Spy X Family's Big Rescue Scene To Celebrate Anya's Exam Results Was Completely Original
Some anime adaptations show an immense amount of dedication to the source material by daring to take it a step further and squeeze every drop of potential out of it. In the spring of 2022, Tatsuya Endo's "Spy x Family" received an anime adaptation by CloverWorks and Wit Studio, and it is fair to say that it has pleased both manga readers and anime-only viewers, something that does not always happen when giving a new life to a beloved story.
While some may consider "Spy x Family" overrated given the hype around the relatively new anime, plenty see why this show has resonated with many fans, as discussed on Reddit. One Redditor, u/The_one_and_only_OOF, wrote under a thread discussing "Spy x Family," "I think it deserves the hype as it is right now. There's almost nothing to hate about it. People just say it's 'overrated' because they see that it's a new anime that's getting popular and [is] rated higher than other, older anime that were considered to be 'amazing,' even though this show is also amazing (in my opinion)." Indeed, there is very little to hate about this slice-of-life anime series.
In fact, there's a specific episode that has gotten a lot of praise based on how those working on the anime have extended the manga material, delivering a glorious 24 minutes of screen time.
Episode 5 took a relatively short manga chapter to the next level
The episode in question is Episode 5, "Will They Pass or Fail," which originally aired on May 7, 2022. Directed by Kenji Takahashi, this episode saw the Forgers learn from Housemaster Henry Henderson (Kazuhiro Yamaji) that Anya (Atsumi Tanezaki) got into Eden Academy after they did not initially see her on the acceptance board. She was initially put on a waitlist, and her acceptance was crucial to Loid's (Takuya Eguchi) plans as a spy. Because of this, Anya asked for a reward from her parents.
Up until Anya asked to be rescued from a castle — like in her favorite show — the anime adaptation was pretty faithful to the manga. However, once audiences got to the meat of this episode, the series took its creative liberties to the next level, delivering one of the most memorable action sequences in "Spy x Family" thus far.
Eat your heart out James Bond, there's a new Bond(man) is in town!
The castle rescue was a glorious sequence with the perfect blend of action and comedy. On a Reddit thread about this episode, a fan, u/__nuu, wrote, "Why is literally no one talking about how cool Loid was? Every episode of this anime has not failed to melt my heart. Absolutely wholesome." Loid truly proved himself to be both the coolest spy and the best dad. Accompanied by the song TBD by (K)NoW_NAME, Loid showed off his amazing spy moves, which could make a veteran secret agent like 007 jealous.
When asked by Crunchyroll's Kyle Cardine about the original scenes in this episode, Wit's Studios animation producer Kazue Hayashi said, "At the beginning, we wanted to create the full episode with some original scenes to celebrate Anya passing the exam. Based on that concept and in the process of the scenario discussion, many ideas were submitted and discussed. From that point of view, we wanted to show Loid as a big, cool spy. Of course, we took advantage of the animation aspect with this. After that consideration, we selected to integrate those scenes."
It's a good thing they extended the scene and showed off Loid's cool side. As another Redditor, u/EmuSupreme wrote, "Between bouncing off the bouncy balls, the rubber ball gun shoot out, and the absolutely ridiculous one-hand belt zipline into explosion finish, I felt like the other agents fawning over him."
Here's to hoping Wit and CloverWorks keep creating majestic scenes like this one. Fans no longer have to wait long for "Spy x Family" second cours because it is currently airing an episode every Saturday, and it can be streamed on Crunchyroll.