Oh, God – there’s a Part II?
Full disclosure: this was the second time I’ve hit the FF button with Spy x Family. The first was the really pretty dismal Episode 5 (the mostly anime-original spy castle one). I do like this series, sometimes very much, but when it’s bad it can be really bad. The common theme to these disasters is when it tries to be too madcap and silly, and shatters the fragile suspension of disbelief supporting the premise. Though Fiona’s presence this time may have had something to do with it too. I find her pretty tiresome and kind of misogynistic, and her schtick is basically the same gag played out over and over. Which wouldn’t be nearly as bad if it was funny in the first place.
As such, I don’t have a lot else to say here. Unlike that S1 disaster this one seems to be manga canon, so no passing the buck to the anime staff here. It’s just depressing that it’s carrying over for two episodes when there’s not really enough good material even for one. While the idea of tennis as a “Fight Club” spectacle is kind of funny, the actual event was pretty dreary. I guess if anything this kind of reveals the bind Endou is in. S x F can’t take itself too seriously, but it’s really not good at being flat-out absurdist. There seems to be a pretty narrow tonal band within which it works, and when it strays outside that things start to deteriorate quickly. Generally Endou knows where that sweet spot is and does a good job hitting it – but not always.
Of course, SpyFam was the #3 selling manga franchise in the world last year (after only JJK and Tokyo Revengers, beating out One Piece) and is an unquestioned commercial blockbuster. So I’m probably the wrong one to ask about what works about it and what doesn’t.
Simone
December 4, 2022 at 10:05 pmWell, in the end this is still just a few chapters in the midst of a whole series, so I wouldn’t say the Oricon rankings would suffer from such a single dip in quality as a whole. I do wonder however how long the flame will burn at this rate because of SxF’s *other* chronic problems – its inability to advance significantly its main plot and its inability to properly address Yor’s profession or just generally change the family’s status quo, due to exactly the same tonal problems you bring up. Doing either of those things would almost inevitably force the series out of its tonal comfort zone (in the other direction, the serious and dark one) and it Just Can’t Do That (I wonder how much of that is editorial fiat though).
Guardian Enzo
December 4, 2022 at 10:32 pmThe Damian subplot is the most well-supported and interesting thing Endou stuck in here, and it has the bonus that the interactions between Anya, Damian, and Becky are consistently the funniest thing in the series. It’s criminally underutilized.
Efreet
December 5, 2022 at 5:15 amHonestly i really liked this and the castle episode, since it’s primarily a comedic serie i think it’s at it’s best with silly stuff.
The real issue is there is really not a lot to adapt, i went to take a look at chapter numbers while trying not to have any spoiler and they basically already covered half the material with 22 episodes, no wonder the plot doesn’t advance.
They went for the bucks and started adapting into anime way too soon.
Jen
December 5, 2022 at 8:06 amWhile Yuri and Fiona feel the same, but I feel I can let Yuri go on the account that he is actually capable of being an active player in the main Eden plot (if the author wanted to actually use that potential). With Fiona, it’s a question of… why. It’s a comedy first kind of show but she isn’t really that funny to me.
Guardian Enzo
December 5, 2022 at 12:42 pmAnd that right there is the nut of the problem.
Lims
December 5, 2022 at 10:01 pmI feel like we have added characters for the sake of something new rather than moving the story/plot along. Maybe I am mistaken, we will see, but I have suspicions Fiona will be just like Yuri – popping up here and there for the comedy moments.
Nicc
December 6, 2022 at 8:56 amI have to agree that this episode didn’t work for me, either. Just like with Yuri, Fiona/Nightfall is fine in small doses. A whole episode of it? The sukiiiii got old really quick. The technical presentation was fine and the tennis action was nicely animated. Otherwise, the episode fell flat for me.
Okay, perhaps the two roided up guys was a reference to the systematic state doping that occurred in the GDR. Otherwise, I don’t have much to say. It looks like the next episode will have more tennis shenanigans, but I’m divided on whether the final result should still superficially resemble tennis or that they should double-down on the absurdity and turn it into Calvinball. The preview seems to suggest that Fiona and Yor may try a bit of tennis? It’s unknown if Yor knows how to play tennis, but considering her ludicrous strength, the she could probably launch a serve that goes Mach 2.
Marty
December 6, 2022 at 10:44 pmThis episode was a nice, solid, “meh” for me.
While I don’t mind the spy antics for the sake of comedy (its when they try to be serious that it falls flat for me), its not nearly as funny as the Edén academy sections of the story.
I’m starting to suspect that SxF is beginning to be a victim of the Shounen Jump model. Because these stories are geared to stretch out as long as possible, the main plot moves at a GLACIAL pace. To acomódate for this, new characters and subplots are introduced. However, if these turn out to be duds, then that’s a bit of a problem.
At least from a “quality” perspective. From a popularity perspective, keep giving people what they want, more moeblob and animation, and they will eat it right up.
Joshua
December 7, 2022 at 2:26 amafaik this arc wasn’t particularly well liked in the manga either. Add a torturous, erratic bi-weekly schedule to the proceedings (during the pandemic I may add) and you can tell that Endo had to change things up considerably after this arc (which hopefully we’ll get to see after next week). The adaptation is better only by the fact that viewers don’t have to wait literally 2 months just for the end like manga readers had to sit through.