Whatever my concerns are, there is no denying that Spy x Family is incredibly funny when it wants to be. Whether down to translation or original text, the phrase ‘booger constrictor’ made me laugh very hard, coupled with a perfect reaction afterwards.
Some of the best moments this volume are when it doubles down on its silliness, turning a good joke into something better. Yor’s brother practicing Yor Fu is a decent gag (even if I think it may violate a statute of limitations on Street Fighter II jokes). When some random mook recognizes him as a practitioner of Yor Fu, though? That’s just genius.
Even the increasingly annoying Nightfall manages to become the source of a decent moment when she pushes herself beyond the boundaries of human endurance over Loid and the story milks it for all it’s worth.
My frustration comes from trying to meld the very satisfying comedy with the dead serious spy caper. It’s not something the series has done well and has become increasingly noticeable as the narrative seems content to spin its wheels.
I mean, I don’t blame them. Anya steals the story constantly so it makes sense to focus on her. Her troubles with studying or her imaginary love life that’s built entirely on tea cakes are fodder for some of the best parts of this volume.
But then you have people getting shot, tales from the class struggle, a deadly serious moment about losing loved ones to conflict, and Franky talking through some very believable PTSD.
Also they throw water on the dog to make him look like a giraffe. Dramatic comedies exist, but, for all it does well, I don’t think this series knows how to mesh its two aspects together very well.
Which is my usual complaint, so go ahead and ignore it if you’re having fun. It’s just one of those things that grates at me. I’d be lying if I said this wasn’t a massive upgrade from last volume and my score will reflect that.
4 stars - as promised. Some welcome laughs that land really hard bump this up, I can’t be giving it less than four stars if I laughed that hard at something, even if it has the same issues along with the usual characters that are dead boring.