SPY×FAMILY Episode 14

Remember how I said I skimmed over this arc in the manga? I wasn’t really invested upon a first read (mostly because I was trying to catch up), but sitting down and actually paying attention to what is going on in this arc left me LIVID. I don’t think an antagonist has incited so much rage in me in a very long time. When I look at antagonists in media, I view them behind the lens of “I’m supposed to dislike them” so I end up not being particularly emotionally hurt by them, even if they do terrible things to characters I really like. Heck, I actually didn’t feel that much anger or hatred towards characters like Akito from Fruits Basket or Ryo from Idolish7. Sure, I didn’t like what they did, but their actions never offended me on a personal level. Heck, I find both of them interesting characters. But hoo boy… this group of antagonists… I was PISSED after seeing their attitudes that left me feeling heated through the entire episode. But I’ll expand more on that later.

We start right where we left off with Yor kicking the ever loving crap out of that one guy’s face, successfully rescuing Anya. And this was probably the first time in a while where Anya’s life was in real jeopardy since the first episode, so I can hardly blame her for just bursting into tears. But it was equally hilarious to have her cry even harder after being terrified of Yor’s mama bear’s face XDDD. Though I legit felt emotional when Yor hugged Anya in relief that she was okay. I’m also glad that Anya actually told Yor the situation since she actually heard the plans out loud this time around. I feel like the two have been getting closer through out the season and it’s very touching to see how both have come to really care for the other… even if Yor still scares Anya lol.

However, things get a little more complicated when Anya sees the dog’s vision change to having Loid not in the picture anymore. Which gets even more sad when it cuts to Anya seeing Loid dead in the wreckage… There’s one thing having Loid just disappear and no one sees him again, but to have Anya find him… that just hits way too hard and is just something that Anya shouldn’t have to witness. It also just poses as an example of a kid having to experience war, something they should never have to experience. Which just hammers home why I’m so angry at these terrorists for wanting to force something so terrible onto innocent people just because they believe peace can’t exist between these two countries. The stakes are INCREDIBLY HIGH now with the threat that Loid may not make it out of the mission alive.

This is why I hate these terrorists so much. They didn’t even THINK of the repercussions of their actions and what a war could mean for everyone. They were so up in their own little worlds that they only seemed to view this situation as a spectator’s sport, never what it truly could do to others. It’s so selfish and I couldn’t help but slam my hands on my desk and shout “TELL THEM” when Handler basically laid down the horrors of what killing and war leads to all the while calling them “utter children.” Because literally, that’s how they seem to be acting. Just seeing them act all proud of their actions made me infuriated and it felt so satisfying to be told the terrifying results of what their actions could bring. And with how silently seething Twilight was acting, it’s obvious that this is also very personal to him. Especially from that brief flashback we saw of him in the first episode, we can only assume that war took everything he knew and cared about away from him and he’s DESPERATE to never let that happen again. Especially from a pack of dumb racists kids who obviously aren’t truly seeing the bigger picture. Not to mention when Keith talks about necessary sacrifices, I got super heated. Especially when he went on to say that they would feel honored to die for their country. Like… BRUH. EVEN ANYA THINKS OF THE BIGGER PICTURE. AND SHE’S A LITERAL CHILD.

I don’t think I’ve been this heated over an antagonist in a LONG time. I am absolutely DISGUSTED by their way of thinking. And I think the reason why this infuriated me so much was because people like this actually exist and have such a twisted sense of accomplishment for what they’re doing. Even though they’re involving innocent people, they don’t think twice about throwing their lives into chaos. Innocent people having to suffer because of these deluded fantasies. It’s disgusting.

Anyways, moving past my rage, Anya is on her own little mission with Mr. Dog and happens upon the location and method of Loid’s future demise. Anya having to deal with the bomb that kills Loid was both hilarious and also incredibly anxiety inducing. I’m glad that she at least thought things through before making a terrible decision such as how does one even deactivate a bomb. But man did I feel so bad for Anya when she bent over in front of the bomb because so many things hung in the balance and she didn’t know what to do. While the situation may be a lot bigger than Loid finding out about Anya’s powers, to her, finding out about them may and abandoning her may as well be just as bad as Loid dying. Since in both ends (at least according to Anya), she won’t have her family anymore. Despite her distress, I’m pretty impressed with her coming up with an alternative plan to try and change the future. Even if it looked and seemed quite childish. At least it got the job done lol. Especially since that one spy nearly ruined everything by being too hasty. Thankfully Loid had enough sense to go about it cautiously and stopped him from setting the bomb off. For all we know, this guy may have unintentionally been the cause of Loid’s death in that future path. It’s also interesting to note that the future the dog sees isn’t set in stone and changes depending on the circumstances.

Despite all of my pent up anger and frustration towards the terrorist group, I definitely had a good laugh near the end of the episode where Loid freaking lures Keith by pretending to act as the Minister of the West by stealing his clothes. But oh my gosh I laughed so hard when Loid was doing all of these gymnastic jumps, flips and sprints to run from both Keith and the dog. Keith’s reaction was absolutely priceless XD.

They’re definitely doing a good job with this arc so far. Most likely because the tone and stakes fits the animation style better than the first half of the season. At least to me. A lot happened this episode, but it didn’t feel rushed and the fast paced action was done really well. I didn’t expect to get so heated from the antagonists and I really should reread this part in the manga to see how it feels there. And while I don’t particularly like Yuri, it was still kind of nice to see him… strangely. When he appeared my immediate response was: Oh heeeeey~ Probably because he’s actually working towards the same goal as Loid is in this instance of trying to keep the Minister safe and track down the terrorists. This was a great episode even if I did get very angry so hopefully they keep up adapting this arc with the same amount of care as they have been so far.