Tatsuya Endo’s Spy x Family is already known for taking inspiration from historical events. The overarching plot of imminent war between two countries can many events to mind, but Endo gets more specific. Berlint, the city in which the story takes place, is reminiscent of Berlin, and the many historical implications of that time period. Meanwhile, the existence of government spies and secret police may seem like conspiracy theories, but these organizations are confirmed to have existed during the Cold War. There’s so much information on the topic, in fact, that Endo is able to sample the tales of real spies to make Loid’s escapades as realistic as possible.
Now that Spy x Family’s second cour is ongoing, another major character is potentially tied to a real, dark part of history. The first two episodes have focused on Bond, a gentle giant of a dog who can see the future and communicate these visions to Anya. Before meeting her, however, Bond’s only value was as a trained bomb dog. He and the other dogs in the antagonist’s possession were to be used in a terrorist attack to initiate the looming war. Sadly, animals trained in this matter are not a mere fictional idea.
Bond’s Historical Relevancy as a Bomb Dog
Dogs being used in wartimes is far from a new concept. They’ve been used to send messages between soldiers, guard camps, and even transport food and medical supplies. Their heightened senses have also led to dogs being trained to detect dangerous chemicals and other substances before they become life-threatening. To this day, dogs are used on the front lines of battles and disasters because of what they alone can provide. Their loyalty and drive to please their human partners can be used to save lives.
This is evident in Bond’s behavior from the moment he and Anya first met. He was already aware of her from his visions of the Forger family. In Episode 13, when Anya’s in trouble, he does everything he can to shield her. Even when he gets scared, he stays beside her, perhaps knowing the terrorists won’t risk harming him, and effectively turning himself into a shield.
Spy x Family’s References To World War II
However, like anything else that can become a weapon, dogs are not only trained to do good. For decades, anti-tank dogs were utilized on battlefields. Most prominently used by the Soviet Union during World War II, these dogs were trained to run up to tanks with bombs strapped to them, pull a cord attached to it once there, and run away before the bomb detonated. Not satisfied with the results of this idea, Soviets changed the plan to have the dogs run under the tanks and then have the bombs detonate, killing the animal but hopefully disabling the enemy. This was also considered a failure and the Soviets abandoned the project after one year of testing. However, other countries like the United States and Japan have attempted similar ideas to no avail.
Pieces of this history are in Episodes 13 and 14 of Spy x Family. Government trained dogs are established as a fact when Loid attempts to get a pet trained by WISE, but the details in the terrorist group’s plan are more powerful. For starters, most of the dogs in their possession are German Shepherds, a preferred breed of many police and military factions. Their plan is to strap bombs to the dogs and let them ambush their target, just like how the Soviets used them with tanks. The only difference is, while WWII was already ongoing, the terrorists in Spy x Family want to use this incident to start a war.
There is more to Bond than being a trained bomb dog, however, it’s likely that he’s an experiment from Project Apple, a secret government scheme to produce highly intelligent animals for use in war. When the project fell apart, though, he wound up in the hands of terrorists. With this information, his story is more complex than simply being a bomb dog. That said, the parallels between his story and the shocking tale of the anti-tank dogs are too close to deny.
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