what I wanted: a dog to be introduced as a companion to Anya, freeing up Yor to get more assassin storylines

what I’m going to get: a bunch of dog storylines and maybe (if I’m lucky) chibi Yor in the background of some panels

I actually love the dog. it’s baffling that tens of thousands of years of human existence haven’t exhausted our supply of iconic cartoon dogs. also, this is the volume that really reminded me that there are politics and violence and stakes and a tinge of hopelessness in Spy x Family. we are so firmly planted in the anti-war camp along with Twilight that there isn’t much room for subtlety, but in broad manga strokes it’s a surprisingly good setting for an family espionage comedy [cue nostalgia undertow that sucked me back to my childhood memories of watching The X’s on Nickelodeon]. after meeting Yuri, after the Forgers acquire Bond, it feels like a bunch of pieces have slid into place. I suspect that (in addition to a couple of prominent dog storylines and no Yor storylines) the next few volumes will see the stakes increase slightly.