Spy x Family Manga Vol 8 Review; Forger family’s ‘Act’ is becoming Real

The amicable fact about Spy action dramas is that there are often a lot of beans to spill. Examples include Secret identities crafted in the bedecked ranges of old craft furniture, and higher government officials issuing covet orders. Taking down military leaders, and staging a coup d’etat is amongst the greatest claims accredited to Spy heroes in pop culture. Viz media released Spy x Family Manga Volume 8 this Tuesday and it shines Yor like a Jewel glistening in a darkened room.

Spy x Family takes a stride along the sea in this department both metaphorically and quite literally. Interestingly it is the volume with the highest chapters count. The book deals heavily with a lot of Yor and the dilemmas she faces as an assassin working in a make-believe family.

loid, yor and anya
The Forger family, courtesy of crunchyroll

The looming question here is what exactly did Volume 8 of Spy x Family do? But what should hone your wheels is the first-grade Yor servicing we get. (Not to be confused with fan-servicing).

What truly sets the stone is character development. The Spy family which is all pretend-be has started a path towards becoming a real family. The theme that hinges on you is the thin line at which the plot separates a real and fake family.

Quick synopsis of Spy x Family Manga Volume 8 

Yor talks to her client in Spy x Family Manga Volume 8
Yor talks to her client in Spy x Family Manga Volume 8, courtesy of Viz Media
  • The volume features Yor who finds herself on a first-class ticket cruise to the oceanic scenes outside of Berlint which is the fictional capital of Ostania in Spy x Family.
  • The agency that Yor works under has gotten the job of safeguarding a particular crime family. This crime family has gone through certain restructuring to get under the hood, lay low but start anew.
  • Their journey is anywhere outside Berlint and the client who needs the service is a woman with a family of her own.

The agency knows just who to send when there is a husband and a child involved. Yor who is otherwise an assassin is now tasked with something she isn’t very talented with – to protect lives (and not take them).

Although this bodyguarding isn’t completely off her hook given that she can always kill. Just not the clients. This is complemented by the fact that Anya happens to win two tickets on the same cruise ship in a lottery. Of course, this is pure chance.

How Yor, Loid, and Anya evolve toward becoming a Real Family in Spy x Family Manga Volume 8

spy x family
Snippet from First Season of Spy x Family, via Netflix

The majority of Spy x Family has more or less focused primarily on codename “Twilight” Loid Forger and his beloved adopted child, Anya. Yor for the most part has been underutilized. It’s not that she’s been completely off focus. It’s just that in contention with the rest of the main cast, she’s been slightly on the edge of the stage.

But the oceanic voyage on the cruise ship is just what author Tetsuya Endo needed to pull off, and so he did. The primary development in the recent Volume 8 happened in the form of the Thorn Princess redeeming her initial priorities about her family.

Yor’s Development was underwhelmed as the plot focused on Anya and Loid

Yor Briar
Yor Forger, via spyxfamily.fandom.com

Yor has been primarily underused as a tritagonist.

  • The first 7 volumes really did a number on Loid Forger. Obviously, given that the story begins with code-name “Twilight” being tasked with a top-secret mission.
  • Loid’s mission was to infiltrate an official in Ostania, but such can only be done if he first gets close to the school of his son. What began as a hefty albeit selfish plan of getting a temporary family for the sake of a mission, it seems, has now become something endearing to the hero.
  • The addition of Anya, an esper who’s capable of reading others’ thoughts, is one of the sweetest gestures of the plot. The dynamics between Anya and Twilight have always been at the forefront.

Loid and Anya’s bond in Spy x Family Manga 

anya and loi in spy x family manga
Anya and Loid in spy x family chapter 45, snapped from Viz

Volume 8 did a number of things for Anya and Loid. To be honest, the main focus of the story has always been primarily Loid so far, with Anya serving as an addition to his plot. Until now it always felt like the plot needed to truly shine the other protagonists out as well. Anya got her share, it was time enough for Yor to come up. This time the manga did exactly that.

Loid is all ordered to ‘Chillax’

The focus has been on Yor which naturally takes the time away from Anya and Loid, but not in a way that hurts.

  • Loid has been ordered from ‘above’ to take a chill pill and enjoy a vacation. Ideally, nothing seems out of the blue that Loid’s adopted daughter won a two-way ticket to a cruise that Loid’s wife also happens to be on board.

Loid for the majority of the book just stays away from interacting much with the ongoing events. He does it unconsciously, given that he has little idea what Yor is doing and thinks it’s her very first esteemed work trip that she needs to attend. He is just happy knowing he can finally practice ease and enjoyment which also ironically is an order from above.

Spy x Family Manga Volume 8 doesn’t leave Anya behind

Stage Musical Anya role
Anya Forger, courtesy of spyxfamily.fandom.com

What really pings you is that in the recent manga chapters, Anya has been pretty afraid of being left behind. I mean given that she can read both her parents’ thoughts, she knows she isn’t in for the longest ride.

In this volume 8, Loid is seen actually worrying if he has been good enough for Anya. It seems that despite not having thought of it initially, the Loid-Anya bond is truly starting to shine. Couple this with the gestures of the romantic spark that the author throws in for Loid and Yor every now and then and you have the perfect recipe for family perfection. 

Neither Loid nor Yor know each other’s true identity

  • Loid, despite his relentless wit and unmatched tenacity, fails to see through his wife’s demeanor.
  • Similarly, the ‘Thorn Princess’ master Assassin also couldn’t guess that her husband is actually a Spy on a mission. Now although this does defy logical continuum please mind that the plot is meant to be this way.

Yor to reconsider the priority of her marriage life 

Yor
Yor is told to have family time in the first chapter of vol 8, snapped from viz

The woman client (going by alias Shaty) that Yor is tasked with guarding has a husband and a child. Upon seeing the client react with her family, Yor gets a few doubts of her own. The client brushes Yor off, saying that it must be difficult not knowing what a real family feels like. Yor is unable to properly say anything, obviously. But this entire exchange does leave her stranded. Yor seems to be reconsidering what Loid and Anya mean in her life.

Concluding

This is the point that I am trying to make here. Spy x Family Manga will eventually have to head towards a point where both the protagonist couple come clean. This is how a story like this should head off into. Despite the gory action and killing sequences, Spy x Family its core is still a wholesome story about a pretentious act turned into reality. The fake family meant for a mission should end up making all three involved closer than they intended to. The manga volume 8 has done an amazing job in setting the story toward that path.

Of course, Anya has no such motivation, she merely wants to be loved. And chapter by chapter Loid seems to care more and more for his adopted daughter. Given that much focus was given to Yor this time around, expect the story to unravel towards revelations soon. But don’t expect the revelation to happen anytime soon, Spy x Family Manga is definitely in for a ride. 

Spy x Family Anime is all set to return for a season 2 this Fall 2022, October. Read more of that here.

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