Spy x Family was one of the breakout manga since first released in 2019 in Japan and found an even bigger audience with its English release in the summer of 2020. Tatsuya Endo has nailed the fun tone of this series as a lot of the story is told through the eyes of the young Anya Forger and her telepathic powers. This has made the family dynamic as Anya is raised by a super-spy father, Loid Forger/Twilight, and assassin mother, Yor Forger/Thorn Princess, a fun twist on the “fake couple or marriage” plot we’ve seen in many other mangas in the past. Now as we begin the third year of Spy x Family what comes next in the ongoing adventures of the Forger family? Let’s find out with chapter 44 of Spy x Family.
Writer and Artist: Tatsuya Endo
Synopsis: Yor Forger is taken to meet the Shopkeeper (the leader of “The Shop” where Yor gets her assassin missions). After the Shopkeeper tests Yor’s abilities still being up to par as the Thorn Princess he gives her assigns her a new client. To Yor’s surprise, this new mission is not to kill but actually protect the client.
The Shopkeeper reveals that recently head of the Gretcher family, who was well regarded in the underground world, and his sons were killed, leaving only two last surviving members of the family: Olka Gretcher and her young son. He goes on to say that the person currently leading the Gretcher family organization has placed a bounty on Olka and her son, leading to every hitman in the world targeting them. The Shopkeeper says he wants Yor to act as a backup from the shadows in case those hired to protect Olka and her son while they are led to safety in another country drop the ball.
Yor agrees to do the mission but says she needs to clear things up with her job at city hall and create an excuse to give to her family. The Shopkeeper reveals that arrangements have been made with her job at city hall. He then says that they are counting on Yor to keep the world a beautiful place. Hearing this Yor is hyped up to do her part.
Later, when Yor gets on her train she is surprised to find her brother (Yuri Briar) sleeping. Yor invites her brother to dinner at her place. Yuri is initially excited by this but backs out not wanting to meet Loid and mentioning he still has work to do.
Yor shows concern for her brother’s health but Yuri says he is fine and to not be thought of as a child anymore. Yuri then gets off the train at his stop.
Now alone Yor thinks of how much her brother has grown up. This makes Yor wonder if she still needs to keep up her work as an assassin.
Over at Central Mall, a raffle is being held. As people keep paying for raffle tickets and not getting the grand prize it is revealed that the one running the raffle has rigged it so he can have the person he secretly hired to win it. Anya Forger happens to be there and uses her telepathic abilities to find out how the raffle was rigged. With this knowledge, Anya is able to pull the grand prize ticket that is for a special cruise.
At the Forger’s home when Yor finally gets back Anya happily shows her mom the pair of tickets for a cruise that she won. Yor looks at the info and mentions that she is also going to be going on the Princess Lorelei cruise ship for work.
Anya uses her telepathic abilities to find out Yor is going on the ship for an assassin mission much to her shock. Learning this Anya’s inner angel and devil fight over if they should go on the cruise. Anya’s devil side ends up winning and Anya tells her dad (Loid Forger) that she wants to go on the cruise.
Over at Loid’s hospital, Loid is surprised at how easy it was to convince Sylvia Sherwood to give him some time off from his spy missions and work at the hospital. It is revealed to Loid that Sylvia actually got told by upper management to ease up on overworking her spies. Sylvia says she still thinks the cruise is a good opportunity to strengthen Anya’s education and help Loid’s overall mission.
The next day Anya, Loid, and Yor enjoy themselves as they take a train to the cruise ship. While on their way Yor thinks of how much she enjoys spending time with Anya and Loid. Thinking of this she starts considering if this mission to protect Olka Gretcher and her son could be her final job as the Thorn Princess.
They finally get to where the cruise ship is much to Anya’s excitement. As the Forgers get ready to board the cruise ship Yor spots several groups of hitmen and hitwomen boarding the cruise ship. End of chapter.
The Good: After how much of a focus has been placed on Anya and Loid Forger over the course of the chapters of Spy x Family that were released in 2020 it is great to see Yor Forger get time in the spotlight. Yor has thus far been more of a supporting cast member in most of the recent story arcs so placing a focus on her work in the assassin world as the Thorn Princess was refreshing to see.
Kicking off chapter 44 of Spy x Family with Yor going to meet the Shopkeeper to receive her latest mission was nicely handled. The Shopkeeper testing out if Yor didn’t become rusty set the right tone for this entire story. Tatsuya Endo showed awareness of the fact that it has been a while since we have seen the Thorn Princess side of Yor being shown.
In the process of getting this mission, Endo is able to emphasize how highly Yor is seen as the Thorn Princess. Just because she hasn’t gone on an assassin mission in a while there is still great trust from the Shopkeeper for Yor to protect the last members of the Gretcher Family. Establishing how just about every known hitman and hitwoman are targeting Olka Gretcher and her son immediately reminds you how badass Yor is when in full Thorn Princess mode. Because if she wasn’t she wouldn’t be given such a top-tier mission where her assassin skills are needed for protection rather than killing.
Through all of this Endo sets the stage for how this mission to protect the Gretcher Family could very well be Yor’s last assassin mission as Thorn Princess. Over the course of Spy x Family, we’ve seen how Yor has grown comfortable in her family life with Anya and Loid. At the same time, we have also been shown how her brother, Yuri Briar, has come into his own as an adult. We see that again throughout chapter 44 of Spy x Family as her meeting with Yuri shows her that he isn’t a kid anymore. Which created the bigger question if this latest mission will be Yor’s last as the Thorn Princess.
While there is a lot of serious character exploration being done Endo does make sure to continue the fun of this series through Anya’s side of the story in chapter 44 of Spy x Family. We once again get to see how fun it is to see how Anya reacts when discovering things through her telepathic abilities. The shock in her face when learning how the guy running the local raffle is cheating the system was priceless. It made the moment when she pulled out the winning ticket after learning where it was hidden with a serious look on her face even better.
That fun continued with how after learning about her mom’s latest Thorn Princess mission we once again got the chibi Anya angel and devil back-and-forth. It is a reminder of how Anya is still just a little kid and finds excitement in taking part in Yor’s assassin and Loid’s spy worlds when presented with the opportunity.
Endo also does a good job of explaining why Loid will be on the mission as a supporting character. Having Sylvia Sherwood decide to give Loid a break after she got told by her manager to ease up on overworking her agents was a nice touch. It also gets across how much of Loid’s spy world we have been seeing lately. Now it’ll be interesting to see how Loid will possibly get involved in Yor’s latest job as an assassin and if this is the story that will have them both learn about their respective secret lives.
The Bad: Nothing.
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Story Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 8.5 Night Girls out of 10
Overall: Chapter 44 of Spy x Family does a fantastic job in kicking off a new storyline with Yor Forger as the lead. Having Yor return to being Thorn Princess, the ultimate assassin, and the question of if the assassin world is still something she wants to be a part of is a story that immediately gets your attention. There is so much to this story to be invested in that will excite fans for what comes next.
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