FIF#155-Spy x Family

Agent Twilight is one of the greatest spies in the world, the ultimate secret weapon of the nation of Westalis.  In order to complete his latest assignment: infiltrating an elite private school, Twilight must do the one thing he never imagined he’d have to do as a spy: get married and adopt a child.  While this comes surprisingly naturally to Twilight, he has no idea what he’s landed himself in.  His wife, Yor, a City Hall Employee, is secretly an Assassin; and his daughter, Anya, is a Telepath.  With Twilight unaware of these factors, he must find a way to become both a caring parent and loving husband if he is to complete his mission and protect world peace. 
 
Spy x Family is one of the most anticipated titles of 2022 and for a while, I couldn’t figure out why or how it would work.  A Spy, an Assassin, and a toddler who can read minds, all living under the same roof mostly unaware of each others skills and professions…it sound like a live action sitcom or a cheesy 2000’s rom com.  Either A. everyone is super good at keeping their cover, or B. everyone acts like they know it all but theyre actually kind of stupid.  Thankfully, the answer leans closer to A but also, it doesn’t matter because this shows first two episodes are A+ gold material.  In fact, I was saving this First Impression for later this summer and it was only going to be focused on the first episode.  Buuuuut then I saw Episode Two, which I think is needed and I’ll explain why in a second, and I knew I had to bump it up.  This show is going to work and here’s why.
 
It’s the main trio.  Nevermind the setup or the importance of Twilights mission, it’s all about the formation of one of the most unintended dysfunctional families in Anime in recent years.  You have Twilight, aka Loid: Super serious, dedicated to the mission down to the slightest detail.  Then there’s Yor, who’s a good contender for Best Girl of 2022 (up there with Marin Kitagawa from My Dress Up Darling, we’ll get to that on FIF): beautiful, aloof but wickedly good at killing.  And finally there’s Anya, the most adorable Himouto who isn’t the least bit scared of her new surroundings, hell she loves it.  The first episode works on the chemistry between Loid and Anya and all of Anya’s cute antics throw Loid for such a loop it’s great.  Yor doesn’t appear in the first episode, hence why I had to check out Episode Two.  We don’t see much of her and Anya together but the whirlwind first encounter between Yor and Loid is so great, it’s hard to tell if they’ve genuinely fallen for one another or if this is all just sheer dumb luck for Loid and his mission.  Either way, I’m all here for this little family unit.
 
It's actually quite amazing, the writing in Spy x Family.  The whole premise is set on everyone not knowing who everyone is (save for Anya cause she’s psychic).  And yet wow, like I said, everyone is either really gullible or everyone is really good at keeping their secrets.  From Loid showing up at Yor’s coworkers party all bloody or Anya being able to read Loid’s mind to gauge her next responses, this shouldn’t work so well, but it does.  And then there’s Loid and Yor being pursued by an army of art thieves looking to kill Loid.  Both showoff incredible combat skills but never put two and two together.  Sure, Yor says she was trained in self defense (and is also adept at using those amazing legs to catch super hot trays of food).  But I don’t think Loid has as strong an excuse.  And yet, by the end of Episode Two, their (fake) romance is in full swing…it’s so damn fascinating.
 
Spy x Family has a very fun setup, though I wonder how long it can go on for before it becomes a little stale.  I guess this mission will end up being longer than Loid intended, and we see he’s taking other jobs on the side to keep busy.  Also how will anyone be able to keep their secrets secret from one another…except for Anya who knows all and is loving it in the most innocent and excited way?  Plenty of questions linger after Spy x Family’s first two episode.  So…yeah I think this’ll be a good one to continue on with, if only to see how the family dynamic works with such secrets looming over the whole thing.  Not gonna lie though, even without Yor, the bond between Twilight and Anya is proof enough that this show has a good thing going for it (though Yor is absolutely perfect and a welcome critical component for the show).  Alright, let’s see where this goes.