Spy×Family Season 2

Episode 35

My parents used to say that going somewhere with us kids was a trip, not a vacation. They didn't mean it in a derogatory sense, just that if you're going somewhere with kids, even just one small one, there's precious little relaxing on the menu because if you aren't trying to keep them from inadvertently killing themselves, you're trying to keep up with them. That's a sentiment that it appears Loid can wholeheartedly agree with after this arc because if he thought attempting to keep track of Anya on a ship was tough, racing around a resort island with her and Yor is even harder. That might seem counterintuitive because he was the sole adult with Anya on the vessel, and on land he has Yor…but that's figuring without Yor's intense vacation style. Loid has to worry less about Anya getting eaten by friendly sheep than ensuring that his wife doesn't send her surfboard to a neighboring island with the force of her push.

Rough as that may have been for Loid, it's an absolute delight to watch. I had a silly grin on my face the entire time, and since that was also the case when reading the chapter of the manga it's based on, that's a very good sign. Interestingly enough, the resort island section is largely done without dialogue, making it at least the second such scene in this season, third if you count Yor's fighting the swordsman, which relies more on sound effects than speech. Like that scene, this one is also set to an insert song, and all three scenes in question seem to indicate a different approach to the show's storytelling. This vacation bit was largely wordless in the manga as well (unless my brain is playing tricks on me), so there is a question of faithful adaptation at play. But it also seems to symbolize the gentler, more “family” than “spy” sections of the plot. These are the moments when Anya gets to revel in being part of a family, where Yor gets to feel normal, and where Loid is forced to recognize that Twilight and Loid are starting to blend into a single person. His comment to Sylvia about how the vacation wasn't restful even smacks of parental verisimilitude, a recognition that time away from home with a child isn't a vacation, it's a trip.

With Yor's arc wrapped up, it's back to business as usual for Spy x Family. That's not a bad thing, though it does take a bit of getting used to in the second half of this episode. Anya's desperate bid to impress her classmates is the strongest part, reminding us of her devotion to “Plan B” and how young she is, possibly even in comparison with them. (There's a pretty big developmental gap between five and six, if we assume she is at least a year younger.) And in all fairness, in any other school, telling someone you went on a luxury cruise and met Sickle-and-Chain Barnaby would be instant social awesomeness in the first grade, if only because of his amazing name. But the Eden kids are much more interested in Becky partying with a TV star, even if Damian seems to find Anya's story at least a little something he won't admit to. But what stands out (apart from some excellent new Anya faces, now with bonus blushing) is how the other kids won't let her be humiliated in peace. There's something really real about the way they call her out even after the moment passed because whatever else they can be, kids can also be mean.

But if Anya's telling stories at school, it's not hard to see where she gets it. After all, all of the adults in her life are telling lies at all times, lies she's very well aware of. She may hold back on telling her own for a bit, but it's starting to look like Loid's biggest lies are the ones he's telling himself if that blush when he sees Yor on the pier is any indication.

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Spy×Family is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.