#even if ultimately the story is really about Loid's mission

[midnight-in-town]

Weirdly enough, I’m with Twilight on this, not necessarily on the setup possibility, but on the idea that Melinda’s fishy and that, maybe, she figured out who Yor was (Anya’s mom/Loid’s wife) as she initially invited her to come along. 

After all, the main theme of this story is about fake identities, lies and deceiving others. Since the Desmonds and the Forgers are clearly mirroring each other narratively speaking, as the antagonists vs main characters, it just wouldn’t surprise me if Donovan and Melinda were as untraditional, as a married couple, as Loid and Yor are. 

Let me explain: until two weeks ago, almost no reader really thought Melinda would appear any time soon nor that she would be as relevant as she’s turning out to be. Why is that? Because Sensei had a lot of fun so far writing a story in which Berlint’s high society is depicted as very traditional (with the men having the important jobs while women... idk, take care of the house or go shopping?).

Of course, that’s something the made-up family of Loid, Yor and Anya only pretends to live up to, as they subvert all these tropes with pride. For example, Loid is the one who cooks and sews, Yor is the strongest character in the whole series and Anya’s on a whole other level of "gifted”. 

That’s why I just wouldn’t be surprised if the Desmond family only pretended to be on the same level of “traditional” that the rest of their peers expect them to be, only for Melinda to weigh as heavily in the plot as her husband (if not more!). 

In other words, sure, Donovan Desmond is the head of an ultra nationalist conservative party, but does this mean Melinda was just introduced to play the dutiful wife act?

maybe (after all, WISE has nothing on her and she does sound lonely, with most of her friends being from before she was First Lady)

but maybe not because that’s only a cover that she deceives others with, as she plays a big part in her husband’s war plans or in an entirely different business

TL;DR

If the ladies are actually stronger and scarier than their husband in this series, then Melinda is a real foe we’ll have to watch out for, as a good match up for Yor.

Stay tuned, this chapter was insane lmao.

#spy x family #melinda desmond #yor forger #loid forger #donovan desmond #anya forger #damian desmond #sxf theory #my analysis #sxf66 #someone asked me whether Melinda is shaking or actually trying to stifle a laugh in this last scene #and i have no freaking idea because she's really tough to read #that's why i'd rather be on the safe side by suspecting her as much as Donovan #the lack of parenting might not be Donovan being a super strict dude she maybe doesn't give a damn either because she'd rather plan for war #waiting for the plot twist when Donovan reveals he did all this because he was truly inspired by his wife's ideals #or maybe sensei is not that untraditional and Melinda just is quite invested in her husband's ideas #but i love the idea that it's the other way around because for example Yor and Garden are on a much more dangerous scale than Wise and Loid #even if ultimately the story is really about Loid's mission #all that to say for now I think Melinda is as equally shady as Donovan and sensei can prove me right or wrong whenever

[amozon28]

something im really enjoying about the events happening in the latest chapters is that because Twilight isnt able to get involved because he isnt being informed and hes a full city away. is that in the aftermath hes going to be confronted with his two ideologies clashing. because yes, hes a spy that prioritizes getting the mission done for the greater good, his greater good being creating a world were kids wont have to cry alone like he did. in this stance his and WISE goals align. however he also cares about children on the micro level. he cares about the safety and well being of each kid he comes across. and this comes into direct conflict with WISE, who are willing to disregard the safety of kids if it doesnt help aide them in their greater plans of peace

Here WISE not caring about a busload of kids. saying that the police can handle this. and this is something Twilight himself tried (and ultimately failed to do) to prioritize his mission over the safety of one child when Anya was kidnapped in the beginning of the story.

Had it not been for the fact that Anya and Damian were on that bus, which jeopardized Operation Strix, WISE would have left it to the police. which isnt a bad thing its just where WISE and Twilight's desires dont always agree.

So when Twilight finally does learn about what happened with the bus and Anya hes going to be DEVASTATED. because as Twilight he was useless, being on a different mission, and a Wise agent he was useless, by not having a buss full of kids be on WISE radar. Hes Westalias GREATEST spy and he couldnt protect his little girl when she needs him most. thats going to HURT him, especially a man who tries to control and account for every possible outcome and blames himself for every failing.

however where hes going to fail as a Spy i feel like hes going to be reminded that being a spy isnt the only way to protect and make Anya feel safe.

Twilights mother wasnt a soldier or combat vet or spy or anyone of note. she wasnt someone who could physically protect twilight from the bombs raining down on them every night. yet as a child he felt SAFE with his mother because he inspired that feeling in him just by being there for him. sure it was a false sense of security, but as a child thats all he needed. and its still true to him years later as an adult when he cant even remember his mothers face, he still remembers how safe she made him feel in those scary moments.

and i think post this arc Twilight is going to be reminded how important this kind of strength will be for Anya. because while he couldnt protect her from the terrorists, or the bombs or the SSS police, he can hold her and comfort her and tell her “everything is going to be ok” as she falls alseep.

honestly i wouldnt be surprised if this arc ended with Anya asking if she can sleep is Papa’s bed with him because she doesnt want to sleep alone. and Twilight letting her, remembering how it made him feel as a child, and allowing Anya into his room, being another metaphor for slowly letting his walls.down.

because sure he failed to protect Anya as the spy Twilght, but he will succeed to protect her as her father Loid. because “Thats the sort of strength that will finish the job”

#loid forger #spy x family #spy x family spoilers #spy x family manga #anya forger #sxf #sxf manga #sxf manga spoilers #sxf spoilers #spy x family chapter 71 #mine #sxf commentary

[httplovecraft1890]

Violence as a Theme in Spy x Family

There was a great post in the Spy x Family tags that said that their personal conspiracy theory was that Tatsuya Endo used the rom-com premise of the series as a Trojan horse and that he really wanted to write a story about the horrors of war. I think it's difficult to ascertain if the series will change dramatically over time (I don't think it really has to, as I'll explain below), but it's impossible not to notice that this is at least in some way true since it illustrates one of the story's core themes: violence is one of the worst things people can do to one another.

The repetition of this is endless. The Westalis-Ostania war serves as the entire basis for why WISE is wanting to infiltrate their neighbor in the first place, violating international borders and the sovereignty of another nation to do what they believe is best. The fighting irrevocably changed Yor's, Yuri's, Franky's, and Loid's lives forever. The experiments Anya and Bond went through are probably the result of Ostania's military wanting to find new, exciting ways to visit further horrors on their neighbor by getting a leg up on them (MKULTRA-type shit). The far right, embodied in the National Unity Party and seen more recently in the student group wanting to commit terrorism, seethe with resentment and want revenge for whatever perceived humiliation they're suffering from. It's even perverted the thinking of our protagonists; as much as we might laugh at Loid over-analyzing his clear feelings for his 'fake' family as simply part of his mission or Yor casually wanting to murder people who're inconvenient, it isn't condemning them for it. They're byproducts of a system that's fundamentally broken and has tossed them aside. Nearly every character is a perpetrator but they're also a victim. Even the code name for the whole thing driving the plot, Operation Strix, is named for a Roman mythological figure who quite literally fed on corpses and blood (after turning into an owl, which is what strix means in ancient Greek). More to the point, I think it is rather obvious that Loid's dream of living in a world where children don't cry is impossible, as is Yor's increasing desire to become a real wife and mother to the Forgers, if they don't walk away from the paths they're on. They cannot beat the world into submission to impose peace on it and, even if they could, it'd fundamentally be a false one. Both of them, along with their adopted daughter, absolutely crave positive human connection. War and subterfuge can't give them this; such things beget themselves and will only lead to further cycles of suffering. Ultimately, I think it will be a story of knowing when to change course, not to abandon one's principles, but to find new ways of achieving your goals. The fact that Endo has managed to wrap this all up in a spy story with weird as hell plot beats, memorable art, and wonderful characters is a testament to his humanist work thus far.

#spyxfamily #spy x family #loid forger #agent twilight #yor briar #yor forger #anya forger #analysis #themes #random thoughts #fan theory #fan theories #anime #manga

[wisehq]

Mission Debrief: Chapter Forty-two

...It's all coming together.

I'm just going to come outright and say it; I had no idea what to write for this review- not because there wasn't anything to discuss, but rather this chapter gave us so much that I didn't know what to focus on first. Chapter forty-two has single-handedly thrown open the doors to a hundred different theories, and believe me when I say that after a whole night of redbull and theorizing I couldn't come up with any clear answers (the folks over at the Strix discord group can attest to that).

So here's what we're gonna do; I'm not going to focus on the chapter itself.

It was cute. Cardshark Anya is hilariously awesome. Damian is a little shit (whom I adore), and the chapters where the kids can just be kids are- in my opinion- the best.

That's all I'm going to say on the matter. For the rest of this review, I want to go over all the facts we know so far about the story and setting. All of the things Endo has been slowly building up in the background and the pieces that we can stitch together from them, starting with this chapter. Two key things stuck out to me.

In the entirety of the story up till this point, this is the first time we have heard mention of a royal anything- and not only that, but this chef is a former royal chef. This of course implies that a) said chef was fired (not likely given that Eden wouldn't likely associate with someone who was disgraced like that) or retired, or b) that there is no royalty anymore. Ostania is a totalitarian state and the main power of the government- from what we've seen- lies with the ruling political party, i.e the National Unity Party, a.k.a Desmond's party. Such a political structure would have no room for royalty in a governing capacity, and therein begs the question; is there still a royal/noble class- albeit in a non-governing sense- or was it abolished sometime in the recent past?

Classical language is not proper speaking and diction like I had originally thought. Classical language is a specific term typically used to describe a dead language or dialect (think Latin, or Hebrew before it was revived). I find this particularly interesting because under no circumstance would a child as young as Anya know anything about a dead language unless- as Loid points out- she was exposed to it as a toddler. It would have had to have been when she was very young, as she herself doesn't realize she knows this information. This would mean she likely learned it from her birth family; Anya was old enough to remember the lab and scientists, meaning she became Subject 007 later on in life- otherwise she would have remembered knowing classical language.

These two concepts are incredibly important to keep in mind, both now and later on as the story progresses. We now know that a royal class plays a factor in the political game that Twilight and everyone else is playing, and we know that Anya knows information that she shouldn't know otherwise (even with her mind-reading powers). So where does that leave us?

Honestly, for the first time...I'm kind of stumped?

Let's look back at the story and see what else we can piece together- maybe there's something in there we can extrapolate for our purposes. Another clue to point us in the direction that Endo is seemingly funneling us towards.

From chapter forty-one

Franklin Perkins was a man who believed in making his country a better place to live. In his eyes and from what he saw, Ostania wasn't going in the right direction- but why? He blames his lack of money for his mother's death, and we see him hold resentment towards the government over socialistic policies. Wealth is something to be shared with others, not hoarded for ones self. That seems to be where Ostania's moral compass is pointing towards, but is that really the case?

From chapter 39

Mr. Green mentions that people have been fleeing to Westalis; from the way he says this it sounds like this is happening currently- not in the past- and people are going so far as to travel through a third country just to get to Westalis. Such a journey isn't without its perils, so anyone attempting to crossover from Ostania would likely be taking a huge risk in doing so. Not only that, but most of what we've seen in the story is Ostanians loathing Westalins...so what would compel people to do this in the first place?

From chapter three As Anya reads the minds of people gathered at a politcal rally near the start of the manga, we see their disgruntled thoughts behind her. There's multiple mentions of losing jobs and not having enough money- some people are even hungry. Most of these people blame Westalis for their troubles, though not the leader of the rally, ironically.

Also from chapter 3

We find out (and often forget) early on that there are multiple political parties in Ostania. Donovan leads the National Unity Party, whereas the political rally we see here is hosted by the Nationalist Party. The latter preaches peace with the west, but many of the people gathered reject this outright. This is important; the N.U.P is the most successful political party in Ostania, which means a majority of the country's citizens approve of their platform. If we're to assume the Nationalist Party's platform is to advocate for peace with Westalis, then we must also assume that the N.U.P stands for the opposite; direct aggression with the west.

From chapter 31 The Zacharis Dossier, though ultimately a bust, hinted at rumors that have permeated East and West since the start of the cold war. We know for a fact that human experiments did indeed take place in Ostania, so it also stands to reason that there is at least a kernel of truth to the claims of P.O.W (prisoner of war) massacres conducted by the west. It's a heinous crime, and also one that leads to another question; why would any country go through with it in the first place? In addition, piggy-backing off the former point;

From chapter 19 While Loid details Project Apple, he uses the word 'regime' to describe the former Ostanian government. The literal definition of a regime is a government, especially an authoritarian one (Oxfrod Dictionary). I won't highlight all the specifics of what is and isn't authoritarianism, but essentially the point I'm trying to make here is that the current Ostanian administration is still very much a regime. Donovan acts as the authoritarian ruler (or would-be ruler; we don't know if he's actively in charge or is looking to usurp power for himself) and continues on the legacy of the former government. We know for a fact that this is the case because Anya is only at most 6 years old, likely even younger. That would mean the experiments being run on her had to have been recent, which fits with the time frame that we established at the beginning of this rabbit hole- it also aligns with what we know about what Donovan has been doing on the back end of things. Those who have kept up with my reviews know what I'm talking about; gloom pharmaceuticals, the truth serum, OSO-R, etc. All of that, which then leads us to...

...right back where we started. So...what then? What can we conclude from all this? At least a few things;

Anya is tied to Desmond- either directly or indirectly.

Anya's past is also Ostania's past; she's familiar with a dead language that's no longer spoken, and there's definitely a reason why no one speaks it anymore.

Ostania is in a period of political and economic turmoil. This also comes on the heels of a (possible) former monarchy, and the struggle of a country willing to embrace authoritarianism so long as it means staying alive.

WISE and Westalis are not innocent in this game of chess with Ostania and the SSS, and more than likely have committed atrocities that may or may not be directly tied to Ostania and- possibly- Anya's past.

And...this is as far as I can go. I've hit a wall, as have other people I've talked to. We're still missing pieces to the puzzle. Endo will of course provide us with more clues and theory fodder as the weeks and months progress, but for now this is as far as I can go on my own. On the one hand I feel defeated because I can't come up with a meaningful explanation for everything and present it in a neat little bundle for you all to read, but on the other hand I'm thoroughly enjoying this. I'm more engaged with this manga and story than any other I've read before; I'm at the edge of my seat every week, and I'm sure most of you are, too. For now, I'll leave the review here. I find it fitting to leave it open ended, just as Endo did with Loid's self-imposed question. Hopefully, like him, we can find answers in the near future.

Also, BONUS...

...No fun panel with a snappy comment this time. Instead, I’m going to humbly ask for your help.

If you have any ideas about where you think the story is going, theories as to how everything fits together, or just really want to discuss the manga with other fans- please check out our forum and share with us. We’d love to hear what you all think; not only that, but a lot more heads makes theorizing both more productive and a whole lot more fun. Check it out if you have the time, or- if you don’t feel like clicking on any links- you can always leave a comment either on this post or send us an ask or message. Anytime, any reason, we’d love to talk SxF.

Again, thanks for reading, and we’ll see you all next chapter!

#spy x family #chapter forty-two

[wisehq]

Mission Debrief: Chapter Forty-One

...Honestly, Yuri. Same.

Alright jokes aside, I know I'm about catch some flak for this, but- I'm cool with no Yor chapter this week. Yes, yes, kill the crow for even suggesting it. Get it out of your system. I'll wait.

Honestly though, we've had Yor chapters in the past. Not the kind we wanted (not dedicated chapters, aside from the whole cooking lesson at Camilla's house) but at least we know Yor and vaguely know her reasoning for her character. Yuri, on the other hand, is the neglected Briar. We know he works for the SSS and that he's a siscon, and...that's about it. Of the two siblings, Yuri desperately needed more character development. What we got this week was a hint of that; which I'll gladly take as it's more than we've gotten out of him in 40 chapters. Besides, his backstory is ultimately Yor's backstory, so in a sense we at least got something for her this week.

We got to see Yuri in action, and I'm glad he was portrayed as a dedicated and competent officer. One thing I appreciate about Endo is- when it comes to serious moments- he's very good about portraying his characters in a positive light. Such was the case this week; we see Yuri in multiple different roles within the SSS. He's in intelligence. He's in reconnaissance. He's out in the field. He's praised multiple times for his skill and perseverance, and honestly Yuri desperately needed it. Here he felt like an actual character, rather than a caricature. 

With the focus on Yuri, we also get a glimpse into the SSS. We were already vaguely aware of what they were all about; a secret police that protect Ostania and uphold its ideals through any means necessary, though here we get a better picture of what that looks like. They also go after propaganda under the guise of rooting out espionage (we'll take more on that later), and a majority of the chapter centers around this.

This idea of counter-propaganda becomes important later on in the chapter and highlights one of the key strengths of both the manga and Endo; there is no black and white in this story. Our protagonists, Loid and Yor, the people we care about, frequently kill people on a regular basis- yet they're good people. We know they are, despite their actions saying otherwise. Yuri, meanwhile, is cast in an antagonistic light in comparison to Loid- but again, we know he's only an SSS agent for the sake of his sister and country. Does that make him a good person then? Maybe, maybe not. But that question of what is the truth remains, and it's one of the things that makes this manga so compelling.

Endo showcases this with Franklin as the chapter progresses. At first we take him at face-value; he's a down-on-his-luck guy who needs money and sells damning photos to underground printing presses. Seems cut and dry, until of course we find out that Franklin is a man with ideals like any other. He loves his country, though this love takes a very different form than Yuri's. He loathes the current state of things and genuinely wants to see Ostania prosper, but at the same time feels broken and disenfranchised. This of course also stemming from the untimely demise of his late mother.

It's at this point the concept of nothing being black-and-white returns as the driving force behind Yuri's character development. We see him empathize with Franklin over the latter's mother's death. Yuri tackles his missions with seemingly robotic efficiency, but here he falters for a moment. He sees a piece of himself in this "traitorous scum", and then just as quickly tosses it away. It's not a substantial change in his character- he doesn't become a different person or anything, but he's different now. If only a little bit. If only in the sense that he acknowledges Franklin and his plight in a way that he didn't before.

We see this manifest when Yuri goes to arrest Franklin. Despite his usual sharp tongue, Yuri assures him he'll try to help his father out financially. In just a few pages, we see Yuri going from wanting to kill Franklin over his behavior to wanting to help him (albeit in a small way). At the end of the day he's still SSS. He still has a duty to fulfill, and at up until this point he's been fulfilling it for 3 days straight with no rest. So what does that leave him?

A pat on the back from the Director, and a promise for some steaks later. Here Yuri doesn't seem phased by the day's events, and proudly proclaims he'll catch Twilight someday (much to the director's amusement). He seems his usual self...but we see at the end of the chapter that may not be the case.

A quick pop-in to the Forger house, and Anya gets a glance into what he's gone through. Even without psychic powers, it doesn't take much for the family to figure out he's had a rough day. He gets some more pats, only this time they're from his sister. The only family he has left, putting him in an uncomfortably similar position to Franklin. The only difference between them, really, is as Yuri says earlier; he would never do anything to harm his family. Whereas Franklin would risk everything for his ideals, Yuri works hard to prevent that from every happening.

By being an SSS agent.

By being a Ostanian dog, and shaking down and arresting anyone who would speak out against the government.

By that logic, he should be the bad guy and Franklin should be the good guy...but in this story, there is no right and wrong. Not truly. Everyone has something they're trying to achieve or protect, and everyone has different ways of going about doing that. All it depends is on whose eyes your looking through. In this chapter Yuri is our protagonist, but what about the next one?

Guess we'll just have to wait and find out.

Also, BONUS

WHY IS THIS FAMILY SO GODDAMN BEAUTIFUL!?

#spy x family #chapter forty-one