The whole philosopher assassin thing would normally be pretty insufferable as far as I’m concerned. So I guess it’s testament to the fact that The Fable has done a good sales job that this wasn’t. It doesn’t romanticize mobsters much as compares to most animanga, but Akira is an exception. This is still a guy who kills lots of people – seemingly remorselessly – for a living. But he’s such a weird and fascinating freak that I can’t help but find the character somewhat sympathetic. And as for Kuro, he’s such an earnest doof that it’s hard to muster much antipathy for him.
This was certainly the most linear episode of The Fable so far. With the exception of a few seconds at the very end (Youko reeling in her latest catch) it’s Akira and Kuro in the woods. Kuro is out of his depth, obviously, but perhaps more resilient than one might have expected. Akira is very much in his element – he’s obviously pacing himself to Kuro, as unflinching a facade as he tries to project. He notes that Kuro took his cast off too soon – that was obvious. But he doesn’t leave him behind, and even carves a walking stick for him with his Jimmy Lile knife (out of respect for Fable he’s brought that instead of his new Blackhawk).
The woods are full of dangers Kuro knows nothing about. Like wild boars, which will rip your flesh open so you bleed to death. And mamushi, the Japanese viper (though Akira is always glad to see those, as they’re delicious). Kuro manages to hang with Akira long enough for them to reach the river where the latter declares they’ll set up camp. Along the way he’s found a rat snake, which he promptly whacks against a tree (hard enough to stun, not to kill) which will serve as dinner (Kuro is reluctant to say the least). Akira scoffs when Kuro offers his lighter, instead relying on tinder fungus and stones to get a fire started.
Under the circumstances, it’s not surprising that Kuro would struggle to see how this all ties in to Akira’s role as a professional hitman. I found the sequence where he tries to explain that the most compelling of the episode. Both because he’s convinced he can’t do so adequately, and because in fact he does so with considerable eloquence. “The stuff you learn in the wild is useful back in the city” Akira says. “But somehow the stuff you learn in the city is useless in the wild”.
After a long night for Kuro (including a mamushi midnight snack – burning hair to attract them is a new one on me), unused to 8 PM bedtimes, the next day brings more danger. There are bear tracks in camp, and while Akira admits that for “ordinary people” that would be a reason to bug out, that doesn’t apply to them. He warns Kuro never to turn his back on a bear – or play dead – and proceeds to hunt frogs and grasshoppers as Kuro heads back to camp to start a fire. He finds his hat and backpack on the way, and inevitably the bear who took them. Just as inevitably he panics and plays dead. It’s a good thing Fable showed up when he did.
What I was always taught: with black bears (the Japanese bear is a close cousin) you go for intimidation, and with grizzlies you play dead. So this tracks. Unfortunately, Akira says, the bear will be back – having claimed Kuro’s things as its own. He gets rather philosophical again, about the need to teach bears to fear humans, but Kuro doesn’t look too convinced. And can you blame him?
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