SPY×FAMILY S2 Episodes 9 + 10

Episode 9

This episode felt like a lot of things happened and yet not a lot of things happened. I’m not sure how to explain it really. It may be because Yor was locked in combat with this samurai guy for the majority of the episode while everyone else was scrambling to deal with the situation. Pacing for this episode felt a tad weird but I guess that just how it be. Anyways, both Loid and Anya get involved in Yor’s situation in different ways with Anya actually helping Yor out in her fight while Loid helps disengage the bombs that were planted all over the boat.

It always feels really sweet how everyone in the family are involved in helping resolve the situation all the while Loid and Yor are the ones oblivious to the others having a part in it. While Yor was the taking on the brunt of the situation at hand, Loid was dealing with the side issues that Yor and the director wouldn’t have been able to stop in their conditions (not to mention basically unintentionally eliminate the last remaining assassins’ escape route) and Anya ended up being a surprising assist, not only saving Olka and the others from a few straggler assassins, but giving Yor back her weapon to allow her to defeat the samurai assassin. Not to mention that if it weren’t for Anya, they might not have found that bomb in the clock in time before it went off. So Anya ended up being the saving grace for both of Yor and Loid’s situations due to reading the minds of the right people. Just another example of the family covering each others’ weaknesses even if they don’t realize it.

We finally get the safe sendoff for Olka and her son to live a peaceful life and I am so glad they made it safe and sound. It was also really sweet to have Olka and Gram give Yor a hug goodbye out of gratitude for everything that she did to protect them. It’s sad to see that the first woman that Yor seemed to develop an actual friendship with leave, especially since they were able to connect in their want for others to live a peaceful life. However, I’m sure she was a big reason to helping Yor realize what was most important to her and allowed her to make the decision to continue being an assassin for the sake of her family. Not to mention, it just shows that Yor’s profession does actually help save others as well.

Episode 10

After all the death and violence, Yor is rewarded for her efforts by being able to go out with her family at the cruise’s first stop at an island resort area. I couldn’t help but smile through the entire montage because they all just wanted to be able to spend time with each other, even if Yor was incredibly tired from the past couple days. But because of that, I feel like Yor’s willingness to go along with all of Anya’s ideas made it all the more meaningful as it just screams motherly behavior and is also just an example of just how much this family means to Yor now. She just seems so much more at peace with things especially in regards to just wanting to make Anya happy and it’s all just very heartwarming to see.

Though I will say it was surprising to see how much of a focus there was of Loid carrying Yor (and Anya) when she passed out from exhaustion. In the manga, from the back, you could see Yor and Anya being held. However, in the anime, they hid Anya, making it seem like Loid was only carrying Yor. Which was… an interesting choice. Not sure what to make of that choice, but it did strike me as if they were trying to push the Loid and Yor agenda harder than the scene actually was in the manga lol. Either way, it was still a very sweet scene. With how much Yor went through these past few episodes, she deserves the proper care~

Speaking of anime only content, we also get a scene where Yor gives her coworkers some souvenirs.  To which, Yor continues being her awkward self and not knowing what was “acceptable” souvenirs. And while it’s small, I do appreciate Camilla accepting Yor’s awkward attempts at being friendly and “normal.” I can appreciate some character growth.

After all the heartwarming parts, we come back to school for some CRINGE. I always get second-hand cringe whenever Anya is trying to make herself look good in front of her classmates because we KNOW that it will end up biting her in the butt because of her constantly playing up her ploys. But man, I think this had to be one of her worst ones yet. Especially since she ended up trying to embellish her story because she was jealous of Becky getting all of their classmates attention. Though thankfully Becky was understanding and didn’t take Anya trying to shove herself into the spotlight personally. Because man, this definitely wasn’t Anya’s finer moments. And whelp, you reap what you sow when her classmates ended up calling her out in front of the teacher about her story. And for once, I actually agreed with George about being careful about not lying too much or else she’ll lose her credibility with everyone around her. He has a point lol.

The part I did find funny from this whole ordeal was Loid, Yuri and Yor were all going on about how lying is the worst while all three of them are big fat lying hypocrites lol. And Anya’s expression at knowing ALL OF THIS was the cherry on top. Yeah, Anya, don’t be liars like these three lololol. I also loved the filter they used to show what was going on in their heads be it Loid and Yuri saying what they actually thought or Anya’s thoughts of how the scenario at school should have gone.

Though, little nitpick incoming, but it did feel weird not to show Yuri before he talked again and I had to look at the manga and there was a panel where he was looking at Anya with an unimpressed expression. While small and possibly trivial, it at least acknowledges that Yuri is there and listening. I do wish they pulled out a little more to include Yuri sitting on the couch since it felt like he had disappeared from the scene since it was showing just Loid, Anya and Yor at first.

And thus the Boat arc has officially come to a close. Not going to lie, this arc felt like a mixed bag for me. On one hand, they did a really good job in fleshing out Yor’s goals and personal wants more. And while the action was fun… I feel like it didn’t do as much for me as I would have hoped. It’s honestly hard for me to explain. I enjoyed it, but I felt like there was something missing and it didn’t give me as much satisfaction as I would have liked at the end. Maybe it was because that smarmy glasses assassin guy didn’t get as much comeuppance as I would have liked. Or maybe it was because most of the assassins besides the swordsman assassin didn’t really put up that much of a fight. Not to mention, I am sad that they didn’t add a small insert of Olka and the others walking into the new country like the manga did, giving us firmer sense of hope since we are just left to wonder if things will go okay with them. Honestly, I don’t really know the reason why I wasn’t fully satisfied with this arc. In the end, it just felt like something was missing and I can’t put my finger on what it was. Though I do really like the aftermath of Yor just being able to spend time with Loid and Anya during the last legs of their trip. Because seeing them be an actual family is the cutest thing.

Overall, it was still a good arc and I really appreciated getting more development from Yor as she swiftly became one of my favorites by watching the anime. Even more so than from just reading the manga.

Also can we just talk about how absurdly cute it is to have a lot of the SSS have a fondness towards Yuri despite how cruel and terrifying their organization is? It’s honestly really funny lol.