Welcome everyone, to another (late) episode of SpyXFamily! I apologize for the delay. Memorial Day weekend has been busy for me and I wasn’t able to watch this episode until now. You know how it is, what with family and everything. No more excuses though, it’s time to get on with the show!
This was another pretty standard week of SpyXFamily. And by standard, I mean what is quickly becoming the standard: A great mix of wholesome family moments and layered, clever comedy. About the only negative thing I can say this week is that this sort of bottle episode, taking place primarily for one scene in one location, didn’t leave much room for any impressive animation. It had some expressive faces, which were nice. Yuri, Loid, Anya and Yor all had some very amusing reactions. But none of the movement was particularly impressive or technical. This isn’t that big a deal, SpyXFamily is a comedy series and all the jokes still landed, so mission accomplished. I think of it more as a missed opportunity to heighten the source material like has been done before. Considering the length of the show though, maybe we shouldn’t ask to much.
Getting into the episode itself, I really like Yuri and what he brings to the show. I think that he adds a fair amount to the situational comedy, his presence throwing all of the existing relationships for a loop. For Loid it’s very easy to see: It’s the Secret Police trying to rat out a spy. But what makes it work so well is that Yuri doesn’t know, or even truly suspect what Loid is. Instead he is just such a Sis-Con that he immediately assumes the worst of Loid, ending up correct but for all of the wrong reasons. So much so that he is willing to make up reasons for Loid to be bad. The sheer absurdity of this, of Yuri being so wrong he wraps back around to being right and becoming the closest to ever uncovering Loid’s true identity, is great.
Meanwhile on Yors side, Yuri normalizes all of her worst traits. Playing them up, even enforcing them, as a sort of family thing. Easily accepting her air-headedness with “forgetting she forgot” and displaying his own. Or immediately getting sloshed, once again impairing him yet accidentally leading him closer to the truth. And just like with Yor, these traits are a detriment to his ability to figuring Loid out. Add on his sister complex, accepting anything she says and overreacting to anything involving her, and you effectively turn Loid into the straight-man for any scene Yuri and Yor are in. It’s good stuff!
The effects don’t stop there though, oh no. Because on top of all of that, Yuri’s presence also changes how Yor and Loid interact. Without him they are free to act like acquaintances, a budding relationship. But whenever Yuri appears they are now forced into acting like a deeply in love couple, effectively forcing their relationship on fast-forward. For Yor this leads to a real feeling of romance, she doesn’t have a mission or real ulterior motive beyond convenience. So for her this is actually quite an emotional event. Meanwhile for Loid this is just another day at the office, he’s a spy of course he’s kissed a woman before. All the while Yuri’s sister complex is going to make him angrier and angrier the closer Loid gets while unwittingly pushing them closer and closer. It’s the best kind of self-destructive comedic escalation if you ask me.
All in all, I think what Yuri brings to the comedy and relationships is really engaging. Loid has suddenly become threatened by someone he can’t escape from, since his mission requires him to stay, who he also can’t get rid of, because of Yuri’s relationship to Yor. At the same time that relationship with Yor is what will keep them in constant contact with each other. Thus forcing more and more interaction. Yuri has become a kind of spice to toss into the series whenever the relationships have started to become dull, or we need a change of comedic pace. And a very successful one at that if you ask me.
So yeah, I think this was another pretty good episode of SpyXFamily. Production leaves a little to be desired, but I continue to love the way the jokes are layered. Giving each character their own punchline to each situation. Often going so far as to subvert one of those punchlines moments later as a simultaneous follow-up punchline/lead-in to the next joke. It’s exactly the kind of comedy I enjoy. At least vs the more slapstick, one-note absurdity that you find in stuff like Saiki K. The only real question now, since comedy seems pretty firmly established, is the story. How will SpyXFamily’s story evolve to add new situations and progress any sort of narrative? We will have to wait and find out!
Ehhhh, I personally found Yuri’s sis-con thing to be really, really annoying. I mean, I can see the comedy behind it, but I just found him to be too much of an asshat to care about.
A good story can save weak animation. And from what I have heard the story gets better later on.