Welcome back everyone, to a new season and the continuation of SpyXFamily! This is a fun, though serious, week for the show, one I can proudly say I enjoyed a fair bit. Maybe time was all I needed to get back SpyXFamily back into my good graces, who knows. Without further ado though, lets dive into the episode!
Starting off, I love the more serious tone of this episode. The whole plot with stopping a terrorist threat? A spy, a dog and a little girl walk into a bomb before it blows up? I love it. This is SpyXFamily at it’s strongest for me. We get all the substance of Loid’s backstory and mission, his serious nature and the effects of war on simple people trying to live simple lives, while at the same time Anya and Yor fill the episode with levity and fun. Just enough that SpyXFamily doesn’t feel like a gritty war drama. What I’m saying is that this episode, in my opinion, perfectly balances SpyXFamily’s two halves and I really hope that we get more of that this season. This or more time at school, because it’s really hard to hate Anya episodes.
Getting back to the bombs and terrorists, lets talk specifics about what I liked. I think there two key aspects of this plot that make it enjoyable for me. The first one is pretty straight forward, I like SpyXFamily isn’t discounting or forgetting about the 1950’s tensions of what is, basically, East and West Germany. Of just how precarious that situation was and just how close the two were to going to war. As well as what that war would mean for the everyday, regular people just living their lives in this country. Most of them don’t want it! Most of them don’t care! And a lot of those that do want it, like the college students, don’t actually know what it is they are advocating for. Like Sylvia says, they don’t know war. So I really liked how hard SpyXFamily hammered that point home.
The other part of what I liked was Loid’s side. How dangerous his job is and how close he game to death without Anya’s help. As the viewer we know, in a meta sense, that he’s going to be fine. At worst he will get a bit hurt and have to ham it up for Yor and Anya, nothing major. But I think SpyXFamily did a great job of showing us what it would be like if he could get hurt. That, were this a more serious show, how close he would come to death and the effects his death would have on others. I can imagine this not being everyone’s style, some people just want SpyXFamily to be fun and carefree. But for me it’s these brushes with the serious, the taste of something bitter, that makes the fun family moments so much sweet and enjoyable, and not teeth-rotting.
Meanwhile over on Anya’s side of the episode, SpyXFamily did a great job of presenting, and keeping, her as a little girl. And by that I mean it never broke my belief that Anya is actually a 6 year old child. She never did anything a 6 year old couldn’t do, aside from… you know… the mind-reading. She forgot the door was rigged to blow, had to climb in a side-window, had no idea how to disarm a bomb and thus resorted to leaving a message in ketchup. It might be a bit fantastical that she would resolve to fix all this, sure. But I think SpyXFamily did well with her limitations outside of what was necessary for the story. And it got us some small cute scenes like her asking an old man how to read a clock, only to not realize how long 30 minutes was to boot!
About the only “negative” in the episode for me was the dog. And not in a “I hate the dog, I hope he gets removed” sort of way, not at all. I actually think the dog is, in general a great addition to the family. It’s another character that can interact on Anya’s level without belittling or demeaning them, because well… he’s a fucking dog. No, it’s really just the future sight stuff that kind of bugs me. Yes, SpyXFamily is a silly show about an assassin, a spy and a telepath, so it’s not a huge problem. And since it’s a dog and can only meaningfully do things through Anya, it’s very limited in its scope and it’s ability to break things/the plot. Its just that, to me, seeing the future felt like maybe a bit… much. Ultimately not a big deal, but its always bothered me slightly.
Finally we need to talk about a sticky point, both for the episode and the season: Yor. If you remember aaaaall the way back in Part 1 of the season, Yor didn’t really have much to do. She never really got an episode to herself, all about her and her job. There were bits and pieces, such as the drunk castle or her brother. But even then Loid was the star of those episodes. And while it’s a bit early to make any judgements about this part, 2 episodes in that continues to be the case. She’s the least “lead” of our 3 leading characters. I bring this up mostly because I am hoping that changes. She really deserves her own narrative within the show, and considering her popularity as the seasonal waifu, I think she would benefit from it. Hopefully *SpyXFamily can make that happen.
So yeah, all in all I think this was a good episode of SpyXFamily. It hit all the right spots for me. Just enough levity that the serious doesn’t become oppressive, just enough serious to keep me actually invested in what is happening to these characters. The production remains, mostly, strong. This episode didn’t stand out as much as the previous, and the CGI cars are ridiculously obvious. But nothing that I would call glaring or that impactful. Yeah the cars suck, but like… It’s a car. They always suck. Anyways, looking forward to another good season of SpyXFamily. Here’s hoping I don’t burn out or get tired of it like I did by the end of the first part.
You will be happy to know that Yor dies get an arc focusing on her very soon.
Given the pacing the anime is going, I would assume her arc will be a big chunk of the season after this one, be it P3 or season 2.
I assume you mean “does”, I hope Yor doesn’t die D:
I loved Sylvia’s speech – highlights how little college students actually know of the real world…and how much they think they do. Historically accurate too, as many political parties began as idealist campus clubs.
Great episode for me, following Anya was a lot of fun, and as you said, I love the fact that they realistically keep her behaving like a 6 year old with her not knowing how to tell time or having to leave a ketchup message. Loid’s close call with death shows that it’s not simply about him being perfect in the line of duty, a screw up from his colleague could have killed him too. Sylvia’s speech to the naive students was pretty awesome. I too want more focus on Yor (she did get more in episode 1), but I really loved her scary Mama Bear moment here.
And Zemo, you scared me to death with what I’ve got to assume is a typo (Yor “dies” instead of “does” I presume)
Yes I noticed my mistake. I meant does. As in Yor does get an arc focused on her later in the manga.
Don’t forget, Anya is actually posing as a 6 year old. She may actually be as young as 4. To me, this makes her even more enjoyable as a character, with her vivid imagination and emotional ups and downs.
For sure. The exact number doesn’t really matter, more her acting her age and not doing the anime protagonist thing of “I suddenly have these skills because the scene demands it”.