#doggy crisis arc

[eldraftsman]

Day 22: Favorite arc?

I don't know if favorite is the word I would use, but the one I certainly think encapsulates the appeal of the series the best is still the Doggy Crisis arc. All the other arcs have varying degrees of effectiveness, and offer something interesting and unique from each other. But I find these other arcs lean too much into one direction at the expense of other facets of the series (which is perfectly fair). That... or they just drop the ball somewhere(which is... less so).

The Cruiser Adventure arc? Finally lets Yor shine, and has a very cathartic, heartwarming conclusion... at the cost of having Loid be a sitting duck throughout the middle for reasons that at times feel contrived and forced (a problem Endo himself admitted to have). And to be honest, Mr. Samurai isn't very interesting as a final opponent. The Tennis Tournament? Great comedy and some romantic development, but Fiona did feel like a change in tone and the squabble is entirely internal with espionage being secondary if not tertiary. The Bus hijacking? Finally an antagonist worth remembering, but the conclusion felt a little anti-climactic and FUCK how Loid was handled in that last bit. Both flashbacks(Loid's Backstory and the Martha one)? Excellent if not masterful commentary on the nature of war and how it affects people... but while I can have that and more just fine(being used to extremely dark fiction), they sacrificed the more light hearted aspects of the series and got a little too depressing for other readers.

Meanwhile, the Doggy Crisis has this spot on balance of comedy, drama, action and family antics. It really has it all: tense moments, great chase sequences, absolutely hilarious bits of Anya being a child interjected with the prior tension, character goals that overlap the silly and mundane with much more urgent circumstances, has commentary on war and violent conflict, and the ending is appropriately heartwarming with a new member of the Forger family joining in. Plus, the character actions feel well justified and organic, and lets them shine as a unit that works together even if unadvertedly. They play into each other, are active throughout so it doesn't feel like the story has to restrain them for the sake of the circumstances and as such they get all at least a really awesome moment each (even if Yor admittedly isn't allowed to be in her element).

Let's make clear that keeping a perfect balance of everything isn't always the best course of action and that it only makes sense stories change in tone over time or when the situation demands it. I do really love some of the more dramatic arcs when they get going, and I don't mind the more comedic ones either. But MAN, I really want another arc that has all these elements play into each other so flawlessly again.

[yumeka-sxf]

Japanese Linguistic Observations in Spy x Family - part 3

Part 3 - Yor's keigo

I discussed in part 1 about the different levels of speech in Japanese, particularly how Twilight changes his speech depending on the persona he's donning. He uses keigo, the standard polite form of speech, when he's acting as Loid Forger, but uses casual speech as Twilight. Yor, however, uses keigo all the time, to a degree that some would feel is excessive, but also makes sense for her character.

Keigo is the most basic form of polite speech in Japanese. It's the speech that's taught in pretty much every beginner Japanese learning course because it's the "safest" for most situations. Without getting too technical, it basically involves using the polite conjugations of verbs. All verbs in Japanese have a "polite" conjugation form that's used in keigo. For example, the verb "to go," 行く (iku), will change to 行きます (ikimasu): change the く(ku) to き (ki) and add -ます (-masu). -masu itself is then conjugated further to show past tense, negative tense, etc. Likewise, one would use です (desu) as the "to be" verb instead of its casual equivalent だ (da). For example, saying 車です (kuruma desu), which means "there is a car" instead of 車だ (kuruma da). It's even more casual to leave out the "to be" verb altogether.

Unlike Twilight, who changes his speech depending on who he's talking to or which facade he's using, Yor consistently uses keigo, whether she's talking to an adult like Loid, a child like Anya, and even an animal like Bond. She uses keigo with strangers as well, even those who are antagonistic to her, like the other assassins in the cruise arc.

Even at times when using polite speech isn't warranted, like in her own thoughts, she still uses keigo regardless.

In addition to using keigo with pretty much everyone, she also uses the polite -さん (-san) honorific with everyone's names as well. It's not unusual to do this with fellow adults like Loid, Camilla, and Franky, but when it comes to kids, especially when they're not your own kids, other honorifics are also an option. For example, adults can use the honorifics -ちゃん (-chan) for little girls and -くん (-kun) for little boys, both of which denote endearment to someone young/cute. Loid calls Damian "Damian-kun" and Fiona calls Anya "Anya-chan" for example. But Yor uses "-san" for Anya, Damian, Becky, and probably every other kid she hasn't met yet! She uses "-san" with animals as well, which isn't nearly as common. She's the only one who calls Bond "Bond-san" and she even called the cat Kopi from chapter 43, "Kopi-san."

She also uses "-san" for people whose names she doesn't know, and in some cases, probably shouldn't show respect to. She calls the terrorists from the doggy crisis arc "terrorist-san", bad guys that she takes out on her missions "warumono-san," Olka's group "mafia-san," and the other assassins from the cruise arc "koroshiya-san."

The only exception to Yor's excessive use of keigo is Yuri, which makes sense since it's standard practice to be more casual with a younger relative than an older relative or someone outside the family. He's the only person she refers to without "-san" (she just calls him "Yuri"). And while she does use the informal verb forms with him, she still uses "desu" and its conjugations. So overall, she's more casual with him, but not completely so.

When talking about herself, Yor uses the standard, gender-neutral, polite word for "I"/"me," 私 (watashi). However, when talking to others, she never uses any form of "you." Like I mentioned in part 1 about how there's different ways of saying "I" and "me" in Japanese depending on the speech level, the same is true for "you." But it's always more polite to say someone's name or title instead of "you," and Yor does that all the time. Just like in part 2 how I couldn't recall any instance where Anya says "I" or "me" since she always refers to herself in third person, I can't recall any time Yor called someone "you" instead of saying their name or title.

While Loid uses the casual "you" word お前 (omae) when talking to Anya, Bond, Franky, and anyone else he doesn't have to be polite with, he doesn't use any form of "you" for Yor. He speaks to her the same way she does to him – saying her name plus "-san" instead of using "you."

Unlike English, Japanese is a language where you don't have to say pronouns if it's understood by the context, which is why something like this is difficult to convey in a translation.

I think it's an interesting contrast that Twilight is constantly changing how he speaks depending on whether he's acting as Loid Forger, as a spy, whether he's conversing with a fellow spy like Fiona, a casual friend like Franky, someone he respects but can't be fully open with like Yor, and even how he talks to himself in his head…yet Yor is the total opposite. As I've discussed in this post, she's extremely consistent in her speech, never straying from being polite no matter who she's speaking to or whether she's in her Thorn Princess role or not, or even whether she's speaking to herself in her head or not. This just further proves that, while Yor has to keep her assassin job a secret, she doesn't have to create a fake persona for it. Unlike Twilight, who acts one way as a spy and another way as Loid Forger, and perhaps another as his "true" self, Yor doesn't feel the need to hide anything about herself other than her job as an assassin – Thorn Princess and Yor Forger are the same person who shows respect for others no matter what her relationship is with them.

Such excessive use of keigo is odd for a fluent speaker, but it's not unheard of. There are plenty of examples of characters from other anime/manga who use keigo all the time too. I think it gives us an interesting, subtle look into their character. In Yor's case, I think her constant use of keigo comes from a combination of her sweet personality that never wants to offend anyone, but also her poor self-esteem. After all, keigo and other polite forms of Japanese speech are meant to elevate the listener while humbling the speaker. Yor speaks politely to everyone because she simply wants to be kind to everyone and make them feel comfortable, even those she has to kill, but at the same time, she often feels inferior to others.

However, there are rare exceptions where Yor stops using keigo which are, appropriately, during very suspenseful, high-stakes moments where politeness would be the least of her worries. For example, during her fight with Barnaby when she realizes she's holding back, she starts using casual speech. But she goes back to keigo before too long.

But probably the most notable example of her completely dropping keigo is near the end of her big battle against the assassins on the cruise ship, where she finally comes to realize what she's fighting for. During her whole epiphany scene – starting from when she thinks of Yuri and herself as kids until she stands up and says she won't stop fighting – she switches completely to casual speech.

There are many ways to interpret this, but I think it shows what an emotional revelation this was for her: she remembered that the suffering in the world is what caused her to want to protect Yuri from any kind of tragedy, and now the same can be said for Loid, Anya, and Bond. She remembered the words of acceptance she heard from Loid when they first met, words no one else had likely ever said to her before. She realized that she didn't care what happened to her as long as she could stop anything bad from happening to her loved ones – in that moment, no formalities were necessary with such intense self-reflection.

Continue to Part 4 ->

<- Return to Part 2

[sy-on-boy]

My 2 cents on the plot / thematic relevance of Ch 95

This is not about advancing Plot B or showing Anya's school life (which is still true but has been discussed), but rather the overall theme of education and war. There was an excellent post about how Eden is at the frontline of the cold war and it is subtly shown through the innocent lens of the first graders (I can't find it now, would link it if I could). And I think that perfectly applies to Ch 95.

Quick recap on some references about education/students/war throughout the series (that I remember at the moment):

Sylvia gravely condemning the Berlint University Student Terrorists during the Doggy Crisis arc (Ch 20) and saying "did you learn nothing about war at your university?"

Henderson talking about his experience as a history teacher (Ch 27.5, Short Mission 4) and quote: "Yes, well, I have always maintained that there is nothing to be learned from the memorization of time lines. From the grand efforts with which our forefathers crafted society to the foolish notions that sent them racing to war, to not study the human element at history's root is to not understand history at all"

Note that Damian's best subject has been established to be history, and his family (father) has been involved in war, at least Donovan was PM during most of the war (established by Melinda in Ch 91). Donovan is also a graduated Imperial Scholar (Ch 64).

The Red Circus group started out as a peaceful student demonstration "advocating for peace and quality" (Ch 72) and "speaking out to protect the weakest members of our society". And Billy Squire said, "We were a respectable movement that fought for our cause with respectable means. It was the state that turned violent against us. So I'm not taking criticism from a member of the establishment (referring to Henderson, an educator). I'm gonna see to it that they reap what they've sown." Billy's daughter Biddy was killed by the state at a protest.

Less of a point, but Becky is the daughter of the CEO of a major military manufacturer. Despite their very likely involvement in military conflicts because they sell arms, the Blackbell cohort has been depicted positively so far: Becky being a kind, wonderful friend to Anya, Becky's father doting on her, and Martha again being kind and dignified (and also being an ex-soldier and acquainted with Henderson).

Eden Academy is a major setting for SxF and the themes of politics, education, and war are embedded in it. The students involved in protests/groups are older (the university students, Billy's daughter), but the political implications remain even among the youngest of the students— the first graders.

Hence, Ch 95. When mere first graders are shown to fight to gain connections, which can be political as pointed out by Henderson: "In the world of politics, dances serve as major social events". But of course, they are kids, so they see it more playfully and innocently, especially Becky with her shipper lens on.

Of course, there is also the aspect of getting to know other people better out of interest (the boys asking Anya and Becky to dance because they were impressed after the bus hijacking). But as people have mentioned, nobody mentions this to Damian despite him being equally involved in saving the class (all three of them got a star). The girls aren't interested in Damian as a person, they're interested in him as an asset because of his family and their power.

And I can see the teachers trying to diffuse the tension and create camaraderie with their friendly competition. To me, this reads as the teachers fully realizing "the battlefield of political maneuvering", and they want to remind the kids to have fun, to show good sportsmanship, to unite the kids, to operate as a class and be friendly with one another, and overall make it more lighthearted. It's nice to see the classes work together and get excited / win as a unit, especially compared to the more "individual" bits of fighting for a dance partner later.

We get a bit of comparison between Bill and Damian, with Bill showing good sportsmanship while Damian scoffs at him. But Damian ends up becoming ultra competitive and telling his classmates to not screw it up.

Like the Dodgeball chapter, Damian is clumsily attempting to lead the class by doing good in his quiz, while getting stressed and yelling at his peers when they don't succeed like he did. So he's not really a good leader. Like how him being good at history does not necessarily mean he is good at being peaceful (Short Mission 4 ends with Henderson staring in exasperation at Damian + Anya bickering with each other). But obviously, he is merely a child, and he is naturally immature.

At first Loid is all for advancing Plan B and analysed Anya's suitors in a rational (reductionist?) way by ranking them in terms of gaining intelligence, but he remembers this is just a dance, Anya is a kid, and she should do whatever she wants. Loid (and the adults) are very aware of the political side of the gala, but ultimately they want the kids to have fun and not worry / worry less about politics.

Because they're kids! They'll grow up and learn more and be politically active later, but right now, they're just kids. Kids who don't know much about the world but are eager to make the world a better place.

In the end, we get a panel of Anya and Loid "teaming up" to win Damian's hand for Plan B / world peace. The Damian-Anya dynamic is cushioned with the silly crushy feelings, but underneath it, Operation Strix continues to be a core motivation.

I find it interesting that Endo chooses to focus on the first graders and their innocent view of the world / politics. It's embedded everywhere and especially in a prominent school like Eden, but the kids don't really realise it / realise the severity of it. Heirs and heiresses are educated at Eden and grow up to have incredible influence and the power to shape the world. Our protagonist's best friend comes from a family that manufactures arms. Henderson mentions the importance of learning history to avoid making the same mistakes (ie. war).

So Ch 95 is a cute prom chapter. But I think it also helps to show the themes underneath the fun, bubbly interactions.

[connoisseursdecomfort]

Twilight and his guilt/mistakes - Ch.86-107

[Manga spoiler alert]

Once upon a time, Loid "for the mission" Forger thinks in full sentences.

However, regarding his family, Twilight slowly moves from confirmed statements he states in his head to questions. We see him looking at Anya and Bond in the park miserably after the doggy crisis arc, thinking how he would have to leave his family. (Ch.23) After the tennis arc the confirmed statement has turned into hesitation, "Any lie can be justified, if it's in the name of peace... Huh?" (Ch.35) Towards the end of the cruise arc, we see him wondering to himself:

Chapter 75 is unsatisfying because we expect Twilight to give us his thoughts, like he's always done before.

But in ch.75, we get nothing:

Ch.83 gave us something similar to the previous pattern. Twilight asked himself this important question, "Why did you hesitate?" (ch.83). We got an indirect answer.

In ch.86, he tried to give us Yor his thoughts (I've talked about them here), but he didn't finish them (because of Yuri):

Ch.86 is the beginning of a new pattern of Twilight's thoughts: 1. he always finds his own imperfections/mistakes when he tries to be the spy; and 2. he no longer offers us his thoughts about the Forgers in complete sentences (although to be fair we know he loves them and that's not up for debate).

Every time he has to act as Twilight [the spy] an expanding crack in Twilight's "disguise" is revealed. In ch.92 and 107, [redacted] wants to do something for the mission and ends up thinking outside of the mission:

In ch.107, he's reminded once again how his missions, including his side missions, could hurt his family. In the bus arc, he's not there because he's on a side mission and had to run back "for nothing". In the Wheeler's arc, he almost killed Yor's brother because of his side mission (that was until he heard Yuri calling Yor's name). And here in ch.107:

And like in ch.86, he again didn't give us a full sentence: "Even so, I..." ("And therefore...")

Ch.92 and 107 have one thing in common - he's so eager to do his spy stuffs in the beginning, so much so we can see the sound of him calculating in ch.107.

But his mind grew quiet when he felt the guilt. Things still went his way, but was he as happy as he thought he would be?

He had a realisation during the Wheeler arc. What he would tell us (for now) is that he realises that he has failed as a spy. He (or should we say Endo) didn't show us explicitly what he thought about how he should deal with his family.

Endo dropped us hints though - ch.94 and 103. I think I will make an analysis on ch.103 so I'll only talk about ch.94 here. Is Twilight still "acting"? Yes, but he's not doing it for the mission. If in the cruise arc he often had to remind himself that it's a vacation (so is it a mission or a vacation), in ch.94 he knows it's not for the mission. He didn't even think about the mission in this chapter right after he told himself to forget about Anya's tonitrus bolts.

Ch.94 is the first vacation he actively takes. He's smiling the whole time. To think that during the cruise arc, this man had difficulties taking a vacation.

Ch.94 shows us that he's happy with his family as long as he doesn't think about the mission. The more he tries to act like Twilight, the more he notices about his own mistakes.

But that's fine. Endo gave us a hint which is unfortunately not shown in the English version. In ch.92, Ji-jiji told Anya something. In English, it's translated to be "Whenever you find a pitfall, it makes the road easier to walk the next time."

But there's a note next to the word "pitfall" that reads まちがい (間違い), meaning "mistake(s)". Who's been finding tonnes of his own faults lately? This guy.

But I believe in Ji-jiji. And I think Twilight will find the way.

[riacte]

fuck it. dunmeshi au (succubus arc version)

the gang is exploring. ren gets distracted by something and wanders off. eventually false calls him back because she's the head ren wrangler— but is it actually false? ren is happy to see "false" and starts enthusiastically yapping about monsters. he asks if they should go back (since false is always adamant on the team not splitting) and false is like "yeah, probably, but you can continue talking :)". ren is really excited by her endorsement then false tells him that she's always been grateful for his dungeon knowledge and hopes they get to adventure together forever after this is all over. ren is :D for half a second, then his rational brain breaks through the succubus effect because this false is ooc and she would NEVER directly tell him her intentions because she's Like That. it's too late and ren falls unconscious.

meanwhile martyn and false are trying to find ren. false spots a small furry creature in the corner of her eye and she's like 🤨⁉️ (she's paranoid of everything). but her curiosity gets the better of her and she follows the creature, which turns out to be a silly looking doggy. it's specifically engineered to lower false's defences so she's like "aww, its face is so stupid, how can it be harmful?". she's about to reach out and pat it when it suddenly transforms into fuckass ren. false is stunned then she sees a dazed martyn behind her and she instantly understands. she shoots "ren" straight through the heart and martyn is like "DUDE YOU KILLED HIM??" and she goes "MATE WAKE THE FLIP UP IT'S AN OVERSIZED MOSQUITO!!!"

martyn and false kill each other's succubi and revive ren. ren is Extremely Embarrassed about the entire ordeal so they leave him to rest on his own. nosy false instantly turns to martyn and goes "👀 soooo mister 'no workplace romance' seems to have caught ~feelings~ for our leader 👀". martyn defensively splutters out something before acting nonchalant and saying nothing is going to happen because he's a long lived race (elf) and ren is not so he's not going to bother. martyn has always been practical about his workplace relationships and never gets too involved. he's a wanderer who goes everywhere and stays nowhere, but being with ren feels like home, and he hates it because he'll outlive ren for hundreds of years. false can't really emphasize because she's also a short lived race like ren, so she pats martyn's shoulder.

meanwhile ren is going through a Crisis and he hates himself for "imposing his selfish wishes" on false and creating a fake ideal version of her because he doesn't want her to leave. also he just finds it really embarrassing and he knows the party will get the wrong idea and execute him. honestly he feels so bad about it that he might just execute himself. he's stewing in his angst when false comes over and jokes about his succubus like "it's not embarrassing if you saw martyn in a miniskirt, we ALL KNOW how you feel about that 👀" and ren is like hahaha lol but inwardly he wants to kill himself because it would be so much more straightforward if his succubus was romantic/sexual in nature. he feels better when false starts roasting him because that is how false actually acts and he needs to be sobered up. ren gets scared because false always reads him well so he conjures up some bullshit excuse about how his succubus relates to a Tragic Backstory from his past before he met her, and he knows false respects him and will leave it alone.

the party teases ren about seeing hot men/women as his succubus and martyn is not-so-subtly trying to suss out what ren saw. ren retorts by questioning what martyn and false saw, those two go 👀 at each other and decide not to comment. ren gets jealous of their solidarity and how they know each other's secrets but not him (lmfao bro fumbled) and they go "well you're not telling US your succubus either!!!".

anyways false's succubus is a cute and cuddly creature because it reflects her desire to not be seen as scary. she has a Tragic Backstory of being raised as a child assassin or something. for a long time, she only knew how to kill and backstab and scam, and she intended to scam ren but she accidentally got attached and it snowballed into forming an actual party with him. when she's with the party, she's not the intimidating, aloof killer. she's paranoid and skittish, doesn't like eating "weird stuff", she can be cute and quirky, and yay friendship. sometimes she wants to be seen as silly and harmless. it's a dog because that's the form ren took when he went into her nightmare to wake her up. martyn is confused about false's succubus but he wisely chooses not to prod because he knows she'll just be making fun of his.

ren decides to never ever ask false to stay with him. when this is all done and he's king, he assumes false is gonna go off and have fun exploring, and false goes "...??? yeah??? byeeee ren. good riddance. i'm so done with you". he throws a big farewell party and accompanies her to the border. ren has come to terms with false leaving and does a dramatic speech. false is skittish and standing there like 🧍‍♀️. false then complains about being scared of the outside world and ren is like ":D??? you survived the dungeon and you're so good at fighting?? :D" and she goes "🥺 i'm used to scary things inside the dungeon, not outside of it! 🥺". ren is confused. false is confused. in the end false twaddles her way into staying inside the kingdom and ren is honestly a bit pissed because he spent so much effort sending her off 😭. but at least it confirms ren's assumption that false will never directly say what she wants.

[noxribles]

(sxf manga spoiler) nobody asked and im probably

stating the obvious here but since this current arc started ive had a lot of thoughts about the possibility of yuri figuring out that loid is twilight. and since today im blessed with the rare ability to form coherent thoughts, ill be dumping them here.

while i agree that yuri being the first to find out about loid's secret identity would lead to the juiciest plot development, i dont think yuri would be connecting the dots anytime soon, as evident in the latest chapter:

concussion or not, loid and twilight pose as opposite images in yuri's head. while yuri may hate twilight's guts (thanks to sss conditioning), he considers twilight as something "great". twilight is this very competent spy whos been operating right under their nose, stealing information and undermining ostania's security for (what i assume) quite some time now. and he keeps evading capture, even when he's right in front of them, like in the doggy crisis arc before. the entire sss seem to acknowledge how great of a spy twilight is and why capturing him is a matter of utmost importance.

on the other hand, yuri hates loid forger because he's conviced that loid is an incompetent, lying, and cheating man who is inferior and undeserving of his sister. and while yuri has made a comment about loid being a spy to his superior before, i believe this is some kind of an offhand comment in a desperate attempt to find a reason to get the man who "stole" his sister out of the picture.

i think these opposing impressions would simply hinder yuri from superimposing twilight's legendary reputation onto the "loser" loid forger (not soon anyway). even if he were to notice loid's wounds from their fight, it would go over his head as something like "stupid loi-loi. of course he's an incompetent doctor, he doesnt deserve my sister. i should have him arrested."

it will, however, be something in the back of his mind, something he's not conscious of. but later on in the story progression, yuri's memory of how twilight chose to mimic him, twilight not finishing him off, and loid's wounds might be somehing that will finally allow the pieces to click together, and the suspicion and investigation begins. (hopefully it'll also kickstart his character development and freedom from sss brainwashing because, turns out, his brother-in-law is not that bad!)

but in the near future after this arc (and it better ends with yor successfully giving loid that welcome home kiss), i think loid forger will be somewhere in the bottom of yuri's list of "suspicious people around me who might be twilight" (somehow anya would be higher on that list than loid).

anyways, thank you for attending my ramblings and it will sure be funny if my thoughts turn out completely wrong

heres a peanut for a treat 🥜

[ao3feed-twiyor]

The Counting Clock

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/YqQlS2p by JunoDawn What if Anya did enlist her mother's help to stop her father’s death, catch the terrorist and save peace? --- Children cry. A lot. In frustration, from disappointment, over minor scares... Eventually you get a sense for the difference between a cry over something they'd call "no big deal" when they grow up, and a cry over something serious. The latter sends a jolt right to the chest. Summons a primal fear felt in every nerve and fibre of the body. "M-Mama, I’m scared." Words: 1823, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English Fandoms: SPY x FAMILY (Manga), SPY x FAMILY (Anime) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: F/M Characters: Loid Forger | Twilight, Yor Briar Forger | Thorn Princess, Anya Forger, Bond (SPY x FAMILY), Keith Kepler, Sylvia Sherwood | Handler, WISE Agents (SPY x FAMILY), Shopkeeper (SPY x FAMILY), Franky Franklin Relationships: Loid Forger | Twilight/Yor Briar Forger | Thorn Princess, Anya Forger & Loid Forger | Twilight & Yor Briar Forger | Thorn Princess Additional Tags: doggy crisis arc, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Honesty, Protective Parents, Identity Reveal, Swearing, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Project Apple (SPY x FAMILY), Garden (SPY x FAMILY), WISE (SPY x FAMILY) read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/YqQlS2p

[dk-wren]

Twilight's Masks

As I've gone back and reread chp. 84, as well as looked through others reactions, theories, observations, etc., one thing has kinda been lingering in my mind. Now, I will preface this by saying I got into sxf through its anime and have gone back to read the manga (but not in its entirety yet), so perhaps my observation is wrong.

This is a bit of a drafted thought, but Twilight is the master of disguise and I think it's fair to say, pretty well known for his mask (which is how he disguises himself so well). Therefore, whenever he is finished with a mission and/or disguise, it's always him removing it. In chp. 1/episode 1, we literally meet Twilight as he pulls off one mask and moves into his next disguise.

As he rescues Anya after she is kidnapped, in the, what I would consider, iconic panel, Twilight removes and throws away his mask, the same mask that labels him as a spy. This example of Twilight removing his mask seems like a moment of clarity or perhaps a reminder of why he is a spy. He is removing his mask and letting [redacted] come out a little bit as he recalls his purpose.

Moving on a little later when Twilight and Franky stop Yor as SSS agents, we again see Twilight remove his mask and perhaps show a little bit of emotion. Franky makes a comment on this, which if Twilight left the mask on a little longer, could have potentially made it a little harder for his thoughts/expressions to be read. In this moment, Twilight also pulls off Franky's mask, which I feel kinda symbolizes that he's in control of the situation and just who exactly gets to see through the disguises he makes.

(This is the best clip I could find of this scene. I know it doesn't show the exact moments I talked about)

There are other examples, but I don't feel it's necessary to go through all of them (Doggy Crisis arc, Tennis arc, even in the teaser for Code: White). Bottom line, what I'm currently thinking is that in all these previous situations, Twilight has been able to remove his mask/disguise when he is finished with it or with the mission. Thus, as I just said, representing his control over the situation.

This is not the case in chp. 84 though.

Again, I have not read every chapter of the manga, so perhaps I missed a moment that contradicts my point. But this chapter is potentially the first time Twilight will have his mask removed not on his own terms.

Just something I've been thinking about, but not necessarily in a way that has led me to some new theory or big revelation about what will happen in the next chapter. I just see it as another sign that there's major trouble on the horizon for Twilight and all of WISE. All I feel I can say is if Wheeler truly does have the opportunity to pull off Twilight's mask, then Twilight has met an opponent that can and perhaps did best him. And also, it will be interesting to see how Twilight reacts (if he's able to) after more or less having his identity revealed and losing the upper hand.

[wondrousmay]

Underrated moment from the Doggy Crisis arc: Yor believing Anya’s story about terrorists and bomb dogs right away. She even checked Bond for bombs and didn’t show him any animosity. For Anya, this must mean a lot to her: to have someone believe her and being worried about her.

[sxf-character-screentime]

Mission 26: Follow Papa and Mama

Season 2 is here! As expected, since the manga chapter this episode was adapted from came before the Doggy Crisis arc and Bond was not in the picture, he stayed back for this one aside from a couple scenes, so he's got a pretty low screen time.

Meanwhile, total screen time is a little low due to the focus on the Red Circus guy. However, the episode still manages to give eight minutes on Yor and Loid, and even solid time for Franky!

If time allows it, I am hoping on doing these counts for each episode on the week after they air.

Total character screen time: 15:12,18

[piracytheorist]

Hello! Basically, a thought came in my mind and i thought I'll share 🐱🐱

I absolutely LOVE spy x family and I'm desperately waiting for new manga chapters and anime adaptations frfr

But... is it just me or is the story progressing too slow?? I know you've seen only what the anime has covered so far, but pls do tell me what you think about it's pace! I think it's priority is to be this happy-happy(help is this even a word😭) anime and the story def gets sidelined due to that, ofc i love cute anya and everyone but I need more development!!

Hi!! Feel free to share any time!

I can't talk about the manga because even though I've gotten some spoilers here and there, I don't actually know how its pace has been. What I can say though is that I feel there was some sort of... "pause" between the Doggy Crisis Arc and the Campbelldon arc. Like episodes 16 to 20 (and the respective manga chapters) are undeniably fillers. If I dare to make an assumption about Endo's thought process for them, is that he had a solid idea of how to develop the story up to the Doggy Crisis arc, then saw how popular his manga was getting and went like "Oh shit people like this I have to prolong this. I need a bit to come up with the rest of the plot and development so have a few fillers for a few weeks thx."

I don't know a lot about the upcoming arc in the next anime season, but I have heard that it's pretty packed with action and development. What I miss a lot, especially seeing Yor's screen time overall in the first season, is more focus on her. Like, it's almost criminal how little time and focus she's gotten, and I'm right here expecting much more of it in the second season 👀👀

All that said, I think one of the themes of the story is itself the slow progress. Operation Strix is a long-term mission, and the family dynamics need time to develop. When you see how disciplined Twilight is and how detached from his feelings he's become, it would seem a little rushed to just have him go like "Wow I love them I guess" from one arc to the other. It needs slow build-up and development. Fanfic can be as quick-paced as one wants it to be - like, I've written a time loop fic where Twilight realizes, accepts and embraces his feelings for his family by the tenth repeat of the same day. I'm not one to talk XD - but the theme of the canon story itself is to take things slow. We're meant to focus on the family moments because it's what humanity is build for. Sure, action and fight scenes look cool in fiction, but Spy x Family seems to be the kind of story that goes like "Humans are meant to live in harmony with each other" and while war themes or action scenes can be used to show how war and violence can corrupt even the best of us, at the end we're humans and we're brought into this world for calm and peaceful moments with our loved ones.

I don't know if that's satisfying for you, it's perfectly fine if it isn't, but from what I've gathered from the anime episodes and the spoilers I've gotten here and there, heavy action and tension don't seem to be what Endo wants to make a note of. It's what we do in the between and how more of ourselves we are within a loving, peaceful environment. So in all my effort to not be patronizing, I'd say you should try to lower (or at least prolong) your expectations about a quicker pace in the story. For all we know developers have seen what a cash cow this story is and are pressuring Endo to prolong it so they can milk it for all it's worth. This can be either a good or a bad thing, depending on how it's handled. My one hope is that he won't get too tired of it before he has the chance to take it to the next stage (like bring on Identity RevealsTM and Feelings RealizationTM) and conclude the story. For his sake, if nothing else.

Thank you for sending in! I realize this can be a bit of a complicated matter, but I'm interested in talking about it :D

[eldraftsman]

Day 21: Favorite anime season?

That's got to be the first one, namely the second cour.

While admittedly uneven with half the episodes composed of separate, disconnected bits it still covers two of the first true arcs of the series and delivers for each one of them. Not only do we get the introduction of Bond with a tightly paced adaptation of the Doggy Crisis, but Fiona's introduction and the gut busting performance from Ayane Sakura to give her life is also courtesy of this season (no wonder she was cast as Kodachi Kuno's new voice for the remake of Ranma 1/2. She got the crazy nailed down). The adjacent ministories involving the other secondary characters are decent enough to get the audience to know them better, too, so is the introduction of Desmond as an actual character as well. Hell, even if for the purpose of filling up time it has a very fun original story about Yor trying to deliver Anya her P.E. uniform that culminates with Yor having a lunch with Loid, if offscreen. Those are extra crumbs that came for free, guys. You gotta appreciate that.

And to be perfectly honest, the problem of the season feeling disconnected(which isn't even exclusive of this season) is largely on the manga. Endo just throws things that don't have that much to do with each other back to back all the time, and it's the anime team's job to try to make sense out of it. I know most people are likely to choose the second season specifically for the Cruise Adventure arc (which is... a perfectly reasonable choice for finally letting Yor have the spotlight) but I appreciate the variety here.

[yumeka-sxf]

A chronological analysis on Twilight and Yor - Part 21

*This is part of an ongoing post series. If you missed the Introduction/Part 1, click here*

----------

The next morning, Twilight muses to himself that there are still things in the world he doesn't understand, but nevertheless, a spy must overcome fear of the unknown. While his face and tone are dead serious, it's comical that the thing that caused him to burst into this heavy-handed inner monologue in the first place is none other than his misinterpretation of Anya's reactions the previous day. AniTrendz described the humor of this scene perfectly by stating that "Loid really spent all morning acting dramatic when he's just sad that his daughter called him lame."

And yes, he really was bothered by the fact that he's still having trouble understanding Anya's emotions. While her mental well-being is important for Operation Strix, he also cares very much how she views him as a father. Unfortunately for Twilight, this trend will continue – after a whole day of fun activities, he's devastated to see the scowl on Anya's face when they're having dinner that evening. And, once again, he blames himself and even thinks that Anya could possibly hate him.

As I've mentioned before, Twilight is always cool and confident when it comes to his spy missions, but whenever Yor or Anya are upset, he becomes a second-guessing nervous wreck! It's telling how frazzled he gets when trying to figure out what's going on in their minds versus anyone else. If Anya and Yor's happiness is tied to a mission, and he's always calm and collected about his other missions, why would he get so bent out of shape about them in particular? I think we all know the answer to that.

It's also important to note that the couple of days on the cruise are likely the longest amount of time Twilight has been alone with Anya, without having Yor for parenting support. If she were with him during all this, there's no doubt that her patience with Anya's antics and the encouraging words she always offers, would put his mind at ease. But without her around, there's no one to buffer his constant freak outs when trying to analyze the mind of a child. His anxiety gets so bad that Anya even starts to feel bad about it.

Meanwhile, the big showdown on the deck between Yor and the assassins has so far been the most gritty and violent scene in the series. Endo has stated in the fanbook that making Yor likable while also giving her a profession that involves killing people, was difficult (though I think he's done a stellar job!) A reoccurring theme in Spy x Family is how the tragedy of war has led to otherwise good people partaking in immoral acts, whether for survival or because they're brainwashed into thinking that the side they're on is the right and just one. It's not only Twilight and Yor, but other characters as well, such as Yuri, Sylvia, even the young terrorists from the doggy crisis arc, as well as the assassins on the cruise – the factions that they work for, the politics behind their decisions, and the jobs they're assigned to do, are not framed as heroic nor completely evil, only the aftermath of political turmoil that the next generation has to suffer for.

In Part 13, I mentioned an interview in the fanbook where Endo states that the Forgers should not be seen as virtuous role models…he doesn't think it's correct to only see their "nice family" side. Despite all the comedic antics in the series that sometimes stretch the veil of realism, one very realistic aspect is that none of the characters are depicted as "black and white," "heroes and villains," and their professions are portrayed as more tragic and ugly than "cool." This is in contrast to other shonen series, where the main protagonists are often portrayed as role models who fight for noble causes we can't help but support, while banishing only the most wicked of villains. And often these protagonists started out "normal" only to suddenly gain superpowers, opportunities to go on grand adventures, and have big battles against villains. But Twilight and Yor are the opposite. The series starts with them already having extraordinary abilities and exciting, dangerous jobs, so the end goal is instead for them to be able to attain a peaceful, normal life…because their professions aren't framed as wish-fulfilling but as heartbreaking, grim, and sometimes terrifying.

Twilight and Yor's professions, as well as those of pretty much every other character in Spy x Family, have a lot of gray areas on the moral compass. This is why having a balance of both fun, slice-of-life scenarios, and spy/political action and drama conflicts, brings out the true complexity of the characters. Twilight may lie and act cold as ice towards people during his missions, but because we get to know him while he's living as Loid Forger, we can see that he's doing it for a noble cause, and underneath all that callous calculating, he's a compassionate guy who cares about the feelings of others. Likewise, we see that when she's not killing people, Yor is a total sweetheart who doesn't have a mean bone in her body, is a loving mother to Anya, selfless sister to Yuri, and, like Twilight, she does what she does because she truly believes she's doing good in the world.

If we only see Twilight and Yor as a spy and assassin, our view of them could be skewed negatively. On the other hand, if we only see them as a "nice family," we would be doing exactly what Endo warned against in his interview. But because we get to see both sides of them, we're able to relate to them even more, which makes us want to root for them. Is the immorality of their jobs too much to be forgiven, or are they righteous people who are simply victims of a cold war? Obviously if you're a fan of the series like me, you're opt to lean towards the positive view that Twilight, Yor, as well as many of the other characters, have been sorely damaged by the post-war era that they live in, but the commendable things they do far outweigh the ugliness of their professions, so they deserve a happy ending. And that's really the main appeal of the series – with all the gray areas of morality, seeing whether they can truly live happily without lies is something to look forward to.

Continue to Part 22 ->

<- Return to Part 20

[eternal-echoes]

DO YOU THINK , THAT , WILL WE EVER GET THE NAME OF THAT WISE AGENT ?? I really like Him ...

Also , what if he's the one who finds out about Aaron , Anya and Bond's past ??

You mean the grandpa spy:

I was thinking that maybe in the future he will have a joint-mission with him just like with Nightfall and that’s when Twilight will call him by his code name. I guess the terror-bomb doggy crisis arc was sorta their joint mission together.

—

And I read this ask before reading Ch. 78 so I thought Aaron was the name of the tutor-in-residence lol. Turns out it was Sylvia’s dog.

If this grandpa spy finds out about Anya’s past, he’d tell Twilight right away and I don’t think Tatsuya Endo would let it be known that easily. I’m thinking maybe Nightfall or the Garden. If it’s the Garden they’d tell Yor right away and Yor would feel betrayed upon finding out the lies that Twilight had said to her. I think it could also be the Secret Police. Or maybe they’re behind the organization that experimented on Anya. In which case, Yuri will find out that Anya is adopted and he would tell Yor and Yor would feel betrayed and team up with her brother against Twilight.

And is it just me or is Tatsuya Endo hinting that Project Apple was the same organization that experimented on Anya? I was thinking that maybe it was two different organizations but I think during Bond’s flashback the same guy that wanted to experiment on Anya was also there. I was thinking Project Apple was only experimenting on animals and another organization was experimenting on Anya. Because Twilight only knew that Project Apple was doing rapid experiments on military-trained dogs and was shut down by the next administration. Was Project Apple so secretive about their other experiments that they were able to hide that they were experimenting on humans, too?

[connoisseursdecomfort]

The thin line between Waku Waku and danger - what awaits Anya after ch.94?

[Manga spoiler alert]

Anya. The baby of the story. The star of the show. The leader of the Twiyor ship (she even created the slogan "Chichi to haha icha icha".) The telepath. The gremlin. The peanut. The heh.

In SxF, we saw how she forged the Forgers, how she fortified her friendship with Becky and Damian, as well as Emile and Ewen, and how she improved academically. It all started because she found it to be waku waku to have Twilight to be her father.

Same reason for choosing Yor to be her mother:

Of course, I love her for doing that. But there is no denying that she's drawn to danger. She likes it to be exciting. She wants to be the hero. And we all do. We, like Anya, like things to be waku waku.

It is good for the audience. But is it good for Anya?

Not really. Slowly but surely, Endo is revealing to us how it would affect Anya.

She thinks it is waku waku to have a spy and an assassin as parents because she is obsessed with Spy Wars. It is totally understandable for people to be want to imitate the cool characters on TV, and it is mentioned once again in Ch.94.

But it's something more than that. Loid being the top spy and Yor being the top assassin gives us a feeling that no matter what they will save her, and more importantly, they will be able to save her.

In the first chapter, her desire to make the spy work more waku waku has got her into trouble. Twilight rescues her, all ends well. In Chapter 7 she gets into trouble again, and Yor rescues her.

We have a sense of security that the Forger parents will do anything to get their baby back. And while that's VERY true (that's not up for debate - sorry), it also gives Anya the sense of security that she could maybe play with fire a bit more. So in Short Mission 1 we see her deliberately holding onto the bad guy's clothes, trying to get Yor to help. And Yor saves her and kicks the bad guy's ass.

Nonetheless, I should specify that Anya doesn't only want waku waku only for the sake of it although she does gloat over her successes. She understands that she needs to be careful, both in the doggy crisis arc and the cruise arc. But she still runs towards danger because she wants to help.

We already know she would do anything to keep the family together because of her love for her parents and also her abandonment issue especially when it comes to Operation Strix. That includes running towards a building that is going to explode in the doggy crisis arc and heading to the front deck where Yor is fighting with other assassins in the cruise arc. She has a good reason wanting to get involved, and she always succeeds too.

But that isn't all. She actually sees how her parents work towards their goals tirelessly.

That, of course, has something to do with what Endo chooses to focus on when it comes to the jobs of spies and assassins. He doesn't actually focus on the waku waku part that much (which has been one of the most common complaints). Literally in the first chapter, Endo has already shown us what the nature of spy work is - It can be freaking boring.

Same with the assassins' work.

One could even argue that Endo is deconstructing the images of spies and assassins in popular culture. While it is still waku waku for us and for Anya to see them working as spies and assassins, most of the time it is just a job for Loid and Yor. That means we AND Anya also see how tired they are after they've finished their jobs.

But why? If their jobs are ruthless and even thankless, why did they do it? The answers have been given in the cruise arc and ch.62. And for Anya who has been with them for quite some time now, she is inspired by their goals.

Anya wants to do good. Just like her papa and mama. And I think this is probably a good time to revisit the bus arc, particularly this moment:

Other children are thinking how their parents would come and save them. When Anya thinks about her parents, what would she think about?

Is it her parents' goal(s) - to make the world a better place?

Or is it the fact that she has always been the one actively doing something in order to save people, just like how she saves her parents and keeps her family together?

Even in the movie trailer, we see Anya desperately trying to help despite being all tied up.

The bus arc is also when the adults starts to scold her for being reckless.

It is not really the first time they've seen her being reckless. In the doggy crisis arc, Anya is told not to wander off.

Twice.

And even the childcare lady told her the same thing in the cruise arc:

But before it can be brushed off as kids having a tendency to wander off. But it is becoming more and more clear to the Forger parents that it seems to be something even more serious.

Endo is definitely dropping hints here, no?

It reminds me of what Loid told Bond:

This applies to everyone in the Forger family. Yor in the cruise arc. Loid in the mole arc. And Anya in the bus arc.

Anya has learned so many things in the process. Her grades have improved. She has learnt to read the clock. She has to try to write something that is readable so she can eat the gifts from Damian. But it seems she hasn't learned the most important thing yet.

PS Meanwhile, Bond went from not knowing how to play in the dog park

to suggesting an alternative game to Anya in Ch.94

Bond is best boi \o/

[nekoro-san]

I read the newest chapter, I’m glad it’s mention the university/college and a bit of Yor mention about her lacking of parents .

About university/college

In bus jacking arc, I use to making theory Yuri might have a connection to the Red Circus guy or the group because remember, circus are former college students,too. And Yuri also used to enter college. We haven’t know why Yuri join sss yet, so the meeting with him and these circus guy might have a big reveal of his past. I used to think Yuri and these circus guy has been used to classmates or such ( my theory) or at least know each other. But I was disappointed to know how it’s play out . At the end I thought a part of Yuri interrogate Billy to know they are both trying to protect the kids but falls by the bad government and provide more to Yuri conflict for his organization but it’s not.

This is also revealed abit propaganda

When Chloe saying “ this is our country” to Yuri in mole arc, this is almost the same line from Yuri said to Anya when they are in vocational camp in lightnovel.

In lightnovel implied that young kids got to experience a few “educational” programs in vocational camp ( Stepworks kids) that funded by Ostania government. The kids got to experience a few jobs and working place such as lawyers, doctors, teachers and even military force or police. So from what I understand, they are in a war time zone and there is lack of resources for hiring soldiers. I think the government trying to giving propaganda and encourage young people to join. Especially for those whose lost their parental mentor for such young age like Yuri, got brainwashed by this.

In doggy crisis arc, the “college” student are also probably the “victim” for these wars propaganda and got brainwashed.

And in bus jacking arc, the Red Circus has lot of college students. Bill daughter also a part of it.

So right now, the sss Yuri group are joining also could be the same situation for these college students. Yuri got recruited based on his workaholics, bookworms and strength endurance ( I think he may passed the sss recruiting from these aspects) and because of this. It’s possible Sss knowing him easy to obey orders and manipulate him to promote him as higher ranks and overworked him.

About Briar past

I know people are looking for Briars past but then this could only relied abit on Yuri memory. So if you don’t like his character or didn’t bother much for his chapters then you missing alot.

Interesting that now Yor mentioned abit of her parents now. I think this means could be another Yuri and Yor central story soon. Even I’m not a big fan of the humor Endo put it into them, but SxF always try to put these two as the family bonding relationship as the main focus.

I’m glad Yor seems to know about Loid lacking of parents too. Abit of me wants her to discuss this with Yuri in the future so that Yuri could felt sympathy to Loid because both of them also lost parents in the war too. ( it’s a parallel to Frank situation in chapter 41) This could be a good advance to Loid and Yuri relationship. And of course this could mean enhance Yor and Loid relationship because if Loid starts to open himself to Yor past that’s mean he already trust her enough.

This is out of topic but I remember there is a very cute Japanese fan fic talking about Yuri was taking care of sick Anya. Yuri was at work but Yor calling him to taking Anya home because of her fever and both her and Loid are busy. Yuri was asking why Loid didn’t have any relative to bring Anya home and she said Loid said he also lost his home and his relatives ( that means Loid did openly talking about his past with Yor). Yuri was moved and feeling emotionally so he ends up taking a day off to go to Anya school quickly. I remember how Yuri try to helps Anya fever based on making a honey drink ( this is fictional but Japanese are famous on honey tea for fever) based how the same drink that Yor used to make for him. ( I really hope this is a canon but how Endo treats Yuri and Yor I’m not so sure for his treatment to them)

And I’m glad to see Yor and Anya relationship is focus. This has been my attention for a while but if Anya getting closer with Yor so that’s mean the story in lightnovel of Yuri and Anya making a flower brooch to Yor will getting closer.