Papa is a Liar - Sun 24/04/22 19:53 UTC
This is going to be this spring's sleeper hit.
SPYxFAMILY
Of course it's a spy show ... and it's one that ranks with the best of James Bond, Charade with a dash of True Lies thrown in. Set in a fictional cold war, mixed in with a bit of anachronism stew, it has the atmosphere of a intrigue mixed with light jazz.
Of course there's Loid - a handsome, dashing and skilled operative, suave and sophisticated - the Spy, master of disguise.
And of course his mission is To Save The World - fine, to stop a war by getting close and influencing a powerful political leader of the opposing country. Except this Very Important Target is reclusive, and is ONLY accessible during certain events - events held by the Very Exclusive Private School his kid goes to.
So Our hero has to infiltrate the school. He has the Skills (he thinks), he has the technology (he can forge an airtight false identity) and he has a ... wait. Yup. That's right.
He needs a kid.
And he needs a wife.
And we are off!
Now being a spy show, in the action adventure genre, OF COURSE he doesn't just end up with ANY kid. Meet Anya, who has been shuffling through orphanages because she's creepy. Really creepy. But not because she's a goth or some dark child with a traumatic past - no, she's a telepath who ran away from her laboratory. That's Anya.
Now being a spy show, in the action adventure genre, OF COURSE he doesn't just end up with ANY wife. Of course, he ends up with Yor, who's not a spy. She's the Femme Fatale - beautiful, cute, mousy on the outside yet is steel hidden by silk, deadly with knives and can kick a smuggler from one end of a back alley to the other. You know, the Assassin.
Now with this set up, you should face palm. James Bond. Mata Hari. The precocious kid who is super-intelligent and can read minds!
Nope.
In SpyxFamily you have a kid, an assassin and a spy, desperate to keep what they actually do a secret from the other two, being not very good at it, and having absolutely no clue on how to be a functional family but are trying their absolute hardest to make this work.
And they do. The chemistry between the characters is amazing. They actually fit and do so maintaining their uniqueness, their individuality.
Anya is absolutely adorable. Why? Yes, she's a telepath. But she's a kid! And she acts and reacts like one. They never forget that. She has her moments of brilliance ... but more often it's RUN AND HIDE when she picks up the wrong thought. And of course this is a grand adventure for her.
And Yor tries so hard ... and you can see that she could be a nice person, would like to be a nice person, once she figures out you don't have to solve every problem with knives and blood and eliminating the problem permanently.
The animation - spot on. The music, jazz based and light - a perfect fit for the spy genre. the direction and story telling - they do have a story to tell. It might be backgrounded by intrigue and saving the world ... but, at least for now, its actually a story about how three very different people can become a family.
It's the last thing you'd say about a spy show. They could have gone for sexiness, fan service and blood and guts ... but it's actually wholesome.
I know. Weird, isn't it? These three make you smile.
Oh, and yes, the spy stuff is really good too. They don't forget that, either.
SPYxFAMILY
Of course it's a spy show ... and it's one that ranks with the best of James Bond, Charade with a dash of True Lies thrown in. Set in a fictional cold war, mixed in with a bit of anachronism stew, it has the atmosphere of a intrigue mixed with light jazz.
Of course there's Loid - a handsome, dashing and skilled operative, suave and sophisticated - the Spy, master of disguise.
And of course his mission is To Save The World - fine, to stop a war by getting close and influencing a powerful political leader of the opposing country. Except this Very Important Target is reclusive, and is ONLY accessible during certain events - events held by the Very Exclusive Private School his kid goes to.
So Our hero has to infiltrate the school. He has the Skills (he thinks), he has the technology (he can forge an airtight false identity) and he has a ... wait. Yup. That's right.
He needs a kid.
And he needs a wife.
And we are off!
Now being a spy show, in the action adventure genre, OF COURSE he doesn't just end up with ANY kid. Meet Anya, who has been shuffling through orphanages because she's creepy. Really creepy. But not because she's a goth or some dark child with a traumatic past - no, she's a telepath who ran away from her laboratory. That's Anya.
Now being a spy show, in the action adventure genre, OF COURSE he doesn't just end up with ANY wife. Of course, he ends up with Yor, who's not a spy. She's the Femme Fatale - beautiful, cute, mousy on the outside yet is steel hidden by silk, deadly with knives and can kick a smuggler from one end of a back alley to the other. You know, the Assassin.
Now with this set up, you should face palm. James Bond. Mata Hari. The precocious kid who is super-intelligent and can read minds!
Nope.
In SpyxFamily you have a kid, an assassin and a spy, desperate to keep what they actually do a secret from the other two, being not very good at it, and having absolutely no clue on how to be a functional family but are trying their absolute hardest to make this work.
And they do. The chemistry between the characters is amazing. They actually fit and do so maintaining their uniqueness, their individuality.
Anya is absolutely adorable. Why? Yes, she's a telepath. But she's a kid! And she acts and reacts like one. They never forget that. She has her moments of brilliance ... but more often it's RUN AND HIDE when she picks up the wrong thought. And of course this is a grand adventure for her.
And Yor tries so hard ... and you can see that she could be a nice person, would like to be a nice person, once she figures out you don't have to solve every problem with knives and blood and eliminating the problem permanently.
The animation - spot on. The music, jazz based and light - a perfect fit for the spy genre. the direction and story telling - they do have a story to tell. It might be backgrounded by intrigue and saving the world ... but, at least for now, its actually a story about how three very different people can become a family.
It's the last thing you'd say about a spy show. They could have gone for sexiness, fan service and blood and guts ... but it's actually wholesome.
I know. Weird, isn't it? These three make you smile.
Oh, and yes, the spy stuff is really good too. They don't forget that, either.
