Let’s Watch is a weekly recap column where I follow an anime for the course of its entire runtime. Expect spoilers!

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Kids are funny. This is a fundamental truth of comedy, and it’s where Spy x Family gets a decent chunk of its comedic juice from. This episode, which mostly centers on Anya’s first real day at school, is pretty much just 22 solid minutes of “kids are funny.” There’s some other stuff in there, especially toward the end, but that’s what the focus is on.

Frankly, I’m pretty happy with that. Anya’s friend Becky and, we’ll say for now, rival Damian form a sort of secondary trio of lead characters. They take the spotlight when the rest of the Forgers are off-screen, and Anya’s friendship with Becky is already adorable, even this early on.

Anya’s goal throughout this episode, such as it is, is very simple. She just needs to make amends with Damian before the end of the day, before the bad blood from their fist-first first meeting has time to curdle. That makes perfect sense in theory but ask anyone who’s ever been a child; when you’re a kid, apologizing to other kids is hard. Especially if you actually did do something wrong. (Not that I or, I imagine, most of the audience, can really fault Anya for decking Damian, but it is technically against school rules.)

So, to make sure his daughter actually does apologize, Loid spends most of the episode “encouraging” Anya from the shadows. Mostly, this makes it seem like Anya is in a particularly bizarre grade-schooler take on The Prisoner. It’s admittedly pretty funny, although probably not great for her mental health.

Speaking of that; Anya’s outburst has had a few lasting effects. Everyone in her first period class avoids her now, because they think she’s some kind of delinquent. (Becky gets hit with this too but doesn’t seem to mind so much.)

And then there’s what’s become of Damian himself, which, well, he’s pretty obviously developing a crush on Anya. In fact, we see the exact moment his feelings bloom into one. How can you tell? Well, it’s pretty obvious, really.

^{Sorry son, you like the fiery ones.}

He copes with this by fleeing from the cafeteria and shouting that his pride won’t allow this. Which is, admittedly, an accurate summary of how young boys deal with crushes.

Anya’s attempt at apologizing being roundly rejected, she slumps home understandably upset. Loid being not particularly great at helping her with her homework doesn’t improve things, and eventually she gets so frustrated that she storms off to her room, thus marking the first fight the Forger family has had over the course of the show. Loid reflects, musing that it’s the patience to tackle mundane missions like this that make him a true spy, and, along the way, perhaps stumbling into a deeper insight about himself. Yor, also, offers some genuinely good parenting advice.

^{Albeit, perhaps anachronistically effective given that this is supposed to be, what, the 60s? The 80s? When the hell does Spy x Family take place anyway?}

Loid attempts to make it up to Anya, but finds that she’s fallen asleep at her desk and was studying on her own, determined to make her papa proud. It’s a cute end to a cute episode.

Until next time.

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