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Spy x Family episode 34 – Family Reunion

Irina

This is the first time since the Forger family has come together that they have been separated for any extended amount of time. And you feel it. I loved this arc. I thought it was tons of fun and it allowed Yor to take center stage, something she rarely gets a chance to do. But I also felt something like relief or just plain happiness at the thought of them finding each other once more. That’s just how things are supposed to be!

Let me talk a bit about a random throw-away joke in this episode that I quite liked and how I read way too much into it. Anya has managed to skillfully evade the poor daycare worker tasked with guarding her and after spotting her mom’s weapon of choice – the hairpin dagger – Anya rushes in to save the day. By failing to throw the hairpin anywhere near Yor but still managing to take down a couple of bad guys by chance which gets her mom’s attention. All according to plan.

At this point, Yor grabs her hairpin and vanquishes all those who stand in her way, as one does! After a long and arduous battle, Yor finally has time to ask herself exactly how her weapon got back to her and Anya decides to abscond lest she be found out. Turns out Anuya had nothing to worry about because after just a few seconds of trying to come up with an answer Yor immediately gives up and decides the wind must have blown it her way. It was adorable. I particularly enjoyed the visual gag of the confusion swirls just sliding off the screen.

But see, that’s why I like Yor so much. In the past, I have somewhat weakly tried to express my fondness simply by describing Yor as a dork. And everyone knows I love dorks. A LOT! But it’s not just that. Yor is a fantastic subversion of the classic damsel in distress archetype. One which is prevalent in a lot of fiction even when there isn’t any specific distress per se. Let me go into way too much detail:

Yor is innocent to the point of being helpless in a lot of mundane situations, kind to the point of being gullible and beautiful yet somehow completely unaware of it. Unlike a lot of these types of heroines, there is a backstory that explains some of this and also she is unambiguously not all there but so far, it’s a character type we’ve all seen. Pure-hearted, sweet, and seemingly incapable of taking care of herself. Except she isn’t… Yor is very very capable of taking care of herself and I pity the fool who tried to go against her. And she’s nurturing but not too skilled at it making her good intentions a lot more important than her middling results.

She is a damsel who can get herself out of distress if you just give her a chance and if you don’t, she’ll make her own chances. And I like that, I rarely see that mix of characteristics and I’m surprised how well they work together. Admittedly that’s because the writer has managed to tap into a huge reserve of charm without which the character would be a lot harder to take and would likely come off as either unhinged or completely unbalanced, possibly both at once. But with everything Yor has going for her it somehow just comes together into a really likable character that’s a pleasure to watch.

Did you like that? I wrote an entire episode review post on maybe a single second of that episode. I would like to think that’s a skill of some sort. Not sure what sort but when I figure it out! Watch out!

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