Another day, another Bubble series (one on the Patron Pick Ballot). I suspect if The Fable were airing on a different day it would probably be pretty safe, but Sundays are (as usual) brutal for me. That begs the question of course of why I couldn’t just cover this one a day or two late. And I could – that option is still on the table. But I’m still not quite there yet with the series itself. It has a lot going for it that I like, but it’s an odd one for sure. And I have to figure out if it’s odd in a way I really like.
It’s a given that a series about people who kill for a living is going to feature not nice people. The question is whether they’ll be romanticized (the jury is out), and whether the series has anything meaningful to say about their lifestyle. We resume right where we left off (a minute before, actually). I was wondering whether Fable would hold true on his promise to his boss, and so he did. He took down the scumbag Ebihara ordered him to kill without killing him (though Ebihara finished the job), in half the six seconds of legend. That was followed by a tense standoff between Fable and Ebihara, with third wheel zaku Kuroshiro looking on in awe.
Fable showed he has balls of steel in this exchange, but that’s hardly news. Ebihara is an interesting one, and while he’s the most intriguing character (with the best seiyuu), he’s also where The Fable most closely flirts with romanticizing mobsters. He’s not one to be lecturing Fable on the meaning of life, that’s for sure. His comments about Misaki-san (the tripping lady next door) likewise go there. I have no doubt there are mobsters who convince themselves what they do is some sort of public service, and that they protect society from the “real” bad guys. The problem arises when the writing agrees with them. As I said, the jury is still out on whether that’s the case here.
Then we have the whole dumpster fire with Youko and Takahashi. It’s really funny but damn, it’s twisted too. Youko is, to put it bluntly, a mean drunk. That she could drink Takahashi under the table was never going to be a surprise. But the way she reveled in his pathetic performance was borderline disturbing. The guy is a total loser who jerks off to security cam footage of her in his car – I don’t feel sorry for him. But it takes a special person to find that much joy in another person making that much of a spectacle of themselves.
Also interesting was Fable’s answer to Ebihara about why he didn’t disable (he was adamant that he didn’t destroy the ones in his house) the hidden cameras in Youko’s place. Because, he said, it put him “at ease” that Ebihara’s group was keeping watch. That’s a reflection of what a weird and twisted guy Fable is. Maybe the whole parrot thing is supposed to (or actually will) humanize him – that’s obviously what his boss had in mind. But it’s hard to feel much affection or empathy for any of these people. That said Fable and Ebihara’s conversation over steak was undeniably both entertaining and interesting, and I don’t doubt the series is capable of that. I guess I’m still in we’ll see mode for now.
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