Takashi Katagiri, who directed Season 2 of the series, continues the characters’ journey with irresistible fun in his first feature-length work in the series.
“Spy×Family Code: White” is a fun and easy-to-access jumping off point, even for those who are not familiar with the anime “Spy×Family” or the manga on which it is based. But when they slow down to catch up with new entrants, they tend to lose momentum. This plot is not strictly connected to his two seasons in the comic or drama (the third season has not been renewed yet). But the basic premise is the same. A discovered family with a secret life and abilities that they continue to protect. While certain political conflicts loom on the horizon, they are at odds with each other.
This independent film, released theatrically in both dubbed and subtitled versions, plays like an extended filler episode of a sitcom full of word misinterpretations, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The dynamic trio of Three’s Company, daddy spy Lloyd Forger (Takuya Eguchi), his secret assassin wife Yor (Saori Hayami), and their adopted son, a telepathic four-year-old Anya (Atsumi Tanezaki) pretends to be a certain person. She had been with her family for so long that her tricks were starting to come true. The fake couple keep their secrets close to their hearts, but Anya can read their minds and, with the help of a fluffy and soothing St. Bernard, can spot trouble from afar.
How did this strange fake family come into being? That’s part of Lloyd’s espionage efforts. The first episode of the show (available on Crunchyroll) explains this very well, but the movie also shows that Lloyd’s long-term target has a son who attends an elite private school, and that part of his plan is to Contains enough explanatory narration to explain that this includes adopting a child and enrolling her in the same facility. It almost sounds like evil, but Anya, who wears cat ears and prances through each scene with endearing energy, can’t be bothered to be her pawn as long as she has a home.
It’s the epitome of brain-off entertainment. If he scrutinizes that premise for even a minute, things get awkward at best. The series’ setting is vaguely European-inspired, the design takes cues from World War II, and the story takes beats from the Cold War. Lloyd’s mission involves preventing conflict from erupting between the ambiguous East and West, but beyond these big-picture political issues, the show never takes itself too seriously. yeah. It’s better not to think about it any further.
Indeed, while the dangers of this conflict are in the background, Lloyd, Yor, and Anya embark on more whimsical adventures that are largely unrelated and feel only marginally connected to the larger conflict. (And the actual collision is almost always within an hour). In order to help Anya get closer to her target classmates, Lloyd plans to help her win the school’s baking contest, and to do so he creates a snowy Swiss-influenced region-specific Suggest making a dessert like the famous tart. He has secret reasons for wanting to travel there, but in the end, the candy contest is a good excuse to keep the family together for much of the movie.
Director Takashi Katagiri, who also directed the show’s second season, took a farcical approach to this unserious plot set against a deadly serious backdrop. Scenes of grocery shopping at a winter market arrive with the bustling intensity of a scouting mission, and lists of ingredients are processed and displayed with all the pomp and circumstance of a Yu-Gi-Oh! card. Before long, an overtly fascist military leader crosses paths with his family and not only steals their lavish desserts, but also secretly threatens to plunge the world into war. The film treats his two outcomes with equal weight and urgency. It’s all a little silly, but it’s meant to be.
“Spy x Family Code: White” is more chuckle-worthy than laugh-out-loud funny, but even its off-the-wall jokes have an innocent, adolescent charm. The big screen budget allowed Katagiri a sense of fluidity and visual freedom, rendering the action scenes with dynamic movement (compared to the show’s more static sequences). Children in the audience will likely be thrilled by the whole affair, although the recurring gag rarely extends beyond a poop joke. The movie tries to be serious and sentimental at times, but it’s often in vain, but at least it never gets boring.
