Spy x Family Episode 22 review: The tennis arc begins

Spy x Family Episode 22 begins the newest arc of the series, where Loid and Nightfall partake in a mission together to win a tennis competition.

After many episodes arguably lacking narrative progression, Spy x Family Episode 22 marks the beginning of a brand new arc. Within this arc, the new character Nightfall, introduced in the previous episode, teams up with Twilight to win an underground tennis competition.

This episode highlights the strengths of the series, portraying the two as very much super human beings who have no match while keeping true to the ridiculous and hilarious tone of which has become iconic for Spy x Family.

To watch Spy x Family Episode 22, check out Crunchyroll.  

A slight spoiler warning below for Spy x Family!

The spies display their overwhelming skills

The premise for the tennis tournament is rather simple. Infiltrate an underground tennis competition and win the entire thing to somehow save the world. Even Spy x Family knows it’s a weak premise, but manages to poke fun at itself rather than trying to make more sense of it.

To prepare for the tournament, Loid Forger played a bit of tennis with Anya and Yor, claiming “he dabbled in it.” With only this amount of training, there really shouldn’t be a way he can stand up against pros. But that’s exactly what he does, managing to completely destroy the first match up with ease, displaying some straight overpowered natural talent and physical abilities.

The next opponents they face are actual super humans created from the use of performance enhancement drugs. They literally look like hulk, piquing the viewers curiosity as to how this match up will unravel. But the episode brilliantly skips the tennis match, revealing the two hulks completely bruised up from Fiona’s tennis hits. This scene’s pacing is unexpected, which adds to the comedic timing.

Once again, Spy x Family knows this is ridiculous, and just curves into making it as ridiculous as possible. Nightfall practically ballerina dances around the tennis court, with one real objective in mind: becoming Loid’s “duo partner for life.”

As the two go undercover, Yor’s jealousy seeps in. Her logical reason for being insecure is that she’ll be thrown away, and her own cover will therefore be in danger. But the viewers and Anya both know there’s a deeper thought behind this, and fans can’t help but empathize with Yor’s worries.

Twilight and Nightfall are drugged during the final match

Just as the subheading states, the two are drugged prior to the final match. This results in an actual close matchup. The two they face off against are the main arc’s children, who sport modified tennis rackets that are, once again, very ridiculous.

One of them has a racket with rockets which boost its strength, and the other extends like a whip to allow her to hit out otherwise unreachable balls. Anyone watching knows that this would be impossible, but at this point in the episode the impossible is to be expected.

Before the match concludes, the episode ends with a cliffhanger, with Fiona, also known as Nightfall, stating “SUKI” which, roughly means like or love in Japanese. The comedic timing on this, once again, is brilliant.

Want more Spy x Family part 2 reviews? Check out our other episodic reviews below:

Episode 13 | Episode 14 | Episode 15 | Episode 16 | Episode 17 l Episode 18 l Episode 19 l Episode 20 l Episode 21 l Episode 22 l Episode 23 l Episode 24 l Episode 25