You get offered cake, alright? And at first you accept it, and it's good, and then you get offered more cake, and it's fine, then you get offered more, and at that point, you get sick of it, but that's what you only get offered.
Spy x Family Season 2 is basically that. An overabundance of one thing and not really much else.
Granted, for what it does, it does really well. I think the slice of life moments are well executed, displaying the characters in entertaining moments, and it really helps you show that Family feel of the show. And the sound, visual, and animation department is top notch as always, and it's never going to be an object of criticism for me because from the start it's proven to be really great
But...that's basically the only thing that's in abundance. While most people deem it fine with the show just being a montage of the Forger family engaging in shenanigans, or the other side characters going about the stuff, to me personally it feels like the story has taken a back seat for the sake of filler or episodic structures where it's just characters placed in different situations without so much as a process of development or changes in the current situation in the plot.
Yes, I know Yor's arc on the boat was technically Yor getting development, but to me it feels lacking because for one, it still suffers from the issues I mentioned, feeling like filler, not adding anything to the story, and the development itself feels lacking, like there's no inherent change beyond just motivational changes. Yes, it is well animated action, but the action itself doesn't feel emotionally engaging, because the show has shown time and time again, either for the sake of a gag or just a display of coolness, how strong Yor is. While she did struggle, I never thought for a second she would lose because I knew for one reason or another that she would win, how else would the status quo of the Forger family be maintained after all, if by the end of the fight, Yor doesn't return to her family with them being none the wiser to her job?
And that realization I feel displays the writing limitations of the show. The Forger family has to keep their double lives a secret, so no matter what situation befalls on them, they'll go back to being this happy family that doesn't seem suspicious of their own lives, otherwise, there'll be a change in the dynamic, and they'll not be able to do this happy, slice of life fluff the show is known for. But having an overabundance of said SOL fluff leads to stagnancy, an element that's already shown given the lack of progression to Operation Strix, Loid's reason for starting a family in the first place. You can have the fluff, that's not my issue, but you need to have some progression, otherwise you'll tire out people from the lack of progress.
Perhaps it'll change with the upcoming movie, but as the second season stands in a vacuum, the show fails to pick up where the first season left off properly, opting to just settle with letting the characters just go through the motions of a narrative without much change in the status quo.
It's been often said, but mostly ignored, that the mangaka/writer of the show doesn't really enjoy or like Spy x Family. That he deemed it as rehab work, or a side project that he would not commit much work into. And I gotta say, with how the second season went about, it shows. Which makes this all the more depressing when his rehab work basically became his most famous IP thus far, as opposed to his previous works.
After all, if you're probably not having any fun with your work, it's gonna show, and others probably won't have any fun going through it.
Also Yor is overrated. That's it.
