Loid is a perfectionist, in his line of work he has to be because any mistake can cost him his life. Anytime a situation doesn’t go the way he played it out on his head, he beats himself up harshly and starts overthinking.
But thankfully Yor keeps him grounded, reminds him that he’s still human. She reminds Loid that what he wants for Anya is completely different from what Anya wants for herself. Yes school and grades comes first, but she’s still a little kid at heart and Yor wants her to have fun while doing it. Even though he may make these little mistakes when raising Anya, Yor reassures him that he’s still a wonderful father, “A perfect 100 points!”
Now look at Nightfall, while I do think her one-sided love for Loid is funny and tragic at the same time, I don’t think any real progress would be made for Operation Strix if she was his wife.
Look at these 2 panels, Nightfall is quick to criticize Loid for focusing his efforts on “playing house” with Yor, Anya, and Bond. But the core of his mission IS to play house because he’s a Father, Husband, Pet Owner first and Spy second. By this point he finally realized that and readjusted himself thanks to his experiences with Anya, Yor and Bond hence why he seemed a little angry when she calls them “accessories” because that’s how she sees the family “accessories” to the mission.
Compared to Yor, Nightfall’s approach to motherhood would no different than the very scientists that caused Anya to have her telepathy. “Give me results, I want results. You’re just a means to an end, I could care less about what you want. It’s about what I WANT and I HAVE A DEADLINE TO MEET.” In the end Anya would hate school more and it would just bring up bad memories of those scientists, causing her overall well-being to plumment and the mission to fail before it could gain any traction.
It’s why Yor and Loid work so well. They may not be the perfect parents but they work so hard to give Anya the childhood they both couldn’t have when they were younger they understand what works and what doesn’t and learn from their mistakes. Aside from being good parents they also strive to be the best fake Husband and Wife to each other. They lean on each other for emotional support and reassurance even when they doubt themselves.
Although they deny it with every fiber in their being but they love each so much. Because this they’re able to devote themselves even more to reason why they became a Spy/Assassin with clarity.
The way Twilight and Yor complement each other cuts to the bone. Simply, one strengthens the other’s weakness, no matter how different they are. They are both Not a ground wire, reminding them that “they can be better”. They do not idolize themselves, but instead recognize the high and low points. The biggest difference between Yor and Nightfall is that the one is capable of generating a change in Twilight, it gives her the necessary ingredients to be a family. Because in a family you don’t need to be “perfect” but to improve by real and deep love. And that is the love that Yor delivers, a love based on effort to be better
A running theme within the Forger Family is that while Loid fully understands that his Family is a front. Yor over time has tends to forget that her marriage and family are fake.
This particular moment sticks out with me because Yor looks Loid dead in the eyes immediately after he reassured her that she’s doing fine as a mother and said “I’m really glad I married you Loid.”
No mention of “as part of our arrangement” or “because I can continue my contract killing job.” just Yor telling Loid that she’s genuinely happy and fortunate that she got so lucky to marry someone as understanding and endearing as Loid.
During the Bond Introduction Arc, when Anya read Bond’s mind of him seeing the future, this panel perfectly describes how Yor would feel if Loid suddenly died and left them both alone.
Throughout the Manga the lines between real and fake blur for Yor just as quickly as it did for Loid.
When the Cruise Arc happens and Olka asks if Yor’s family is just a cover for her real job, it’s a harsh reminder to her that they still are still a fake family. Yor completely forgot that she’s with them out of circumstances and you can see the hurt and sorrow in her eyes of that reminder
But as long as she is able to go home to Loid and her family, then who cares if her marriage and family is fake? Who cares if she has to drop thousands of bodies? As long as Yor can keep them safe from her line of work and go home to them, that’s all that matters.
Yor has always loved the fact that Loid has always been supportive of her in what she does since the very beginning, always looks to him for approval and support. Yor’s motivations as an Assassin are so similar to Loid’s motivations as a Spy that it allows her to do what she does with no regrets and she knows Loid would understand and respect her decisions at the end of the day because as she puts it:
One of the best anime series this year has got to be Spy x Family. In the fictional countries of Westalis and Ostania, a nameless spy (later taking the identity of Loid Forger, a psychiatrist) is appointed with investigating Donovan Desmond, the leader of a potentially radical political party.
However, as he was a recluse, Loid needed to adopt a child and enroll them at Eden’s Academy, which he does by adopting Anya a smol girl who loves spy shows and peanuts. Unbeknownst to Loid, she had telepathic abilities. But, to further compound that, he needed a wife for a mandatory interview, thus “marrying” Yor who has her own dirty little secret: that being that she is a ruthless professional assassin known as the Thorn Princess. So begins the story of this messed-up arrangement.
I just love this show’s insanity with the main characters being very good and working off each other. Of course, I also dig the action sequences and laugh at the absurdity of it all.
The show is animated well with the most I like of it being the facial expressions the characters pull off. Anya, for instance, can pull off hundreds of over-the-top reactions that you can use as a background saver on your phone.
Then comes the fluidity of the animation. I swear the scene of a drunk Yor fighting Loid was one of the best fight scenes of the show. Additionally, Anya punching the stuffing out of Damian. With such push she pulls out, I could practically feel the intensity of that punch.
Where the show shines the most is its heart. For a fake family, the Forgers are very wholesome with each other and make it clear that they are slowly growing to care for each other. So much so, you’d think that maybe, just maybe, they would play the family role so good that they are unable to tell the difference between them anymore (hence why I had this fan theory of WISE actually giving Loid a fake mission but I won’t divulge into that at the moment). But, sure, throwing an elaborate recreation of Anya’s favorite spy show for getting into Eden definitely is just for the mission.
So far all the characters are likable, except for Swan. Loid is really one of the best spies they have in their service. While serious and always dedicated to his mission, it is amusing seeing him transition into a father. He has no idea what he is doing, but nevertheless, he is trying to be a “good father” for Anya.
Anya, of course, is one of the main draws to the series besides Best Mom of the Year. I just adore how they make Anya sound like an actual child when oftentimes children in anime end up being little hellspawn. Here we have a child who knows the secret lives her parents have, but she is having the time of her life. I especially loved how she roped Yor into the affair by saying that she had no mommy and she was lonely.
Like I mentioned, Anya is probably the funniest character of the series due to the facial expressions she pulls my ultimate favorite being her explanation to hitting Damian: oh, I had my hand out and he walked into it. It’s especially hilarious that she is actually checking to see if the teacher was looking her way before delivering a falcon punch sending the boy flying. She is really taking after her parents nicely.
Next is Yor who is a fine candidate for best girl. She can be sweet and puts her all in trying to be the best mother she can be in Anya’s life. But she can be a bit airheaded, not stupid, but she completely buys Loid being a psychiatrist…even when he tosses a grenade towards his enemies. Also topping off the best scene of the whole show by offering the pin as a ring. One thing I’ve never seen is someone improvise a grenade pin for a wedding ring. But that was just awesome.
Of course, there is more to Yor than meets the eye. While she can be compassionate or sweet, in truth, she is a frighteningly brutal assassin who is very, very good at her job. Just Jesus Christ: that scene where she obliterates her target and his crew still gives me shivers. Before that, we had somewhat light-hearted action scenes with Loid while on his job. There, it feels like we stepped into a horror movie with Yor being the unstoppable killer. She was just casually doing her cover job acting somewhat airheaded…at least until she received a call and went into kill mode.
You do NOTwant to be around Yor when she is in kill mode. I would suggest praying to God for mercy, but that’s not going to work for your favor, will it? When she is fully committed to being Anya’s mother, you better believe that she will not be weak in that moment.
Yor has several moments I love like the drunk fighting, but the best one is when she slams that one criminal who tried to kidnap Anya with the bag of groceries. And then she fricking obliterates a pumpkin with her bare hand only inches away from that guy’s face. Yeah, you better run unless you want to end up like that pumpkin she destroyed. She is so strong, it is insane. But then I keep thinking back to Anya having a dream and telling her mom not to kill dad. Oh crap.
Side characters tend to vary. For instance, I love Henderson because of his hammy tendency with calling this or that “elegant!” Also props to him for punching that jerk Swan after he made Anya cry.
I also liked Becky, Anya’s new friend, and Damian who becomes a tsundere who was incapable of understanding his feelings for the girl. I also give props on how, much like Anya, their actors are able to sound like legitimate children.
Overall, a very enjoyable watch I look forward to every Saturday.
I just realized spy x family is just about orphans, an orphan is using two orphans for his mission and the other orphan is using the two other orphans as cover and the other orphan is adopted so is no longer an orphan but was once an orphan
with all that’s been going in my country, I wasn’t able to post this for mother’s day. Crying behind this screen both in joy because I really love them but also very extremely sad because of the halalan 2022
