Twilight's Habit of Observing Yor and Anya

I just noticed how often Twilight observes these two interacting with each other, the anime is inclined of highlighting this since most of these are not in the manga and I love them for that.

Look at how fond his face is when he's looking at Yor and Anya's genuine affection for each other. I think he can saw glimpses of him and his mom through them.

Yor and Anya share a true mother-daughter bond, even though they don't share the same blood. In his world as a spy, where deception and pretenses rule, Yor and Anya's genuine bond is a breath of fresh air for him. It was something that is very much real and it's something that is under his care regardless he is Twilight, Loid Forger or his true self. He was the one who united the their family and I think it makes him wonder how an epitome of deception like himself can build something as authentic and genuine as this.

That face he makes, the longing warm stare directed at them. I can't explain it but his eyes are really different when he's looking at them. It's soft. Yep, this man is already into deep.

Also, it makes me wonder, judging at how often he observes these two, how could he not tell something was definitely weird about them? At this rate he must've been constantly and intentionally ignoring those😂

More Yor and Anya interacting with each other in Loid's view:

They were always so bright in his view. I think he associates the both of them are his source of light. That's just so sweet and wholesome😭❤️

SOULSOUP-SXF Fanart

Fanart inspired by the Lyrics of the Official Theme Song of Spy x Family: Code White, SOULSOUP by Official Hige Dandism

Holy glory

But these three illustrations looks too cool together to be real

SxF EP 3 SPOILER ALERT

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Left,right.

Right,left.

Anya is having the time of her life but you can see from a distance Loid's stress is increasing as time goes by.

We were waiting for this moment and here we have it.

Yor didn't need to sing a lullaby to Loid but she was there doing it and just as that tender act was that made him remember his mother.

Seriously was so sweet.

'Mama Becomes the Wind' is new material to the anime, but it also feels familiar. Apart from the fact that everything these silly Forgers do this episode is entirely in-character, it's also because the conversation at the end between Yor and Twilight echoes the one between husband and wife at the end of Episode 9 - you know the one where Yor tells Loid she's glad she married him - and should be seen as a companion piece.

So... let's do a scene breakdown!

The set up is the same - Twilight accidentally 'bumps' into Yor after suspecting her to be a potential enemy/ spy. Unlike that prior conversation though, Twilight's suspicions are quickly dispelled here...

... in fact, he actually tells himself he didn't need to have checked on her. This is a big step up from planting a listening device on her and following her for a whole day. Progress!

What's implied here is that he trusts her, or is trying to, or at least, he's learning to. Franky's words to him back then - "Don't tell me you feel guilty for doubting her" - we know had cut deep. Twilight did feel guilty for doubting Yor, then and now. Here though, he's making a note - he really need to let go of his Spy Brain when it comes to her. He will fail over and over again. But deep down, he knows it's silly to think his wife would mean him harm.

The 'Mama...' episode highlight how Yor and Twilight's relationship has grown since the 'I'm glad...' one. Back then, when Twilight saw Yor losing confidence as a mother and wife, he assured his wife it's ok to be herself. But they have that whole conversation side by side. The anime tells us these two have the same path in front of them, they carry the same emotional baggage. But they run parallel to each other, neither truly meet the other's gaze just yet.

In 'Mama...' something very interesting happens. When Yor laments she is a failure as a mother, Twilight - perhaps with a bit more speed and emotion than his Spy self would permit - rushes next to her and turns to face her to tell her anemphatic 'no!'. There is no longer any cryptic monologue on being one's true self; he tells her directly here that she is a good mother. The VA work in this episode suggests the man truly meant it, and he wants her to know, and he wants her to see him when he tells her she's wonderful. Er... this is all for the mission!

And then we have Yor's smiles. The first time she smiled must be the first time Twilight actually saw her. Yor's basking in the warm glow of twilight (heh) and... we all know what that filter means. She's beautiful in his eyes.

I've noted before how in this latest conversation, when we see the smile on Yor's face blossom, it is from the POV of Twilight. He is watching her, waiting for her to smile... I think after that First Smile, he's been trying to recapture it since - it is one of the souvenirs he's mentally tied a red ribbon round after all. And so he makes it his life's duty mission side mission to make her smile again. To make her happy. And maybe, to make himself feel loved and worthy of her woman's love gratitude love gratitude love gratitude love and gratitude. Er... this is also for the mission!

Food is the language of love, I've kept saying. And so of course Twilight would suggest to his wife they get food together. Or maybe it really means nothing. (It means something.)

The last lovely echo we get in 'Mama...' and how it's a reply of sorts to 'I'm glad I married you...' conversation is how it ends. I've pointed out before how that earlier episode, husband and wife walk home side by side, but with their shadows in front of them. He is a Spy. She is an Assassin. Those secrets will follow them like shadows wherever they go. Loid and Yor Forger are just an act.

But in 'Mama...' we no longer see those shadows. They are just walking together. She, after being Mama to Anya. He, after being a full Helicopter Dad to keep eyes on Anya. They are parents now. They are married now.

Or is it going to a WHILE before they have enough for season 2 ??!

The manga became so popular that it had an insanely high demand for an anime ...

One of the things you can do in anime versus on manga is to set the mood with music.

Anya's "Apparently, if you have love, you can fly" can be read as a silly joke in the manga - she just picked up those words from Becky earlier, and needed an excuse to give her 'art' to Damian. But the anime chose to not show Anya making a silly face while saying it - or at least, not as silly as in the manga - and more importantly the theme 'Small Daily Life' starts playing. The anime is saying - this is not a joke, Anya meant it.

This lovely theme notably played in two important scenes - when Anya thanked Twilight for adopting her from the orphanage and promised him she'd do her best at school at the end of Episode 5, and the scene where Anya remembers that moment, which segues into Loid and Yor discussing parenthood in Episode 7.

As I've written about these moments before - they depict people who don't really know how to vocalize their feelings showing love via their actions. For Anya, it's getting good grades for her papa, for Yor it's cooking for her brother, for Twilight it's deciding he needs to become a good father to his daughter.

This is probably the first time in the series where Anya understood why Damian is the way he is - in many ways, like herself, he just wants his father's love and approval. (This also explains her confession to him much later on about how she doesn't know whether Loid even likes her let along loves her, but she loves her papa with all her little heart... deep down, she knows Damian has similar doubts about where he fits within his family.)

So, there we go. The griffin isn't just an olive branch. It is not part of Anya's grand Friendship Scheme. This is her showing empathy towards the little boy who's just like her. It comes from the heart.

yor and anya growing so close over time, especially after the reveals, that yor straight up forgets she didn’t birth anya sometimes. they’ll be cuddling early in the morning, whispering and giggling about loid who’s watching them from beside them on the bed. he knows they’re talking about him, they know he knows, but it’s so sweet and domestic. and eventually loid reaches over to tickle anya or try to pull her into his arms instead and she squeals and laughs happily because she has 2 parents who love her more than anything. yor knows about loid’s past and she can just see it on his face that this, their family, heals his inner child so much. she knows that the part of him that remembers curling up in bed hearing his parents scream at each other from the other side of the wall is just so proud of the man he’s become, of the father he’s become to anya.

Yes please 🥰🥰🥰

The Grand Unifying Theory of the 'Forger Family Teacups (TM)'

(The title is a joke. But yes, this will be a long post about cups.)

I often talk about how food is the language of love... in which case, tea and coffee and hot cocoa - and maybe some biscuits and chocolates to go with that - must be the soft melodic notes that go with all that poetry 😊

The Forger Family Teacups are used throughout the series - much more so in the anime than in the manga - as a symbol of the Forgers' domestic bliss. It is warmth, it keeps them going (although Twilight really needs to cut down on the caffeine), it is a shared moment of rest and love at the end of a long day. It is family.

It also sets up a nice contrast to Twilight and Yor's life from before. In the first episode, we see him holding a paper cup filled with some dark brew as he leaves one place to head to another - such is the life of a spy. The cup, like all his lives and identities before, is disposable.

And even when Twilight does get a proper mug at the first Forger residence later... it is a plain white cup, and it sits alone on the coffee table. It does not scream domesticity. More like 'another day at the office'. Which it is, for him.

Then, there's Yor. We are introduced to her in the series as she is making coffee - it seems to be one of her jobs at city hall. But the white serveware and fancy contraptions make coffee for other people. The setting, the sterile color palette, the way Yor's detached reflection shows up on the pot of coffee... this is not home.

We see the Forger Family Teacups finally in Episode 3, when Yor moves into 128 Park Avenue and becomes Anya's mama. All three mugs hold slightly different things - Anya's cocoa, Yor's coffee with milk, and Loid's black coffee - but they are all sitting together, with a plate of food made lovingly by Twilight between them. The three of them may not think of themselves as a unit yet, but the tea cups and cookies don't like - this is the start of the Forger Family.

Notably, we return to a scene like this at the end of the episode. Just as Twilight laments that the operation is hopeless, in walks Yor with their family mugs, full of sweetness and comfort, quite literally. (Yes, this shot has to be deliberate.)

We get to admire the scene of domesticity - Yor smiles watching Anya enjoying her cup of hot cocoa. And Twilight gets to admire it too... and that's when the now-familiar 'teacups' music with the soft piano playing comes in. Because yes - they looked like a wonderful family to the old lady they helped earlier in the day... but they look even more like a wonderful family at home, basking in each other's warmth, sharing tea and cocoa.

We continue to see the Forger Family Teacups through the series, usually when the anime wants to highlight the theme of familial love.

In Episode 4, Yor brings out the tea tray as Twilight worries he's doomed Operation Strix. (Yor providing comfort to her husband - often with tea and coffee - when his brain goes brrrrr is a recurring thing in this series, by the way.) And we see the cups and saucers together... closer than where they were in Episode 3.

In Episode 7, Yor and Twilight talk about parenting and their partnership over their Forger Family Teacups as they wait for Anya to stop sulking over being made to study.

Notably, we get the 'teacups' music theme again, but also, Twilight has an emotional epiphany over his cup of coffee. Being Loid Forger, one cup in a set, has led him to the realization that he owes it to his daughter to be an ideal father. Him, not being Anya's real father? Well, the cup says otherwise. And he knows it too.

The last time we see the teacups prominently in the manga (again, they appear in nearly every episode, just look for them) is in Episode 8 and 9, with Yuri's visit and its aftermath.

Here, the Forger Family Teacups (TM) signify who is family, who is not. As I've pointed out before, Loid is seen wiping clean the good china for guests before Yuri's arrival in the manga and in the anime. It is, as you can see, not the same shape or pattern as the everyday mugs Yor, Anya and Loid use.

Except - and I only just noticed this - Yor actually took out a Forger Family cup first. Look at it. Shape and pattern match. Which makes sense! Yuri's family to Yor Briar, even if he's a weird little dude. But as a Forger... that's different. And Twilight's really not going to let Yuri be part of the Forgers, just yet. He does not get a Family Teacup. This is an anime-only detail. They just hate Yuri that much more. 😂

And just in case we've not entirely got it, the anime also gives us this shot - Yor, Anya and Loid's cups sitting side by side as they have a very serious discussion about how to come up with a coherent lie to sell to Yuri. It is a family discussion. About someone who is not family.

At the end of Episode 9, after the excitement that was Twilight planting a listening device on his wife, him realizing his wife is actually loyal and great, him hating himself for doing all of this, him telling her he's sick of pretending, and her declaring she's thankful she married him - phew, a lot happened in that episode! - husband and wife return home, cake in hand to celebrate their fake anniversary. Whatever crisis Twilight and Yor had imagined that could wreck their marriage and their family - well, those doubts are dead and buried, for now anyway.

The Forger Family Teacups ends the episode. Unlike in prior episodes, they have done away with the formality of saucers. Unlike in prior episodes, they are now sitting right next to each other. They are full, they are warm, they are bitter, they are sweet, they give Twilight stomach aches... They are Forger. 😊

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PS. The second cour's ED 'Color' understands guests at the Forger residence are only allowed to use guest cups, not the Forger set. They get it. *nods approvingly*

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PPS. Yuri eventually gets his Forger Family Teacup in the manga. Because even Twilight begrudgingly admits that the weird little dude is family. The fact that Yuri annoys Twilight but he can't do anything about it because his wife loves her brother, and Loid loves his wife is... Very Family.

PPPS. When Becky comes round to visit, Yor goes all out and uses a super special fancy tea set for the whole family, because Becky is super special and fancy 🙂 This is very cute, especially when you realize...

PPPPS. Yor very pointedly gave Nightfall a guest mug, even as the whole family used their Forger Family Teacups. As we saw with how Yor treated Becky, she could have actually done otherwise. But no, even before she knew how she felt, Yor decided to get territorial via tea cups and show Fiona that the Forgers are A Family, and she's not welcome, thank you very much.