Spy X Family 3 – 04

Back to normal mode for SxF this week, after an interesting if discordant trip into Loid’s past. It’s a two-parter this time, with no Forgers at all in the first. A famous opera singer named Wellman from Ostania is going to perform a “unity concert” in Westalis, and Handler has her hands full in trying to keep thee forces of evil (and just a general nutter) from turning this to their advantage.

This is sort of generically okay, but schizoid in the way Spy X Family so often is. It comments rather smartly on the way right-wing forces (overtly called out as such) manipulate the media to try and fan the flames of xenophobia and war (certainly in Japan not least). But the material itself is incredibly broad and frankly insultingly dumb at times. The young kid at the agency is impossibly dumb for the purposes of kicking the plot forward – no other reason.

As you would expect, the Eden chapter featuring Henderson-sensei is far better. In part these segments work because it’s the venue where the series can be silly and funny without it directly undercutting the themes it’s theoretically trying to expound on. I also just think Henderson is a great character. He’s funny, yes, but also pretty realistic and relatable. He truly, genuinely wants to be the best mentor he can be for the chibis in his care (and his advice legitimately wise most of the time). Including Anya, who’s dim-witted attempts at conversation are a perpetual test for him. If this sort of thing was the whole show it wouldn’t exactly be a world-beater, but it would certainly be overall more charming.

Ranma ½ (2025)

I gotta say again, one of the great pleasure of this reboot is listening to the seiyuu just go off. Ohtsuka Akio doing screwball comedy (which he’s low-key great at) is such a rare occurrence. Anytime Tomokazu Seki (Ichirou from the broadcasting club) or Yamadera Kouichi (Jusenkyo Guide – and Ryouga of course) get a chance to riff is pure hilarity. And of course all the core seiyuu in their “normal” roles are top shelf. I’m not sure there’s been a series with this many true legends in the cast – hardly anyone seems to be missing (and one of the very best is soon to join, albeit under less than ideal circumstances).

If I have a complaint about this season (apart from Cologne and Mousse being kinda mid for me) it’s that Ryouga has hardly been around. But we got a big dose of Souun and Ichirou this week, in one of the series’ most uproarious episodes yet. It starts with another witty cold open (art gallery) and jumps right to the beach. Ranma is still in hot pursuit of Cologne at the Phoenix Pill, and follows her to the beach cafe where she’s currently hanging out. I don’t remember if this happened in the manga or the ’89, but girl-Ranma wearing a bathing suit that says “Boy” had me in stitches.

The whole watermelon “race” is classic Ranma ½. It’s utterly stupid in an irresistible way, and peppered through with Tomokazu’s hilarious commentary (calling Cologne a mummy was a personal favorite). Akane, not content to watch Ranma get roughed up by Baba, dives into the water and sinks like a stone. Ranma spits out “Ahou” bubbles and comes to her rescue as Cologne rides in on a shark, and then makes a shark out of water to kick their asses with. Meanwhile Shampoo offers her own unique take on things (Sakuma Rei’s performance is another consistent highlight).

Watching this adaptation play out, it’s easy to imagine how badly wrong things could go if they weren’t being handled the right way. But Mappa, to their credit, are doing just that. This has to be done with total abandon and it can hardly be argued that it isn’t. As hazy as my memories are I’m starting to be convinced that this is the better version, though to be fair to the ’89 this one has been adapting what’s generally the best part of the manga.