, precise, and direct. This gives more impact to the scenes because they aren’t gratuitous.

Another surprise was the social commentary hidden between the lines. Fable is a product of a system where killing is business. He lives on the edge of morality and duty, and when he tries to live as a civilian, he realizes just how out of place he is. At times, the anime even lightly touches on issues like abuse, power, status, and how we treat people with “invisible roles” in society.

The pacing is good. There are 25 episodes split into two parts (two cours). No episode feels like filler. Everything is well constructed, with a beginning, middle, and end. And yes, there’s room for continuation. The manga has a lot more story, and from what I’ve read, there’s still plenty of great material to adapt. Hopefully there’s more to come.

Speaking of the manga, it’s worth mentioning the author:

Katsuhisa Minami. He wrote and illustrated The Fable, and also worked on the sequel called The Fable: The Second Contact.

His style blends dry humor with intense action, and that’s a strong hallmark of the series.

The anime was produced by Tezuka Productions, known for classics like Astro Boy and Black Jack. It was directed by Ryōsuke Takahashi, a veteran with experience in military anime like Votoms, which adds weight to the action scenes.

Overall, The Fable was a pleasant surprise.

An anime that blends action, comedy, and a good dose of drama, without overdoing any of it.

It’s the kind of story that hooks you because it’s different. There are no superpowers, no teenagers saving the world, no villains yelling clichés. It’s a story about a man trying not to be what he always was. And that, to me, is what hit the hardest.

Official Teaser Trailer