‘Spy x Family’ Episode 9 Review: Loid And Yor Show How Much In Love They Really Are
Another week, and we are graced with another exciting episode of Spy x Family. The show is without a doubt the most successful anime of the year, and we cannot wait to keep watching it for years to come, or at least until Tatsuya Endo decides that his story must end. We’ll be happy either way, but if the series keeps on going with this type of quality, the future seems promising to say the least.
This week’s episode is titled “Show Off How In Love You Are” and it is basically a Yor and Loid adventure. Anya makes appearances here and there, but it is definitely not her adventure. It makes sense because last week we were left on a tense cliffhanger where Loid was trying to kiss Yor and so, prove to Yuri, Yor’s younger brother, that they are really married and very much in love.
Loid tries to kiss Yor, but she becomes really nervous. She actually likes Loid for real, but as we learn later in the episode, Yor has never actually been with anyone. She has never dated and of course, she has never been married, so her experience as a girlfriend or wife is almost nonexistent. Yor drinks to give herself some courage, and the expected happens, and she becomes grossly drunk. She prepares to kiss Loid for real this time.
Here is when we learn that Yuri is actually in love with her sister on more than a Platonic level. Yuri remembers how she used to kiss him on the cheek when they were younger as a gesture of congratulations on his good grades. He even confesses to him that he wants to marry her when they grow up. You could think that now that Yuri is an adult he would have left those feelings behind, but it seems they are still there. This is why he doesn’t really like Loid no matter how hard he tries, he is jealous.
The scene ends with Yor hitting Yuri and making his head bleed really bad. Yuri says he will keep an eye on Loid, and if he hurts his sister, he will be executed. Let’s not forget that Yuri belongs to the country’s secret police, and they are actively looking for spies, just like Loid, so he must be careful. It is a niece development that adds more stakes to even simple life matters like a family reunion. Yuri leaves, and Yor and Loid remained embarrassed as the kiss never happened.
Loid starts doubting if Yor is genuine. Does she really don’t know that his brother is in the secret police? Is her concern about marriage purely because she was getting older and was not in a relationship? Loid needs to be sure and recruits Franky to execute a plan. In the morning, Anya learns that her uncle is a member of the secret police, she doesn’t know what that entails, but it sounds cool. She also perceives there is something between her parents, and she says out loud that they must get along. Loid is impressed by how perceptive she is. Let’s wait until he learns it is actually real mind reading.
Loid plants a bug on Yor, and he listens to how at work she asks for advice from her coworkers on how to be a good wife. The coworkers give her awful advice. Later Loid and Franky, posing as secret police, corner down Yor, they put her in a situation where if she knows that Yuri is part of the secret police she only has to say it and she will be fine. But like a good mother and wife, Yor doesn’t bulge. Loid feels quite guilty for having doubted Yor in the first place.
The couple meets on their way home and Loid comforts Yor with a beautiful speech. He says that people are always going through life playing a role, trying to be the perfect student, the perfect wife or doctor, or whatever, and that can only be held up for so long until the person’s mind breaks. Yor should be trying to be more herself, and that will make her not only happy, but also the people around her. Yor is happy and tells Loid that she is happy he is the person she married. If only Loid could take his own advice.
The fact that every member in the family is hiding something really puts the stakes into consideration. The moment they learn each other’s secrets will be a huge moment in the story, and one that could go either way. They could all feel betrayed that after so much they didn’t trust each other, but it could also be that their experiences together allow them to become closer once they learn each other’s secrets.
When at the end of the episode Anya perceives they are getting along once again, her face glows, she is happy, and we are happy. However, the show is strongly setting up that Loid’s and Yor’s secrets will clash with each other and that moment will be hugely important. Just imagine if at some point Yor is hired to kill Twilight, and then she learns it is Loid, it would destroy her.
So far, everything is nice and pretty and every single episode teaches something of value to the characters. However, the narrative setup that is being done in the background tells us we are on a collision course to something that could truly be heartbreaking. Let’s hope we are wrong about it.
