REVIEW: ‘Spy x Family,’ Episode 7 – “The Target’s Second Son”

Spy x Family is an action/comedy shonen anime produced by WIT Studio and CloverWorks.  With Orientation Day seeing Anya strike Damian, the boy Loid wanted her to befriend, Plan B is in peril. Now, the mission of maintaining peace may rest on Anya successfully apologizing to Damian in Spy x Family Episode 7.

For the first six episodes of the series, we have seen Spy x Family utilize its lovable cast and its eclectic quirks to craft some wonderful stories. And while this episode certainly has its moments of charm, it is the first time we see one of the personalities in the show pushed a bit too hard. This leads to fewer laughs and a bit more eye-rolling as Loid attempts to aid Anya in her mission to apologize.

The vast majority of Spy x Family Episode 7 follows Anya through her first day of classes. Accompanied by her new friend Becky, Anya struggles through her first run of grueling lessons, all the while looking for an opportunity to apologize to Damian. When Anya’s apology doesn’t come in a timely enough manner, Loid takes it upon himself to push the girl toward her goal.

Loid’s attempts to “aid” Anya devolve largely into him sending her messages through some rather bizarre means to remind her that she needs to apologize. While these messages feel like they are supposed to come across as a ridiculous representation of Loid’s paranoia about failing, they never managed to land that way for me. In the end, this barrage of meddling on the part of Loid simply feels obnoxious. The sheer volume of these messages gets to be ridiculous. And not in a good way.

Once the school day ends, Spy x Family Episode 7 wraps its story up with some time with the entire Forger family at home. This sequence is when the episode shines. As Loid continues to struggle over his concerns about the mission’s success we see an all too familiar scenario play out that has the Forgers looking like a real family once again. And, almost right on cue, it sees Yor stealing the show, our hearts, and further cinching her lock on the “Anime Mom of the Year” title. Although, given how bad most anime parents are, that doesn’t look as impressive on my screen as it sounded in my head.

The visuals throughout this episode deliver the school-based hijinks wonderfully. Despite my feelings about Loid’s part of the program, the animation does all it can to help his escapades come off with the comical tone the show desires. When the show quiets down in its final scene, the visuals do just as good a job delivering Yor’s heartfelt moment. It captures her timidness and uncertainty at the moment incredibly well. Never overdoing it, allowing the character to have an open and vulnerable moment that pushes a beautiful message into the episode’s final scene.

So while Spy x Family Episode 7 delivers the weakest entry in the series so far, it is still far from bad. Despite Loid’s overbearing moments in the story’s main sequence, this episode still manages to deliver some genuine laughs and heartfelt sincerity.

Spy x Family Episode 7 is streaming on Crunchyroll.