「新しい家族」 (Atarashii Kazoku)
“A New Family Member”

Yor kicks ass again, sending the terrorist’s car into an accident and saving the day. For someone so crazy strong, she is insanely polite and genteel, even calling the terrorist “terrorist-san” (Mr. Terrorist). I suppose part of it is her kind personality and part of it something she may have developed over the years, so no-one would suspect such a soft-spoken person was a terrifying assassin.

The Forger family hits close to home for the Handler, letting it drop that she also once had a daughter Anya’s age. She doesn’t say what happened to her, but it would make sense if there was a tragic wartime story to go along with it. We saw a completely different side of Sylvia with the way she completely softened up and turning gentle with Anya, remembering her own child. Having been a mother once, does the eventual fate of the Forger family also bother her the way it does Twilight or does she force herself to compartmentalize it for the sake of a better future? I could see either (or both) being true-I would love it if they expanded her character development in the future, exploring the tensions she could carry between those opposing views.

This tension continues to plague Twilight, as well it should. He realizes the irony of telling Anya that caring for a dog is a lifetime deal when he for one, probably won’t be able to care for her the rest of her life, giving her back for adoption once the mission is over (if she survives that long). For being a top spy who can ruthlessly play any part to capture an enemy, he is gentle at heart. Even when locked in a tight battle with the bomb dog, rather than shooting the dog and tossing it part and parcel into the river, he shoots the vest off the dog (which was rather unrealistic), then restrains rather than kill it. I think what his dilemma boils down to is that he knows the Forgers are work and needs to compartmentalize it as such, but deep down, genuinely cares what happens to Anya. It is a conflict between the boy who dreams of a better world and the man who ruthlessly tries to make it happen by sacrificing his own happiness. Something tells me that love will win out over cold hard duty in the end (or at least, I hope so).

Mister dog finally joins the family! After considering appellations such as Old Man Hair, Princess Vanilla III, and Peanuts, Anya finally settles on Bond as his name. Bond is now her partner in crime, serving as a pretext for befriending Damian to help Papa save the world. As adorable as Anya is, she can be rather ruthless, teasing Becky with a doggie playdate to test the “I have a dog, let’s hang out” plan for Damian. Damian for his part has an inner soft side, caving under Anya’s tears and deigning to show enough interest to ask her about her dog’s name. His interactions with her are so cute!! Her vague responses when asked anything about her dog were hilarious-she doesn’t care about the details, just the fact that she has one. Then again, most kids are like that. Not only does she have a dog-it is one with mindreading abilities to boot, a perfect fit for the quirky, skilled Forger family. I never thought about it until now, but I guess a mindreading/foresight ability combo would make housetraining much easier.

Preview

10 Comments

  1. Sylvia showing compassion towards Anya because she was once a mom saddens me. It must suck knowing your kid died before you did. No parent should have to go through that.

    FINALLY LOID HAD THAT ONE SCENE OF VULNERABILITY THAT MADE ME FALL IN LOVE WITH Spy × Family! Moreover, Loid thinking he would completely abandon Anya when his mission is over is thinking too far ahead. There is real value in having a family; it offers a perspective that a single person doesn’t see. Not to mention there are spies in RL that are family oriented.

    RenaSayers
    1. Not only that but her husband is nowhere to be seen, making it a double-whammy of tragedy for her. And she still looks very young, making me assume that she’s older than she looks.

      starss
      1. She is also an expert in espionage like Twilight, so I assume it wouldn’t be too hard for her to make herself look younger. It may also just be the “anime effect” of drawing certain characters younger and sexier looking regardless of their actual age.

        Princess Usagi
      1. Yes, we are starting to see the ice crack more and more around Twilight the more the Forgers become a part of his life. That certainly wasn’t in the job description that he signed up for!

        Princess Usagi
      1. That is an interesting theory. My personal guess is that he died-it would make sense with the emphasis placed on the pain of losing loved ones in the war. If the husband ran off to the other side, I think more anger would be directed at the other side rather than at the casualties of the war itself.

        Princess Usagi
    2. Twilight can’t help but to think far ahead-it’s in his training as a spy. Working in espionage, he’s had to learn to compartmentalize his feelings so they don’t get in the way of his duty, so to me at least, it seems natural, that he would feel an obligation to do the same-logically it’s work, even though his heart doesn’t (and shouldn’t) feel that way.

      Princess Usagi

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