Spy×Family 30

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis

The boss of the Garden organization summons Yor as he works in a literal flower garden. After testing Yor’s reflexes, the Shopkeeper gives Yor a new assignment as a bodyguard to a widowed mafia boss. The Shopkeeper apparently owes a lot to the deceased mafia boss. He wants to protect the widow and her child from the new boss’s hit contract. To that end, Garden is sending her, her son, and her bodyguard (posing as her husband) by cruise ship, Princess Lorelei.

Meanwhile, Anya and Loid (Twilight) are at the mall. Loid gives Anya a raffle ticket. As she stands in line, she reads the mind of the raffle holder and learns he’s rigged it by taping the winning ticket to the top of the box. Anya gets the ticket and wins the prize. When Yor comes home, she discovers that Anya’s cruise is also on the Princess Lorelei, one the same days as her mission.

On the day of the cruise, Yor, Loid, and Anya arrive. Anya is very excited to see the giant, cruise ship. Yor leaves with her colleagues and the disguised mafia trio. Loid takes Anya to their 3rd class cabin. The cabin disappoints Anya, who thinks it is a jail cell. However, she then gets excited at the prospect of sleeping on the top bunk. Afterward, the two tour the ship and do a show.

Meanwhile, Yor’s charge, Olka, requests to go outside. Yor worries about not only possible hitmen, but also running into her family. Olka gives Yor a change of casual clothing and the two go on deck. There, they chat a while before returning inside. Unknown to Yor, there are bugs all over the ship. As such, a hitman who’s monitoring the bugs is able to determine where Olka’s room is.

Thoughts/Review

It is time for the Yor love to commence with Spy×Family 30. And we don’t forget about Anya or Loid either.

Modifications to the Source Material

Source manga chapters 44 and 45 were used to create Spy×Family 30. As is standard for this series, there were no significant changes to the source material. Where the anime production team gets creative is in small scenes. For example, in the manga, Anya’s looking one way with her angel and devil selves, but in the anime, she’s looking the other way. Or when Anya and Twilight get to their cabin, Anya sulking under the desk is depicted from the front in the manga. But in the anime, the camera is under the desk with her. And yet the iconic moments from the manga remain the same, with a bit of inoffensive padding. Absolutely none of this is a problem with me, but I figured I’d explain “insignificant changes” a bit.

Japan in the West

One of the things that always strikes me about manga or anime stories set in the West is that these places are basically Japan, only with different buildings and such. As such, you get all of the literary uses of Japanese honorifics, with the occasional “Mister” thrown in for good measure. But more than that, you get certain Japanese things thrown in as if they were Western things. In the first season, I noted that omurice is a regular cafeteria item in Anya’s school. In the U.S., I have yet to find even a Japanese restaurant that will sell that. 😅

That said, in Spy×Family 30, the Japanese item was the mall raffle. In the U.S., raffles are generally done by non-profit organizations to raise money. I think in most places, raffles are considered to be a form of gambling, which is often illegal. (Non-profits can get an exception for that and things like bingo.) I’m pretty sure I saw a shopping district in Japan do a raffle when I lived there. When I went to a Japanese festival in Denver, CO, there was a raffle there. However, I think it was done by a non-profit Japanese group.

My point is that one often sees Japanese shopping centers or the like holding raffles in anime and manga. So this element of the story made me laugh at its “this is set in a Western country, but they all act like Japanese people and do things that Japanese people would.” I often wonder if it is just ignorance on the part of the writers, or a concern that Japanese audiences wouldn’t understand how things are done in the West.

Plot Convenience, but It’s Alright

It is a massive plot convenience in Spy×Family 30 for Yor’s mission to be on the same cruise ship as Anya’s prize winning. Not only that, but on the same three day stretch. However, in this case, I don’t mind. For a start, this arc is a Yor-centric arc. When Yor encounters her little brother on the train, she starts to wonder whether she really needs to keep her job as an assassin. When Yor and Yuri were by themselves, Yor’s aptitude for killing folks insured that she had money to provide for Yuri. Now, Yuri is an adult and taking care of himself.

The other factor at play here is how seriously Yor has taken her role as a wife and mother. Sure, she and Loid aren’t doing actual husband and wife quality stuff. But otherwise, Yor tries to be the perception of the perfect wife for Loid. And for Anya, she tries to be a perfect mother. So it is understandable that Yor doesn’t want Loid and Anya to know her secret life as an assassin (even though Anya knows). And having Anya and Loid on the ship makes Yor’s burden that much greater.

While I already know the outcome of this story arc, I am looking forward to seeing it animated. But for this episode, the groundwork has been lain for Yor as a character to make some decisions on continuing her life as an assassin.

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

In the end, Spy×Family 30 is another great outing, allowing us to get an arc centering around Yor.