Hiya!

Gosh, it’s been a while since I did something for I’ll Review Anything. I just haven’t been able to really put in the time to take a look at something to review lately. That’s mainly because of my crazy schedule over the holiday season and me trying to write a novel. Well, my timetable is still a little insane but things are less busy. At least I don’t have to think about all the gift buying and social gatherings I had to endure for the previous month!

Because of my busy schedule last month, I wasn’t able to catch up on a lot of my TV shows then. Well, now that that’s all over, I did do the entire Netflix and chill thing… in the more literal sense and not in the euphemistic manner. I finally got to binge watch the entire 3rd season of Spy X Family on Netflix over the past few days. Now that I’ve watched all 13 episodes, I think it’s time for me give my thoughts on how it went in my eyes. Waku waku!

Before I do, however, I do have to mention this review of Spy X Family: Season 3 will have some MINOR SPOILERS. I normally would want to refrain from mentioning plot points and the like. For this review, I can’t really do that because the bulk of the issues I have with it does deal with specific story elements tackled throughout the 13 episodes. I won’t reveal anything major but I will talk about story arcs and how the characters are involved in them. So, you have been warned for MINOR SPOILERS!

Spy X Family focuses on the Forger family who live in the country of Ostania. Namely Loid, the patriarch of the family who is a psychiatrist, and Yor, Loid’s wife and naive office clerk for the government. They have a daughter named Anya, an energetic who goes to school at the prestigious Eden Academy. They also have a dog named Bond, who they adopted and named after Anya’s favorite anime hero.

All of this is actually a cover as every family member of the Forgers has a secret that they keep from each other. Loid is actually Twilight, a spy sent by the neighboring country of Westalis to get close to Donovan Desmond, one of Ostania’s leaders. Yor is actually the Thorn Princess, a covert assassin who takes out any potential threats to Ostania. Anya and Bond are the products of scientific experiments. As such, they have special abilities, with Anya able to read minds and Bond can foresee the future. They all have to keep these things a secret in order for them to stay as a family.

Now, the first thing I do have to mention about Spy X Family’s 3rd season is I don’t really like the story arcs this time around. I’ve read the manga so I was fully prepared for this but the issue I have with them is the entire Forger family unit is never fully utilized in any of them. The first story arc, Loid’s Past, is a bit of a hit-and-miss for me. It’s definitely the most dramatic as it dives into how Loid became Twilight.

While it’s a good story, I kind of wish Loid’s past wasn’t spelled out. After all, he’s a spy so there should be a layer of mystery to the character. Loid’s Past pretty much tells the viewer his origin story and, to me, that’s kind of a bummer. I get it’s important to show why he’s so dedicated to his missions but I also would have wanted to keep things in the dark and let me fill in the blanks. The only thing now that’s a mystery with Loid is his real name. That’s just not satisfying.

The next major story arc is the Bus Hijacking Arc. This is when terrorists commandeer a school bus with Anya and her fellow classmates in it. This is more focused on Anya as well as Yuri, Yor’s younger brother who secretly works for Ostania’s State Security Service. This was my favorite arc as the focus was mainly on Anya and the other students, who I love. The problem is you never really see Loid or Yor. Yor makes an appearance at the end and it’s shown Loid was actually close by in secret. Still, seeing that this is Spy X Family, you would expect to see more of the titular Family in such a big story arc. Even so, this was the best story arc of the bunch.

The last story arc, the Wheeler Arc, is all about a mole named Winston Wheeler, a double agent working for Ostania, who is going to deliver country secrets to the enemy. Loid and the other spies attempt to intercept Wheeler while Yuri and the other State Security Service agents try to bring Wheeler in. This could have been the best story arc as this is the one with the most action and intrigue. However, once again, most of the Forger family, namely Yor and Anya, never get involved. This is a bit of a side story here with Yor trying to find something to complain about regarding Loid as her co-workers think he’s “too perfect.” That doesn’t really factor in the grand scheme of things.

This brings me to another big issue I have with Spy X Family’s 3rd season: there isn’t a Yor story arc! I guess she does get a consolation story arc in the Friendship Schemes Arc where Yor makes friends with Melinda, Donovan Desmond’s wife, leading to Loid/Twilight finding another possible way to get close to his target. I get the anime is following the manga timeline and that means this is mostly an issue with the source material itself. I still wish there was more Yor in Season 3.

In retrospect, the lack of Yor allowed one of the things I really liked about Spy X Family’s 3rd season: more screentime for the secondary characters. We got a one-shot tale of Franky, Loid’s underworld contact and friend, and Fiona Frost/Nightfall, a Westalis spy working with Loid who has the hots for him, working together. There’s also the other one-shoot story with the other Westalis spies working covertly to protect an opera singer from assassination.

We also did get that kickass opening episode that can’t be found in the manga, where the entire Forger Family work together (in secret) to take on the danger of an irate and overworked construction worker and his excavator. I really loved that episode and really shows how the anime can work in a filler episode into the show so seamlessly. I also did like the Yor unwittingly becoming close to the wife of one of the most powerful men of the country by behaving the way she does. So, even though I’m rather disappointed with the story arcs and how little Yor factors into the entire season, that doesn’t mean all of the episodes were a total bust.

The animation, once again, is really, really good. Everything moves around in a smooth manner and the action scenes has a really good flow to them. Despite me complaining about the story arcs, I still have to commend the overall writing. There are some really funny scenes which made me laugh out loud for real.

The voice acting, in the Japanese dub at least since that’s what I watched, is also on point, as always. On a side note, I did try watching the English dub on Netflix and, while the voice acting isn’t bad there, it’s nowhere as fantastic as the Japanese dub. It just seems like the English voice actors are trying hard but they just don’t sound natural nor do they have the unique voice inflections and tone from the Japanese voice actors. So, I do suggest watching the Japanese dub even if you have trouble reading subtitles.

All-in-all, I do have to say Season 3 of Spy X Family might be the weakest of all of the seasons for the show so far. Even if that’s so, I still think it’s an incredible season overall. I do hope we get a Season 4 as there is a story arc fully dedicated to Yor as well as a lot of shorter stories involving the entire cast doing different things. Hopefully, we’ll get that announcement for Season 4 sooner than later. Waku waku indeed!

Byee!

Did you watch Spy X Family: Season 3? What did you think of it? Let me know in the comments section below!