SPY×FAMILY Volume 03 Manga Review
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I couldn’t wait to dive into SPY×FAMILY Volume 03 as I really enjoy this fun parody world of 1960s East and West Berlin, done Japanese style. This volume pretty much wraps up what the anime adapted, but has a new, long, omake chapter as well. 😄

* * * S P O I L E R S ! * * *

The Story, in Brief

Yor’s younger brother, Yuri, visits the Forger home to test Loid’s (Twilight) worthiness to have married his sister. Twilight soon realizes that Yuri’s actual jo is with the State Security Service, meaning he’s dangerous. However, Yor doesn’t appear to know the truth of Yuri’s employment. Further, Twilight feels he can exploit the situation for intel. Yuri demands proof of their love via kissing. He ends up paying a heavy price from his sister as a result.

The next day, Twilight plants a listening device on Yor. He and Franky pretend to be SSS officers and question Yor. Twilight confirms that Yor is ignorant of Yuri’s actual job, but Franky pays a bit of a price for that. Meanwhile, Anya is told that she can earn a Stella award in P.E. Yor gives her some dodgeball training. On the day of the P.E. event, Anya’s class faces a class with a “boy” who’s the size of an adult. Anya proves good at dodging, but sucks at throwing the ball.

Anya’s grades are poor, so Twilight decides to take her to do some community service at a local hospital. She utterly fails, but before they are thrown out, Anya senses a boy drowning in the rehab pool and helps save him. This earns her a Stella. Becky suggests Anya request a present from her parents. After hearing about Becky’s dog, Anya decides she wants one as well.

Anime Comparisons

One big thing that stood out to me in SPY×FAMILY Volume 03 is that Yor’s training session with Anya is missing. That kind of surprised me as I thought it would have been from the manga, not an anime original. All the anime has is a panel where Yor offers to train Anya in volleyball. Then we have the flashbacks of Yor’s advice on volleyball. I suppose I should have seen it. However, considering how over the top other aspects of Yor’s abilities are, the anime moments fit right in.

The only other thing I noticed (without going back and doing a hard comparison) was that Anya’s public service stuff was padded in the anime. Also, as I noted when I reviewed episode 10 of the anime, the Henderson montage wasn’t in the manga.

Still, on the whole, things don’t seem too bad. When it comes to plot, the anime got everything and just added to the comedy/fluff elements.

Omake

Like the previous volume, SPY×FAMILY Volume 03 contains a large, omake chapter. First, we get a page showing Yor in different outfits. This comes with an in-joke about why mangaka end up giving characters the same outfits over and over.

As to the chapter, Yor is on an assassination mission. Unfortunately, as she reports in, she gets shot in the butt. After treating the wound, she’s in tremendous pain, but can’t reveal the truth. Twilight fears he’s screwing up, more so when she looks worse the next day. As such, Twilight invites her to a date. Twilight gets Franky to babysit Anya.

Since Anya knows the truth, she convinces Franky that they should tail her adoptive parents. Unfortunately for Twilight, his plans to cheer Yor up fail. For her part, Yor’s butt hurts tremendously. At a fancy restaurant, Yor is recognized and given wine, polluted with pufferfish toxin. However, this numbs Yor’s pain and she’s able to relax. However, Anya detects Yor’s life is in danger and thwarts Yor’s death.

It really is a fun chapter, though it does make Yor seem dumber than she should be. If she was able to treat her wound, she should be able to get pain killers. But then we wouldn’t have a story.

Beyond that, there’s a note from Endo-sensei as well as a page about Yor’s hairstyle.

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

In the end, SPY×FAMILY Volume 03 concludes the materials adapted for anime use. It also has a fun, lengthy omake chapter with Yor and Anya taking center stage.