TV REVIEW: SPY x FAMILY - Season 3

4/5

Spy Hard

13 Episodes. Starring: Takuya Eguchi, Saori Hayami & Atsumi Tanezaki. Director: Yukiko Imai. On: Netflix, Disney +, Amazon Prime, Crunchyroll.

Twilight, Bond and peanuts fans, report for duty! The master spy, assassin, telepath and precognitive pup of 'Spy x Family' are back for a third season on every streaming platform known to man, or dog. It's only been a few years since their big-screen hit ('Spy x Family - Code: White'), but these spies, with more dashes and colons than a Tom Cruise accepted franchise, are still on every other t-shirt and backpack walking around Tokyo and all surrounding cities. Based in the pseudo Berlin of the beautiful Berlint, this amazing anime, adapted from the massive manga by Yukiko Imai, stars Takuya Eguchi, Saori Hayami and Atsumi Tanezaki as the fond Loid, Yor and Anya Forger. But there are a whole host of popular characters outside this nuclear family dynamic. Not to mention Bond...the dog, Bond. Cue the cute season finale, post-credits animation.

Some serious spy stuff is going on this time out. Epic espionage and some awesome animated action that will remind you of when Charlize Theron lost a tooth tooling around Berlin as an 'Atomic Blonde', whilst James McAvoy told us how much he loved this city. So much so, there are some episodes where the forever cute Anya is on a milk carton...or is that a peanut box? But when she does take classic centre stage, you won't know what hit you, like the first episode, under construction. Especially with a bomb on a bus that could even send that Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves hit into cruise control. Yet, with lake house beauty, this show that really is about family, like the avatar of a 'Fast & Furious' vehicle, finds more gold in its past. Heartbreakingly so, as you find out all about those childhood friends on the moving 'Actor' closing credits sung by Lilas Ikuta. The deepest and darkest season yet, albeit still with that heartwarming sense of hope.

Same song for the water pistol child's play of the outstanding opening, directed by Shingo Natsume, featuring 'Hi o Mamoru' by top Japanese band Spitz, that really protects the light. From Official Hige Dandism to Bump Of Chicken, it's always the case that this show's music really sings, with a file of hit themes, too. It's quite the jacket, like Loid's racing green suit, which offers even more substance to this stylish and slick series, making its anime name alongside the more teen and adult content of 'The First Slam Dunk' and 'Kaiju No. 8'. This beast is a slam dunk too, not to mention a master of disguise with dialogue as thrilling as its hand-to-hand combat. Sleight-ly delivering you a fall reckoning package of 13 episodes (lucky for us) that we couldn't wait to open just before Christmas. We just hope the end of this new year sends us on our next mission. The impossible one may be done, but we're not ready to say goodbye to this family of spies. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Further Filming: 'Spy x Family: Code White', 'Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning', 'Atomic Blonde'.