Beginning with Anya’s dramatic narration and Becky’s new romance, Spy x Family episode 17 is another adorable episode to love. The girls are always fun to watch and adding Damian and his henchmen to the mix makes the classroom more chaotic than ever. The delivery of its lighthearted comedy is always a treat for my stressful soul, not to mention the music that comes with it too! For example, I personally think that the off-tune flute is so terrible and wonderful at the same time. Especially during the scene when Anya confidently offered her masterpiece to Damian — perfection.
To be honest, the first time I saw Spy x Family was from this chapter in the manga when Anya pretends to drop her family photo. I’m happy that the adaptation was just as funny, maybe even more! That’s the thing — CloverWorks and WIT Studio get it right every time and they’ve been doing an amazing job whether it’s a tiny detail in the adaptation or a big one. Hats off to that.
One of the highlights of Spy x Family episode 17 is how Damian’s world looks like with him trying to win his father’s love and attention. It’s quite lonely, so he aims for the first prize in art class. Unfortunately (or fortunately?), he gets paired with our beloved Anya who of course, for the sake of Operation Strix and the Friendship Scheme, is motivated to help as much as she can.
Throughout the episode, it’s very wholesome to see them as they are — children. From Becky and Anya running around, Damian crying from a scolding, and the contrast of levels of imagination and creativity among them. Damian and Anya may not have done well in their project, but their friendship definitely has another interesting core memory! Growing up wealthy is what makes his interactions with Anya special and weird, so it just goes to show how much Damian’s day gets a little brighter with her in it, even though he’ll never admit it.
If you think about it though, they did get the assignment right despite all the design fails, er, changes. Mr. Henderson said it’s not just about completing the artwork, but “the degree of cooperation, flexibility, positivity, and originality of the work.” Plus, the part where Anya said, “As long as there’s love in its heart, I think it can fly in the sky.” In the end, Anya’s heart-filled papercraft moved the adult judges in a very fancy-art-gallery kind of way, finding a deeper theme of courage and strength. It’s all good, but seriously, I was laughing so much at this turn of events. Even Mr. Henderson is speechless!
The second part of Spy x Family episode 17 focuses on Sylvia Sherwood who is given the name, “Fullmetal Lady.” She’s very cool and badass, especially in the way she handles and presents herself with spy work. Watching her outsmart people was amazing, and I can’t imagine the skill (and brainpower) she and Twilight use every time. Which is why that ending was so hilarious! Can Sylvia understand that Anya’s jump ability is actually major progress for a parent? But more importantly, was all the stealth really worth this meeting? Oh, the comedy just hits right.
The same can also be said in the last part. I think we can all agree that Yor’s horrendous cooking made Yuri into the strong and tough police that he is today. And gosh, Yor’s hard slap got me laughing so much.
All in all, Spy x Family episode 17 is another adorable episode. These short stories, including the one last week, are fun and it adds a lot of substance not just to the characters, but to the whole story as well. I love it, and though it feels like the main story is taking its time to come around, I don’t really mind because these moments are very worth it.
The next episode will air on Saturday, November 5, at 23:00 JST. You can watch it on Crunchyroll, Netflix, Muse Asia, and Bilibili. If you enjoyed the episode, don’t forget to vote in our weekly polls!
Images via Muse Asia YouTube
© Tatsuya Endo, Shueisha / Spy x Family Project
