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Spy × Family (TV + movie) (w/ index).


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ACxS



Joined: 03 Aug 2019
Posts: 900
PostPosted: Sat Jun 11, 2022 4:45 am Reply with quote
killjoy_the wrote:
That's a hot take? It's pretty lukewarm to me, if anything I think most people agree?

"Hot take" is a disclaimer for anyone who would beg to differ. There's bound to be at least one person.
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Harleyquin



Joined: 29 May 2014
Posts: 2883
PostPosted: Sat Jun 11, 2022 9:37 pm Reply with quote
#10

Now that the spotlight is back on Anya, the animators (and source material?) decide it's time to do the series take on a Shounen Manga training arc. The results are unsurprisingly hilarious, even if the outcome isn't great for the overall mission at hand.

Viewers haven't had much of Damian to like thus far, but it appears he has his own issues as well. It doesn't make him that much more relatable, however we now know he's overcompensating for the lack of parental attention. I can imagine the photos which his flunkeys were showing him most likely had the parents revelling in their offspring's success, so he has his own motivation for climbing the school social ladder. He's still selfish and self-centred though, since he single-handedly masterminded his class's complete loss to the opponent by focusing on the obvious target instead of levelling the field by picking off the normal kids first.

It would be a shame if Ibarahime's training of Anya didn't bear fruit in the long run. I wasn't expecting Anya to immediately emulate Ibarahime's physical abilities in just a week of hard training, so for her to screw up at the final hurdle was classic comic timing despite all the dramatic buildup. One wonders if Anya had remembered everything which Ibarahime said (she missed a detail towards the end) would she have succeeded with her dodgeball baseball pitch. One takeaway from this episode: Anya is much better at physical contests than she is at academic pursuits despite her short stature. That's not from the dodgeball game: it's seeing her keep up with Ibarahime at the final run before the game instead of collapsing halfway.

Is it just me, or did the military family dope their child up with growth hormones? If the Class D ace is really 6 years old, then I'm betting on growth hormones since the voice is post-puberty deep. Either that, or they have a son with the unusual genetic defect which ages him faster than most. To be fair to him, his preparation is on par with Tasogare's prior to an operation.

Next week's episode is entitled "Stella", so let's see if Anya finally does something worthy of an accolade despite the tough time she's been having at Eden Academy. Not much airtime remaining though, so I'm not expecting the series to end definitely when its airtime is done. It's popular enough, so if they announce a second season after this run ends I won't be surprised.
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ACxS



Joined: 03 Aug 2019
Posts: 900
PostPosted: Sun Jun 12, 2022 12:35 am Reply with quote
10:



We need more Anya smirks.
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DuskyPredator



Joined: 10 Mar 2009
Posts: 15501
Location: Brisbane, Australia
PostPosted: Sun Jun 12, 2022 8:16 am Reply with quote
I was just thinking that most of Anya's work is probably more impressive by likely being actually younger than the other kids.

Also, I loved how they showed the big kid to his father, just to actually show he is indeed a kid.
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Harleyquin



Joined: 29 May 2014
Posts: 2883
PostPosted: Sat Jun 18, 2022 11:54 am Reply with quote
#11

It is increasingly apparent that the only thing Anya is really good at is the psychic power she was genetically engineered with but with which she only received partial training and limited mastery of. She knows it's her trump card, but when it goes wrong it goes HORRIBLY wrong for her. To add to this she's quite typical of her age and prefers leisure to actual work, so her attention span at studies is most likely one of the worst in her class. Tasogare has his work cut out, since without any natural talent he can discern there is little room for her to work towards the mission goal, since he's already ruled out engineering artificial incidents to bump up her social standing.

Viewers who enjoy seeing Anya make silly faces during episodes will get a full gamut of funny faces this week. Old favourites like the smirk are in, as well as other faces like embarrassment etc.

To be fair to Anya, she's trying in her own way to get into Desmond's good graces so that she can help Tasogare and save the world. To that end, she knows Desmond has a dog (Max) and thinks it's a good idea to have one herself so that they have a point in common to build on. That scene with the dog in the shelter hints that the white dog with the fur might well have a similar power to Anya, but whether or not there's enough airtime for the "family" to acquire its last member remains to be seen.

Another fault of Anya's is she gets carried away too easily. I don't know if she dropped her insistence on being called Starlight Anya later on, but if she doesn't fit in quickly and drop the jealous glares it'll make her school life more miserable. I think she's picked up the hint after all of the backchat midway through the episode, but we'll find out next week if she learnt a bit of humility.

Not much airtime left, so I'm wondering what the remaining episodes will cover. I'm guessing the dog will join the family somehow, while next week indicates the trio will have another minor adventure which will help advance Tasogare's mission in its own small way.
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 23853
PostPosted: Sat Jun 18, 2022 4:41 pm Reply with quote
MAL is claiming this will have 12 episodes... does anybody have any different info?

In any case, I'm kind of surprised at how incompetent Anya is. I mean, I know they are exaggerating for comedic effect but wow she really sucks at just about everything. It defies reality that a show this good would only get a single season so the only real question for me is how long we will have to wait for the next helping.
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Beltane70



Joined: 07 May 2007
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 18, 2022 5:56 pm Reply with quote
I've seen a few people, as well as the Wikipedia page state that this will be a split-cour show with the next cour airing this fall.
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 18, 2022 6:41 pm Reply with quote
Sweet! Even an impatient mook like myself can hold out until the fall for more Anya goodness.
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MaritLage



Joined: 25 Mar 2022
Posts: 140
PostPosted: Sun Jun 19, 2022 12:02 am Reply with quote
(She/Her)
S01E11

Jiji-san , you·re a Ceremonial Groundbreaker .

Anybody else here feel like the Drowning-in-the-Pool scene this week bore a striking resemblance to the Drowning-in-the-Lake scene in Summer Time Rendering S01E09? Ka .

There·s even a body-double effect , the same shot of Ushio or Ken floating at the bottom , and then dark hands that appear that pull them into or out of the water .

It was quite sudden , wasn·t it? Ka . Like suddenly Anya·s jaw drops and she has this flash like "Something·s ... wrong !! Somebody ... in the water !!"

It·s almost like somebody rendered prefabs of basic human experiences that they could plunk into a software and have it transmit those experiences suddenly to scriptwriters while they·re in the middle of writing .

It seems from repeatedly suggesting yet never using the Bondman gag as a way of teaching her math is something the writers are supposed to be doing . As if the show itself were trying to say , "If Bondman has 5 grenades and expends 3 of them , how many grenades does Bondman have left? Ka ."

And what were their names .

Other than that , i wouldn·t have any idea what it could possibly be .
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ACxS



Joined: 03 Aug 2019
Posts: 900
PostPosted: Sun Jun 19, 2022 4:15 am Reply with quote
11:

I would love to see an addition to the family. Especially if it's an (extraordinary) dog.
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Harleyquin



Joined: 29 May 2014
Posts: 2883
PostPosted: Sat Jun 25, 2022 11:27 am Reply with quote
#12 S1 End

So this is the end for season 1. Official trailer for the second season airing in October is already out, so the initial plan to split the quarters is going ahead. No surprise, since the season has been an unqualified success and a rare example of a collaborative work outshining its competitors.

One more ensemble character introduced, but her role is very minor and I'm not sure she'll reappear in the next airing. She's obviously very skilled at keeping a low profile, since Ostania's anti-spy network has rooted out too many of Tasogare's compatriots forcing him to work multiple overtime.

It's been a while since viewers saw how skilled Tasogare is, I think the last time we saw him do all kinds of superhuman feats was during the castle arc. Since then he's been more Loid Forger the family man, but this episode was a reminder that Tasogare really is the master spy. It's also the first time Anya has proactively assisted him in getting the job done, since his fatigue and the difficulty of the mission at such short notice meant he would have failed otherwise. Anya herself has improved (mind-reading over 200 penguins without a nosebleed?!) and she's getting better at manipulating her parents to get what they need (and to save her hide if she's in too deep). Throughout it all, Ibarahime takes a back seat and is only really called into action when Anya times her ad-hoc stunt to perfection. Even her thought processes are of a typical mother oblivious to the true nature of her husband's diversions.

What's surprising is that the aquarium arc didn't last the entire airtime. The animators know the family revolves around Anya, so the last part with the plushies is meant to ram the point home when both parents have to publicly embarrass themselves to get back into her good books.

Throughout it all, the series actually reminded viewers what the whole premise is about starting from episode one up to now. Not sure if it was necessary, since everyone watching it from episode one will not forget how this family got together in a hurry.

The animators, VAs and staff have come together to produce pure entertainment over the last quarter. One show that has lived up to the pre-air hype; there's enough demand from the adaptation to sustain the next airing and possibly more. The original work is already seeing a boost from the adaptation, both in Japan and abroad. So things are looking up for this franchise. So long as the two studios don't make a mess of the next quarter, there's a good chance their partnership will last much longer than they originally intended.

The only downside to this show is the impression it would give to absolute neophytes of this genre. If they watch other shows expecting the same level of quality and entertainment this one has provided, disappointment is going to follow. For everyone else, savour the series success and hope the franchise is animated all the way to the end of its source material.
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MaritLage



Joined: 25 Mar 2022
Posts: 140
PostPosted: Sat Jun 25, 2022 4:19 pm Reply with quote
(She/Her)

*HaHa breath deep takes*

Ok . Let·s start with what i liked about S01E12 .

Seeing the Forger family play together was a delight . Anya is such a brilliant adorable star , and seeing her play was wonderful . Seeing HaHa and JiJi go out in public with toys for Anya to play with was beautiful . Yu know i really do love her .

Let·s break it down .

That all-benevolent-sounding Narrator in the beginning , eating up precious screentime repeating knowledge that·s been stated throughout the entire series? Ka . That guy has to die .

The woman in the booth wasn·t Lo , it was Ma , and there·s no surprise that she was trying her [expletive] damnedest to distract JiJi-san from Operation Strix . It really shows through how desperate and insistent these terrorists are that xe had to say "Coffee and Juice please ." , "Coffee and Juice please" , "Coffee and Juice please" , and then the Plot Armor just steamrolled over both xer and the actual storyline as if their lives truly did depend on it . That bitch has to die .

The three housewives in the hallway were obviously Rachèle , Douglas , and Wayne . In a later scene the 3Magi are standing there in completely different bodies , and Caspar even has that [expletive] moustache . Those fuckheads have to die .

Could the thing that Anya was drawing be a TXL7? Ka . If i can recognize it , shouldn·t HaHa have been able to recognize it? Ka . Et .

The shot of the Aquarium Manager and JiJi-san was made to look like the characters from the Super Mario Bros. Movie on purpose . Read my official Project Strix report on that here: https://tappedout.net/mtg-forum/spoilers-rumors-and-speculation/strixhaven__projectstrix/

Magic: the Gathering was the first site of Strixhaven , from whence Project Strix gets its name , and the shot of the Aquarium from above is identical to that shown in the MtG card Spara·s Headquarters: https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=555458

So ! With all that said , here·s one more takeaway for the day . Kicking that guy·s , uh , "chin" into the ceiling rafters seems like the kind of thing i would legitimately do . So there·s that .

I·ll have to keep my eyes open for Season 2 , cos we ain·t done here .

EDIT: Here·s that trailer: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eGJWz3E5HrU
Yeah .
Also ,
KOLO IS A PROPRIETARY COPYRIGHTED LOHA GENERAL . SHE IS NOT A PLAYABLE CHARACTER . [expletive] . STOP .

-HaHa
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ACxS



Joined: 03 Aug 2019
Posts: 900
PostPosted: Sun Jun 26, 2022 4:27 am Reply with quote
Final:

"WOW."

Do you know what makes this show great? It's actually self-aware. Rather than taking a two-cour show and basically cutting in half, with the second half airing in October, it tries to wrap up the first half with bits of recap (instead of a damn recap episode), and simply hands the audience a reminder of everything that makes Spy x Family: Twilight and his missions, Yor's assassin tendencies, and most of all, Anya's adventures.

And you know what? The show knows that Anya is the one that's carrying the show, and we watch Spy x Family mostly for her. So what better way for the show to reward us than with a short feel-good story of Anya's Secret Mission. We wanted that, and the show knows that.

So sure, I'll give this an 8/10.

I will be clear about one thing: I do not thing this show is spectacular or brilliant. It's a great show. Solid. Solid production values, solid music. It's just a well-rounded show all in all. And of course, Anya. She's the center of it all. You may think she's adorable and childlike, but she's also pretty precocious as a kid (I attribute it to her ESP). In fact, that's what makes her lovable: her mix of precociousness and childlike perception of everything around her.

So of course, I'm looking forward to the second cour of the show. It's only the right thing for me to do; I want to see where the story goes in the end.
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DuskyPredator



Joined: 10 Mar 2009
Posts: 15501
Location: Brisbane, Australia
PostPosted: Tue Jun 28, 2022 3:32 am Reply with quote
I was thinking that some of the recap stuff would fit in more as a first episode thing, but as a trip to the aquarium, capping off with Anya playing with her toys and her parents, is way too charming. I do think that it is great that this show has lived up to the expectations I felt from those familiar.

It isn't like the show does anything outrageous, that would normally get it rated so highly, it just happens to really well done for a show. My rating for the first season is going to be Excellent (9/10), which perhaps is large for something that doesn't do something big, but at this point I think that it could be one of those shows that could be super easy to recommend to someone. For a 12 episode season, which I can expect more later this year, I can say that I am very satisfied.
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 23853
PostPosted: Tue Jun 28, 2022 9:39 am Reply with quote
I rated this show Excellent as well. How can I not? The humour and character dynamics were at the highest level. I normally don't care much for Fall as a season (the death of summer and all that) but the resumption of this fine show will certainly take some of the sting out.
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