Spy x Family Ch. 96: Anya Of The Ball Part 2 [Review]

You can already tell from the title that Spy x Family Ch. 96 is a direct continuation of the events of the previous chapter. Anya continues to be the tiny belle of the ball here, but now she’s in the fight of her life. All for the chance to attain world peace…by having a dance with Damian Desmond?

Spy x Family Ch. 96: Details

Spy x Family Ch. 96 is the 96th main chapter of the manga by Tatsuya Endo (Blade of the Moon Princess, TISTA). This chapter is actually a direct continuation of the previous chapter, thus making it a two-part story arc.

Casey Loe returns as the translator for Spy x Family Ch. 96, but Rina Mapa isn’t the letterer this time around. Instead, the letterer is someone who only goes by the initials JB. I have no idea what’s going on there, but we can only hope that Rina Mapa is doing well. Shueisha originally published this manga in Japan under their Jump Comics+ imprint in the magazine Shōnen Jump+. Viz Media is the company publishing this manga in English in the NA region.

When and Where to Read

Spy x Family Ch. 96 made its online debut on March 17, 2024. You can read this chapter entirely for free on Shonen Jump on Viz Media. Ch. 96 will remain free for two chapter releases after it. Upon the release of the third chapter after it, Ch. 96 will go into the Shonen Jump vault. Once there, you will have to pay a subscription fee to read it and all previous chapters. Admittedly, the fee is only $2.99 per month, so it’s not that big a hit to your wallet. All the same, if you’re short on cash, then you might want to hurry up and read Ch. 96 for free before you can’t anymore.

Anime Adaptation Details

As a side note: Spy x Family now has an anime adaptation that premiered on April 9, 2022. In fact, season 2 just recently premiered on October 7, 2023, and even more recently ended on December 23, 2023. There was even an anime film spinoff called Spy x Family Code: White that premiered on December 22, 2023, but only in Japan for now as of this writing. You can watch all episodes on either Crunchyroll or Hulu. Note, though, that only Crunchyroll has any of the dubs. So if you like watching the English dub for some reason, then you have to watch the anime on Crunchyroll.

Spy x Family Ch. 96: Plot Summary

Spy x Family Ch. 96 picks up directly from where we last left off in the previous chapter. Damian’s two friends have decided to make the girls vying for Damian’s dancing attention go through a contest to determine who is the most “worthy” of Damian. Naturally, Anya is participating for the sake of world peace.

Thus, the girls go through a set of what I can only describe as “rituals”. The rituals become increasingly complex and just as increasingly unrelated to the task of actually dancing with Damian. Amazingly, Anya aces them all…mostly. Not due to being athletic or anything, but by being tenaciously Anya as Anya can be. With a little bit of “help” from a disguised Loid though, but alas, even Loid couldn’t predict the kind of rituals small children are able to come up with. Fortunately, Anya also has her telepathy to help (sparingly, since she doesn’t want anyone to find out about said telepathy), and it’s even critical to finding out some of the deepest secrets of “Sy-on Boy”.

The result? Anya wins the rituals and gets to dance with Damian. Awkwardly, since Damian is being a tsundere, and Anya has two left feet. Fortunately, Loid’s practice with her beforehand pays off, and Anya is able to dance…competently with Damian. So much so that Damian and Anya have a heart-to-heart…and it results in Anya confessing to Damian that she can read people’s minds. A confession…which Damian does not believe. Thus, resulting in a squabble between them as they dance, but at least Anya’s secret is still safe…or is it? Well, we’ll just have to see in future chapters of Spy x Family if this is the case.

Spy x Family Ch. 96: The Good

Let’s face it: Tatsuya Endo has consistently come up with magnificent plotlines for Spy x Family, and Ch. 96 is no exception. This one actually manages to take the cake too. Not only are we getting the biggest boost to the Anya & Damian Friendship meter yet (+100), but Anya actually spills her biggest secret to Damian of all people. Not her parents, but to Damian. It’s definitely a powerful indicator that Anya feels a very strong kinship to Damian, despite their mutual squabbles.

However, that confession has some massive implications for the plot overall. Yes, Damian dismisses Anya’s words now, but will he continue to do so in the future? That confession might very well worm its way to the back of Damian’s mind, whispering to him whenever Anya does anything explicable with her powers. Something that he can’t brush off with mundane reasons. It’s honestly making me very excited for the future of this story. Will Damian become Anya’s closest confidant for her powers? Will it lead to Loid and Yor finding out about said powers? We’ll just have to see what Tatsuya Endo tosses at us in the future of this manga.

Spy x Family Ch. 96: The Bad

Alas, there isn’t a single bad thing I can say about Spy x Family Ch. 96. At least, not for me. If you’re the type who only enjoys bloody action scenes and nothing but, then this might not be the chapter for you. Yes, there is technically action, but it’s basically silly kids doing silly kid things. If you don’t like that, then perhaps you might want to read Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba or Jujutsu Kaisen instead. Those might be more your speed.