Spy × Family

Is anyone else a bit disturbed by the Troubling Unchildlike Behavior in these last two chapters?

...No. It's a school dance. Classic Puppy Love and Precocious Crushes. The competing for who dances with who and the tests they have to go through to dance with Damian are in keeping with heightened reality that Spy X Family exists in.

It's basically regular grade-school antics combined with the school and setting itself forcing children to grow up too fast.

Besides, these kids have already been through rough shit that would force them to grow up quickly — they were taken hostage in an earlier arc remember?

It speaks volumes of how messed up the war left the state of things that even privileged children like them couldn't escape its consequences.

Edited by M84 on Mar 17th 2024 at 10:17:44 PM

It IS kinda weird that even the littlest kids at this school are apparently expected to know stuff like ballroom dancing, if that's what you mean?

Considering what kind of school it is and the class of the students there, it's not that unrealistic.

The school is explicitly meant to educate children to be able to mix with upper society. And that includes stuff like ballroom dancing.

Edited by M84 on Mar 17th 2024 at 10:31:43 PM

More than disturbing, I think the point of tthe situation is to be absurd and funny in the contrast of having a bunch of 6 year old girls trying to woo Damian, like he was a prince in a ball surrounded by nobles. And meanwhile, Anya (with a healthy dose of cheati..., I mean, help) who acts the most as a child and doesn't have the many prejudices the others have, is able to dance with him and have fun.

Interesting how the person Damian loves the most is his Dad, since in most cases, it would expected for the person a young boy loves the most to be his Mom. While we learn (thanks to Anya), that there is some strains in the relationship, it would be an inner conflict in Melinda, without obvious signs Damian knows about it. I guess Damian's need for his Dad's validation is that strong, huh.

Finally, I found Henry and Martha dacing together to be very cute (and elegant).

Edited by Shadow-Whisperer on Mar 17th 2024 at 8:36:54 AM

I'm not surprised he doesn't care as much for his mother. We already know she's got complicated feelings of hate and love towards him. He's probably picked up on that and is suitably disturbed by her. His father otoh is "only" neglectful and distant as opposed to sending confusing mixed messages of love and hate.

Yeah, the family is all kinds of screwed up. They make a fake family consisting of a foreign spy, an assassin, and a psychic escaped test subject look perfectly healthy and functional.

Edited by M84 on Mar 17th 2024 at 10:43:23 PM

I think you could argue that the mom being less distant might also play a role here. She is weird about it internally, but Damian hasn't fully seen that.

He definitely has seen it.

When she came to see him after the kidnapping, she was very affectionate but immediately switched into cutting deals with him to keep quiet about her being there.

Then the next day she cooked him a meal and dipped immediately afterward. He must feel that if his dad is someone whose love he needs to earn, his mom's love is only present sometimes, at her own convenience.

Edited by Chaosjunction on Mar 17th 2024 at 10:08:14 AM

The mixed signals are probably more disturbing to him than the emotional distance between his father and him.

Edited by M84 on Mar 17th 2024 at 11:05:54 PM

Speaking of disturbing, Anya must have built up a lot of stress with her various secrets that she can never share with anyone on pain of being sent back to the lab (she thinks).

That's definitely something that would disturb her subconsciously. The fact that she trusted Damian with the truth even if it was a slip on her part means that she trusts him unconditionally in a way she can't trust her parents or Becky.

Fun sort of place to leave off. Of course Damian wouldn't believe Anya now, but it could go anywhere. Anya could change her mind and they drop the issue. She could try to prove it, but Damian ignores her. She could easily convince him as soon as they're in private.

But let's just focus on Anya telling him. I'm confident she's speaking in good faith, not pulling some trick to dodge Damian's question. Let's not oversell that she told him before her parents—Damian doesn't have secrets like them, so knowing she can read his mind isn't outright dangerous. Anya probably figures "world peace" as a way for her family to finally live honestly with each other. It's risky but, whether or not Anya realizes it, sharing this is a decent tactic for Plan B.

I think the turning point for Anya is the realization that Damien just loves his dad more than anything: that's what made her have a serious expression. While she idolizes Loid's quest, looks up to Yor, and has fun with Becky, Damien's conflict and desire for familial love makes him the first person that she can truly relate to on a deeper level. She's not thinking about the mission when she tells him, because she'd immediately be scared of his dad taking her back to the lab: she's genuinely reaching out person to person.

As for the fact that it happened just as they were being contrasted with an old, fond couple with a lifetime of memories together looking nostalgically at their bickering, well...

Was gonna post, but it seems it's not possible to have Youtube videos here right now.

Edited by Dracoblade on Mar 17th 2024 at 11:00:25 AM

Really? That's weird! Do you mean YT embeds, or links? If you can link whatever it was you were going to share, as opposed to embedding it, please do! I'm curious as to what it might be!

And while he may look up to Demetrius, Demetrius is just as messed up as the rest of the family.

My status so far.. about to end the first season... but hopefully getting into the middle of second season in April...

I am really having fun with the anime, and I am enjoying the Latin American dub that sometimes takes liberties to refer another media.

By example in one episode, our elegant prefect Henry Henderson, shot, thanks for the dubbing a reference to The Simpsons in the dodgeball game.

- ¡Qué elegancia la de Francia! (lit. How Classy is France!, means "How good and classy!") throw by Homer in the latin dub and become itself a meme.

Then, in another, when Nightfall visits the Forger family, outside starts raining and then Loid said this very seriously

- Parece que va a llover, el cielo se esta nublando (It looks is going to rain, the sky is getting cloudy)

And then I really laugh, despite how serious was the scene because Loid said technically the first two verses of the Mexican song "Parece que va a llover"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skhbimgPIuI

:D

Really enjoying myself with this comedy and how the Latin American dub is sending be back to the time I was watching Dragon Ball or Sailor Moon in Mexico. :,)

I now realized that even if Anya tells anyone she's a telepathy, no one will believe her anyway.

Writing kids that act like kids, and not small adults is hard.

I have a six-year old and a 3-year old. Even with the brightest of kids, you'll quickly find that fiction doesn't match up with reality. Writing kids accurately is hard.

That said, man, are we even surprised why Damian didn't believe Anya here, despite her sincerity?

Edited by MyssaRei on Mar 19th 2024 at 9:01:37 AM

I could see it being potentially played for drama later, if the series wants to up the stakes. I'd imagine that if Damian comes to believe that Anya was being truthful about being able to read minds that one of the first people he would try to tell would be his father.

Openings/endings ranked (without counting the film)...

Openings

1) Second opening (while the song by Bump of Chicken feels very conventional, the quality of the animation and the themes used to put past and present together are, like Henderson said, "elegant")

2) First opening (the song of Official HIGE DA Ndism is awesome, while the animation was updated by every introduction of character until we have a good idea who are the main story, still, the animation effects are meant to be improved).

3) Third opening (the least good for me, the cartoonish effects in the walking, the continuous use of tea and that is completely losing the point of the Forger family), while the song is the least memorable (not sure, I am feeling that Ado is becoming the Dua Lipa of the Vocaloids, it started with very kick-ass songs and now is like moving with what the industry dictates, surely soon she will perform a duet with Hatsune Miku).

Ending:

1) First ending: Gen Hoshino´s song sound authentic and reflects what we look in the animation that is inside the head of Anya, her worries, her mission and the happiness to have something she can call family. Despite the good work in the next endings, I think is not yet beaten.

2) Third ending: The song is really fine, the use of the animation tends to be similar to the intro, but, with a small touch of showing us that is actually from the point of view of Anya, so is completely justified, the cherry on the top? The last frame showing how Anya draws her family.

3) Second ending: The song is energetic but completely out of place, the animation seems to improve what we see in the first ending, but it goes straight to show more about the daily life of the family and it loses some focus.

Overall:

Best: First ending

Worst: Third opening

I'm still surprised nobody's set the Forger's power walk in opening 3 to "Stayin' Alive."

Or to animate John Travolta in this fashion, otherwise...

Tickets are on sale… and it’s gonna be playing in IMAX.

New trailer:

Happy 5 years of serialization!! This week is just Extras with Anya choosing dresses with Becky and being taught dancing with Loid.