SPY x FAMILY

[Ryllharu]

https://spy-family.net/assets/img/top/gallery_visual_06.jpg
Image lifted directly from their website

Description: It was a time when countries around the world were engaged in fierce information warfare under the surface. Ostania and Westeris have been in a cold war for more than a decade. The master spy codenamed <Twilight> has spent his days on undercover missions, all for the dream of a better world. But one day, he receives a particularly difficult new order from command. Donovan Desmond, president of the eastern national unity party, a dangerous person who threatens east-west peace. For his mission, Twilight must form a temporary family and start a new life?!

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The series is funny, the action is good, the voice cast is phenomenal. Spy x Family has that rare retro styling we really don't get very often out of anime aside from some grungy/grimdark crime series. Cloverworks (Sono Bisque Doll) and Studio WIT (earlier AoT seasons) are co-producing this and are splitting the series into multiple cours to ensure they keep up the high quality; Gundam Unicorn's Director leading the project.

So yeah, it looks good and sounds great.

There are nice details here, verbal gags throughout, plays deeply on 1960s era spy dramas, but also some intelligent plot touches, like the esper "daughter" keeping the nature of her powers a secret from literally everyone (very rare!) and lying about her age to ensure she gets adopted. She's still very much a young child, and acts like one.

We haven't gotten to the wife...yet, she's coming in episode 2. The pace of the first episode is very high to get through the double-length, 70-page first chapter. It should slow down a bit after this first one if you thought it felt rushed.

I'm a huge fan of the manga, and have been since the very first chapter, so this is a much watch for me, but there's a lot to like for everyone. It's a comedy for sure, but they do not skimp on the action. The "wife" is an assassin, and she very much kills people.

[neflight86]

Jolly good first episode. I like that Lloyd has no real affection for Anya (yet), and her bouncing off his thoughts of disposing of her is a unique type of touching humor. The fact that Anya is not only a child, but a kinda dim one is also refreshing amongst anime flooded with prodigy level children like its going out of style. Highly recommended.

[Kraco]

Yeah, one of the best details of the story is how being a telepath does not automatically help Anya. As a little kid, even if she can read the adults' thoughts, she still acts foolishly half the time because she can't analyse and judge the information correctly.

[Buffalobiian]

She was too dumb to figure out that the transmission was a bad idea, but knew Morse?

[Ryllharu]

Anya is a weird kid, and her favorite tv show is that spy cartoon. I assume that's where she picked it up. Kids get obsessed with the things they like and pick them up very quickly if they're interested it in.

The series has a strange balance to it, people definitely get killed, but the conspiracies are about stupid things like whether or not someone wears a toupee. Foolish but also deadly serious.

[Kraco]

She was too dumb to figure out that the transmission was a bad idea, but knew Morse?

There's an endless amount of adults in the world who would, at least initially, think the transmission would be such a jolly good idea. People often don't stop to think of consequences or if something is worth it at all. Little children might be incapable of it.

[Ryllharu]

Episode 2

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The OP sequence is incredible, really exceeding my expectations. There's a very nice stylistic touch with 1960s style poster and pop art and then shifting to the anime's style to show off some other things.

The OST for this has been just as fitting, there's some nice bongo instrumental music when Yor and Twilight are running around the warehouses. Very spy movie, but also era appropriate. The elegant and beautiful but also menacing music when Yor is killing a whole floor of people? There are various flavors of Jazz when Yor is talking to her brother or when Twilight and Frankie are doing the art theft job. Soft and somber piano when Yor is getting depressed at the party. And it even knows when to be silent and let the dialogue dominate.

Yor is so precious. Definitely get the urge to protect her even though she absolutely would never need it. Kicking the guy followed by the "blarghaghaghaghaghaghaghagh" roll was fucking hilarious.

Her clothes are also very stylish, the red sweater especially.

I mean, I can understand why Camilla was a jealous bitch, but too bad for her Yor is perfect and Twilight knows how to smooth talk everyone (and obviously read her files extensively, or at least the public stuff that doesn't reveal her to be an assassin).

Anya may be an idiot, but she knows how to very quickly use the knowledge she reads from other people's thoughts when it counts.

[Buffalobiian]

The comedy and set pieces this episode were spot on.

[neflight86]

Great stuff. Yor does make an interesting compliment to Anya nd Lloyd. I like that her little brother mentions on the phone that, likely due to their upbringing, she is gullible, or all of the smoke blown up her rear during the alley way shootout would have been less fun to swallow.

The pacing is also excellent, with a plethora of setup and story progression happening in twenty minutes. The only misstep was the jealous co-worker's petty attacks at the party stretching disbelief in their succession; cramming all that in straight into the "Yor is a strong woman" speech was a little cheesy. Minor quibble and quickly forgotten against the remainder of the episode.

[Kraco]

When Yor asked what's going on, when the other car appeared, Loid should have taken a step closer to the truth and told that he got a customer who turned out to be a part of the organised crime, and now some gangsters are trying to harass him to find out if the customer told him anything. But then again, maybe it served the comedy better he told something else and Yor still believed it.

All in all, Loid and Yor deserve each other, with the added bonus of a weird kid.

[Ryllharu]

Episode 3

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A bit of a weaker, low-key episode, since it appears to mostly be establishing set ups for next week's actual interview. It has some nice individual shots, and of course Yor is phenomenally pretty in casual modes.

[Kraco]

Yor isn't exceedingly good at hiding the quirks related to her real profession. If you think about it, Anya isn't very good at it either, but since she's a little kid, some nonsense is to be expected, plus who would actually suspect someone of being a telepath? Loid, a career spy, could certainly imagine someone could be an assassin, since those two jobs aren't necessarily that far apart.

[DarthEnderX]

Yeah, as skilled as they want us to think Lloyd is, it makes no sense he can't tell Yor is an assassin. He can tell a thief by his walk, but can't tell an assassin while seeing her do ninja moves. And she's terrible at hiding it.

[Ryllharu]

Yeah, as skilled as they want us to think Lloyd is, it makes no sense he can't tell Yor is an assassin. He can tell a thief by his walk, but can't tell an assassin while seeing her do ninja moves. And she's terrible at hiding it.

To be fair, he recognized the way the guy walked when he mugged the woman to the way he was walking after changing clothes. Recognizing someone's gait isn't that hard in real life. You probably do it too without even noticing.

Physically, Yor is superior to Loid in every way. He doesn't notice her walking around for instance, since she subconsciously walks around in assassin-silence. Her physical prowess is amped up to a cartoony degree, like jumping down those hills or even just unpacking all her things in seconds (her "only housework skill is cleaning up") to the point that Anya was stunned.

Loid's spy senses are probably limited to a sense of aggression and threat, like in most anime. Yor isn't in a killing mode, and is a scatterbrain when she isn't, so he isn't gonna notice anything, nor suspect it.

[Buffalobiian]

She chalked it up to "I know self defense" last time, which covers most thing to do with "how did you move like that?"

I'm kinda expecting the old woman to be the final boss of the interview, despite that old dude being in the preview. She didn't seem to dress that nicely, but the thief told us she's loaded. It'll be a way for them to completely screw up the interview but still get in.

[KrayZ33]

Next week's preview made me hope for a very specific scene when I saw Papa getting ready to punch someone.

[Buffalobiian]

Episode 04

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Lol @ Henry Henderson losing his shit at everything elegant, but still probably not quite as funny as the animals backing away from Yorh.

The teachers' names and subjects were a nice detail. Murdoch Swan being the asshole who teaches economics while Henderson is all prim and proper with his history.

[Kraco]

I feel a bit sorry for Anya needing to go to a school like that, but on the other hand, if she had remained in the orphanage, I suppose her academic prospects would have been next to nonexistent. As it is, it's hard to imagine that school actually would actually have the academically best teaching and environment, but it probably produces people with the best chances to get forward in life through the normal routes, in that particular society, regardless of their intelligence or wisdom.

[DarthEnderX]

Future Yor dialog: "I learned the Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique in acupuncture class!"

[Ryllharu]

The kid stuck in the sewer, obvious and very poor acting skills to boot, it my personal highlight of this episode.

And the corresponding triple change of clothes.

[Buffalobiian]

The weird thing is that it seems like walking past does NOT fail you. We don't know if there are any demerit points aside from instant fail.

But saving him while remaining dirty is an instant fail with seemingly no merit for saving at all.

When you see it as a test to reward the vain and punish the kind, it's somewhat less funny. Especially as a test for a children's school.

I guess you could be super rich and have your maid do the dirty work.

[Ryllharu]

The weird thing is that it seems like walking past does NOT fail you. We don't know if there are any demerit points aside from instant fail.

But saving him while remaining dirty is an instant fail with seemingly no merit for saving at all.

When you see it as a test to reward the vain and punish the kind, it's somewhat less funny. Especially as a test for a children's school.

I guess you could be super rich and have your maid do the dirty work.

I wouldn't say that.

There's ways to get him out of there without getting yourself dirty while he deliberately splashes around. For instance, Loid had an umbrella, that would have kept himself clean. They stood out more because Loid just went all in immediately.

They may have marked down the people who callously walked past him. It just isn't important to the gags of this episode. They were weeding people out for the way they walked and behaved well before the true landmine tests came into play on the path to Hall 1.

It's funny because it is so obvious and such an impossible test.

[Kraco]

When you see it as a test to reward the vain and punish the kind, it's somewhat less funny. Especially as a test for a children's school.

I guess you could be super rich and have your maid do the dirty work.

It's obviously a school for the aristocracy, which emphasizes form over function. If you lose your form, it's meaningless to perform a function. A member of the elite must always look and behave like the elite. That sort of thing, I'd say. It's like the state of decadent nobility that has entirely abandoned the spirit of chivalry. Objectively speaking you might think it's a disservice to the kids, but if graduating from that school automatically helps them to be accepted into better universities and find better jobs, and generally speaking make better progress in life due to the prestige and connections, then it might not be.

[shinta|hikari]

but if graduating from that school automatically helps them to be accepted into better universities and find better jobs, and generally speaking make better progress in life due to the prestige and connections, then it might not be.

That's like 90% of the reason elite schools exist. Sure you can learn a lot while there, but the real goal is the connections. This applies to all the countries I've lived in, which are fairly varied culturally, so I tend to think the pattern holds across the globe.

[Ryllharu]

It did seem like Eden was still throwing out rather well-to-do people and even a few government employee families.

If the Forgers do get in, and of course they must for the plot, it would be a very good event for them if this whole thing wasn't a sham, propelling them into considerably more elite society that a psychiatrist and his public servant 2nd wife would normally ever be entitled toward.

[David75]

The changes of clothes felt like Bond just after a big action scene : perfect brushing and smoking... Except it's the 3 of them.
007 to the cube :-)

[Buffalobiian]

Talking about changing clothes, I hope they keep up Twilight's face changing missions in the future. Face-changing was kind of his whole thing, but he he hasn't used it on his last "action" mission, nor the preview. And last episode, they tracked him back to his car and recognised him. It made for a great proposal scene, but I hope it doesn't set a trend of sloppy spy-work when it comes to actual missions.

[neflight86]

Elegant, indeed. It reminds me of 'dandyism', a discipline so vague and undefined that the adherence to it is prime humor material. An impressive pivot to heartstring pulling when the question/subject about Anya's previous mother was brought up. Didn't feel out of place or ham fisted at all, which made it impactful.

[neflight86]

5

In the pantheon of filler, this is royalty.

Cute little adventure and some excellent animation. The agent hitting the mood lighting and fireworks button at the end was greatness.

[Kraco]

I have to confess I didn't find this episode overly interesting. This is a comedy series, yes, but it still does have a solid story, more or less, and a relatively well built world. So, when the plot suddenly does something I find very hard to believe, like renting a whole castle/amusement park for an extremely flimsy reason and then collecting all the nearby agents there (an astronomical risk of exposing multiple spies), I just can't get into it. This would have worked better for me personally if it was scaled down a lot. Maybe only get a couple of extra agents involved, and no huge castles. It would have still been embarrassing for Twilight, confusing for the extra agents, but Anya, being a little kid, would still have been perfectly happy.

[Buffalobiian]

What was so stupid.

In a good, but once-off way. I can't see the organisation entertaining this again.

Yor being drunk will mean she remembers nothing from this.

[DarthEnderX]

So this was filler? That explains some things.

[KrayZ33]

I almost feel like this should've been the finale.

[Ryllharu]

The episode feels strongly like the series was still trying to figure out what tone it really intended to be.

Yor getting increasingly wasted is also surprising. She must have gotten super relaxed to allow herself to let her guard down that severely.

[Kraco]

Episode 6



- -- - -


Maybe Twilight is actually quite a bad judge of other people's character. It might not have mattered during his career as a spy if his work was mainly such that it didn't require any long term contact with his targets or other relevant people. As long as he'd have known what people desire or fear, superficially, he could have dealt with them as long as he needed to, which wasn't long at all. However, if he had been tasked with a real infiltration mission, he might have been in serious trouble. This is essentially such a mission, and to make matters worse, it's mostly about someone else's performance, not his own. It's obvious he never before needed to rely on someone else to get the main objectives done. Both of these flaws were actually demonstrated right at the beginning of the story where Loid chose the orphan kid so casually and offhandedly. He made the kind of split second judgement that normally served the brief contacts he had during missions, and then believed it was up to him (alone) to see the rest of the mission to the end. Realistically, the chosen kid should have been selected through careful filtering over a lengthy period of time.

[Ryllharu]

Maybe so, but she's already become close friends with Becky Blackwell, giving Loid access that can help him acquire intel on arms manufacturers (and therefore early warning on any build up to a war), and even if Damian hates Anya at the moment, she also has his full attention. Much better than being dismissed or ignored.

Anya getting her first bolt was guaranteed the moment the topic came up.

[DarthEnderX]

Maybe Twilight is actually quite a bad judge of other people's character. It might not have mattered during his career as a spy if his work was mainly such that it didn't require any long term contact with his targets or other relevant people. As long as he'd have known what people desire or fear, superficially, he could have dealt with them as long as he needed to, which wasn't long at all. However, if he had been tasked with a real infiltration mission, he might have been in serious trouble.His introduction literally showed him in a relationship on the verge of marriage as part of his deep cover.


Anya getting her first bolt was guaranteed the moment the topic came up.Her getting 7 is pretty much guaranteed. :p

[Kraco]

His introduction literally showed him in a relationship on the verge of marriage as part of his deep cover.


My brain has forgotten such a detail because it's totally inconsistent with what we are seeing.

Or is it? If you consider how many marriages end in a divorce and how many people manage to marry a pathological narcissist only to wake up to the horrible reality even years later, I wouldn't actually say it proves much if anything. If he can judge the other person's desires and fears at least superficially, he can potentially take it to the marriage stage easily enough. If would actually be the family life after that, which would show his true weaknesses, like we are witnessing now.

[neflight86]

Isn't Anya a four year old pretending to be a six year old to be eligible to enroll? There are no four year olds capable of spycraft, and Twilight picked her from a shady orphanage to make it harder to trace her lineage and make it easier to fake a family with her (her age may have been obscured even then). His misreads of Yor and Anya are compounded by the sheer odds of them being what they are. All kids are weird, awkward, and uncontrollable. Lloyd has never had to take on the role of a precocious child, so predicting their behavior should be near impossible.

[Kraco]

Lloyd has never had to take on the role of a precocious child, so predicting their behavior should be near impossible.

He didn't even try to. He went to the shadiest orphanage in the town and picked the first kid that seemed a bit more stable than the rest. Then that kid is put against the children of the best families in the country, in a school that regards behavior and bearing as more important than intelligence. With exaggeration, she's like a stray dog taken to a famous dog show. Like I said, I believe this is because Loid has so far been solving his missions mainly by relying on himself for the important parts. Now he obviously thought that as long as he coaches any kid (with a rudimentary level of intelligence), it's a mission accomplished. But then again, isn't he 20-something? No matter how kickass a spy he is, he was still too young to really understand the demands of this particular mission.

[Ryllharu]

He didn't even try to. He went to the shadiest orphanage in the town and picked the first kid that seemed a bit more stable than the rest. Then that kid is put against the children of the best families in the country, in a school that regards behavior and bearing as more important than intelligence. With exaggeration, she's like a stray dog taken to a famous dog show. Like I said, I believe this is because Loid has so far been solving his missions mainly by relying on himself for the important parts. Now he obviously thought that as long as he coaches any kid (with a rudimentary level of intelligence), it's a mission accomplished. But then again, isn't he 20-something? No matter how kickass a spy he is, he was still too young to really understand the demands of this particular mission.

I mean, let's not pretend that Loid had a chance to objectively gauge Anya's intelligence. She read his mind and then quickly "corrected him" that she was six years old, and she has no paperwork to back it up, which is why he was at the shady orphanage in the first place.

Then she doubled down and read his mind to complete the crossword puzzle, making her appear very smart for a six year old.

He couldn't swap her after he found out she's far less book-smart than she appeared, partly because of the scene she was making when she read his mind and caught on that he considered it, mostly because of Operation Strix' timetable, and lastly because Eden Academy is the kind of institution it is.

Loid is completely outclassed by Anya due to her abilities. It's the core basis to theme in general.

[Kraco]

I mean, let's not pretend that Loid had a chance to objectively gauge Anya's intelligence. She read his mind and then quickly "corrected him" that she was six years old, and she has no paperwork to back it up, which is why he was at the shady orphanage in the first place.

Then she doubled down and read his mind to complete the crossword puzzle, making her appear very smart for a six year old.

He couldn't swap her after he found out she's far less book-smart than she appeared, partly because of the scene she was making when she read his mind and caught on that he considered it, mostly because of Operation Strix' timetable, and lastly because Eden Academy is the kind of institution it is.

Loid is completely outclassed by Anya due to her abilities. It's the core basis to theme in general.

But that doesn't really matter. Loid should have first carefully studied what the school is all about; it's not about intelligence, like I said earlier. He didn't know. At the same time there should have been screening for kids to match those requirements specifically. Not only by Loid himself. There should have been some child psychologists to assist with it and whatever. The problem is that the mighty Twilight is so full of hubris that he thought it doesn't really matter what kind of kid it is, as long as there's some intelligence to work with, he can surely shape the kid into acing the school, even when he's nowhere near to help her. Even his bloody wife in the operation isn't another friendly spy, or at least a known useful idiot, it's a totally random person with a superficial background check performed. Because Loid thinks it doesn't matter as long as it's the Twilight handling it.

[Ryllharu]

Those decisions weren't made by Loid/Twilight, they were WISE.

They told him to start a fake family and get a child enrolled to get close to Dovovan Desmond. The end.

The agents were brought up a few episodes ago. WISE has had a lot of agents captured or killed very recently by the Ostanian Secret Police (the same ones Yor was worried about being suspected by), so they are short- handed.

And now due to the recent and excessive expenditures, they've put Sylvia Sherwood in direct supervision of Operation Strix.

[Buffalobiian]

But that doesn't really matter. Loid should have first carefully studied what the school is all about; it's not about intelligence, like I said earlier.

There's a test to get into Eden. Anya barely passed that by reading minds, presumably because other kids were also stumped, and she also couldn't filter out the smart answers.

Loid's main role was to find a kid that'd get him into the academy to meet the guy he needs. A smart kid who could get in academically as well as understand some basic thing to not screw up his spy plan makes sense. It'd be hard to find someone elegant in an orphanage.

The point system introduced here also favours merits.

[neflight86]

I think he had all of a week from reading the mission details to having Anya (a child) taking the entrance exams. Not enough time for rigorous orphan screening, and even if, would likely draw attention. He mentioned to scruffy that most of the appropriate female agents had been caught lately (no wife prospects), and he didn't even consider he would need a wife (it appeared optional) until he learned details about the interview after Anya passed the test. I think pinning the complication on Twilight's hubris is a bit much, given the circumstances. He's even said he is more anxious than ever- he'd rather have done this much cleaner.

[Kraco]

Maybe I blamed him too much, but it only means the leadership above him is bad. I seem to recall Twilight even doing other spy work in addition to this one, which almost ruined his chances with Yor, the vital wife for the plan to succeed. All things considered, this whole infiltration mission can't be as important as has been suggested.

[MFauli]

Episode 2:

Started watching this, because I found a German dubbed version and it's more relaxing to watch that. Anyway.

I like what I've seen, unlike my fears, it's not episodic in nature, but a forthgoing story. While Anya's German voice actor sounds way too old (is that so in the Japanese version, too?), she's funny, less because of the facial expressions and more so because of her telepathic abilities. I chuckle every time she thinks "papa is a bad liar" or "papa is such a liar", lol.

However, one thing I feared became true: The very realistic violence completely goes against the otherwise lighthearted nature of the show. In episode 1, that gangster boss casually shoots an underling in the head - to which Anya makes a funny grimace and think "that is a bad guy". :/ A child just saw someone get murdered, she should be terrified, crying, and not make funny remarks. And now in episode, Yor. Her entire character is bad, because when it comes down to it, she's a murderer. And don't give me "she only kills bad guys", the episode itself said that she's part of countless "dubious" missions, so it's unlikely to be this clear cut. And maybe it's me getting older, but I don't mass murder "cute". When she slashed those guys in the hotel appartment dead, that just wasn't fun. And her being shocked over her dress being ripped also wasn't funny. Portraying deadly violence like this might work with braindead Americans, but for me it didn't work. I hope her circumstances are either explained better in the following episodes, or that she stops taking jobs that aren't "for the good". Otherwise there's not much to like about her, other than h-doujin potential.

That's it for now, hope the general quality stays as high.

Also, am I the only one that hears the main theme of Phantom Thief in this anime? Pretty sure the creators must have heard this game'S soundtrack before, lol:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je1nL5y2qUg&list=PLde8pk4REn54WyYV9EIsQuIVXbKupndAm&ab_channel=myuutashi

[Ryllharu]

I like what I've seen, unlike my fears, it's not episodic in nature, but a forthgoing story. While Anya's German voice actor sounds way too old (is that so in the Japanese version, too?)
No, Tanezaki Atsumi is god-tier (Juju in Sono Bisque, Chise in Mahou Tsukai no Yome, Vivy in...Vivy, Emporio in Jojo, Emilia in DRRR, the triplet Chiis in Centaur no Nayami). She plays children extremely well, and Anya is her best work on that aspect yet. On top of that, I'm not sure how the dub you're watching works, but Anya speaks in a very childish dialect of Japanese, that even someone not fluent in the language picks up on immediately. Mixed into that are random words that someone Anya's age should never be using (linking to her esper nature), and some specific references to classic series on rare occasions. Tanezaki Atsumi is the closest I've ever heard to actual child actress casting.



However, one thing I feared became true: The very realistic violence completely goes against the otherwise lighthearted nature of the show. In episode 1, that gangster boss casually shoots an underling in the head - to which Anya makes a funny grimace and think "that is a bad guy". :/ A child just saw someone get murdered, she should be terrified, crying, and not make funny remarks.
Anya has not had a particularly sheltered childhood to date. She's seen some shit. She's heard way too much from inside people's heads. As for seeing someone actually murdered in front of her? The 'unreality' of that kind of situation puts strange dampers on it when the psyche protects itself. Again, not sure about the German dub, but Anya's line isn't delivered like that at all. She's very troubled about reading "a real bad guy" in contrast to her cartoons.


And now in episode, Yor. Her entire character is bad, because when it comes down to it, she's a murderer. And don't give me "she only kills bad guys", the episode itself said that she's part of countless "dubious" missions, so it's unlikely to be this clear cut. And maybe it's me getting older, but I don't mass murder "cute". When she slashed those guys in the hotel appartment dead, that just wasn't fun. And her being shocked over her dress being ripped also wasn't funny. Portraying deadly violence like this might work with braindead Americans, but for me it didn't work.
Yor is an assassin, and what she does is kill people for work. She gets told who to kill, and she does exactly that. The end.

The "good" and "bad" should be viewed through the lens of who they work for. Twilight works for WISE, and Yor works for Garden. WISE is part of the government in Totally Not West Germany, and Garden is based in Totally Not East Germany, but Garden is not the equivalent of WISE. Garden isn't a spy agency. Yor kills people based on however they get their orders/requests/hunches/culling/whatever. Period. She has been told it is for bringing peace, and without knowing how those jobs come down or from who, that's what we know. Is it for Ostania? Is it for Westalis? Is it for a criminal organization? We don't know.

Being shocked about the dress isn't particularly humorous. It's meant to show how casually Yor murders people. She's more worried about the inconvenience of a tear in a dress she needs for a social function than how to clean up 20 bodies, or if there would be any threat to her leaving after she made the commotion and mess. She's overwhelmingly superior in all physical aspects to Twilight, or basically anyone else shown in the anime to date.

Yor's entire value system is kinda fucked up because she's been doing this work for so long, and now she's acting as Anya's stepmother. That is the joke. It's in context to Anya and combining three very problematic individuals into a family for a mission that is supposed to prevent a new war between the West and East.

[MFauli]

No, Tanezaki Atsumi is god-tier (Juju in Sono Bisque, Chise in Mahou Tsukai no Yome, Vivy in...Vivy, Emporio in Jojo, Emilia in DRRR, the triplet Chiis in Centaur no Nayami). She plays children extremely well, and Anya is her best work on that aspect yet. On top of that, I'm not sure how the dub you're watching works, but Anya speaks in a very childish dialect of Japanese, that even someone not fluent in the language picks up on immediately. Mixed into that are random words that someone Anya's age should never be using (linking to her esper nature), and some specific references to classic series on rare occasions. Tanezaki Atsumi is the closest I've ever heard to actual child actress casting.



Anya has not had a particularly sheltered childhood to date. She's seen some shit. She's heard way too much from inside people's heads. As for seeing someone actually murdered in front of her? The 'unreality' of that kind of situation puts strange dampers on it when the psyche protects itself. Again, not sure about the German dub, but Anya's line isn't delivered like that at all. She's very troubled about reading "a real bad guy" in contrast to her cartoons.


Yor is an assassin, and what she does is kill people for work. She gets told who to kill, and she does exactly that. The end.

The "good" and "bad" should be viewed through the lens of who they work for. Twilight works for WISE, and Yor works for Garden. WISE is part of the government in Totally Not West Germany, and Garden is based in Totally Not East Germany, but Garden is not the equivalent of WISE. Garden isn't a spy agency. Yor kills people based on however they get their orders/requests/hunches/culling/whatever. Period. She has been told it is for bringing peace, and without knowing how those jobs come down or from who, that's what we know. Is it for Ostania? Is it for Westalis? Is it for a criminal organization? We don't know.

Being shocked about the dress isn't particularly humorous. It's meant to show how casually Yor murders people. She's more worried about the inconvenience of a tear in a dress she needs for a social function than how to clean up 20 bodies, or if there would be any threat to her leaving after she made the commotion and mess. She's overwhelmingly superior in all physical aspects to Twilight, or basically anyone else shown in the anime to date.

Yor's entire value system is kinda fucked up because she's been doing this work for so long, and now she's acting as Anya's stepmother. That is the joke. It's in context to Anya and combining three very problematic individuals into a family for a mission that is supposed to prevent a new war between the West and East.

Ryll, replying "she's an assassin" is not an excuse for murder, you know. With how capable she is, she could do countless other jobs. Matter of fact, she DID do other jobs successfully as part of infiltrating her targets.

It all comes down to me disliking casual murder of people in anime, movies or video games. I understand that I'm in a minority here, so let's not waste any more energy discussing this.

[Ryllharu]

Well, I mean you did toss out a casual racist remark about Americans in discussion about a Japanese work.

[DarthEnderX]

She's more worried about the inconvenience of a tear in a dress she needs for a social function than how to clean up 20 bodiesI seriously doubt she cleaned up any of the bodies.

[shinta|hikari]

I mean, wasn't she good at cleaning? I had assumed that was because she made bodies disappear.

Then again, no one cares about aftermath in anime.

[DarthEnderX]

I also feel like...there's not much point in a situation like that. It's one thing to try and make one person disappear. But if a person's entire entourage vanishes, people are going to assume foul play whether they find the bodies or not.

[Buffalobiian]

Ryll, replying "she's an assassin" is not an excuse for murder, you know. With how capable she is, she could do countless other jobs. Matter of fact, she DID do other jobs successfully as part of infiltrating her targets.


But like, she's an assassin!

I can't tell whether you're arguing about the accuracy of how assassins are portrayed, or the morality of assassins existing..

[David75]

This is anime and her character is built as an assassin, pretty much like Leon (the movies with young Natalie Portman as a co-star)
Of course Yor is highly capable in other areas than assassin job.
But it feels like she's schizophrenic, when she enters Killing mode she's more like a machine. It also feels like she enjoys killing. If she's not schizophrenic, killing is her nature now and she probably would never stop until she dies.
Imagine a 90 years old Yor still an assassin to the core...

[MFauli]

But like, she's an assassin!

I can't tell whether you're arguing about the accuracy of how assassins are portrayed, or the morality of assassins existing..

It's the stark contrast between her acting cute in everyday situations, plus Anya admiring her, when during her "job" she's massmurdering people without second thought. And again, as of episode 2 it doesn't seem like she's murdering only evil people. And that, yes, is a moral issue for me. Frankly, I would have a problem with a character murdering evil people with joy, too. Murdering people just isn't fun, cool nor cute. Unforuntately, too many entertainment media portray it that way. As I said, this isn't a Spy X Family-exclusive problem. I remember having huge issues with that during playing Fire Emblem: Three Houses for Switch. "Oh, I'm cute Bernadetta, locking myself in my room all day ... except when I'm on the battlefield, then I murder countless people with my bow and arrow". Fuck off, Bernie. :/ I hate these dual-personality characters.

[neflight86]

A more inflammatory take than usual, Mfauli.



I like what I've seen, unlike my fears, it's not episodic in nature, but a forthgoing story. While Anya's German voice actor sounds way too old (is that so in the Japanese version, too?), she's funny, less because of the facial expressions and more so because of her telepathic abilities. I chuckle every time she thinks "papa is a bad liar" or "papa is such a liar", lol.

Glad you found a dub that fits your preference better. It seems the Japanese VA industry has vaulted ahead of its western contemporaries (or maybe has already been there), as it really pulls in some star power over there. English dubs are getting better, but slowly, use many of the same actors, and still have the regular stinker here and there.



However, one thing I feared became true: The very realistic violence completely goes against the otherwise lighthearted nature of the show. In episode 1, that gangster boss casually shoots an underling in the head - to which Anya makes a funny grimace and think "that is a bad guy". :/ A child just saw someone get murdered, she should be terrified, crying, and not make funny remarks.

The violence isn't realistic. Nobody found the child being afraid of the villain funny (it was framed as fear), and as has been mentioned, she has been desensitized somewhat by her abusive upbringing in the lab and elsewhere in the orphan circuit.



Yor. Her entire character is bad, because when it comes down to it, she's a murderer. And don't give me "she only kills bad guys", the episode itself said that she's part of countless "dubious" missions, so it's unlikely to be this clear cut. And maybe it's me getting older, but I don't mass murder "cute".

It's shown, not glorified. Just a stylish exposition/introduction of the character, not an endorsement of killings. "This is who Yor is and where she comes from. She has some mental issues". Take it like the story telling you that and you might find more enjoyment. Her character design is cute, though...



Portraying deadly violence like this might work with braindead Americans, but for me it didn't work. I hope her circumstances are either explained better in the following episodes, or that she stops taking jobs that aren't "for the good".

Is that necessary? To pre-emptively dismiss an entire audience for having maybe different sensibilities than your own undermines your argument. It comes off as virtue signaling, and no good discussion is had from that.

I'm sure her backstory/work will come up again, and guess what? It's probably going to feed into some jokes that involve people dying; I hope they don't put you off too much.



That's it for now, hope the general quality stays as high.


So far it appears to have, even the filler is fun.



But it feels like she's schizophrenic, when she enters Killing mode she's more like a machine. It also feels like she enjoys killing. If she's not schizophrenic, killing is her nature now and she probably would never stop until she dies.
Imagine a 90 years old Yor still an assassin to the core...

Good observation; I forgot that she acts like there is a 'switch' to killing mode. I don't know if she enjoys the act of killing or if her fulfilment is more akin to satisfaction in a job well done, like when you finish a cleaning job that was overdue you feel a load off your shoulders or the like?

[Buffalobiian]

FYI Schizophrenia is when you can not differentiate fantasy from reality. You hear voices, suffer from delusional thoughts etc.

I think what you guys are trying to say, is more a dissociative personality disorder.

[neflight86]

Maybe she has a little of both if she (somewhat) equates cleaning and killing, like in her introduction?

[DarthEnderX]

But like, she's an assassin!

I can't tell whether you're arguing about the accuracy of how assassins are portrayed, or the morality of assassins existing..The latter I would think. He's arguing that Yor is basically evil because she murders people. And people are defending her because, well, it's her job.

But I'm with Mfauli on this one. That doesn't make it okay. Murdering people is an evil act. And if that's your entire job...well, you have an evil job. And you're not a good, or even okay person, for choosing to do that job. Even if it's the only job Yor can do, she's still choosing her own survival over any sense of morality. And, yeah, she's like, a caring sister and stepmother, but those two things don't even out.

And it's not even like she does her job begrudgingly. She's portrayed as kinda being, like, enamored with death. She looooves killin' people.


Murdering people just isn't fun, cool nor cute.Well, completely disagree with that. It absolutely can be. Franchises like Hitman and John Wick are built around this fact.

[shinta|hikari]

Are people actually defending assassinations being a moral thing? I think they are just saying that Mfauli is overacting over a very common trope.

[MFauli]

A more inflammatory take than usual, Mfauli.

HOW?!


Glad you found a dub that fits your preference better. It seems the Japanese VA industry has vaulted ahead of its western contemporaries (or maybe has already been there), as it really pulls in some star power over there. English dubs are getting better, but slowly, use many of the same actors, and still have the regular stinker here and there.

Why did you word that entire paragraph so passive-aggressively? You make it sound like I generally prefer German dub over Japanese dub, which isn't true. I also never said the German dub is better than the Japanese dub, just that I found the dub to be good per se.


The violence isn't realistic. Nobody found the child being afraid of the villain funny (it was framed as fear), and as has been mentioned, she has been desensitized somewhat by her abusive upbringing in the lab and elsewhere in the orphan circuit.

I don't know many anime with more realistic violence, you're wrong. And it was absolutely framed as funny when Anja made a funny face and said in her cute, infantile voice "that is a bad guy!". If you had only said "she's desensitized due to her past", that would have been kinda okay to argue, but you first argued it wasn't framed as funny and that's plainly untrue. It's what made me write what I wrote, I wouldn't have written it otherwise.


It's shown, not glorified. Just a stylish exposition/introduction of the character, not an endorsement of killings. "This is who Yor is and where she comes from. She has some mental issues". Take it like the story telling you that and you might find more enjoyment. Her character design is cute, though...

"It's not glorified. Just stylish." - LOL, you get to pick one.

[quote]Is that necessary? To pre-emptively dismiss an entire audience for having maybe different sensibilities than your own undermines your argument. It comes off as virtue signaling, and no good discussion is had from that.

I'm sure her backstory/work will come up again, and guess what? It's probably going to feed into some jokes that involve people dying; I hope they don't put you off too much.

"Virtue signaling"? Are we on Twitter?! So that "braindead Americans" triggered you so much? Ok, dude. But I'll tell you something: If my sensibilities don't find murder funny, but American's sensibilities do, then yes, I think my sensibilities are superior aka more normal, more rational. Ofc, I mentioned it long before your posting, that I acknowledge that many people find murder funny, hence why it happens in a myriad of movies and games. So not sure why you brought it up once more. I won't change your sensibilities, but you also definitely won't change mine. And unless we get some satisfying information about her that changes things, I will continue to dislike Yor as a murderous, criminal, evil character. That she cares about her family and is cute towards Lloyd and Anja doesn't balance out with the heinous crimes she committed. To give you my hope for the series: Ideally, Yor would realize that she's been nothing short of a villain, has a mental breakdown about the evil stuff she committed, and when Lloyd finds out, he realizes that while he loves her, he cannot excuse her acts in front of other people, so he decides to run away and and find a new life elsewhere together, with her swearing that she never again will kill anyone. That would be a way to turn her into a character that I can respect. We'll see what happens.

[DarthEnderX]

But I'll tell you something: If my sensibilities don't find murder funny, but American's sensibilities do, then yes, I think my sensibilities are superior aka more normal, more rational.I think it's more the implication that you're framing it as "an American thing", implying that it's somehow not a German thing. As if America is the only country that makes cool action movies about assassins and killers and whatnot. Like, one of the "coolest" assassin movies of all time is The Professional, and that movie is French. And then pretending like nobody in German likes any of that stuff either.


Not to mention of course the hypocrisy of someone from Germany making blanket statements about other countries' moralities...:rolleyes:

[MFauli]

Not to mention of course the hypocrisy of someone from Germany making blanket statements about other countries' moralities...:rolleyes:

A hypocrisy that only exists if you're a conservative asshole who, in the year 2022, equates Germans to nazis. Fuck off, thank you.

[DarthEnderX]

A hypocrisy that only exists if you're a conservative asshole who, in the year 2022, equates Germans to nazis. Fuck off, thank you.Ohh, I'm sorry. Does your whole country being generalized BOTHER you? Don't be such an SJW, maaaan!


Also, you know I've read your Attack On Titan posts, right? If you're any indication, that shit ain't all in the past.

[MFauli]

Ohh, I'm sorry. Does your whole country being generalized BOTHER you? Don't be such an SJW, maaaan!


Also, you know I've read your Attack On Titan posts, right? If you're any indication, that shit ain't all in the past.

A heartfelt Fuck you.

[Ryllharu]

Are people actually defending assassinations being a moral thing? I think they are just saying that Mfauli is overacting over a very common trope.
We're definitely not moralizing assassination.

The equivalence is no different from a vegan hating a slaughterhouse, or celebrities and their relationship with paparazzi. The vegan or the celebrity finds the existence of the profession morally repellent, but it is just a job to the person doing it.

As stated before, the joke is how horribly skewed and occasionally alarming Yor's value sets are, like admiring and fiddling with knives while blushing.


"Virtue signaling"? Are we on Twitter?! So that "braindead Americans" triggered you so much? Ok, dude. But I'll tell you something: If my sensibilities don't find murder funny, but American's sensibilities do, then yes, I think my sensibilities are superior aka more normal, more rational. Ofc, I mentioned it long before your posting, that I acknowledge that many people find murder funny, hence why it happens in a myriad of movies and games. So not sure why you brought it up once more. I won't change your sensibilities, but you also definitely won't change mine.
Your fan-fiction aside (a staple of any anime season!), I don't intend to change your mind, only keep you watching the series.

As for the moral superiority of German media in comparison to American media...trust me, we watch your films too. They're no less hyperviolent at times, and maybe the only difference is whether or not we glorify it (which our media obviously don't always do). But the allure of depicting violence on screen is shared by both.
I very distinctly remember the difference between Das Experiment (2001) and our shitty 2010 American remake. Keep in mind, the real-world events that inspired both took place in an American University, and are more closely portrayed in the remake. The hyperviolent version of the events is the German version.

[MFauli]

Your fan-fiction aside (a staple of any anime season!), I don't intend to change your mind, only keep you watching the series.

As for the moral superiority of German media in comparison to American media...trust me, we watch your films too. They're no less hyperviolent at times, and maybe the only difference is whether or not we glorify it (which our media obviously don't always do). But the allure of depicting violence on screen is shared by both.
I very distinctly remember the difference between Das Experiment (2001) and our shitty 2010 American remake. Keep in mind, the real-world events that inspired both took place in an American University, and are more closely portrayed in the remake. The hyperviolent version of the events is the German version.

First of all, I don't understand why you insinuate that I call German movies superior here. In my original posting, I only criticized American movies.

But since you chose Das Experiment as an example, that's pretty perfect to illustrate the difference in "most" German and American movies: The violence in Das Experiment is very gruesome, not shying away from showing extreme violence. But you won't find a single artsy camera angle or slomo in that movie. No background music that adds "atmosphere". German movies for the most part depict violence realistically, and that's something I like. Meanwhile, look at American movies. Two movies I really hate for their UNNECESSARY violence are the Kingsman-movies. 99% of the time, they're fantastic James Bond-like adventure movies. But then there's the over-the-top gruesome violence and it ruins it all for me. The first movie opens with a man being literally sliced in half vertically by an assassin's leg blade. The second movie is even more extreme and has a man being thrown into a groundmeat machine, then made burger patty from it and be eaten by someone else. If Kingsman were some horror/slasher movie, I wouldn't say a thing. But this is, as a I said, some nice, fun spy movie - except for these 2-3 scenes. And apparently people find that fun. It's not.

When violence is the theme of a movie, I can enjoy that. I love the two Deadpool-movies. But when there's a stark contrast between the general atmosphere and story of a movie and the violence it features, that's where I feel morally challenged. And not in a good way. Sometimes being challenged by a movie is a good thing. Be it because it asks you to be very attentive, or because of an uncomfortable topic ("The Hunt" with Mads Mikkelsen, omg). But in other cases, and that's where Spy X Family sits at after 2 episodes for me, the violence just doesn't fit with the rest of the movie/show.

I don't know if I can explain this better than the above, but to give some examples of what I mean: Imagine you're watching "Back to the Future", but in this version there's a 5 minute-rape scene where Biff rapes Lorraine. Imagine E.T., but in this version there's one scene where E.T. secretly kills and eats a human. Imagine Indiana Jones, but in this version he murders a group of innocent citizens to reach his goal. That's how casual, realistic violence combined with cute comedy makes me feel.

I don't intend to make you agree with me, but I hope you understand where I'm coming from.

[neflight86]

Why did you word that entire paragraph so passive-aggressively? You make it sound like I generally prefer German dub over Japanese dub, which isn't true. I also never said the German dub is better than the Japanese dub, just that I found the dub to be good per se.

None of my words used were disparaging. You mentioned that you enjoyed the German dub, and this story takes place in a country obviously modeled after cold war Germany, so I wanted to comment on that and was genuinely surprised a German dub even existed. I'm glad to hear you like it, that's all. Discourse, not a value statement.


And it was absolutely framed as funny when Anja made a funny face and said in her cute, infantile voice "that is a bad guy!". If you had only said "she's desensitized due to her past", that would have been kinda okay to argue, but you first argued it wasn't framed as funny and that's plainly untrue. It's what made me write what I wrote, I wouldn't have written it otherwise.

I'll re-watch and report back, because I'm remembering it differently. **edit: I was correct, after re-watching, Anya is clearly terrified the entire exchange, even if she notes the 'pistol with a silencer'. She has the dark hashing fried egg eyes showing her on the verge of tears.


"It's not glorified. Just stylish." - LOL, you get to pick one.

Everyone does, actually. A part of being rational actors is that we can see bad things that look cool, like a heist movie, fighting ninjas, or assassins in this case, be impressed by the skill on display, and not decide to follow those footsteps of theft, jutsus and killings. It's a part of entertainment for a long time, and to scrutinize it under to your own arbitrary standards of morality is bound to clash with others'. That's what is happening here.


"Virtue signaling"? Are we on Twitter?! So that "braindead Americans" triggered you so much?



Ohh, I'm sorry. Does your whole country being generalized BOTHER you? Don't be such an SJW, maaaan!


Also, you know I've read your Attack On Titan posts, right? If you're any indication, that shit ain't all in the past.


A heartfelt Fuck you.



What am I reading?! No, to be clear, I am unable to be triggered by that statement, but my point still stands that slinging around pejoratives like that poisons people against your message and perspective. It is a disservice to discussion. You have ideas to share. Why not give them the best possible chance of being received?

[DarthEnderX]

A heartfelt Fuck you.https://i.imgur.com/22jcZZI.jpg
----------

[MFauli]

Episode 3:

Yor gets an orgasm while watching the painting of a guillotine, then another one while holding a regular dinner table knife :/ Look, we have established to have different moral views about this, but Yor CLEARLY enjoys murdering and anything that relates to it.

Rest of the episode was fun, though. A little slower pace than the first two episodes though, not much happening other then "let's go shopping and have fun". While Lloyd catching the thief looked cool, it went 1000000% against his "a spy mustn't be conspicuous" mantra.

Oh well, next week should be the school interview episode at long last, looking forward to that.

[Buffalobiian]

Ep 08

------------------------







Finally, Yuri Briar - a real threat (kind of).

[Ryllharu]

It's also a good change from Anya reading everyone's mind to Twilight displaying his competence as a spy and figuring out Yuri on his own. Yuri was too drunk by that time to recognize that Twilight repeated all the same conversation lines right back at him.

Yes, both Briar siblings are fucked up. They're both very competent at what they do, while also both being idiots.

Flashback Yor covered in someone else's blood in every one of Yuri's memories of how caring she is to him is kinda funny though. The absurdity of it.

[DarthEnderX]

Yeah, sending Anya to bed was very obviously a writing choice to get her out of the way so her mind reading wouldn't be used in this interaction, because it be a huge thing for her character to know all that.

[KrayZ33]

Seeing this discussion from earlier, it can't possibly be lost on everyone that Yor and Loid are 2 sides of the same coin, right? If not, then I would have used that as an argument to openly show the duality of the statement which was made.

They literally both just do whatever they are being told by the goverment. The only difference is that we only get to see this from Westania's PoV and whatever they use as propaganda right now.

"We want to prevent this war, Ostania wants to start it".

So if someone has a problem with Yor, someone who is clearly manipulated by another party to do these things (they could literally have told her that she has to do this for her brother and she would do it and enjoy it because she was *trained* to enjoy it), then they should have the same problem with Loid, who has no problem when it comes to killing or eliminating his targets either... or using children for his missions for that matter. (No problems about that MFauli? Weird. What do you think will happen to Anya if Loid messes up and they are found out? You did see what happened in episode 2, right?)


And btw, Yor is *not* able to do any job whatsoever properly.
She would add a booger to her superiors coffee because she thinks it would make it taste better.
Obviously not just because she is dumb, but also because she has never gotten any training whatsoever.
While her brothers shares some quirks, he is obviously much more capable.
Yor gave that kind of development "up".

Some stuff is obviously added because it's funny (Yor being extremely gullible and a bit of a doofus for example) but the details are out there to make that stuff believable.
The persona switch whenever she is at "work" or when she stopped the stampede at Eden aren't just for show and for the rule of cool, I'm pretty certain it means something too..

This show is probably not as "light" as someone might think.
The "SS..S(?)" scene we were shown was de-facto torture on TV in the latest episode as well btw and would probably immediatly get the rating up to 16+.
I was actually suprised that they showed it in such detail as well and not just "implied" everything.


Also: Your Signature - the character that it shows - and the things you are saying about Yor right now.

[KrayZ33]

Ep 09

-----------------------------------------------

my heart exploded, Yor is a cutie.

[David75]

Ep 09

-----------------------------------------------

my heart exploded, Yor is a cutie.

It exploded after one of Yor's chest thrust... haha

[Ryllharu]

Yor (as a reminder, a cold-blooded assassin) going from nervous flinching at the touch of her ladykiller fake-husband to getting wasted, threatening her brother for attempting to interfere, and going into pure man-eater mode and dominating Loid...all in under a minute. This is peak comedy storyboarding.

Yuri's blood and tears intermixing in the same stream down his face! He got NTR'd but is still such a siscon that he accepted it immediately.

There's reasons this show is as popular as it is. This was fully unloaded dramedy in 5 minutes.

I also appreciated that Yor's bad cooking is normal, only shades of browns and burnt. Not the anime cliche purple (or neon pink bouncy gelatin regardless of its original form).

Even the detail of Anya rubbing her eyes and the iris being visible as she does it. Whether this was a Cloverworks or Studio WIT episode, they're not messing around!

[Sapphire]

I love you all! I need to catch up on anime, maybe this oneee.

[shinta|hikari]

OMG, you have returned! How goes things?

I know it's off topic, but the mods can move it if they wish.

[Sapphire]

OMG, you have returned! How goes things?

I know it's off topic, but the mods can move it if they wish.

Good! I'm in California now chilling. I'm glad I can come HOME to Gotwoot and everyone is active daily! So I can still watch my anime! I need to find the right one this one was all over Twitter. Actually I don't know if I like reading manhwa more or if I can come back to watching anime in video form... Will try and see. <3

[neflight86]

Imagine writing to your doctor about hemorrhoid meds in a state recognized cypher.

Burying the hatchet with Loyd's distrust of Yor was a good tack on since the Yuri scenario has run its course minutes after the previous cliffhanger. Good plan, too, to get her to oust herself as a relative of the secret police via shakedown.

[David75]

1972

Some facts I like best :-D:D

[shinta|hikari]

Aren't MILFs supposed to be at least late 30s above and have a certain mature look? If just having a child is enough to qualify, even 18 yr old mothers will get lumped in there (if they are hot).

[Buffalobiian]

I'd say 30s would suffice. If you think about the acronym, it's about teenage boys finding women who are old enough to be their mum attractive. So a woman bearing a child at 18yrs of age would have a 12yo when she's 30yrs old, as a benchmark.

Anime-wise, MILFs need to pass the "ara ara" test.

[Buffalobiian]

Episode 10

--------------





So ridiculous and funny. They gave that 6yo the deepest post puberty voice possible xD

[David75]

Loved the enigma powered computer.
Loved the Namek landscape cameo
And I'm pretty sure it was loaded with way more details.
Add laughs and fun, even at the obvious from the start beautifully failed throw.

[Ryllharu]

The part I appreciated the most is that Damian's two apparent hangers-on aren't just sycophants because he's a Desmond. They're legitimately his friends and they're all bros. Even though it was just a game of dodgeball, Emile and Ewen really did want to help Damian get MVP so he could impress his dad, because they know he's bummed about being a little left out compared to his more accomplished brother.

[KrayZ33]

https://i.imgur.com/dFAZMwO.png

[neflight86]

Loved that the steroid kid had the same voice as his dad.

Other than that, this was a master class in comedic timing and pacing.

[David75]

So we might get another esper thrown into the mix: a dog having flashes of the future. But with a bomb inside ?
I remember Anya's power also works with animals...

Weaker episode, we've known since her first introduction that Anya is subpar at everything not related to her mind reading abilities.
So it was a bit of a chore.
But when it comes to her abilities, she's able to craft some clever plans, at least for her age.

[Ryllharu]

I thought it was a very strong slice of life episode, especially with Anya's VA doing all the imagination impressions in-character.

Anya is bad at everything because she's like 4 or maybe 5 at best, pretending to be 6. She's smaller, weaker, not as mentally mature, and not as smart as all of her peers by a wide margin. The way she interacts with her peers is still good stuff. All the other girls and boys are wary and suspicious of her, but she's quickly developing stronger and stronger bonds with the most influential kids in the class, including her target.

Becky even tolerates Anya's arrogant bullshitting.

[neflight86]

I've enjoyed that she remains acting like (my impression of) a four year old this whole time, and that the story more or less works around that fact. Her imaginings are cute and put a smile on my face.

[Buffalobiian]

So we might get another esper thrown into the mix: a dog having flashes of the future. But with a bomb inside ?
I remember Anya's power also works with animals...

Yeah, having a dog with foresight and Anya benefiting off that is amazing.

I think the other dogs would have bombs in them while this one would give Anya the relevant information to rescue them. She'll probably figure out that the dog has foresight before adopting it.

[KrayZ33]

Ep 12


-----------------------


Man... Anya's roleplaying sure is damn cute.

[Ryllharu]

Time to wait for Fall.

[Buffalobiian]

Anya latches onto someone and goes "Oh nooo, I'm being kidnapped!!!" and the dude just goes "wtf is this?"; It's hilarious when he has no idea he's just been marked for death but us watching all know he's about to get punked.

[David75]

I like Anya's "WIsh" for yes (transcription, sh is subtle)
It's incredible how French that feels and could be a child's or even teen way of answering "oui" (ok/yes)

[neflight86]

Penguin was cuter than it had any right to be. So is Anya.

Weird that they would set up the next story arc and then immediately veer into a single story episode after. How long is the dog tease supposed to hold fans over?

[DarthEnderX]

How long is the dog tease supposed to hold fans over?Apparently a longass time, because the next episode isn't till October.

[KrayZ33]

Season 2 Ep1

------------------------------------


nice. I still love seeing Yor and Anya and how silly they are.

[DarthEnderX]

Yeahyeahyeah!

[David75]

I love the "ONEONE ST" direction in the background when they go out to get a dog with Anya in "wan wan" mode :D

Seriously silly anime of the season :D

[Ryllharu]

Bonus points to the official subbers for putting "Borf." in for the dog.

Yor's imagination going to space and back when she starts to panic gets me every time.

Also the cute little details like Anya reading the minds of the dogs in the Agency Pet Shop to re-establish that her powers extend to animals before it becomes relevant to the main plot.

[DarthEnderX]

The agency dogs flexing broke me.

[Buffalobiian]

Wonder what went on in fluffy dog's head.

*Future sight*.. if I run around this block, a lady will come out and kick this guy in the face really hard.

wtf?

.. guess I'll run around this block.

[DarthEnderX]

Wonder what went on in fluffy dog's head.

*Future sight*.. if I run around this block, a lady will come out and kick this guy in the face really hard.Probably exactly that?

"A ninja lady will save us in this alley. So stay in this alley."

[Ryllharu]

I mean, there's also the possibility that he panicked and didn't know what to do. They showed he's a little cowardly at times.

Anya is not nearly as smart as she comes off publicly either, she's just reading peoples thoughts.

Clairvoyance or no, in the end we need to recognize that he's still just a dog.

[DarthEnderX]

Clairvoyance or no, in the end we need to recognize that he's still just a dog.Do we? He was part of a project to make dogs smarter.

[Buffalobiian]

Do we? He was part of a project to make dogs smarter.

Smarter, not braver.

This dog doesn't flex.

[Ryllharu]

Eps 14

--------------



Some serious Black Lagoon vibes this week.

Sylvia Sherwood...wow. The spymaster from the West has certainly seen or done a lot of what she laid out to those students. War fucking sucks, and anyone who wishes for one or wants to prolong one has obviously never seen the effects it has on people firsthand. Slyvia has, and so has Twilight. And kicking out a guy's tooth with the spike of her heel? Slyvia is certainly not just a desk bureaucrat or a manager.

But I get the sense that from her, "Have you ever been killed before?" line that on the surface is absurd, but given the other things she describes, she probably has had a point where she didn't consider herself alive either.

Also the causal drive up and attempt to assassinate Keith by the other WISE agents, and Yor channeling Roberta to scare off the dogs.

But it is the Anya details that sell this series so hard. She might be an esper, and the dog might be a precog, but it doesn't change the fact that she's maybe 5 years old at this point, and he's a dog. Anya can't read analog clocks, has a poor sense for time, bombs aren't wired up like in the cartoons, and she cries when she panics.

For all the other dumb things Anya does, she's exceptionally wary of being found out as an esper. She must have had some very tough times as a toddler.

edit:
On a fun note, the dog is voiced by the narrator of the series.

[KrayZ33]

So mean! I don't want wan-chan to be shot :(.

Anya riding on Borf-chan is exceptionally cute btw.... especially when he just picks her up and carries her around with his mouth.

[Buffalobiian]

Anya riding on Borf-chan is exceptionally cute btw.... especially when he just picks her up and carries her around with his mouth.

The Adventures of Anya and Borf is definitely a welcome addition to this show.

It wasn't even trivial either. She prevented a war.

I also love how she ruffles his cheeks in the ED.

[neflight86]

Borf might be the cutest doggo I've ever seen in anime.

Surprised that they didn't conclude this arc this ep, but the setup and pacing haven't faltered yet, so who am I to complain?

[KrayZ33]

S2 EP3



-----------------------------------------------


Hnnggg... what the fuck, my heart hurts.

[neflight86]

The bow tie was cute.

[Ryllharu]

Slyvia has a weakness towards children, for obvious reasons. It's nice seeing her opposite softie side, compared to her Balalaika side with kicking teeth out.

It's funny that Anya keeps blatantly ignoring Becky, her only real friend. Becky's family is almost as important as Damian's.

I didn't really like the way they handled Yor kicking the car. It's very obscured here, but in the manga, she blatantly kicks the entire mass of the car to veer into the pole, emphasizing Yor's obscene power level. Keith intended to run her over to escape.

[shinta|hikari]

I didn't really like the way they handled Yor kicking the car. It's very obscured here, but in the manga, she blatantly kicks the entire mass of the car to veer into the pole, emphasizing Yor's obscene power level. Keith intended to run her over to escape.

That's how it seemed to me. She kicked the car, which is unbelievable in itself. A bit too unrealistic for my taste, when there are a ton of other ways to show her OPness without annihilating physics.

[Ryllharu]

That's what Yor does though. Breaks trees with dodgeballs and kicks 60 kph cars into poles.

[David75]

Jumps 10m or more to grip roof structures, jumps from road bridges. She's what a human sized grasshoper would be with cheetah speeds and swallow manoeuvrability.

[shinta|hikari]

Which are still more believable with her superhuman abilities, versus kicking aside a car without anchoring herself anywhere. If she had anchored herself on a wall and then kicked the car aside, I'd be totally okay with it.

I know she does crazy things like destroying trees with things she throws, but those weren't really plot related and seemed like exaggerations for comedic effect. This scene effectively allowed her to stop the escaping baddie.

[KrayZ33]

I agree with Shinta here.

It's not necessarly about being realistic, it's about how absurd you wanna be.
The way it was done right now was absurd already and in-theme with what we've seen of her, her swiping the car away with her kick would be bonkers-deluxe to the point where you think she could easily level a house if she wanted to.

It's just about how crazy you want to get and where and when you use that crazyness.
It doesn't matter that a villain gets smashed by her and bounces his head on 5 walls like a gummyball, a knockout punch or kick would have the same effect.
Stopping a car with her bare hands like a sumo-ringer for example, compared to making someone crash a car with a good kick that was already on the verge of losing control of his vehicle due to a sudden turn is still absolutely insane, but less so... and it has a different effect on the story/situation.

The way it was done here could've been "waved off" as him losing control of the car by himself.
Her kicking it into a wall or something would be weird if there are bystanders watching it, considering she wants to remain "undercover".

[David75]

You'd like some kind of proportionnal coherence in her abilities I guess.
Devil's advocate here, I'd need to rewatch the scene, but coud it be said that she did not move the 1000 Kg car but rather surprise/stun the driver into steering the car ?

[shinta|hikari]

I'm okay if that were the case, but Ryll did say in the source she just kicked the car aside, and that proves her superhuman abilities.

[neflight86]

(To add more fuel to the fire) The shot proceeding her kick, it looked like Kieth was handling the wheel as if to swerve out of her way. If he did,the vehicle was already turning before the kick added X lateral momentum to it.

Granted you would have to buy into him swerving, which he might not due to his 'burn it all down' character and situation, but he may have done so out of reflex?

[DarthEnderX]

Jumps 10m or more to grip roof structures, jumps from road bridges. She's what a human sized grasshoper would be with cheetah speeds and swallow manoeuvrability.

And ant strength!

[Ryllharu]

I'm okay if that were the case, but Ryll did say in the source she just kicked the car aside, and that proves her superhuman abilities.

For better or worse, it's pretty unambiguous.
https://imgur.com/CulPo4T

The series is a comedy-adventure first and foremost. I wouldn't take this as serious as Black Lagoon, which itself has cartoony physics because it is playing after being a John Woo film. SPY x FAMILY is very much in line with Jump's usual fare of super-acrobatics treated as if they're normal.

We don't see Twilight sinking in an ice bath after a fight like this is Atomic Blonde.

It's probably most in line with something like of Gunsmith Cats, which in case anyone hasn't seen it or read it, includes scenes of throwing a child through a car to avoid hitting them, grenades that somehow don't kill, and a character deliberately catching bullets in the forehead because he wears a steel-backed bandana. Realistic? No. Entertaining? Yes.

Spy x Family is described as a "cheerful spy action series." It shares a lot of tonal similarities with the Black Cat manga. People die very conclusively in this series when it serves the plot. Yor kills people with extreme efficiency much the same ways the Chronos members did.

Yor is absurdly strong, and it is generally played for comedy. The whole series is intentionally such.

I'm not really sure what else people are expecting. Did people want Keith to escape so that Sylvia can shoot him in the face?

[shinta|hikari]

I expected that if Yor had to kick the car, that she braced herself on a pillar or a wall to do it. Just seems less absurd than what we got. For me, it's not an issue about her power but her weight.

[DarthEnderX]

For me, it's not an issue about her power but her weight.Shonen: "The weight of a car can't compare to the weight of her feelings!"

[KrayZ33]

I'm not really sure what else people are expecting. Did people want Keith to escape so that Sylvia can shoot him in the face?

Well, I expected what we got to see in the show.
Not what is shown in the manga which in my opinion is the inferior version.

To me, the one from the show is more "in-universe" than the one in the manga because even if Yor is insanely strong, they are still undercover and no one is supposed to know she is insanely strong.

My suspension of disbelief isn't overburdended when I can say "Okay, the driver already turned the car away from her and the car was just short of losing control and Yor just knocked it out of control".
Bystanders could've seen this and say that the woman was careless, jumped on the street, the car tried to dodge and lost control.

[DarthEnderX]

She should have sidestepped the car, kicked the driver in the head through the window, knocking him out and causing him to crash.

*nods sagely*

[neflight86]

16

Half-filler, half side chapter. Still good.

I like that Yor's mean sempai got a chance to be redeemed as a super tsun. The 'cooking nuclear waste' joke is wearing thin, but the setup (Yor fearing losing her family) and side jokes like Yuri's self destructive love of it (and Tsun's surprising knowledge of regional seasoning) still made this feel more special than it was.

Lloyd also got to be tender this episode with scruffy who, predictably, got shot down as romance just isn't in the cards for his character design (I hope I'm proved wrong later). Drinks with buddies and feel good/better all around.

[Ryllharu]

Lloyd also got to be tender this episode with scruffy who, predictably, got shot down as romance just isn't in the cards for his character design (I hope I'm proved wrong later). Drinks with buddies and feel good/better all around.

The telling line is that Franky threatens to sell out Twilight to the Secret Police. A good reminder in case anyone forgot, that Franky is an informant. He doesn't work for WISE (and Westalis). He's a Ostanian native.

[Buffalobiian]

You could tell from a mile away that Yor was secretly having cooking classes.

What caught me by surprise was that her foreseen crying was a happy cry. That was good.

[Ryllharu]

Eps 17

------------



I'm not sure what the best gag is this episode:
- Every other teacher is always absent or ill when the children are in a different class, so we always see Henry Henderson filling in.
- The off-key recorder version of the main theme when Anya is messing up her own internal operations.
- Anya narration of her own imagination and all the characters within it.
- Becky Blackwell getting the hots for Loid.
- Sylvia getting worthless updates from Twilight.
- Confirmation that Yor really did make her brother invulnerable.

Also, not quite a gag, but Damian having a really shitty family life, yet slowly building up to a crush on Anya, and having legitimately the best bros in his two lackeys being quite heartwarming.

[DarthEnderX]

It really shows how much the filler in this show undermines it. When you see how careful they are about their spycraft, and then the fillers are all "We had our entire spy network act out spy games in an amusement park!"

[Ryllharu]

The castle chapter is canon, it's just so early the author didn't know exactly which tone to land the setting on.

The anime made it worse though, true. The good news is that unless the anime injects original content, it that level of tonal disconnect doesn't happen again, and at the pace they're going they shouldn't need to. Dumb shit will still happen because it is a comedy (like Franky's date), but never at that scale.

The short filler chapters are for fun, like the Anya school chapters.

[Buffalobiian]

Episode 18

---------------------






Bond showing Anya dinner.. loved it.

[DarthEnderX]

Bond showing Anya dinner.. loved it.And her immediately refocusing on that dinner.

[Ryllharu]

Eps 19

-------



Not really a fan of the first 2/3rds. It's a Youthful Slice of Life episode where the best part is how disgusted Anya is with the entire sappy farewell, and then the only person still nice to him when he returns in utter shame.

I don't remember if the 2nd part was anime original or not, but a nice bit of character development and letting the animators show off.

[neflight86]

It's unfortunate they they feel compelled to adapt all of the manga chapters. About 85% of it is banger, but the Gloom kid... just skip that one. The joke wore thin about 1/2 way in and the remainder of the build up was boring.

Yor sidestory is always cute, but this episode dropped the baseline quality of the series a bit. Not a big deal, but when looking at this as something to share with other normies in my life, this episode sticks out like a sore thumb among the much better offerings.

[Buffalobiian]

E21

------------------





Yes, the character building was interesting.
Yes, having Bond/Penguin jealousy to reflect both the "wives" and East/West was cool.

But really, the preview was the most exciting - Tennis tournament!

And you know who fucking kills at physical activity.









(Tennis tournament aside, I liked Nightfall's introduction. She's a friendly sabotage, quite similar to Yuri, and her flashbacks serve to give Twilight backstory. Her talking about his/her emotions was well done as well. Her trying so hard to be a perfect machine only serves to highlight how the best spies are but imperfect humans.

[Buffalobiian]

E22

----------------






I thought this was going to be a tennis match featuring Yor's superhuman feats, and I'm glad I was wrong. This turned out way more entertaining than I imagined. Nightfall benefits from being a fresh character, having arguably more entertaining monologues/motives, and she actually manages to work with Twilight thanks to their spy background.

And all this just to be a pretend husband/wife pair in an underground tennis tournament.

With a sniper?!

[Ryllharu]

Except Nightfall will always have Anya actively working against her.

Nightfall's goal is to finish Operation Strix as quickly as possible, not to save East-West relations, but so she can then focus on seducing Twilight.

Direct opposition to Anya, who wants to keep her first actual family.

It's fun to have an antagonist who is actually on the same side.

[Buffalobiian]

It's fun to have an antagonist who is actually on the same side.

I can't tell from your paragraph whether you're counting Nightfall as someone on the same side or not. It sounds like .. not?

[Ryllharu]

I can't tell from your paragraph whether you're counting Nightfall as someone on the same side or not. It sounds like .. not?

Nightfall also works for Westalis, therefore wanting to avoid a war, but she's an antagonist to Anya, who likes her specifically-created family and would have a much worse time if Nightfall was acting as her mother and not Yor.

[Buffalobiian]

E23

--------------

Exceptional, ridiculous tennis. Delicious.

While I suspected there to be a showdown between Nightfall and Yor at some stage, I didn't expect them to frame it in such a way to say that Yor actually levelled up Twilight. I thought that was cool and balances out the "Yor is kind of useless re: the mission" angle.

slightly disheveled Yor = Hot Yor.

[DarthEnderX]

I wasn't expecting there to be such a huge gap between Yor and Nightfall. I thought they'd be more evenly matched.

It just makes it all the more ridiculous that Loyd isn't suspicious of Yor yet. "Self-defense classes" does not fly as a cover story for her abilities at this point.

[Buffalobiian]

E24

-------------------



Quite the endearing episode. Loid was ballsy for bringing Yor into a bar.

Very fitting that Anya didn't end up buying any clothes but charmed Damian anyway

[David75]

Damian has been showing signs from almost the beggining.

Loid is probably the only living thing on that planet who can survive as Yor's husband, haha.

Some humor mixed with hubris and Loid getting some character development.

[Buffalobiian]

Damian has been showing signs from almost the beggining.
That is true, he's liked her since the beginning. What I mean is that she got "that look" again from him again without doing anything extra. Just being herself makes things sweeter.



Loid is probably the only living thing on that planet who can survive as Yor's husband, haha.

That was some impressive shit, taking that kick in the chin and still standing. Hilarious how he goes "Oh she's jealous. I got this"
...
"No, no I don't got this."

[Ryllharu]

This episode does show that Anya's found family is as much of one, if not moreso, than the other characters her age.

Damian's issues with his family have come up in earlier episodes, where his father doesn't care about him and his brother is the star of the family while he's the forgotten 2nd son.

Becky is spoiled rotten and tries to act more mature than she is, but the inference that her maid Martha is more of a parental figure to her than anyone else was pretty obvious. Anya is also probably her first true friend who has never wanted anything from her but companionship.

That and Twilight is fully aware of how awful Nightfall would be to Anya if she were in Yor's place.

[DarthEnderX]

26

---

Yay it's back!

[Buffalobiian]

Indeed.

Anya's performance right at the end was great use of her telepathy. This episode was funny from start to finish.

[DarthEnderX]

But where did she get that outfit?!

[Ryllharu]

At last, the "Yor Gets Shot in the Ass" segment. I was waiting all of last season for this one.

[Buffalobiian]

Episode 30

---------------------









Technology-wise, I would have thought the listenning devices that small without external battery would have been too advanced for this setting.

[Buffalobiian]

E32

--------------







The last two episodes were really fun, especially when Anya plays an active "mission" herself in episode 31. The story plays off Anya's reaction towards everything her parents do as being exciting, but when given serious thought - a child being okay with killing is disturbing.

I'm curious to see what life outlook Yor comes to at the end of the arc.

[DarthEnderX]

The last two episodes were really funThat's because there's actual story going on here, and not just a handful of wacky one-offs.

[Buffalobiian]

E33

--------------



I definitely noticed that they made Yor's boobs smaller for this episode's action sequences (or larger/prominent in episode 32 - I can't tell which is baseline).

While it's sweet to see that Yor truly considers Loid and Anya to be family, her job is biased towards Ostania's interests - so that'll make it even harder on her when/if they find out the truth about each other.

[neflight86]

Some rough cuts during the killing montage that could have been streamlined out that were kind of sad to see, but not as tonally weird as the killing festival itself. Raining blood, backing lyrics, and some cuts to Lloyd/Anya remind me how dime-turn violent this became for this arc specifically. Maybe it was the emphasis on action that the levity was all but drowned out to give Yor a peril/big scene? Not entirely unwelcome, but still strange by Spy x Family standards.u

[David75]

Violence was there from the start. Anya adventures at school had you forget that.

[neflight86]

It was, but there was more violence/killing/death/blood this episode alone than the series up till now combined, including Yor's previous 'working' scenes. The contrast stood out to me.

[MFauli]

Episode 34:

That whole battle was really lame. When one side has to adhere to the law of physics, but the other side is comic relief character, then ... how is that exciting? Yor won, because she is invincible and has super human strength and speed for no reason other than the writing demanding it.

Also I have to say it again, because that's my biggest gripe with this anime: Killing is not funny. Fuck Yor. She's a psycho murderer and I don't care about her "cute" moments when she's actually a cold-blooded mass murderer.

Really hope the show goes back to the school stuff, that's the only parts I really enjoy.

[Buffalobiian]

E36

---------------------



The episode of misunderstandings.

Probably the funniest episode all season. Yor is very sweet indeed. And Bond just outright gets ignored by Becky.

[MFauli]

Anya instantly selling out her mom for food. Brat!

[shinta|hikari]

I was rooting for the chefs Becky.

[MFauli]

I was rooting for the chefs Becky.

Calling the FBI, brb