Spy x Family – 09

「ラブラブを見せつけよ」 (Rabu Rabu o Misetsukeyo)
“Show Off How in Love You Are”

It’s a good thing that Yuri was drunk with wine and infatuation for his sister. If he had been in a proper state of mind, that whole prelude to the almost kiss would have tipped him off that they weren’t as close as they might seem. Although that is an embarrassing thing to ask anyone, especially your sister. Even so, Yuri was dancing dangerously close to the truth, “wishing he were a spy” and “spies and con-men try to act like good guys”. His main target is Twilight to keep his sister safe-but his sister is already married to said man. Got to love a good irony!

It’s hard to gauge Yuri-is he a threat? Well, being a top secret policeman and in Twilight’s own backyard no less- hell yes. Yet, he’ll buy anything Yor says, even if what she’s saying/doing wouldn’t hold water on close examination. No normal person would buy “I forgot to tell you” as a reasonable excuse for only just finding out about your sister’s marriage. Yor will be the key factor in keeping the Forgers under wraps when it comes to Yuri, so long as Yuri doesn’t start doing some digging on Loid.

While Yuri is jealous of Loid, Loid in some sense is envious of the Yuri and Yor. The way Loid looks at their tight relationship reveals a lot about what he missed out on as an only child (I assume). The Forger family is in some way starting to fill that hole in his heart.

The more we see things from Anya’s perspective, the more I would say that mind reading is not a superpower, but a super curse. She can read Loid’s suspicions of Yor and Yor’s self-doubts about being a suitable wife for Loid. She sees the family she longed for begin to get shaky and can do nothing about it-that’s got to be a lot of stress. It makes you realize how painful it was with her other families. Her power gives her a front row seat to everything slowly fall to pieces but is useless to stop any of that. I hope for Anya’s sake that the Forgers don’t fall apart (and obviously, they’ll be sticking around for quite some time).

It took Twilight long enough to put his guard up-he’s only now suspicious about things he should’ve looked into in the first place. The whole interrogation bit was overboard (Franky really loves acting), though at least it cleared his doubts of Yor. What Twilight hears through the wiretapping is sad. He learns of Yor’s self-doubts and picks up on the jealousy of her co-workers who are like hungry hyenas circling an injured gazelle. The pair’s respective professions aren’t the only thing that’s hidden. They also hide their own doubts and internal monologues, so I’m sure it was eye-opening for Twilight to see that side of Yor. I’m glad that Twilight didn’t ignore Yor’s distress, which he could easily have done since it was undercover knowledge. Instead, he goes to meet her after work, encouraging her to be herself. Very symbolic how that whole conversation took place at a stoplight.

Yor’s insecurities hit kind of hard. According to society’s standards, she is “behind”-at her age, she has only just gotten married while her co-workers have been in serious relationships for a long time (or act like it). She is fed messages about “definitive” womanhood, like how she should merge finances with her husband, be a good cook, and not cause trouble for the family. None of which she does, so she naturally blames herself.

When you don’t fit the mold, you feel inadequate and begin to think that that’s how everyone else sees you as well. In reality, the mold is inadequate, not you. For Yor, she has expanded far beyond the social constructs of domestic bliss, which as Loid pointed out, is just an act (which means the Forgers are putting on an act of an act). Her relationship with Loid has more mutual respect and cooperation than what we’ve seen in her co-workers’ relationships, she can defend herself and her family, and genuinely cares about those close to her-raising Yuri and looking after Anya. She is defined by herself more than her role as a wife or mother in a society that defines women by their family.

Yor’s character is handled extremely well. Her insecurities don’t make her pathetic nor is she defined solely by them. They show her self-doubts side by side with her strengths. Her negative self-talk is followed by holding her own during the mock interrogation. Yuri’s cherished memories of being raised by her are followed by Yor’s doubts on domestic bliss. Both strengths and weaknesses go hand in hand, adding layers to her that peel back to make her more real, relatable.

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