SPY×FAMILY S2 Episodes 2 + 3

Episode 2

Holy crap Spy x Family, why are you making me drag my feet so early in the season??? First a very meh start to the season and now another filler-like episode???? Like, these eps aren’t even anime only filler, they were actual chapters in the manga. But they certainly feel like it’s filler because of how the freaking adaptation set up this series as if it’ll be a action series with a solid plot. It was false advertising and it sucks that the way they’re adapting this series just feels like a slog.

Alright, not gonna lie, I didn’t really care for this chapter in the manga, so of course I wouldn’t have cared all that much for it in anime form either. I’m pretty indifferent towards Bond, so as expected, I wasn’t really interested in a chapter or episode dedicated to his little adventures. It’s probably cute for those who liked Bond, but I didn’t really get much out of it. Just a silly little skit of Bond wanting to get Loid home as soon as possible so that Yor doesn’t accidentally kill him with her cooking.

The good thing in this episode was Damian’s part as it really emphasizes how this kid just isn’t allowed to be a kid by the pressures of his family and himself. Surprisingly enough, his friends are trying to get him to hang out and just be a normal kid, but Damian is literally running himself into the ground by how focused he is on trying to live up to his dad’s expectations. It’s honestly sad watching him do this and I’m honestly glad that there seems to be others trying to watch out for him since his dad fails to do so. I do also appreciate that they shined a better light on Damian’s two friends. Especially with how terrible they have been portrayed. They were shown to be a little better in the dodge ball arc, but I think here they showed that they aren’t just trying to get in Damian’s good graces, but they actually care about him as a friend where they went as far as to break rules so that they could keep Damian company during his penalty. It was also funny how Hendrickson absolutely KNEW what the boys were up to and still went along with it but still respected their loyalty.

Despite his rough edges, I am glad that outside of his household, he is surrounded by those who genuinely want to help him such as his friends and the teachers. And it was cute watching the teacher take him out on a nature outing to get him away from his studies for a bit and just experience being a kid and to be able to live in the moment. It was nice seeing Damian actually have a good time away from thinking his dad and the pressure that comes with it. Hopefully he can find solace in the people around him rather than trying to gain the affection that his dad doesn’t even have for him.

Also goodness these kids are DRAMATIC in the funniest way possible lol.

Episode 3

I do like that we get a little more insight on Yuri’s work in the secret police. Especially since I feel like he’s been nothing but comedic relief since his introduction. At the start, he was shown to be incredibly intimidating and has Yor levels of blood lust and violence. Not to mention because he’s part of the secret police, he is an immediate threat to Loid and his mission.  However, after his introduction episode, it feels like the amount of threat he actually poses to Loid’s mission hasn’t been addressed in a while.

And while Yuri is still… “weird” for a lack of a better word, I do like that there is a little more to him than just a siscon. When the guy they were tailing was talking smack to a few kids, he genuinely seemed angry at his actions. Which is honestly surprising since we haven’t seen him get angry on behalf of anyone else besides Yor. Not to mention, despite the way he acts, he can sympathize with others who treasure their family above all else and will stoop to less than admiral acts to try and provide for them. Even going as far as to wait for Perkins to leave the building so that his dad wouldn’t have to see him get arrested and making sure to get his dad some financial aide to get by without him. It definitely adds more layer to his character as he seems to hold genuine care for the people in this country despite seemingly caring only about Yor. And I think it was also nice to see Yuri outside of his interactions with Yor and he does seem like a decent guy in the same vein as Yori is despite the murder/violence that the two take up in their careers. I do actually like Yuri so seeing them expand on his character away from Yor definitely made him a lot more interesting.

Also I can’t help but love his and Anya’s interactions. With Anya just being amusingly sympathetic to anyone she reads is going through some rough times and pats them on the side. But when his weird siscon tendencies pop up she’s so quick to be just done with him lol. I do hope we get more interactions between them because I feel like their dynamic would be so much fun.

…And then there’s that weird Bondman part of the episode. To which I am like… this feels like such a time waster. Especially coming off the heels of the more interesting part of the episode with Yuri. Not to mention my immediate thought upon seeing Bondman literally hook up with every female character he comes across was: BUT WHAT ABOUT PRINCESS HONEY????

Another episode where I like one part of the episode, but not the other part. Though I did have a good laugh at Loid desperately trying to wake Anya up in time for the bus. Thankfully the Yuri part was the majority of the episode so at least there was that. This season feels really weird so far with what they are choosing to adapt in this order, leaving me not as much to talk about so I may have to double up on a lot of the episodes this season. But I suppose we’ll just have to see what happens.