In this week’s Spy x Family, we see the conclusion to the dinner party with Yor’s brother Yuri. While a bit light on jokes, the narrative progress and character development seen throughout make up for the relative lack of laughs.
First up, the cliffhanger kiss is resolved. The way they wrap that up is as ridiculous as you could hope, with Yuri bleeding all over and leaving while angry about how great Loid is. The Briar siblings being drunk leads to some goofy back-and-forth, with Loid stuck in the middle. Seeing Loid feel envious of the connection Yor and Yuri have feels like a turning point for him, as he becomes less of a spy and more of a person.
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This episode has a bit more Anya than the previous one, thankfully, being her ridiculous self. Alongside some great gags involving how cool she assumes the secret police are, Anya’s telepathy allows her to sense that Yor and Loid are having some difficulties in maintaining their various secrets.
Yor’s doubts about being a proper wife, combined with Loid’s fears of Yor being a spy due to her brother’s job with the secret police, make for some interesting character drama. Having to constantly keep secrets from everyone, including one another, is clearly getting to them, which makes sense. I mentioned it last week, but almost every single major character is hiding something from the others, like Anya’s telepathy, Yor’s assassinations, Loid’s spying, and Yuri’s secret job. Throw on further lies, like the Forger marriage or Loid’s relation to Anya, and you have a very intricate and difficult situation. I’m curious to see if this is ever cleared up, or if it becomes even more extreme going forward.
Loid has even further development in this episode, going from bugging Yor to see if she’s a spy to encouraging her and telling her she’s great. The entire disguised interrogation, and Loid’s guilt following it, show that he is having much more difficulty in separating his feelings for this family from this mission. I hope this leads to more of an honest bond in the Forger family, as all three members keep growing closer, no matter how hard they try to avoid it.
This was an all-around enjoyable continuation of the story that started last week, thanks to some strong character development and silly moments. A bit more Anya would have been nice, but the impressive character moments made for a much more intimate and story-focused episode.
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As for next week’s preview, it seems like we’ll be getting a school-focused, Anya-heavy episode. I can’t wait to see the shenanigans she gets into, as her relationships with most of the students are on tumultuous ground.
SCORE: 8/10
As ComingSoon’s review policy explains, a score of 8 equates to “Great.” While there are a few minor issues, this score means that the art succeeds at its goal and leaves a memorable impact.
Disclosure: The critic watched the episode on Crunchyroll for ComingSoon’s Spy x Family Season 1 Episode 9 – Show Off How in Love You Are review.
