Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today seems like a perfect time to dive back into Spy x Family, wherein the Forgers most recently celebrated Anya’s successful interview in the most preposterously elaborate way possible. Both Loid himself and the animation team at WIT Studio behind him pulled out all the stops for Spy x Family’s fifth episode, turning a game of Save the Princess into the show’s most visually elaborate setpiece so far. Having just transitioned from Tetsuro Araki’s Bubble, it seems like this team just couldn’t help but deliver some high quality action, elevating a fairly simple gag into a glorious visual spectacle.

All that was plenty of fun, but I’m more of a character drama person myself, and thus am looking forward to a return to (relative) normalcy for the Forgers. I’m guessing this episode will finally see Anya attending her first day of school, which I imagine will be an opportunity to introduce new parental anxieties to Loid and Yor, while also giving Anya a chance to flex her psychic abilities. Spy x Family has been nothing if not consistent so far, so whatever happens, I’m sure the humor will be strong and fuzzies will be warm. Let’s get to it!

Episode 6

“The Friendship Scheme.” In classic Spy x Family fashion, it appears this episode will be turning the natural process of making friends at school into some grand spy drama conspiracy. Anya’s psychic abilities essentially put her in an equivalent position to Loid and Yor – none of them can earnestly commit to conventional human behavior, they can only observe it and attempt to either mimic or one-up it. Social engagements are all zero-sum games to them, a perspective which is slowly beginning to clash against their earnest concern for each other. Through the process of coming to care for each other, they are essentially learning how to be authentic human beings

We begin on Anya getting fitted for her school uniform

“There’s something of a wall between parents who are Eden alum and those who are not. I’ve heard this can also cause bullying among the students.” A very natural source of drama. Eden is proving itself to be an enduring nemesis for our whole family

“I hear that kidnappings of commuter students are on the rise.” This lady is introducing enough threats to furnish a whole season of spy shenanigans

“I am in fear that I will be kidnapped.” The translators are doing an excellent job of capturing Anya’s often adorably stilted way of speaking

Loid ends up having a meeting with his handler at the same time Anya’s uniform is ready, meaning it’ll be up to Yor to pick up the uniform. Excellent – this is clearly a narrative hurdle designed to give Yor and Anya some time alone together, and I’m all for it. Part of the reason it’s been difficult to get more personality out of Yor is that when Loid’s around, he naturally guides the behavior of the other two, since he’s the most experienced deceiver. Removing him from the equation seems like a great way to force Yor into accepting more agency, and thereby revealing more of her natural instincts

Loid uses a coin-op photo booth as an elevator to arrive at his meeting site. Another of this show’s natural strengths: spy shenanigans are just inherently fun, whether played straight or as farce

He meets up with his handler Sylvia, who is understandably miffed about the growing bills

Eden’s honor students are known as “Imperial Scholars.” Normally I’d laugh at anime’s reliably preposterous framing of honors students or student council members, but I’m pretty sure elite private schools are just actually like this

Of course, just to make things harder for our family, the meeting Loid must reach can only be attended by the parents of Imperial Scholars. Having cleared all the hurdles of the show’s initial premise, this episode seems to mostly be concerning itself with setting up all the next hurdles, from bullying students to stricter academic standards

“In order to become an Imperial Scholar, a student must acquire eight stars known as Stella, awarded for exceptional grades and contributions to society.” A handy way to gamify this whole process, and make tangible the progression towards achieving their goal. An audience can’t really follow a process of educators quietly deciding which students performed exceptionally, but they can certainly follow Anya’s quest to collect the eight scholastic dragon balls

“Poor grades and bad behavior will result in demerits called Tonitrus Bolts.” This academy really knows how to put the fear of god in its students, huh

“Hello, anxiety, my old friend.” The translation script is top notch in general for this show. Lots of subtle jokes of phrasing and character voice

Without Loid around, Yor and Anya communicate almost like equals. Yor often seems like she never really got the chance to grow up

Seeing other families at the park offers Yor some encouragement in her desire to be more of a genuine mother to Anya

Tragically, this encounter also convinces Yor to cook dinner for everyone

“I don’t know what any of these are, so I’ll just buy all of them.” Oh my god Yor

Suddenly, Anya is grabbed by kidnappers! I kinda love the vaguely defined “bad guy” looks of these assailants, who look more like strung-out punk rockers and hippies than career criminals

“I love that my Mama is so strong and cool!” I like how Anya never really has to use her psychic abilities when it comes to Yor – the two of them are each desperately, earnestly hoping for this family to become real, and so honesty is all that it takes to bring them together

“I know it’s dangerous to be an Eden student now. But it won’t be as scary if I train. I can do my best at school without dying!” Her phrasing is hilariously morbid, but this is a key moment for Anya – her resolving to also do her best for her own reasons, and work to keep this family together

That in turn gives Yor confidence in her ability to apply her unique skills to being her own kind of great mom

The school assembly commences! And at last, our target Desmond’s son Damian is introduced

Loid at last reveals his Friendship Scheme, a Plan B in case Anya fails to become an honors student. Given this plan relies on Anya becoming close friends with Damian, I have to imagine that they will actually turn out to be mortal enemies

Yep, Damian immediately proves himself to be a cad-in-training. Meanwhile, the rest of Anya’s class is stocked with high level government offspring

I like how Anya’s psychic abilities are only causing problems for her here. If she didn’t know these kids’ true intentions, she’d have a much easier time establishing early friendships. You’d think psychic powers would make socializing easier, but we’re generally not prepared to endure the full force of even our friends’ most uncharitable flights of fancy

Really loving the preposterous haircut of Damian’s lackey here

As expected, social hierarchies among the students mirror those of their parents, with Damian’s father’s position putting him at the top of the pecking order

“I wanna go play at your house.” Ahahaha Anya, oh jeez. I can talk all I want about the production, but this show’s greatest strength is that the material is just really goddamn funny. Perfect payoff for Loid’s carefully crafted scheme

With Yor’s well-intentioned words of advice in her ear, Anya unleashes a devastating smug look

Just incredible expression work for Anya finally decking Damian, and a perfect buildup to this explosion. I figured shifting to Anya at school might limit this production’s ability to mine its core concept, but this sequence is probably the funniest segment so far. Anya undefeated

“You got any proof I did it?” Anya knows just how to talk to the authorities

And Done

And so Anya’s first day at school concludes, with her tragically having already received one of the dreaded Tonitrus Bolts. The gamification of both merits and demerits in the Eden ecosystem was an excellent narrative choice, giving us a clear understanding of precisely what Anya must accomplish here. And rather than diminishing the show’s appeal through the absence of Loid and Yor, Anya’s first day at school ended up being perhaps the show’s most entertaining segment yet, making incredible use of both Anya’s powers and the well-intended lessons of her parents. The show’s been greatly enjoyable from the start, but it actually seems like the narrative’s really finding its groove now, and putting all of its key players to best possible effect. I’m eager to see the continuing rivalry of Anya and the hated Damian!

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