THIS REVIEW WAS OUR MIXED RECEPTIONS AND COWRITTEN BY MY BROTHER MY FRIENDS WHO LOVE ACTION SPY COMEDY SHOWS/MOVIES AND ANTICIPATED THIS AND BY YOURS TRULY contains some meaty spoilers from the anime and hints from the manga/for the second part I literally do not understand the hype for this one. Its not bad actually. At least I have proven myself right that this show isnt a masterpiece or a masterclass of media after all. Im kind of sad that the word masterpiece is being beaten up to death. What does it take to be a show a masterpiece? Great story great characters great production design a great message from the author to the audience and the overall wow factor from the audience who are enjoying it. It cant be flawless but its something perfect. But all of that is subjective. Does this show meet the corresponding criteria? Lets see I have an example scenario: My friend told me about this famous restaurant thats trending for most people. I went there to check it out. Me: Waiter whats your bestselling dish? Waiter: Tomato Pasta. Me: Is this Tomato Pasta popular in this restaurant? Waiter: Yes. I ordered that pasta and went for a taste. The taste was just the same and I noticed it was nothing special. My friend asked me hows the taste of that pasta from that restaurant. I wanted to be honest but I ended up saying Its great. I dont want to admit it was bad. In the end its the same Tomato Pasta all over again and to be honest my cooking is better than the restaurant. Whats the lesson from this scenario? There are three things but the last one is at the end of the review: Just because its new and popular doesnt mean its good. It applies to others new and popular animes Not all animes can be enjoyable. Sometimes you need to be critical about it. When this show got an anime adaptation I remember how I used to make research about this. I went to many forums on the internet and I was surprised that many manga fans were hyped about this. They said this is a great action great characters a great story and a refreshing action show because its a spy story. They even called it the anime version of Mr. and Mrs. Smith. I love Mr. and Mrs. Smith and action spy stories because they made up my childhood even now. Especially its an actionspy comedy show and Im a massive fan of it. Even bounty hunter stories police buddycop actioncomedy like White Chicks and Central Intelligence thrilling spyagent stories like Die Hard and Mission Impossible and criminal heists action stories like Fast and Furious. I went up and read the manga and I remember the first impression of my older brother while reading. Same as for me and my friends who read the manga. All of us were watching the anime adaptation every weekend. Yes we were somewhat enjoying it. But at the same time we found ourselves scratching our heads and asking when does it get good?. This show exceeded amount of shitty hype that many animeonlies think this is a masterpiece or animeonlies arent prepare for something else or whatever. But in the end I think the whole shit deserves a HYPE BACKLASH. Spy x Fam Narrator Voice: Hype Backlash. According to the internet your friends have been bugging you to watch the latest TV show that everyones talking about. Every newspaper raves about its originality welldeserved popularity and effective mix of comedy and drama on the front page of the Entertainment section. Critics are rushing to hail it as the redefinition of its genre. After the thirtieth or so Just watch it already geez and maybe a Hype Aversion stage you finally give in you rent the shows first season on DVD pop it in your player and lay back to enjoy the latest masterpiece... ...Except you come away with a very different opinion than your friends to you its at best a mediocre show with average plots and few laughs or an utterly confusing one with more than enough twists to boggle the mind a show that isnt the seminal classic everyones touting it as. Caught that from Google. Thank you for that Now where were we..? Spy x Family is an action Wait I made a mistake there so let me fix it. scribble scribble Spy x Garbage is a situational comedy or sitcom slice of life drama show that both manga and anime onlies widely anticipated. They said its a great and refreshing action because its rare for action animes to get a spy theme. Fans were cried out of happiness because they wanted an anime adaptation of the perfect manga for a long time and finally their wish was granted. They said it lives up to the hype and called it a masterclass and masterpiece of modern shounen which is true by the way. Wait the question is is it true? I guess? However I found some problems or flaws that I found the show not incredibly great. Now the eye has stated its time to use my other eye. So the story is about the main character Anya Wait I made a mistake again so let me just fix it scribble scribble So the story is about the main character Twilight. Its just his codename. Hes a spy from the west and his mission was to create a family to infiltrate an elegant academy. Because theres this Desmond guy who wanted to start a war between the east and the west camp. But the twisted part was his daughter was a telepath and his wife a contract killer or assassin. The three of them were from different backgrounds and throughout the story they somewhat forge a bond to become a family even though its a faade. The premise is quite interesting and intriguing not gonna lie about that. But throughout the story and narrative fell flat from a potential masterpiece to a decent/average show. Thats problem 1. I remember the manga was promoted as an actionpacked story. But the author didnt intend this show as an action spy story. Instead of getting a Mr. and Mrs. Smith kind of a story I got a family sitcom show The Simpsons. Most of the parts were like episodic fillers or sliceoflife sitcom moments from the fake Forger family than focusing on the Operation Strix mission. Its more like OPERATION STRIPPED. I mean the story should focus on Operation Strix since its the premise of the show. The exploration of characters is also a great thing but again Operation Strix is the main concept of the show. I noticed that most of the scenes were focused on Anya inside the school. The author shouldve named it The Daily Life of Anya or whatever. Now dont give me that shit when you say This show focus only on the wholesomeness of the Forger family because if thats so the show should be intended as a gag show in the first place. Now back on the reason why she seemed the primary main character of the show and the supposedly main characters are getting sidetracked. Even in the manga its not focused. Its full of fillers or side quests that arent related to the main mission and to the point that it went nowhere. It kinda remembers me of what happened in Black Lagoon. I dont mind the comedy aspects since comedy makes the action more entertaining. Even the moments of them being a fake family. But the author somewhat forgot that his work is supposed to be an action spy. The action spy story lacked the depth that would make the show more thrilling and exciting. I failed to see this show as an action it was somewhat a gag sitcom show. If I will compare this show to a similar anime it would be Angel Beats or Gintama. Yes Gintama is an action and Ill consider it to be great for what it had because the gorilla intended his work to be a gag show from the start. In Angel Beats they had the same formula but the difference was the show lacked some exploration of the characters and the action element in Spy x Fams case. The anime does not capture any magic about any relationship beyond the ones in the school unless you are a horndog. The intentionality of the series is just being a memebait ELEGANTO WAKU WAKU HEH and thrive in the economic success of an already successful IP. Problem 2 are plot inconsistencies and lacking a common concept of realism and basic knowledge. You see one of the objectives in Operation Strix was either to get Anya into some superclass section or to be friends with the son of Desmond guy. But rather than focusing on that objective why dont just Twilight infiltrate the school or the enemy instead? He can disguise himself as one of Desmonds henchmen or whatever and hes a spy right? I bet hes professionally trained for that and a spy is like a ninja. He should know that his time for the mission is running out and Desmonds plan can be carried out anytime he likes. Hes socalled the master of disguise and he completed any missions even if its light or difficult. The second one is the setting. The story was set in a European setting. Im not being racist or sexist but to be honest how the heck there are no black European people there? I dont understand the reason why but its like in a setting only guys are there but no women. I dont know if Im going to believe this kind of concept but this was kind of ridonkeylous eh its just a minor issue so lets move on. The third one is about Anya. How the heck a 6yearold child can act do and think like an adult with a professional status? Yes shes an esper she can read minds but does she know what the heck is the meaning of those thoughts she reads? Shes a child in the first place but how she can help her parents in their missions perfectly? Its freaking ridiculous somewhat no offense. The fourth one is about Yor. In episode 2 before Twilights engagement they were somewhat attacked by some gangsters because of the treasure. I seriously couldnt believe that Yor didnt know that they were attacked by some gangster who fired some guns at them. She received a hand grenade pin as a ring on their engagement and she somewhat didnt notice that it was a hand grenade pin. Yes shes dumb. But come on shes a contract killer right? Im sure she encountered and fought many coassassins and gangsters who carried guns and explosives. Im sure she had seen a gun or an explosive and how it works right? And where does she see a psychiatrist that is being chased and shooting guns? Dumb right? The fifth one is this in episode 5 when Yor confronts Loid in a battle. How the fuck didnt he notice when Yor was great in fistfights? She wounded his face with she kicked him and he didnt feel her dark aura at all? Are you sure hes a spy? Im sure a spy is intelligent. The sixth one is when Yors brother Yuri visited their home. Remember the part when he asked why Yor didnt say to his baby brother that shes already married? And Yor said while smiling I forgot. And then he asked again and then she said I forgot. And then he accepted it. What the fuck? Its a lame excuse that Yor just forgot to tell Yuri that shes married. And the funny part is they were married for already a year Did Yuri forget that hes police from a secret organization? I doubt he knows whats the difference between an excuse and a truth. I almost forgot do you remember the part when Yuri told about his childhood with his sister? When he was a child he saw Yor when she came home drenched in blood. I repeat drenched in blood. Yes he was a child but didnt he think about it when he became the police? I dont get it. Police that acting so tough in front of other people or criminals but an idiot. Even I will freak out if I see my older sister that her clothes drenched in blood. Much of course I would be so worried. Well I guess the apple doesnt fall far from a tree. There were many ridonkeylous moments Ive seen from the manga that I want to mention but its the first part of the show so Im not giving any spoilers. Even with those ridonkeylous moments Ive mentioned so far there were many decent scenes from the show. There were moments and cheesy dialogues that were easily predictable and somewhat felt a bit cringing. I mean if you want to shut your brains off while watching this it could be this socalled wholesome for you. But for us was pretty okay I guess. Heck I dont know whats the meaning of wholesome anymore. Its beaten up to death. As for the comedy I hate to say it but its very plain average and its quite repetitive so far. It was 95 more predictable than I expected. Not gonna lie the jokes from the anime were trying hard from the manga. In other words the jokes from the manga were pretty much better. Ive seen many comedies shows that were pure masterclass of comedy telling. The comedy factor of Gintama Grand Blue Baka to Test School Rumble etc. and even the second season of Komisans comedy made me impressed so far. I know comedy shows can be a masterpiece but this show aint going to surpass that even by comedy standards. If you lived inside a rock and youre new to comedy you might find it a masterpiece. It can be hit or missed for some people but generally its still average. But not that garbage or trying hard either. I think Anya was somewhat carried the whole show in terms of comedy. The author made her a comic relief but it could be better if all the characters share the same screentime of comedy. But Anya is so cute and its loved by many so why you didnt just enjoy it? So what if Anya is cute? Havent you seen any cute characters or kids from other animes in your entire life? Havent you seen any more entertaining shows than this? Again only those who lived under a rock or firsttimers will only enjoy this. Why are filler episodes soulless content featuring Anya doing silly stuff and bloated action all the time? Because that is its creative comfort of the series that is what the audience wants that is fanservice Anya is fanservice. Anya is fanservice. Get it on your brain. Fanservice is not just hot girls. Anya is fanservice. Shes somewhat a meme and this is a meme anime. A meme anime is creating content that is easily manipulable to promote the anime. Stop using fanservice as a vague criticism. Anya is fanservice. And almost forgot she kinda annoyed me to the highest level. She acts like a spoiled brat from the rest of the show even in future stories. And theres this Desmond kid. His character became one of those male tsundere when hes in denial mode to his relationship with Anya. Not gonna lie that part became one of those cliched and cringe moments in my whole years of watching. I dont know why the fuck they did that but still no friendship had been developed between them in the story. The close relationship part of Yor and Loid was pretty fine as they were gradually close to each other from strangers from different backgrounds. I predicted what would happen if the moment comes when they found each others hidden status and agendas. But Im sure it will happen in the manga. The characters were pretty good though but it needs more depth and development as well as the story. The production quality was decent. I didnt notice the signature artwork of both Wit and Cloverworks. They were doing great in adapting the manga. But I think it could be better if only Wit adapted it. Because most of the animation sequences looked like from Cloverworks. The detail and style of every panel were quite lacking but the character designs were good. Its not very detailed but its decent enough for the show. The sound is very decent enough. It reminds me of Cowboy Bebop and Black Lagoon. The OP and ED were pretty decent enough but its somewhat forgettable. The seiyuu performances were really good especially of Saori Hayami and Takuya Eguchi. They made me every weekend great because they reminded me how they used to work in Oregairu as Hachiman and Yukinoshita. Although I found the performance of Anya very annoying. Shes not that kind of annoying from the manga but it could be better. Overall we enjoyed it despite those problems weve said. But it seems we will not be considered it as one of the best action anime because of the misconception that this is an action spy comedy show. This is one of the poorly representations of the action genre. I had to admit Ive been brainwashed by the shit that surrounded it but its not bad either. It had some ups and many downs. In other words the story is still lacking and its one of those notsosolid shows. If you come to this show and expect this a great action spy then please dont watch this if you dont want to get disappointed. This show is another type of those show that might you want to rely on for your enjoyment. Just watch it from your judgment. This show overall is pretty decent. Not a garbage special or masterpiece. But sadly to say it could be better. All in all this whole garbage is MISLEADING. I have eight words to say before ending this review as the third hing that I learned and advice for the potential viewers out there EXPECT. DISAPPOINTMENT. AND. YOU. WILL NEVER. GET. DISAPPOINTED Thank you for reading and see you see at my next review Story: 5/10 Animation: 8/10 Characters: 5/10 Sound: 7/10 Entertainment factor Action: 2/5 Comedy: 2/5: 4/10 Enjoyment: 6/10 Score: 6/10