It’s got nothing on Yatagarasu, of course, but The Fable had an Olympic hiatus too. While Sundays are by far my busiest days of the anime week in recent years and my general reaction to such developments is that I can use the break, I certainly missed it. The Fable is very good indeed – modest in production to be sure, but possessed of a certain noir style and blessed with a truly great cast. It’s been a slow build but I like the series more and more over time, and that’s obviously the direction you want to go.

This Utsubo arc is excellent. Not least because Fuji Shinshou is both an incredible actor and possessed of one of the best voices in the business. He’s an even more sinister villain than Kojima. He was awful but fundamentally stupid and ultimately predictable. Utsubo is no less evil but far cleverer and more subtle. He’s smart enough, in fact, that it seems he was able to escape a hit from Fable (both the organization and the man). And that’s certainly the headline story here, and a reiteration of the fact that in The Fable there are no coincidences.

What I found myself thinking a lot this week was how poignant this story can be. Which seems odd, but it fits. Objectively I think you’d have to say both Akira and Youko are awful people themselves. The fact that there seems to be no malice in Fable, that he does what he does for a living and no more, may actually make him worse. But there’s a childlike innocence to him (as indeed comes out in his art). And he and Youko are both so broken that I can’t help but feel a certain pathos watching the pair of them.

Uutusbo’s attention is firmly on Octopus, but for now things are relatively idyllic. Kainuma continues to be a delusional fuckhead but amongst the other three, there’s genuine warmth. Takaouda-san has another art gig for Fable, this time a Christmas flyer. If it goes well, he says, Akira will get anther ¥100 raise – all the way up to five figures! Both Manager and Misaki gently mock Akira (sometimes even to his face) but it feels as if it comes from a place of affection. Misaki likes him, maybe – and Takouda seems to have developed almost paternal feelings for this weird young guy who does whatever he’s asked without a word of complaint. I mean – he carries his drawing in his wallet!

I think – well, I know – my favorite scenes of the episode were the two conversations in Youko’s kitchen. Especially when he asked her about Santa, and she revealed (for the first time I remember) that her parents were killed in a fire. She’s drunk (natch) and gets angry at Akira for making her remember when clearly, the hardest thing in the world for Youko to do is forget. As for Akira, he has no family Christmas memories at all, unsurprisingly. They’re such a sad pair, these two – as comfortable with each other as real siblings, yet still alone. When Youko starts to cry Akira’s impulse is to try and slink away – does it even occur to him to try and comfort her, or is that emotional language simply beyond his comprehension?

Akira is, somehow, kind. How can a mass murderer be kind? But when he asks why reaching out to help someone about to het hurt makes him a pervert, who can argue with him? I don’t think he strove to help Mitaki because he had feelings for her – I’m not even sure he can have those feelings for someone. I just think he saw something he knew was wrong and was determined to fix it. Or perhaps more to the point, knew he could do something and that it would be wrong if he didn’t. It may be more complicated with Hina – not because of attraction, but some sense of responsibility over what happened to her – but he still just wants to help.

Utsubo’s net is closing around Octopus. The reveal that he was Akira’s third target in that hit from three years earlier is a huge deal. Running a child prostitution ring (in which Hina was ensnared) is certainly right up his alley. Akira remembers, but Utusbo doesn’t – as he’s never seen Akira’s face. He knows there’s something oddball about the guy delivering the business cards, but Akira knows exactly who this guy is. Akira can now connect Utusbo, Hina, and the guy who kicked him the park. Utsubo knows that guy works for the same designer as Kainuma, around whose neck he’s just about to place the noose. Once more, Akira’s ability – and desire – to avoid trouble is about to be severely put to the test.