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EP. REVIEW: Spy Classroom


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FilthyCasual



Joined: 01 Jun 2015
Posts: 2165
PostPosted: Sat Jan 21, 2023 11:02 am Reply with quote
Quote:
(One of those names is, in fact, completely made up, but I defy any one of you to tell me which one it is without looking it up yourself. How's that for some sneaky spycraft?)
Sara.

Unfortunately, I still refer to most of the girls as 'that one'. The show hasn't given me much reason to do otherwise. Spy Classroom hasn't given me a reason to invest in much deeper than 'girls cute' and I hope that changes.
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Aerodynamic41



Joined: 20 Oct 2015
Posts: 223
PostPosted: Sat Jan 21, 2023 11:18 am Reply with quote
About the Erna twist: The author wrote it specifically to take advantage of the LN format.

In the LN, she was always with the other girls and they even acknowledged her presence. There's even a scene where she and Klaus get kidnapped by thugs, which was later revealed to be orchestrated by the other girls to defeat Klaus. Now in the LN, until the reveal, it wasn't mentioned exactly how many girls there were, they were only identified by their hair color and they always made sure one of them never spoke when all of them were together. This, combined with the lack of visuals tricked the reader into thinking there were only 7 girls.

Now this would obviously never work in a visual format so the anime decided to cut all of Erna's introductory scenes to preserve the twist. That's why it felt rushed in the anime.

Also, this series handles character development on a volume-by-volume basis: Lily is the protagonist of Vol. 1, Grete is the protagonist of Vol. 2, Thea is the protagonist of Vol. 3 & 4 and so on.
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Dnautics



Joined: 03 Aug 2022
Posts: 77
PostPosted: Sat Jan 21, 2023 11:49 am Reply with quote
Kind of harsh criticism for the show.. It's supposed to be cute with a little action, I don't think this story is meant to be serious. I am way more invested in this than Lycoris Recoil and Spy Family last season, which also are not serious shows.
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harminia



Joined: 24 Aug 2015
Posts: 1987
Location: australia
PostPosted: Sun Jan 22, 2023 1:42 am Reply with quote
I think you're probably gonna struggle with the series a bit as it very heavily leans into the "there's a twist and half the cast know it but you don't until the end" method of story writing.

I haven't seen the anime but I liked that they kept Erna secret for so long; I always love when a show can keep things secret (like a certain twist in the anime Another). The book isn't really able to achieve that so much, so it's only really Guido who is surprised (though it does make you go "oh!" and look back at the colour illustrations and realise it only shows 7 of the girls.)

So, yeah. I'm not sure if this will exactly become what you're looking for. But it is overall a fun romp and, as of 3 books in, there's not really a harem to speak of which is surprising for a show like this.

Quote:
“Could it be that Spy Family has no goddamned idea what its doing?”

Ah yes... The problem with this show's name. You're either gonna mix it up with SpyxFamily or Assassination Classroom..
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Erulogos



Joined: 19 Apr 2021
Posts: 27
PostPosted: Sun Jan 22, 2023 10:20 pm Reply with quote
harminia wrote:

Ah yes... The problem with this show's name. You're either gonna mix it up with SpyxFamily or Assassination Classroom..


Now we just need "Assassination Family" to complete the set.
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Aerdra



Joined: 02 Feb 2022
Posts: 320
PostPosted: Mon Jan 23, 2023 1:00 am Reply with quote
FilthyCasual wrote:
Quote:
(One of those names is, in fact, completely made up, but I defy any one of you to tell me which one it is without looking it up yourself. How's that for some sneaky spycraft?)
Sara.

Celeste.

As an anime-only viewer, I rewatched the first two episodes after finishing episode 3, spoiler[in order to see if the eighth girl was there, and it surprised me to see that she actually appeared about a dozen times!] The first time watching, spoiler[I missed all but one. (In the scene after they were beaten up by Klaus, I noticed there were eight bodies on the floor, but I thought the artists just made a mistake and thought nothing of it at the time.) Overall, the animators did a great job framing the shots where she was present to direct attention away from her, hiding her in plain sight like a spy.]
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Chipp12



Joined: 30 Mar 2012
Posts: 300
PostPosted: Tue Jan 24, 2023 11:33 pm Reply with quote
Aerodynamic41 wrote:
Now this would obviously never work in a visual format

From what I've heard even the manga adaptation managed to handle it better than anime.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvOQjbnkKj8
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Animegomaniac



Joined: 16 Feb 2012
Posts: 4070
PostPosted: Wed Jan 25, 2023 5:41 am Reply with quote
The ending of episode 1 is a massive "Oh, wow, I didn't see that before" moment after seeing the third one. The rest of are hints and suggestions, how panning stops right there or how the table has 8 chairs at the start but later gets reduced to 7. That episode 1 ending is deliberate with Erna "fully" on screen.

It kind of helps there's only one blond to three girls with silver/white hair. What distracted me is where she was placed, that's my defense. Erna's right behind Lily's knees, the challenge is the eyes follow straight lines and those straight lines go up.

I think it shouldn't work as well in print as it would lead more to a dull "oh, there were 8 of them" from the reader. If viewer feels like they were being lied to or tricked by some third rate magician then I think it worked because that's the best such an opening twist could hope for. Not the dessert of a finely crafted mystery but the opening tidbit of a basic yet still ambitious spy story.

"We have to do it" and "let's get it over with"; I take it the first novel was condensed down to these three episodes? If character stuff was lost, it'll be added in later, no problem.
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Aerodynamic41



Joined: 20 Oct 2015
Posts: 223
PostPosted: Sun Jan 29, 2023 2:13 am Reply with quote
Quote:
You see, the whole episode takes place before the team left for the mission that ended with such a bang last week. This is a problem, because the whole story of Klaus and Erna running into a secretly manipulated kidnapping that was orchestrated by the other girls never really feels like a proper flashback. Instead, it just feels like we're watching a story out of order, as if this we an old film print of a movie and the projectionist screwed up the reel splicing. There's no tension or excitement whatsoever to the scene, because not only do we know that nothing bad can possibly happen to anyone involved, but we've already seen the much more interesting and thrilling version of the scene where the team uses their full repertoire of skills to execute a big plan. If this episode had come before Episode 3, we might have been able to enjoy watching the progression of Lamplight's teamwork and spycraft. As it stands, it is simply impossible to care.


I know I said this before, but it was actually in proper chronological order in the LN. The anime changed it to a flashback because the Erna twist was much more difficult to hide in a visual format.
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Animegomaniac



Joined: 16 Feb 2012
Posts: 4070
PostPosted: Mon Jan 30, 2023 10:28 am Reply with quote
Epiosde 4

I like what the show did; The focus wasn't on Lamplight's teamwork, it's on Klaus. This works, not as a flashback but a follow up episode that happens to be set in the past... maybe I've seen too many episodes of Lost or perhaps just the right amount... because there was a double twist and they are connected: One, that there was eight girls all along and two, Klaus was on their side the entire time. Using the POVs that we didn't know about from the first three allows us to recontextualize the relationships and social standings of Lamplight; Klaus isn't the untouchable "Greatest Spy in the World", he's more a first among equals.

And one of the reasons they are more like equals is because Erna has a special power. And seeing how we seen the team work teamwork without powers, what will they do with powers involved?

Quote:
There's no tension or excitement whatsoever to the scene, because not only do we know that nothing bad can possibly happen to anyone involved, but we've already seen the much more interesting and thrilling version of the scene where the team uses their full repertoire of skills to execute a big plan.


It's like hitting a brick wall at five miles an hour, that's all I can say.
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TheSleepyMonkey



Joined: 11 Jul 2022
Posts: 887
PostPosted: Sat Feb 04, 2023 9:49 am Reply with quote
This adaptation's weird pacing and chronological order reminds me of Peach Boy Riverside and it's non-sensical decision to air the episodes out of order.
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Kiwi93



Joined: 08 Dec 2022
Posts: 311
PostPosted: Sat Feb 04, 2023 10:49 am Reply with quote
As a fan of the light novels i was really looking forward to the anime but they way they’ve chosen to adapt it so far is so weird. Honestly I would recommend for people to just read the novels.
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FilthyCasual



Joined: 01 Jun 2015
Posts: 2165
PostPosted: Sat Feb 04, 2023 11:26 am Reply with quote
Hee hoo girls cute (this is why I don't review things).
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Cho_Desu



Joined: 27 Dec 2022
Posts: 184
PostPosted: Sat Feb 04, 2023 7:01 pm Reply with quote
Erulogos wrote:
harminia wrote:

Ah yes... The problem with this show's name. You're either gonna mix it up with SpyxFamily or Assassination Classroom..


Now we just need "Assassination Family" to complete the set.


I thought for sure there actually was a manga at the moment about a family of assassins, but now I can't recall the title. Maybe I'm just mixing up Sakamoto Days with High School Family.
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Hal14



Joined: 01 Apr 2018
Posts: 652
Location: Heart of africa
PostPosted: Sun Feb 05, 2023 5:23 am Reply with quote
Cho_Desu wrote:

I thought for sure there actually was a manga at the moment about a family of assassins, but now I can't recall the title. Maybe I'm just mixing up Sakamoto Days with High School Family.


Maybe you're thinking of Mission: Yozakura family?
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