woah new chapter lmao, o didn’t even get the notif for it yet i was just rereading the newer ones
I think that's what these side-ish chapters are for: fleshing out the family love. I already invision a Mr and Mrs Smith-style confrontation with Lloyd and Yor but instead of romantic, they stop fighting to decide what happens to Anya if one of them is taken out before they continue. There could still be romantic tension resolution but first most would be their concern over their daughter.
I also think Lloyd's father is either high up in Yor's organization or a third organization that hasn't been introduced yet; Lloyd will recognize him but not the other way around. We still don't know which side Anya and Boyd/Bond's experimentation was under, though it seems Damien's older brother was one of the intended results.
There are so many plot threads hanging out right now that Yor is simply the easiest character to plug in for her to do things without misinterpretation later. She's less complicated because all that's left is openly revealing she's an assassin to the rest of the characters, the biggest shock going to her brother (but he'll eventually say she's magnificent anyway.)
I do enjoy the story plots without Anya but that's how we know we are still getting the main plot because she's the lens we get to view through. She still thinks it's a action packed show experience and not the deadly, dangerous scenario that's hanging over her. All these side stories build up not only her love and attachment but also for the serious tones to drop later, hit harder and truer. It will be great if they give the author the time and space necessary.
I really hope we don't "lose the plot" to money grubbing.
you make very valid points! its true, i think too quick development in relationships may come across as money grubbing (or that’s how i understood that part you wrote), i’ve skipped over the recent war related backstory so i kind of forgot all these loose threads the story already has to work with. (i’m going to give the story a thorough reread though from the beginning dw lol)
i just meant that i do eventually hope we can get some closer development and father daughter moments, bc the way things are now it kind of feels like lloid will never cross that point to maintain his main character traits (imo, that’s just a small paranoia for me and the slow upload pacing makes it feel like it won’t happen). but it can definitely be added down the line after the main things have been tackled. i would prefer it that way too because the development would feel more authentic rather than out of no where.
by the way!!! why do you believe damien’s older brother is the intended result of the experiments? i never connected it!
Anya is so close to being a Daddy's little girl; Lloyd has most of the domestic tasks in the household and even made her a dress based on her mom's without a pattern. Trust me, all we are missing is his realization that this has happened to him. His inner monolog might be "about the mission" but he has his heart already in the matter as far as she's concerned.
As for Damien's older brother being the result of those experiments, I forget which chapter but Damien is pointing out his brother from afar to his friends since he is within view. Anya tries to read his mind and is denied at first. The older brother seems to figure out it is coming from her and let's her "read his thoughts" to "seem normal." As someone on YouTube said in their review of the anime so far, Anya doesn't have a high enough intelligence stat to fully utilize her powers (also hinted why she likes her spy TV show because she can't read anyone's mind to see what's going to happen.) And since we don't know the process yet, it could be something they could implement on someone young enough or even anyone if the process is upheld.
So Anya's experimentation could have been either to discover this process and then impart this for a higher political power. Or the reverse: Damien's brother came first and they screened children to try and recreate it. I'm just putting more stock in the experiment being to give an advantage to Damien's family, which would explain why their mom has been so removed from her older son; she isn't allowed to know. A further vein of this would be putting Damien through this process eventually, though they might not since he is a "spare."
With the discussion about plot pacing, some authors aren't good at it. But sometimes, they have pressure from their publishers. DragonBall and Sailor Moon are great examples of this.
DragonBall followed after Toriyama's success with Dr. Slump and his publisher wanted him to make something else. DragonBall was meant to be short and something he didn't take seriously; when it blew up and DBZ shifted it to a more serious tone, they ran into the problem of the anime reaching the manga's publishing so the show had a bunch of filler episodes to bide time for the manga to produce enough plot to move forward. DragonBall Kai is cutting all that out and refining other plot points that weren't going to pan out (like making Gohan the main character after killing Goku the second time.)
Sailor Moon's mangaka, Takeuchi, was under such grueling schedule during the production of the manga and anime that she wanted it to end; she had the Sailor scouts commit suicide until her publishers told her to revise that to their selfless sacrifice being enough to save their lives and continue the story instead.
SpyxFamily is making enough money right now the publisher doesn't need to push but I don't want it to become like One Piece. Fifteen years ago, the mangaka said the plot was about 70% through the story. You ask him now and that plot estimate has only moved about 5-10%. In fifteen years. Someone in the equation wants a cash grab. I like the found family with a cold war backdrop manga we have now and I will be immensely sad if I have to drop it and wait for news that it's ended. I've had to do that for a lot of comics in general that started off great and either stagnated, were drawn out, or worse, were dropped.
thank you so much for the detailed response!! i rlly appreciate it, everything was really interesting to read about. the reassurance for lloyd’s heart being in it, he just has to notice it helped clarify things for me because you’re absolutely right.
you gave me a lot of cool new perspectives so i’m excited to reread everything with this information in mind!! (⌒▽⌒)
and you’re right, hopefully things with spy x family will pan out smoother. i’m rlly rooting for them!!
i hope to see more loid and anya father-daughter bonding time. there are a few scenes where it’s clear he cares about her, but at the forefront of it all is him thinking of her as a tool
the scene where she cuddled up to him in the first few chapters was cute, but we don’t see the that one on one closeness anymore. when they went on the cruise trip for example, the focus was on yor sort of, and how it was weird she wasn’t there (not that it was a bad arc but i just mean that even though they were together, it didn’t feel like they got all that much closer. anya was focused on yor, and loid just felt like he was humoring anya).
it’s clear that loid still sees anya as a tool for his mission first, and his daughter second (imo). even when he came to her when the hijacking happened, it’s very believable that he did it with his main concern being about the mission, not anya herself. i feel like even loid and yor are starting to break through that wall.
i’m hopeful for the future chapters though!! i rlly want some father daughter moments :’) what do you guys think?
(sorry if this is articulated weirdly, i’m sleepy TT)