The Fable

Plot

An exceptionally skilled professional killer known as "Fable" is feared by the Japanese underworld, politicians, mobsters, and public figures. One day, his sponsor orders him to put everything on hold and lead the life of an ordinary citizen with the assistance of a yakuza clan in Osaka. He is also banned from killing anyone for an entire year. Armed with his Nighthawk pistol and given the pseudonym of Akira Sato, Fable must adjust to normal life alongside his assistant, who is ordered to act as his sister and given the pseudonym of Yoko, all while dealing with criminal elements in Osaka that have their own suspicions about his past.

Characters

Akira Sato (佐藤 明, Satō Akira)

Voiced by: Kazuyuki Okitsu (Japanese); Jonah Scott (English)

Portrayed by: Junichi Okada, Ryoka Minamide (young)

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.

Yoko Sato (佐藤 洋子, Satō Yōko)

Voiced by: Miyuki Sawashiro (Japanese); Miya Kodama (English)

Portrayed by: Fumino Kimura

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. Her real name is Rei Kanda (神田 麗, Kanda Rei).

Boss (ボス, Bosu)

Voiced by: Tetsuo Komura (Japanese); Steve Blum (English)

Portrayed by: Kōichi Satō

The man who assigns Fable his jobs. He tells him to take a year off to lay low in Osaka with the Maguro Group.

Misaki Shimizu (清水 岬, Shimizu Misaki)

Voiced by: Kana Hanazawa (Japanese); Felecia Angelle (English)

Portrayed by: Mizuki Yamamoto

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.

Media

Manga

Written and illustrated by Katsuhisa Minami, The Fable was serialized in Kodansha's seinen manga magazine Weekly Young Magazine from November 1, 2014, to November 18, 2019. Kodansha collected its chapters in 22 tankōbon 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. Kodansha collected its chapters in nine tankōbon volumes, released from November 5, 2021, to November 6, 2023.

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.

A third series, titled The Fable: The Third Secret (ザ・ファブル The third secret), began serialization in Weekly Young Magazine on March 17, 2025. The series is published digitally in English by Kodansha on its K Manga digital service.

In March 2022, Kodansha USA announced it had licensed the series for English digital publication; in October 2023, it was announced that the manga would 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: The Killer 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, 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 was 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 Shūichirō Fukuhiro. The series aired from April 7 to September 29, 2024, on Nippon TV and its affiliates. The first opening theme song is "Professionalism feat. Hannya" (Professionalism feat. 般若), performed by ALI, and the first ending theme song is "Odd Numbers", performed by Umeda Cypher. The second opening theme song is "Switch" (スイッチ, Suitchi), performed by Umeda Cypher, and the second ending theme song is "Beyond feat. Mari", performed by ALI. The adaptation was announced to be produced under Disney's partnership with Kodansha, streaming on Disney+ worldwide and Hulu in the United States.

A second season of the anime series was announced on April 2, 2026. The cast and staff from the first season are reprising their roles, with Yō Tsuji serving as the new composer. The season is set to premiere in January 2027.

Video game

In September 2024, Kodansha Game Creators' Lab announced that Mono Entertainment was developing a roguelike deck-building video game, titled The Fable: Manga Build Roguelike (ザ・ファブル Manga Build Roguelike), for Windows and Nintendo Switch. A demo of the game was displayed at the Kodansha Game Creators' Lab booth at Tokyo Game Show 2024. It was released on November 6, 2025, and is available in Japanese, English, and traditional/simplified Chinese.

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.