04/09/2022

Mission 1 - Operation Strix

Alright! So, I watched the first ever episode as soon as it came out and I AM NOT DISSAPOINTED!

*FAIR WARNING: ALL OF THESE REACTION CHAPTERS TO THE EPISODES WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS. DO WHAT YOU WILL WITH THAT INFORMATION.

Also, I purposely leave out some details because I want people who haven't watched the anime or read the manga to find out for themselves. Surely it wouldn't be fun if I told you guys everything, now would it?

The events that occur are in line with the events that occur in the manga. What I mean by this is that a story has a sequence. It starts with something, moves on to the next thing, and so on and so forth. One thing I was worried about is if the anime would go about those sequences from the manga in the exact same way.

For example, the manga stars with a scene of a car going to an embassy. The driver and the diplomat panic when the breaks stop working and they literally fall off this highway/building.

Officials from Westalis recognize this as an assassination by far-right extremists from the East. (The Diplomat is from Westalis).

This exact scene is portrayed in that order in the anime. Boy was I happy about that-

Moving on the next scene, we are introduced to Loid and IT IS SO FREAKING COOL! He does that classic "pulling off his face which was actually a mask" move and I will never get sick of that trick. It will forever be cool to me.

Now, I won't be going through absolutely every scene in the anime (as much as I want to), because unfortunately, I simply do not have the time to be able to do that.

Having said that...

The scene where Loid is in the train, reading about his new mission is hecking gold-level comedy. As someone who's read the manga way before all of this, my mind couldn't help but just run about everything else that happens in the story.

Loid's next mission is to get close to the Chairman of the National Union Party - Donovan Desmond who is considered a dangerous threat to the peace between the West and the East. Unfortunately, Desmond only shows up at events at his son's prestigious school, Eden Academy.

And how would Loid manage to get close to him without arousing suspicion?

By getting married and having a child.

*Insert incessant laughter here*

Truly an iconic scene-

Especially Loid's frustration-

Without much of a choice, Loid goes about his mission. He gets an apartment and now he just has to get a child!

Cue the most adorable anime child I have ever seen (and that is saying something).

ANYA!

What I would give to have an Anya in my life. I swear she's just too precious-

Loid finds her in a pretty bad orphanage, one where no one can track down the child's history prior to arriving at the orphanage.

There's this scene where Anya does this crossword by reading Loid's mind which is thinking of all of the answers, and Loid thinks that she's a hecking genius, and I swear this anime is so effortlessly funny-

Now, Anya's just a kid. A kid who can mind read. And she gladly accepts Loid's offer to be his daughter. Why? BECAUSE HE'S A FREAKING SPY AND THAT MEANS EXCITEMENT. What kid would be stupid enough to turn down such an offer?

Now, something that not a lot of people know is that in the manga, whenever Anya is reading someone's mind, there's these sparkles in the air. This was drawn to show that she was mind-reading. I was honestly pretty surprised that the anime decided to incorporate that into the story! What a nice little detail!

So, Loid adopts Anya and they go the Loid's recently bought apartment. He tells her that she needs to tell people that she's been his daughter for a long time (obviously to not arouse any unwanted attention).

OMG AND THE SPY WARS THING-

Anyways, Loid needs to go out to get some necessities and some other stuff, and Anya wants to have an adventure (who doesn't at this point), so he takes her along.

She attracts attention wherever she goes and this nice old lady brings her back to Loid telling him that he must hold her hand at all times.

Loid thinks to himself that by holding Anya's hand, he'll be less prepared to handle an enemy. And because Anya can read minds, she panics a bit and goes and hides under a shop...menu...stand...thing. I̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶g̶o̶t̶ ̶w̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶y̶ ̶w̶e̶r̶e̶ ̶c̶a̶l̶l̶e̶d̶-̶

Loid asks her what she's doing and she tells him that she's hiding. In typical misunderstanding fashion, Loid thinks that he accidently triggered a traumatic experience for her and that's why she doesn't want to hold hands with him and that she's hiding.

On that note, this series is chock-full of misunderstandings, but they're the kind of misunderstandings that make you laugh and enjoy the plot, rather than wanting to rip out your hair because the characters are too freaking stupid. I̶'̶m̶ ̶l̶o̶o̶k̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶a̶t̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶A̶d̶r̶i̶e̶n̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶M̶a̶r̶i̶n̶e̶t̶t̶e̶-̶

So, Loid's coming to a conclusion in his head that he needs to learn more about Anya. "Basic diplomacy. Understanding the target is the first step towards peace."

Well, Anya's just a really little kid, so she understands this as, and I quote, "Understanding Anya will lead to world peace!?" I̶ ̶s̶w̶e̶a̶r̶ ̶s̶h̶e̶'̶s̶ ̶t̶o̶o̶ ̶c̶u̶t̶e̶!̶

So, in order to allow her father to take the first step towards world peace, Anya lets him know that she likes peanuts, but she hates carrots. A̶A̶G̶G̶G̶H̶H̶H̶H̶H̶H̶ ̶T̶H̶I̶S̶ ̶I̶S̶ ̶T̶O̶O̶ ̶C̶U̶T̶E̶!̶

There's a moment with money where Anya makes a pretty simple mistake and Loid starts wondering if the crossword moment was a simple fluke and that she wasn't actually that smart.

And like the dumbass he is (j̶u̶s̶t̶ ̶k̶i̶d̶d̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶w̶e̶ ̶a̶l̶l̶ ̶l̶o̶v̶e̶ ̶h̶i̶m̶), he starts thinking about changing her with someone else.

And obviously Anya cries.

Loid eventually gets her to calm down with peanuts.

Loid reads at the speed of light, and this is shown in the anime when he reads about how to take care of children and be a good parent.

The next morning, he sets out to make Anya study for the Eden Academy entrance exams, but like...she doesn't want to.

She almost slips up by saying that she can just read...

And Loid cuts her off by saying that she shouldn't teach.

Then, he decides to go out and get the test answers himself and he tells her that he's not taking her along with him this time.

Cue the montage where Anya absolutely does not give a heck and keeps following him. He obviously notices her every time, and finds her, but Anya just sees this as a fun game where her father is really good at finding out where she's hiding.

He ends up locking her inside the house which is more suspicious than Twilight would like to be, but oh well. Also, Franky would be a great in real life friend-

Then of course, poor Anya is bored out of her mind and she decides to go snooping through Loid's spy gear and whatnot.

Bad idea seeing as she accidently sent out a signal which bad guys got hold of and then they kidnapped her and then Loid comes home to find her missing and then gets knocked out (y̶o̶u̶'̶v̶e̶ ̶l̶o̶s̶t̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶r̶ ̶t̶o̶u̶c̶h̶ ̶T̶w̶i̶l̶i̶g̶h̶t̶) and then disguises himself as one of the bad guys and infiltrates the lair and then kicks their sorry behinds and then takes Anya home. T̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶a̶ ̶r̶e̶a̶l̶l̶y̶ ̶b̶a̶d̶ ̶s̶u̶m̶m̶a̶r̶y̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶f̶i̶g̶h̶t̶-̶

And the scene where she snuggles up to Loid is just absolutely precious because honestly? The poor adorable little thing needs it.

And of course, the episode ended with Anya making it through the Eden Academy entrance exams, PASSING, and...

They need a mother in order to pass the interviews.

After watching this episode, I went ahead and watched it a few 1̶0̶ more times because of how much I loved it. It was pretty dang cool seeing the story I know and love in the form of an animation.

A few things that I'd like to point out-

1.) YOR'S COMING IN THE NEXT EPISODE!

2.) WE'RE GOING TO SEE THE ONE AND ONLY ELEGANCE MAN! (Soon anyway)

3.) We get to see Yor's badassery soon b̶u̶t̶ ̶I̶ ̶h̶a̶v̶e̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶w̶a̶i̶t̶ ̶l̶i̶k̶e̶.̶.̶.̶a̶ ̶w̶e̶e̶k̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶i̶t̶.̶

4.) It was so nice seeing Loid accept Anya in the end and commit to the mission with her.

5.) WAIT- THE GRENADE RING SCENE'S GONNA COME NEXT SATURDAY! OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG...

Can you tell I'm still very hyped about this?

Anyways, final comments?

I LOVED IT. THERE'S NOTHING MORE TO IT. IT IS A LITERAL DREAM COME TRUE FOR THIS MOMENT TO HAPPEN. AND IT HAPPENED. AND I COULDN'T BE HAPPIER.

I don't know how on Earth I'm going to wait for the next episode...

Question of the chapter: Who is your favorite "Spy x Family" character and why? C̶l̶i̶c̶h̶e̶ ̶q̶u̶e̶s̶t̶i̶o̶n̶,̶ ̶I̶ ̶K̶N̶O̶W̶.̶

- Vera Lisle