Spy x Family Ep. 3: Forged Family Trial Period [Spoilery Anime Review]

In Spy x Family Ep. 3 “Prepare For The Interview”, we certainly see the newly forged Forger family prepare for their interview to get Anya into that prestigious school. However, this ends up being preparation for the Forger family as a family period. A family trial by fire, so to speak.

Spy x Family Ep. 3 “Prepare For The Interview”: Details

Spy x Family Ep. 3 “Prepare For The Interview” is the 3rd episode (you can read reviews for Ep. 1 and 2 here) of the Spy x Family anime, which is the anime adaptation of the manga of the same name by Tatsuya Endo. Kazuhiro Furuhashi (Rurouni Kenshin, Hunter x Hunter, Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn) remains the director of the anime. Makoto Miyazaki and Shūhei Mutsuki of [K]NoW_NAME still composed the music you hear throughout the episode. Wit Studio (Attack on Titan, The Ancient Magus’ Bride, Ranking of Kings) and Cloverworks (Fairy Tail, The Promised Neverland, Wonder Egg Priority) are still the animation studios responsible for the anime. Lastly, Crunchyroll is responsible for licensing the anime for NA release.

Spy x Family Ep. 3 “Prepare For The Interview” premiered on April 23, 2022. You can watch it only on Crunchyroll, as it’s a Crunchyroll exclusive. This episode will also be the last of the free “seasonal sampler” episodes for Spy x Family. This episode, as well as Ep. 1 and 2, will go back behind the paywall on May 31, 2022. If you want to watch the anime without paying a cent, now’s the best time to do it.

Warning: spoilers for Spy x Family Ep. 3 “Prepare For The Interview” below. If you want to watch this forged family try to act like one for yourself, stop here, and come back once you’ve watched the Forger family try to family.

Spy x Family Ep. 3 “Prepare For The Interview”: Plot Summary

Spy x Family Ep. 3 “Prepare For The Interview” starts us off with Yor officially moving in with Loid and Anya. In the process, we also get to see a tour of the new Forger house, showing things like Loid and Anya’s rooms. Yor’s new room, the kitchen, etc.. This is just the calm before the storm though, as Loid is soon testing Anya and Loid on what they’ll say for the upcoming interview for Eden Academy. They both fail. Miserably. Thus, Loid decides to take Anya and Yor out for a stroll to familiarize themselves with the kind of stuff a wealthy upper class family would do. You know, exactly like in their cover story.

Unfortunately, Anya and Yor fail at them too, for multiple reasons. For example: at a fancy restaurant, Anya just picks out the nuts in her dish with her fingers, instead of using her utensils or indeed eating any of the rest of the dish. Meanwhile, Yor looks disturbingly fascinated at the sharpness of her table’s knife, uncaring of whoever is watching. All in all, not a great way to prove that they’re ready for the interview. Hence, the Forger family just end up relaxing on a scenic viewpoint on a hill overlooking the city. Everything looks calm and peaceful…until it isn’t.

Forger Family vs. Petty Crook: Fight!

The Forger family stroll gets interrupted by a mugger robbing a helpless old lady on the streets below. Yor immediately leaps into action, literally. Unfortunately, even with her superhuman speed, the mugger blends into a crowd before she can get there in time. Even Loid can’t spot him. Fortunately, Anya’s mind-reading powers gives Loid a hand, and he takes down the mugger like Ezio Auditore would, but non-lethally. It wouldn’t do to attract police attention, would it?

The returning of the old lady’s money and helping her to a hospital turns out to be the fire that forges the Forgers into a tighter family. Anya and Yor do better in their practice interview with Loid when they get home, and they end up with renewed confidence for the future. So how does the Forger family actually do in the interview? Well, you’ll have to wait for Spy x Family Ep. 4 to find out.

Spy x Family Ep. 3 “Prepare For The Interview”: The Good

Spy x Family Ep. 3 “Prepare For The Interview” is like a microcosm of the story as a whole. The wholesome family antics combined with the extreme violence? Both implied (ex: Yor’s fascination with the guillotine painting) and actual (Loid air assassinating that mugger)? It’s why I fell in love with the story back when it was only a manga, and why I still love it now.

The biggest difference between reading the manga and watching the anime though is hearing everyone’s voices, and listening to the music. Your mileage may vary, but I think the voices are perfect for the characters, in my opinion. In particular, Atsumi Tanezaki does exceptionally well as the voice of Anya Forger. The voice she uses, for instance, to bluntly point out that Loid and Yor are flirting is just hilarious.

The second biggest different is, of course, that the anime is all in color, as opposed to the monochrome coloration of the manga. This, combined with the gorgeous animation, makes the anime adaptation very visually appealing, even if the story if almost the same as the manga. There are slight differences in the story between the anime and the manga, likely due to time constraints, but they don’t impact the story to any significant degree.

Spy x Family Ep. 3 “Prepare For The Interview”: The Bad

My complaints have nothing to do with Spy x Family Ep. 3 “Prepare For The Interview”, or even the anime as a whole. My complaints have to do with the way Crunchyroll is locking any new anime behind a paywall, starting with the Spring 2022 anime season. In fact, because of that, this will be my last review of Spy x Family for a long. long while unless something drastically changes for me. Ep. 3 is the last of the “seasonal sampler” episodes, and I’m unable/unwilling to pay the $9.99 per month (or even the $99.99 per year) cost it would require to continue to watch this anime week by week. So goodbye for now on these reviews. Maybe someday, if Crunchyroll makes the episodes for free with ads (like they did before), I can resume these reviews of the Spy x Family anime adaptation.

Source: Crunchyroll