English Dub Review: Spy X Family “Berlint Panic; The Informant and Nightfall”

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

The Forgers have a day out on the town that is interrupted by a mad construction worker, while Fiona and Franky go undercover for a secret mission.

OUR TAKE

Spy X Family is back after a year long wait to continue the rather tepid misadventures of the Forger Family as Loid and Yor continue their respective jobs out of sight of the other while their adopted daughter and dog just try to pretend they don’t know and do stuff. I covered the second season when that came out and from what I remember, I quite enjoyed the parts that played into the drama of the story’s core premise, though when it slowed down and delved into the comedic shenanigans, I was a little less enthusiastic, mainly because it tended to just focus on the same sorts of jokes over and over. Not that I necessarily dislike that humor, but I just run out of things to say about it after a while. Hopefully this new season can delve into both sides of the show that make it the success that it is while pushing things forward on the story front in some significant way. Anyway, the first half of this first episode of the season is an anime original segment that is pretty much just reiterating everything about the show everyone already knows! Anya reads Bond’s mind to see the future that some accident is going to happen, Loid notices a disgruntled construction employee about to go on a rampage that will cause the accident and sneaks around to stop it, and Yor secretly uses her insane strength to get people out of the way of falling debris.

I do understand the necessity of having an opener for the season that gives the quintessential experience for the show, especially after a year long break, but I’m pretty sure anyone here for the third season is going to know what these characters are about by now. Also, isn’t it weird how anime is picking up standard yearly season practices like Western shows used to do, but now a lot of Western shows are on streaming and make shorter seasons every two or three years? Crazy. Also, we have a second segment that is actually adapting a chapter from the manga, though instead of the Forger Family, it’s Fiona and Franky going on a quick funny job. Ah, so that’s probably another reason why they needed that first segment, since it would be kinda weird to have the opener of the season not have something involving the main characters. Well, we’re in this season now, and apparently an arc about Loid’s backstory is coming up soon, so let’s see where that takes us.