Episode 12

PENGUIN PARK (MISSION: 12　ペンギンパーク) is the twelfth episode of the SPY x FAMILY TV anime series and the final episode of the first cour.

Synopsis
Loid is burdened with one mission after another from WISE and comes home exhausted. He then hears neighbors gossiping that he's neglecting his family. Because he can't let anyone doubt them as a family for the sake of Operation Strix, he decides to take his family to the aquarium the next day they have off to show everyone that they get along. However, he is assigned another mission from WISE while he's there, and...

Summary
Loid visits a subway store and purchases a drink. The woman working there is a WISE contact, who gives him another mission. As Loid leaves, the woman wonders if a day would come where they will not be needed anymore.

Loid completes his new assignment and meets with a man from WISE, who thanks him for completing the mission so quickly. The man asks him how is Operation Strix going, and Loid explains it is going smoothly and he has secured a wife and a child. While smoking, Loid coughs, making the man wonder if he quit smoking, and Loid confirms since he now has a child.

Back at the Forger's home, Yor comments that Loid said he would be late and suggest they eat out tonight, and Anya agrees. Yor thinks to herself that doctors are busy. Anya, who reads Yor's mind, knows that Loid is not a doctor but a spy, and he went to take out an arms dealer. While Yor washes the dishes, she can still smell the blood on her hands from yesterday's kill, scaring Anya.

Loid heads home, exhausted at getting side missions even though he is busy with Operation Strix, meaning that HQ has a personnel shortage. Entering the apartment building, Loid overhears the neighborhood ladies gossiping about why he always arrives home late. They suspect he is cheating or got fired and cannot admit it to his wife. Not wanting to attain more suspicion around them and compromise the mission, Loid returns home and announces they will go on a family outing next weekend. He sees Anya's drawing of a penguin and suggests they go to the aquarium. Yor sees he is tired, and she suggests that he rests a bit, but Loid explains that for their pretend family to continue, they must do what normal, happy families do.

The weekend comes, but Loid has been working hard to complete his extra missions and has grown quite tired. They run into their neighbors on their way out, and Loid explains they are going to the aquarium. When they get to the subways, Loid notices there is a mission waiting for him. Loid decides to buy some drink and tells the woman working there that he cannot take on the mission. She tries to explain that it is directly from WISE HQ, but Loid is adamant, stating he is on an important mission for Operation Strix. As the woman overhears Anya mentioning the aquarium, she tells Loid that his mission location is there. Loid still attempts to decline it, but the woman explains the mission details and the risks of not accepting it. Having no choice, Loid ends up taking the mission.

At the aquarium, Anya is excited to see all the animals. Loid is glad that he at least showed his neighbors that they are a good family and can focus more on the new mission, but they encounter one of their neighbors at the aquarium. Yor suggests they all go together, indirectly making Loid’s mission even harder. Loid recalls that the intel was smuggled by a capsule inside a penguin and says they should go and see the penguins first. The penguin exhibit holds 200 penguins, and Loid wonders which one is his target. As he cannot check each of them or wait and see if someone will try obtaining the capsule, Loid wonders if there is some way to find the right penguin. Seeing that Loid is troubled, Anya decides to try and read the minds of all the penguins. She manages to focus on a penguin who is having a hard time swallowing. She points it out to Loid, who then suspects it could be the one he needs. Loid excuses himself to buy some drinks and goes to disguise himself as a newbie staff member to get close to the penguins.

The senior staff member takes Loid to the penguins to show him how to feed them. When asked if he learned their names, Loid states he glanced at the list but gets scolded as it takes a lot of time to learn all 200 names and be able to recognize them. However, Loid quickly recognizes the penguins around them, which surprises the senior staff, as even he still has trouble doing so. Loid spots Parles, his target penguin, but gets quickly surrounded by the other penguins who wish to eat. The senior staff wants to show Loid what each penguin species eat and how to feed them, but not having time for that, Loid says he wants to do it himself and recalls what veteran aquarists have done before. After figuring out the calculations in his head, Loid easily controls the penguins and feeds them, opening his path to Parles. He picks up Parles, pointing out how he looks unwell and decides to take him to the treatment room. The senior staff is shocked at Loid's skill.

Taking Parles elsewhere, Loid notices something stuck in his throat. He also spots a red dot on the penguin's left foot. A man approaches Loid to take the penguin, claiming to be a professor from Berlint University's marine biology research lab, and shows Loid his I.D. Upon further inspection, Loid exposes it as a fake. The man is surprised and takes out a gun, but Loid quickly disarms him with a bucket. The man flees, but Loid states his priority is to take the capsule, and as he does not know how many enemies are there, he must give up on chasing him. Having secretly followed him, Anya observes Loid and decides to chase after the man. The terrorist plans to go outside and inform his comrades so they can kill Loid. To his surprise, Anya grabs him by his jacket hem and yells to a nearby Yor that she is being kidnapped. Yor rushes in and kicks the man into the ceiling, knocking him out. Loid's mission is a success, obtaining both the intel and information from the captured man and his organization.

As Loid has not returned yet, the neighbors gossip and tell Yor that he is probably cheating. Loid then shows up with a large stuffed penguin, which he explains was the prize from a penguin name-guessing challenge, and he played it over and over until he managed to get the toy for Anya (although Anya knows that he got it in one try), improving the neighborhood ladies' impression of him. Loid wants to complain to HQ for overworking him and to request a vacation, but seeing Anya's smile reminds him that he cannot sit idly by if he wants a world without war, where children do not cry. Meanwhile, the newbie that Loid disguised as wakes up to learn he is getting promoted to Chief as the senior staff member says he has nothing else to teach him.

At home, Anya introduces her penguin plush to "Director Chimera," the boss of her secret organization "P2." After inaugurating "Penguinman" into their agency, Anya shows Penguinman around the hideout. As Anya tours the hideout, she also introduces Penguinman to Agent Papa, who can do anything, and Agent Mama, who is strong but fails at everything else. She then goes to the most secret spot in the hideout: Loid and Yor's rooms. Anya attempts to enter Loid's room, but he captures and scolds her since he told her not to enter his room without permission. Anya starts to cry, saying she hates both Loid and Yor and will run from home. Worried about Operation Strix, Loid picks up Penguinman and pretends to be him, saying they should wrap up the tour and head out for their next mission. Yor also picks up a robot and supports Loid. Anya stops crying and tells them to follow her as bad guys have taken over the candy store on 2nd street, where they continue their spy play, to her parents' embarrassment. Anya's mood is improved after she gets peanuts, restoring peace in the Forger household.

Anime Notes

 * The cold open introducing the Subway Lady is exclusive to the anime.
 * During the previous episodes, Anya's door sign shows "ANIA" as its spelling. It was changed into "ANYA" as shown from this episode.
 * Madhouse Inc. participated in the production of this episode.
 * The peanuts bag Anya is holding at the end of this episode is named "Mazekoze Nuts", which, if one translates the Romaji half into English, gives the name of the anime's opening theme song - "Mixed Nuts." The bag itself is a reference to the cover of the song. The mascot character on the bag (who resembles the toy from the bonus comic in Volume 1) also makes a reference to Official Hige Dandism, the band that performed the song.
 * This is first episode that adapts the extra chapters.
 * Due to being the final episode of the first cour, this is the last time the original intro and outro are used.