Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m eager to dive back into Spy x Family, wherein we’ve most recently commenced the Grand Forger Cruise Ship Operation, involving Yor protecting the wife and child of a recently deceased crime lord while Loid learns to relax for once in his fuckin’ life. And so far, it unfortunately seems like neither of their missions are proceeding smoothly; Yor has just accidentally clued the entire ship’s worth of assassins into the assumed identity of their target, while Loid is, well, still Loiding it up in his usual, painfully self-reflective fashion.
Personally, I’m just delighted to see a specifically Yor-focused extended arc, particularly since this mission is clearly prompting her to reflect on the motivation and continued relevance of her Thorn Princess persona. Having taken on this role in order to provide for her brother, she is now beginning to question whether it’s still a necessary part of her life, or if it’s simply a crutch preventing her from discovering her own purpose. That’s some satisfyingly weighty personal drama, and though I very much doubt her ultimate conclusions will shift the show’s status quo, I’m happy to see Yor at last getting the sort of layered, conflicting interiority that lends some dramatic heft to Loid, Anya, and even Damien’s stories. Our choices are only meaningful if we’re the ones making them; by shifting Yor from a passive to an active actor, Spy x Family will ultimately make her bond with Loid and Anya that much more impactful, a reflection of the priorities she herself has chosen. Let’s get to it!
Episode 31
We open back with Yor’s city hall coworkers discussing her fancy vacation
“Having sausages and beer after work is pretty great too, right?” A slight nod to our not-exactly-East-Germany setting
Fraught real-world resonances aside, if you’re going to make a spy-themed comedy in an essentially modern world, divided Berlin is certainly the most relevant template to draw from
“The Fearsome Luxury Cruise Ship”
Hah, I’d forgotten their city is just literally called “Berlint”
Yor at last reveals the fruit of her training as she describes how she personally would attempt an assassination on this target, waiting until the moment they’re to be transferred to another ship, and thus likely most exposed and vulnerable. Obviously a great deal of Yor’s appeal is “how can a pro assassin be this ditzy,” but I do like when they emphasize her competency in ways other than just physical prowess. “How can I use my assassin training to most efficiently achieve this mundane parental objective” is at least as good of a joke as “how can an assassin be this incompetent”
“Maybe I just want to relax and believe there isn’t an enemy. But this isn’t just my problem anymore.” Olka’s framing could just as easily be applied to Loid or Yor’s situations: can they simply calm down and enjoy being parents to Anya, or is it precisely because Anya and all these other children need them that they must commit themselves all the more fully to their secret duties? The question of whether you make your charitable mark on the world on an individual, community-based level or on a structural, societal-based level is essentially an unsolvable one that demands a personal answer, which makes it work perfectly as a continuous thematic ax to grind
“You really don’t seem like someone from the underworld.” Doing her work for Yuri’s sake has basically made her assassin duties an extension of her familial ones. Unlike Loid, she didn’t really need to soften her outlook to accommodate for Anya, because she’s always been fusing her seemingly contradictory sides
Olka suggests Yor relax with her family on the third day. That sounds like a fine way to force her to make some active choices, deciding whether she prioritizes her family or the job
Loid is able to navigate the contradictions of his life because he is essentially always “on” – whether he’s at home or on the job, he’s always performing, always putting his spy face forward. In fact, his journey across the show has mostly involved him learning to soften that poise just a tad, but that reorientation is still a steady, consistent Loid. I’ll be interested to see how Yor fares in a similar situation – domestic Yor and professional Yor are two entirely different people, so her resolution might involve finding some common ground across her identities
Meanwhile, Anya is stuffing her face, adopting another moomins-style look as she gorges on the free buffet
And Yor’s handler is busy taking out the trash, dispensing with the first assassin in ruthlessly efficient fashion
And thus the first body of many is dropped into the bay
We swiftly jump to number two, posing as room service. I like the very active direction throughout this sequence – the camera generally follows the trajectory of the combatants’ bullets, darts, and knives, creating a great sense of propulsion and tense implication of consequence
Yor throws her hairpiece through the dude’s goddamn skull
“There are open rooms available in 2nd class.” Having their location leaked serves as a natural way to push Yor towards Loid and Anya
The target’s alias is “Shaty,” which I keep reading as “Shawty,” and it’s really fucking with my interpretation of this drama
Meanwhile, the assassins gather to plan their approach. And of course, one overeager assassin proposes killing all women with children on board, and is duly assassinated in turn by his fellows. You rarely leave a meeting of assassins with as many individuals as you entered
Hah, the head assassin is played by Kousuke Toriumi. I’m not always the best at recognizing voices, but the tone of Thunderbolt Fantasy’s Enigmatic Gale is absolutely unmistakable
Apparently even this cabal is just one group of the many assassins hunting Olka
Yor senses bloodlust in the next lounge, but knows she cannot directly intercept the target or risk causing a commotion. It’s a convenient way to sort of balance her superhuman abilities, limiting her to things she can do without arousing the suspicion of the other passengers. Reminds me of the altogether excellent Shaw Brothers film Dirty Ho, in which Gordon Liu fights off assassins while never dropping his facade of admiring caligraphy and sculpture work
Hah, great beat of her immediately snapping her focus to the assassin as he looks towards them. Once again, the shot transitions are neatly timed to the beats of the action, allowing us to follow a “battle” that takes all of half a second to resolve
Olka essentially wearing a Hisoka mask makes me all the more suspicious that this arc was in part inspired by Hunter x Hunter’s Dark Continent – that arc literally involves a bunch of assassins hunting Hisoka on a massive cruise ship
Sensing this episode’s growing deficiency of good Anya faces, the production then cuts to Anya demanding a keychain, a task fit only for her finest gremlin expressions
“Would normal parents buy their children something in this situation or not!?” Bless Loid and his perpetual pursuit of normalcy
I like how Anya has to use her esper abilities to identify an assassin known as “Sickle-and-Chain Barnaby,” who also has a tiger-claw scar across his face and eyes that bug out of his skull. In general a fan of how these highly skilled assassins are all the most obvious assassins you could possibly imagine
“I am a normal father. A good father.” Congratulations on being so normal, Loid
“Yor, you go around having battles!?” Anya must ensure Loid does not discover Yor’s passion for random encounters
Anya rightfully scolds Loid for not understanding the first thing about adventures, and simply placating her without embracing the earnest spirit of trying new things. She may not do great at school, but Anya’s quick thinking would actually make her a pretty natural spy
“I pray that you come out looking cool.” “Leave it to me.” My god, they managed to pack an entire episode’s worth of Loid and Anya nonsense into a three minute scene. Incredible work
And thus Yor’s next battle commences!
And Done
Hah, what an exciting episode that was! We didn’t really dive into much of the Yor motivation stuff from last time, but that’s no real issue – it’s clear that we’re currently in the meat of the cat-and-mouse phase of this operation, reveling in the immediate thrills of Yor attempting to deflect any and all assassination attempts on her guileless companions. It seems beyond question by now that Endo is pulling from Togashi’s latest arc, and why wouldn’t he? “A cruise ship full of assassins versus one exceptional bodyguard” is an excellent premise, and there’s clearly plenty of room here to also revel in Spy x Family’s own distinctive strengths. Plus, given this episode’s relatively reserved animation, I imagine we’re holding back for some wild visual theatrics up ahead – Yor’s always been the animators’ favorite, and this is our clearest opportunity yet to celebrate the Thorn Princess in her element. I can’t wait!
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