WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Spy x Family Chapter 61 by Tatsuya Endo, Casey Loe and Rina Mapa, available in English now via Viz Media.
Spy x Family's best girl returns with her usual adorable shenanigans as Chapter 61 puts Anya right back in Eden Academy with the rest of the kids. Although she hasn't had the best of luck with attaining Stella Stars -- Anya isn't exactly the brightest crayon in the box -- she has gotten closer to Loid's target's son Damian. The downside is that Anya has gotten herself closer to getting expelled from Eden Academy with the introduction of a terrifying new teacher -- who's a lot like Harry Potter's Professor Umbridge.
It was never her intention but in helping Damian (for the sake of her father), Anya has acquired Damian's affections even though he'd be the first to staunchly deny it. Anya is perhaps one of the few people who doesn't worship the ground he walks on and has treated Damian like a regular kid. It's little wonder that Damian developed a crush on her.
Eden Academy is known for being the most prestigious school in Ostania, where most of the student population is comprised of the rich and famous. But having celebrity parents isn't enough -- even getting admitted is a task of its own. Anya only got in by the skin of her teeth despite being the opposite of everything Eden prizes: elegance and high intelligence. Although she got her first Stella Star by saving a boy's life -- almost dying in the process -- Anya is still not safe from the scrutiny of the teachers at Eden.
In fact, with a particular teacher returning to Eden, none of the students are safe. The history teacher, Henderson, was absolutely nothing compared to Madam Schlag, who is from the disciplinary committee and takes rule-breaking and discipline very seriously. She's such a big deal that lightning accompanied her when she first made her appearance in Spy x Family.
Schlag doles out bolts on misbehaving students like a villain executing some kind of ultimate move with her "Tonitrus Strikes." She's even called Old Lady Tonitrus because over 100 students were expelled just by her alone, leaving a pile of student bodies lying in her wake. And she gets the greatest joy out of watching students quake in fear and punishing them. In other words, she's very much Spy x Family's version of the terrifying Professor Umbridge.
As luck would have it, Schlag took the opportunity to conduct a bag inspection. Any student who had a misdemeanor of any sort, no matter how inconsequential, would get their forehead slapped with a Tonitrus Bolt. Damian was all prepared for the bag inspection except for one overlooked detail: his handkerchief. The pressure he feels is enormous. Because his father is Donovan Desmond, any mistake Damian makes will be reflected on Donovan and he craves his father's approval. The little progress he's made in getting closer to the man will be all for naught.
Luckily Anya swooped in and came to his rescue, handing Damian her own handkerchief. She wasn't doing this because she liked Damian but because she knew Loid's Plan B would be in danger if she didn't. It's an interesting contrast that's being made between the two children. Both Anya and Damian want to make their respective fathers proud but they both end up somewhat disappointing them.
Damian lives in fear of and love for his father. He has to be absolutely perfect, even when his father isn't there. Every error he makes is a devastating hit to the boy's self-esteem. But for Anya, perhaps by virtue of her simpleness but also because of her relationship with her father, her mistakes are accepted with an endearing exasperation. Spy x Family readers don't get the same sense of foreboding as when Damian makes a mistake. Although Anya and Loid's father-daughter relationship is much healthier in comparison to Damian and Desmond's, Loid's health may be in peril after seeing Anya's Tonitrus Bolt that she received when she sacrificed herself for Damian.
