Is there a trend developing here? It sure seems that way – the parts of episodes set at Eden are outpacing the ones that’s aren’t in entertainment value. They certainly serve Anya’s character better, for reasons discussed in the last couple of posts. But I also think they suit the overall tone of Spy x Family better. Perhaps ironically given the mangaks’s past interviews, this series just works better as a light comedy. And a grammar school setting suits that tone better than the larger spy story. Which, if we’re honest, SxF doesn’t give us much reason to take seriously.
This whole business of Anya being unable to use her esper powers on the first day of the new moon is certainly new. TBH is sounds completely arbitrary, like Endou needed a pretext for the events of this chapter (and perhaps some future ones). Speaking of pretexts, the 1st-graders midterms (midterms – in first grade??) fall on that day. How convenient for SxF – though not for Anya, since it means she can’t cheat. And since Stellas and Tonitrus Bolts are at stake (as they are with seemingly everything at this weirdo school) so is “Anya’s” mission.
Drafting Yuri in to help tutor Anya is an interesting turn. I still can’t warm to him as a character – he’s basically a complete A-hole and a nut job and I wouldn’t want him anywhere near my kid. But Loid happily goes off to do some spy stuff and leaves Anya in his hands, and – driven by the motivation of getting praise from his sister – Yuri proves not quite as dismal a tutor as you’d expect. Much to her disappointment, as she was looking forward to a cartoon-style showdown between spy and secret policeman.
The twist in the B-part comes in the introduction of Daybreak (Nakamura Yuuichi). He’s the self-styled counterpart to the legendary Twilight, and as we’ve seen from most of Ostania’s spies, he’s an incompetent boob. If this were a serious spy thriller on any level that would be a problem, but in truth it’s about as serious as “Spy Wars” in that respect so it’s fine. Daybreak is here for comic relief, as Ostanian spies usually are. The one meatier element of his presence is that it reflects some sort of split in the East’s intelligence community (what a misnomer) regarding Donovan Desmond, since Daybreak is there to sabotage the Desmond Brothers’ test scores.
Ironically Loid once again finds himself working to help an enemy spy, because Daybreak’s bumblings make his own job – fixing Anya’s test scores in the pre-online era – harder. The elephant in the room here is that what Loid sets out to do here is really, really wrong – he’s cheating on tests – even as he justifies it for a larger cause. Furthering the irony is that he ends up not touching Anya’s test papers, because she barely passed on her own – somewhat miraculously – and there’s no need to risk arousing suspicion. All he does, in fact, is help the Desmond Brothers by putting their sheets back as they were. He sets out to cheat, and in the end undoes cheating.
As to those brothers… I don’t think we’ve heard the elder brother’s name – Demetrius – before. Damian is plenty smart – he averages a 94 and places 2nd in his grade (Anya is 213th), earning a Stella Star. But sadly once more this forlorn little lad will be overshadowed by his older brother, who finishes first in his. A couple of interesting questions here – first, who finished first in 1st (was it Billy, perhaps?). And second, what grade is his brother in and when will we finally get to see him in the flesh?
Simone
November 6, 2022 at 7:14 pmI don’t think Daybreak is in any form employed by the actual Ostanian secret services. He’s just some dumbass from Ostania who self-styled himself as a freelance spy (more of a private eye for hire willing to break the law, really) and found someone clueless enough to give him a job. I mean, the whole thing is still ridiculous and probably one of the most absurd bits of comedy SxF pulled off yet, but I’ll let it slide because the image of a dude just doing rolls in the middle of an empty courtyard as if he was in a videogame is too hilarious.
A fun translation note about this episode. The “knowledge is power” pun was obviously hard to translate – “chi wa chikara” becoming “chiwawa chikara” in Anya’s mind. Here we got “knowledge is power” becoming “no leash is power”, which preserves the spirit of the first sentence best. In the manga translation they reached out a bit to keep with the visual imagery – Yuri says “knowledge is power, it’s the whole enchilada” and Anya gets “knowledge is a swole chihuahua” from the last bit. Problem being, the line really doesn’t feel like it belongs in Yuri’s mouth, the setting, or the time period, fictional as they may be (but then again, why is omurice such a popular dish in 1960s not!Berlin?).
Krize
November 7, 2022 at 11:15 amI don’t really see the issue with Loid planning to alter Anya’s test scores from his own internal sense of logic and ethics, such as they are. It’s a given that cheating is bad, of course, but it’s also a given that someone in Loid’s line of work has to do many unsavory things for the sake of a mission, and breaking into a school to falsify some test scores seems like laughably small potatoes when compared with the other grim realities of spywork, and the fact that their family appearance in and of itself is a con where Anya’s membership at Eden is concerned.
Guardian Enzo
November 7, 2022 at 3:41 pmIntellectually I agree – for a spy that does seem like small potatoes. But I don’t know, for whatever reason it just feels kind of unsavory, like – those kids are doing their tiny best to rank as high as they can and her Loid comes in and (at least by intent) vaults his kid above them.
Of course what Daybreak was going to do is even worse – he was going to steal points from kids who actually earned them. But I think that either of those brothers suddenly failing would arouse a lot of suspicion, as they’re both honor students (especially the aniki). That was just an ill-considered plan right from the beginning, on every level. Makes you wonder if whoever hired him is as dumb as he is.
Nicc
November 8, 2022 at 8:53 amWith Anya’s powers waxing and waning with the moon cycle, it also makes me wonder if the opposite is true and that her abilities peak with a full moon. Maybe that will be explored later.
For me, Yuri is palatable in small doses, like what we got in this episode. The siscon gimmick is aggravating, but at least it’s funny when his IQ drops to zero when it comes to anything involving Yor.
I do believe that it is the first time we have seen Damian’s brother by name. Speaking of firsts, I also think it’s the first time we saw older students as Loid was passing by some teens while on the way to where the tests are kept at. I got so used to seeing the kiddos that I forgot about that there are students from other years. It wasn’t necessary to fudge Anya’s test as she did just enough to avoid getting a bolt.
One moment I enjoyed was Bond eating some crumbs from Yor’s baking and… he doesn’t take it well. Time for him to build up some poison resistance as well.