Episode 13


 * This article is about the anime episode titled PROJECT APPLE. For information on the project itself, see Project Apple.

PROJECT APPLE (MISSION: 13　プロジェクト〈アップル〉) is the thirteenth episode of the SPY x FAMILY TV anime series and the first episode of the second cour.

Synopsis
The Forgers go look for a dog for Anya's reward for getting a Stella. In the middle of their outing, Loid ends up having to work a mission to stop a terrorist bombing attack planned against Westalis's foreign minister. Meanwhile, Anya is trying to pick out a dog, but then sees a vision of her family when she randomly reads the mind of a giant, mysterious, white dog. Anya becomes curious and chases after the dog, but she ends up accidentally wandering into the hideout of the terrorists!

Summary
A group of men hauls dog cages one by one into a van before a man shuts the door and prepares to flee.

Soon afterward, the arrival of Minister Brantz of Westalis in Ostania, for the purpose of arranging a summit between the two countries, is broadcasted on the news.

The Forger family eats breakfast, and Anya is in a hurry to finish, encouraging Loid and Yor to hurry as well. Later on, the three walks to Kemono Park, a local pet shop, to find Anya a dog as a reward for earning a Stella Star in school.

Loid wants a guard dog for security, but Anya disapproves of the ones she views and says they look scary and tough. The shopkeeper suggests dropping by the adoption center for an ongoing pet adoption event, but a WISE contact appears to hand over a new mission. Loid pretends to have stomach problems and excuses himself while Yor and Anya go on ahead to the adoption center.

On the way to the WISE headquarters, Loid learns that there exists an assassination ploy on Minister Brantz that had been organized by a contingent of students from Berlint University. WISE managed to detain one of them, but Kris, the detainee, would not respond to the interrogation. Moments later, at the WISE headquarters, Sylvia Sherwood informs him that WISE has successfully caught their leader, Keith Kepler, and that he is no longer of any use to them. Meeting each other in the hallway, Keith frames Kris as the leader of the plan, urging Kris to eventually divulge the whereabouts of his comrades. While under interrogation, it is revealed that Loid was disguised as Keith all along.

Apart from their hideouts, Kris informs WISE that they plan to assassinate Minister Brantz by strapping explosives to dogs and commencing the operation while the minister is on the move. Sylvia orders this information to be subtly leaked to avoid unnecessary trouble.

While out in public, two men who are part of the assassination plan hold two dogs in leashes. Suddenly, the white dog runs away to save a young boy from getting hit by a falling sign down the street. At the adoption center, Anya and Yor look around in wonder at the pets. Yor tells Anya not to leave the dog area and asks an employee for advice on what breed to adopt. Meanwhile, Anya meets eyes with the white dog from earlier and momentarily sees a vision of her, Loid, and Yor from the dog's point of view. The dog, alongside the two men, disappears inside a building across from the adoption center. Anya imagines telling Yor about the vision she saw and decides to merely follow the dog on her own after concluding that Yor would not understand her.

Anya sneaks inside a building alone and enters a room where she finds four dogs in leashes. She attempts to talk to the white dog but immediately retracts once she hears a conversation in a room next door.

Inside the room, Keith and his comrades discuss the assassination plan. He hopes that Minister Brantz's assassination will instigate a war between the two countries and bring back Ostania's dominion and glory over Westalis. Anya listens in just behind the door but gets caught by one of Keith's subordinates, Kurt. As her presence is made known, Keith comes forward to kill her, but she gets saved by the white dog interrupting the scene.

Back at the adoption center, Yor wanders around in worry after realizing that Anya has disappeared. After concluding that she is no longer in the building, she speculates that Anya had either been eaten by a dog or abducted and forced into marriage.

WISE has raided two of the locations, which Kris claimed to be their hideouts, but were left empty-handed. Loid finds a lead through a car rental that used one of Keith's comrades' names and forwards this intel to Sylvia. At the same time, Sylvia informs him about Project Apple, a long-abandoned experiment held by Ostania to artificially breed animals with high intellect for military gain, and its possible connection to Keith's acquisition of the dogs that will be used in Minister Brantz' assassination.

Back at the warehouse, the dog passes another vision to Anya about Keith and company getting distracted by an incoming telephone call. As the telephone rings, Anya is dragged away by the dog, and they escape the building together. Before realizing that Anya and the dog have fled the scene, the group is informed that two of their hideouts were recently raided. They then chase after Anya, who rides the dog on her way out of the building. As they escape, Anya realizes that the dog can predict the future and has special abilities like hers. Yor hears Anya's voice and goes after her.

While Keith and his subordinates plan to evacuate the hideout, Keith orders Kurt to rent another dog in replacement for the escapee. Anya orders the dog to head for the police station, but they run into Keith and Kurt after going around in circles. They are cornered, and Kurt is ordered to kill Anya, but Yor arrives just in time to rescue her. Under the assumption that Anya was abducted with the intention of entering a forced marriage, Yor prepares to get revenge on Keith.

Anime Notes

 * This episode features a brief scene of the Forgers having breakfast before heading to the pet shop, which was not present in the manga.
 * The plane that Minister Brantz steps out of bears resemblance to the Konrad Adenaeur aircraft that is used by the German government for official travel and diplomatic business.
 * In addition, the plane also says "BUND" on its side. Bund in German means federal or federation, implying that Westalis is a Federal Republic like its real-world counterpart West Germany.
 * In the episode, the list of animals involved in the experiments is expanded (in addition to sheep, horned owls, dogs, eagles, dolphins, turtles and apes shown in the manga, crows and pigs were also test subjects).
 * The eagle and ape are clearly visible in the anime, but the turtle file has been replaced with the pig file.