Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m eager to dive back into Spy x Family, and join the Forgers for some actual goddamn vacation time. So far, their cruise ship journey has been defined largely by high-stakes action spectacle, with Yor defeating countless assassins while Loid disables a scattering of explosives. It’s always fun seeing the Forgers flex their formidable faculties, but the heart of this production is the interplay of these found family weirdos, and I’m thus hoping we at least get a sampling of their activities on the final day of the cruise.

After a long stretch of lacking a comparable motivation to her so-called husband, this arc successfully aligned Yor alongside him as a steward of the future, a warrior who fights so that other families can enjoy the comfort she has found. Yor’s dubious motivation and general lack of interiority has always been one of Spy x Family’s greatest weaknesses, so I’m quite happy we’ve dedicated a full arc to her emotional growth, and look forward to seeing how her new perspective impacts her approach to family life. Let’s get to it!

Episode 35

“Enjoying the Resort to the Fullest / Bragging About Vacation.” Alright, yeah, I will definitely take it

With multiple OP sequences now dedicated to Loid’s driving abilities, I do hope we get a dramatic car chase at some point. Granted, there are only so many animators these days who can handle such ambitious mechanical animation; with CG handling most cars these days, there’s not much call for that sort of expertise

The more I watch anime from across the medium’s history, the more clear it becomes that anime from before the digital era is practically a different medium entirely, requiring different skill sets and resulting in different aesthetic effects, both in terms of the physical mechanics of animation and the artistic proficiencies that a given production could take for granted

We open on some lovely painted beachside scenery, a welcome shift from the generally CG-guided backgrounds of Berlint itself. Frequent reliance on CG geometry for backgrounds is certainly one of the unwelcome shifts of the digital era

Ooh, nice use of multiplanar panning here, creating a sense of the camera panning by first sliding the foreground landscape to the right, then drawing the boat across to the left

The composite of the CG boat is actually quite good; a general hazy filter over both it and the painted background result in an overall feel of aesthetic unity

“And a super landing.” Endo’s understanding of childhood eccentricity is one of Spy x Family’s most significant strengths. Anya is constantly making up little games, challenges, and dramatic scenarios for herself, her mind always finding some adventure in the mundane

“I’ve heard that at times like this, normal fathers would also jump and play and have fun with their daughters.” Thanks for the tip, Anya

Loid’s actually somewhat dazzled by Yor in her casual dress after their time apart, a shock illustrated through partial body closeups and a touch of soft focus. Of course, being his analytical self, he quickly swerves into questioning her seeming injuries

Yor can’t speak in particulars, but it’s nice to see Loid taking an interest in her work

Also more genuine, unguarded flourishes of expression as he sighs fondly at Anya’s theatrics. He’s thawed so much since the beginning of the series; Yor and Anya are more showy as far as marquee characters go, but Loid becoming a family man is Spy x Family’s emotional core

We even get an insert song as the family wordlessly enjoys their vacation, as if the show itself is offering them some privacy to enjoy each other’s company. Precisely what I was hoping for

“Everything’s so peaceful here. It’s nice.” The Forger family is no longer just a disguise, it is the sanctuary they return to after completing their duties. The balance has shifted; they no longer act like Forgers to protect their work, they conduct their work so they can live as Forgers

“I hope peaceful days like this will continue forever. And to ensure that, I will…” Yor affirms her new motivation

Yor privately vows that if there are sharks while snorkeling, she’ll personally beat them up. Please give us Yor fighting a shark

Our transition to snorkeling is likely the first time I’ve ever seen a manta ray used for a wipe cut, very impressive

Yor’s goliath strength sends Anya rocketing along a cresting wave, to which Loid responds with a daring surf rescue. This family is delightful

Lovely warm color palette as the day shifts towards the evening. The soft pastels of the buildings in this quasi-Mediterranean port play nicely with the yellow overlay of the fading sun

I appreciate the care they put into Yor’s goofy smushed face as she collapses on Loid’s shoulder. A very natural expression of their closeness, through the unguarded sides of themselves they only reveal in these moments of total trust

“I bet this job was hard on her… and yet, she did her best to go along with Anya’s requests. You did a great job.” Loid’s now at the point of even taking pride in how dedicated Yor is to making Anya happy. He’s not just catching himself prioritizing the family over his work, his whole value system has shifted towards seeing dedicated parental efforts as the thing most worthy of praise

Spy x Family’s “fake it till we make it” premise highlights a fundamental truth of families: that they are not stable, assumed states of being, they are promises people continuously make to each other. Yor and Loid initially made that promise for the sake of their work, but now they make it gladly for their own reasons, taking pride and comfort in each other’s expressions of that promise’s value

Back at home, Handler notes that a bunch of passengers with forged IDs went missing on the ship. Turns out it can be tricky to hide your assassination attempt when you hire like fifty assassins for an exclusive cruise and all of them end up floating in the bay

“I can never tell if he’s actually clever or clumsy.” Definitely a key part of Loid’s charm. Mastery of the details while often missing the big picture is a classic way of humanizing rigorously professional characters

Meanwhile, Yor is presented with fresh emergencies at work, as she realizes her taste in souvenirs has roused the suspicion of her coworkers. Yor’s tendency to see morbid things as cute is a good personal flourish, a natural point of connection between her two identities

There’s some natural tension in Yor’s journey towards earnest self-expression versus her need to protect her secret identity. Embracing her identity as a morbid weirdo makes it that much easier for others to imagine her as an assassin. As Loid and Yor’s twin identities draw closer together, it will become harder to share more of themselves without giving the game away

“I’m surprised you knew this was about my sister,” says Yuri as he opens his Yor-plastered locker

Don’t really think there’s any salvaging Yuri. His exchanges with Loid are great fun, but his fundamental motivation is just utterly unsympathetic fetish nonsense. I’m frankly surprised he made it into the manga as-is, as the story otherwise steers clear of alienating otaku humor

“Maybe I should prepare matching pajamas too, just in case.” On the other hand, as I said, he does bring out some charming anxiety in Loid

Anya reveals her vacation with as much flair as possible, dazzling Becky and Damien with tales of the luxury cruise liner. Or, well, at least that’s how it goes in her head. Sadly, she’s attending a school of snobs

Excellent despairing face as she receives genuine pity from Damien. The worst possible outcome!

“What the heck is an octoperson who commands elephants?” As the rest of the class essentially tunes out Anya in favor of Becky’s celebrity stories, Damien offhandedly reveals he was actually paying full attention to Anya’s rambling adventure

Oh my god, Anya’s face when her classmates bring up the octopeople. I didn’t know Tatsuya Endo was capable of something so horrifying

And a fantastic payoff to this extended bit as we return home, with Loid mostly taking offense at how ramshackle Anya’s lies were. Take pride in your deception, Anya!

And Done

Well done, Forgers! Wait, I don’t actually know what I’m congratulating you for, you all did kind of terribly in your reintegration into society. But even that feels like its own odd sort of victory, with the sincere connection they shared during their getaway forcing an immediate recalibration back to the facades of their ordinary lives. The increasing difficulty of balancing their dual lives only demonstrates how much that balance has shifted; more and more they are prioritizing their time together, and finding happiness in recognizing each other’s expressions of concern. Still, I’m sorry you got so thoroughly owned at school, Anya. Better luck next time.

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