Spy x Family – 19

「デズモンドへの復讐計画」 (Dezumondo e no Fukushū Keikaku)
“Operation Revenge on Desmond” 「母、風になる」 (Haha, Kaze ni Naru)
“Mother Becomes as the Wind”

To be honest, I was not a huge fan of this chapter in the manga, so I was not looking forward to seeing it adapted in the anime. It was neither funny nor endearing. Franken-monster boy’s father’s company, Glooman Pharmaceutical, is supposedly going under: a worst-case scenario for a child in upper crust Eden Academy. George is a sneaky bastard-making a scene to milk everything he can out of Desmond. Yet, the sad thing is, George actually believed his own nonsense-you could easily hate him if knew it was a ruse, but that he honestly believed it and co-opted that to his advantage-I can only feel condescending pity.

Which is how the Eden students also felt. They are a terrible bunch, pretending to be friends out of pity, then coldly taking everything back when he shows up at school again. Anya is the only one who doesn’t fall into the emotional trap, standing aloof. I had to chuckle when everyone gifted George their treasures-except for Anya who gave him a stray leaf. The camera shots and directorship during these scenes were remarkable, with wide panning shots and positioning George in the shadows, artistically emphasizing his isolation

Damian caught my attention here. Starting off with how he adorably tried to get Anya’s attention- Damian knew what he was doing, busting that super sweep move in Anya’s visual periphery. Then how he took pity on the miserable George. It says something about Damian. His toughness is all talk-when it comes down to it he’s a softy, feeling bad enough for George’s plight to meet his ridiculous demands ranging from treating him to apple juice to photo ops with a stella. It also paints him as naïve, showing sympathy when George’s life is on the precipice of ruin, and taking his kindness back when George’s fortunes (which were never bankrupted to begin with) were “restored”.

My favorite part was everyone’s reactions to George’s spectacle. Damian’s facial expression perfectly sums up my thoughts on this episode “Umm, what do I even do with this…” George’s reaction is way overblown. Yes, going bankrupt is a grave matter, but to jump from leaving school to getting trafficked to Westalis is a bit much. One of my least favorite scenes was the choral sing-along. Kids sentimentally singing together, played for emotional crescendo, is cringey for me, and they played it to the utmost here. Am I supposed to feel a gentle warming of the heart here because I sure didn’t. In the latter half of the episode, I felt nothing but acute pain at the awkwardness of George having to return the next day after his emotional farewell (and George certainly felt it too).

The second part wasn’t much better. It was very extra-Yor running all the way to Anya’s school with all those flips and jumps. I can’t remember if this was even in the manga or not-if it was, it didn’t make much of an impression on me. I love Spy x Family when it is at its high points, but today sure wasn’t that. From the source material, next week will be better!

Preview