The Grand Unifying Theory of the 'Forger Family Teacups (TM)'
(The title is a joke. But yes, this will be a long post about cups.)
I often talk about how food is the language of love... in which case, tea and coffee and hot cocoa - and maybe some biscuits and chocolates to go with that - must be the soft melodic notes that go with all that poetry 😊
The Forger Family Teacups are used throughout the series - much more so in the anime than in the manga - as a symbol of the Forgers' domestic bliss. It is warmth, it keeps them going (although Twilight really needs to cut down on the caffeine), it is a shared moment of rest and love at the end of a long day. It is family.
It also sets up a nice contrast to Twilight and Yor's life from before. In the first episode, we see him holding a paper cup filled with some dark brew as he leaves one place to head to another - such is the life of a spy. The cup, like all his lives and identities before, is disposable.
And even when Twilight does get a proper mug at the first Forger residence later... it is a plain white cup, and it sits alone on the coffee table. It does not scream domesticity. More like 'another day at the office'. Which it is, for him.
Then, there's Yor. We are introduced to her in the series as she is making coffee - it seems to be one of her jobs at city hall. But the white serveware and fancy contraptions make coffee for other people. The setting, the sterile color palette, the way Yor's detached reflection shows up on the pot of coffee... this is not home.
We see the Forger Family Teacups finally in Episode 3, when Yor moves into 128 Park Avenue and becomes Anya's mama. All three mugs hold slightly different things - Anya's cocoa, Yor's coffee with milk, and Loid's black coffee - but they are all sitting together, with a plate of food made lovingly by Twilight between them. The three of them may not think of themselves as a unit yet, but the tea cups and cookies don't like - this is the start of the Forger Family.
Notably, we return to a scene like this at the end of the episode. Just as Twilight laments that the operation is hopeless, in walks Yor with their family mugs, full of sweetness and comfort, quite literally. (Yes, this shot has to be deliberate.)
We get to admire the scene of domesticity - Yor smiles watching Anya enjoying her cup of hot cocoa. And Twilight gets to admire it too... and that's when the now-familiar 'teacups' music with the soft piano playing comes in. Because yes - they looked like a wonderful family to the old lady they helped earlier in the day... but they look even more like a wonderful family at home, basking in each other's warmth, sharing tea and cocoa.
We continue to see the Forger Family Teacups through the series, usually when the anime wants to highlight the theme of familial love.
In Episode 4, Yor brings out the tea tray as Twilight worries he's doomed Operation Strix. (Yor providing comfort to her husband - often with tea and coffee - when his brain goes brrrrr is a recurring thing in this series, by the way.) And we see the cups and saucers together... closer than where they were in Episode 3.
In Episode 7, Yor and Twilight talk about parenting and their partnership over their Forger Family Teacups as they wait for Anya to stop sulking over being made to study.
Notably, we get the 'teacups' music theme again, but also, Twilight has an emotional epiphany over his cup of coffee. Being Loid Forger, one cup in a set, has led him to the realization that he owes it to his daughter to be an ideal father. Him, not being Anya's real father? Well, the cup says otherwise. And he knows it too.
The last time we see the teacups prominently in the manga (again, they appear in nearly every episode, just look for them) is in Episode 8 and 9, with Yuri's visit and its aftermath.
Here, the Forger Family Teacups (TM) signify who is family, who is not. As I've pointed out before, Loid is seen wiping clean the good china for guests before Yuri's arrival in the manga and in the anime. It is, as you can see, not the same shape or pattern as the everyday mugs Yor, Anya and Loid use.
Except - and I only just noticed this - Yor actually took out a Forger Family cup first. Look at it. Shape and pattern match. Which makes sense! Yuri's family to Yor Briar, even if he's a weird little dude. But as a Forger... that's different. And Twilight's really not going to let Yuri be part of the Forgers, just yet. He does not get a Family Teacup. This is an anime-only detail. They just hate Yuri that much more. 😂
And just in case we've not entirely got it, the anime also gives us this shot - Yor, Anya and Loid's cups sitting side by side as they have a very serious discussion about how to come up with a coherent lie to sell to Yuri. It is a family discussion. About someone who is not family.
At the end of Episode 9, after the excitement that was Twilight planting a listening device on his wife, him realizing his wife is actually loyal and great, him hating himself for doing all of this, him telling her he's sick of pretending, and her declaring she's thankful she married him - phew, a lot happened in that episode! - husband and wife return home, cake in hand to celebrate their fake anniversary. Whatever crisis Twilight and Yor had imagined that could wreck their marriage and their family - well, those doubts are dead and buried, for now anyway.
The Forger Family Teacups ends the episode. Unlike in prior episodes, they have done away with the formality of saucers. Unlike in prior episodes, they are now sitting right next to each other. They are full, they are warm, they are bitter, they are sweet, they give Twilight stomach aches... They are Forger. 😊
PS. The second cour's ED 'Color' understands guests at the Forger residence are only allowed to use guest cups, not the Forger set. They get it. *nods approvingly*
PPS. Yuri eventually gets his Forger Family Teacup in the manga. Because even Twilight begrudgingly admits that the weird little dude is family. The fact that Yuri annoys Twilight but he can't do anything about it because his wife loves her brother, and Loid loves his wife is... Very Family.
PPPS. When Becky comes round to visit, Yor goes all out and uses a super special fancy tea set for the whole family, because Becky is super special and fancy 🙂 This is very cute, especially when you realize...
PPPPS. Yor very pointedly gave Nightfall a guest mug, even as the whole family used their Forger Family Teacups. As we saw with how Yor treated Becky, she could have actually done otherwise. But no, even before she knew how she felt, Yor decided to get territorial via tea cups and show Fiona that the Forgers are A Family, and she's not welcome, thank you very much.
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