Spy x Family Season 2 Review

More of the Same Old Thing

Spy x Family Season 2 is not the same as Spy x Family Part 2. At least, not technically. Spy x Family Part 2 is the second cour of the first season of the anime. It follows Spy x Family.

This review is of Season 2, which follows Spy x Family Part 2. Got it? I’m sure you do. But, I know the search engine algorithms are going to struggle with that. I’ve already seen it firsthand with Mushoku Tensei. And, this is why we should get rid of this “Part 2” nonsense.

Okay, but also, Season 2 is the “same” as Part 2 because that’s how this series is. There’s no real development at any point in Spy x Family. At least, there hasn’t been, so far. That’s why I’m not interested in it anymore.

Why do we need what’s effectively three seasons of the same exact thing? I wouldn’t say the plot has progressed at all. The characters definitely haven’t developed and are still pretty one-dimensional. And, the series continues to fall back on the same jokes and gags instead of trying anything new.

I thought the first season as a whole was good. The second cour definitely started to drag as I realized nothing new was happening. But, even then, the series was still novel enough to keep me mostly interested. That novelty is gone. Throughout this season, I was always dreading having to watch the next Spy x Family episode.

Now, I also want to point out that this season didn’t introduce any new characters. Well, none that seem like they’ll be recurring, supporting characters. So, it didn’t even get a novelty boost from that. Introducing a new character is an easy way to mix things up.

Cruise Arc

This was such a bland season that I honestly don’t remember most of what happened in it. I remember that bond saved another dog from a fire. Damian & friends survived in the wilderness. And, there was the cruise arc. The cruise arc is the most prominent feature of this season.

Yor has to go on a “business trip” aboard a cruise ship. The cover is that she’s wining and dining some important people. But, in reality, she’s protecting the family of an informant as they flee the country. This means she’ll be fighting plenty of other assassins.

Anya also wants to go on the cruise, which, as you can assume, is bad for Yor. She can’t have her family there just in case something goes wrong. What if they happened to see her fighting? How would she be able to explain that away? She wouldn’t.

Well, unfortunately for Yor, Loid decides to turn this cruise into a family vacation. Though, it’s really only a vacation for himself and Anya. Yor’s going to be working the whole time. And, while she does that, Loid and Anya are going to be enjoying themselves on the ship.

So, this arc has two pretty distinct halves. On one side, there’s a lot of Yor action content, which is good. I felt like we hadn’t been getting enough of that. And on the other side, there’s the Loid and Anya slice of life content. That’s not as interesting because it’s similar to the content we usually get.

But, I’ll admit that the fact that this arc takes place on a cruise ship is a slight bonus. Yes, all the complaints I brought up in the previous section still apply. However, at the very least, the setting of this arc is different.

How Long Can Spy x Family Last?

With the first season of the anime, Spy x Family became an international sensation. In only two years, it got three cours of TV anime and a movie. That’s a lot of animated content for one series.

The only other series that really compete with that are long-running shounen series. Think of things like One Piece. Some anime with multiple seasons get one season every two years if they’re popular. And most others have even longer breaks between seasons if they get more seasons at all.

But, is this the path Spy x Family is on a sustainable one? I don’t think so. And, there are a few things I’d like to point to to prove why this is the case. There’s the pace of the releases, the reception, and the mangaka’s feelings about the series.

Okay, so to start off, as I said, the release pace is fast. That’s not inherently a bad thing. But, to me, it seems to be signifying how the producers view the series. Spy x Family was very popular on release. So, capitalize on that popularity while it lasts by pumping out content.

In general, sequel seasons of an anime receive higher ratings than their predecessors. That’s because people who don’t like the series drop it. So, those reviewing a sequel are more likely to be dedicated fans. We don’t see this with Spy x Family, though. Every season is rated lower than the previous one.

This implies that for most viewers, the novelty is wearing off fast.

Finally, as you may know, the Tatsuya Endou, the mangaka, doesn’t exactly like Spy x Family. It’s not the series he wanted to make. But, he knew it would be profitable. So, even the mangaka isn’t very invested.

Final Thoughts

This is going to hurt some people. But, Spy x Family Season 2 is a 5/10. It exists. It’s fine. And, on a technical level, it’s good. However, the quality of the animation and things like that don’t matter when the content itself is stale. And, that’s why I have no intention of watching the movie or any future seasons.

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