Spy x Family

Series Overview

Spy x Family (same name in Japanese) is an action-comedy series about a spy and his family. We don’t know this spy’s real name. But, for his current assignment, he’s going by Loid Forger. His mission is to get married, have a kid, enroll that kid in a prestigious school, and use that to get close to his target.

Oh, and Loid only has a few weeks or months to get all this done. So, of course, that means his mission is impossible. But, just because his mission is impossible doesn’t mean he can’t accomplish it.

First, Loid adopts a child who seems to be smart enough to get into the prestigious Eden College. Next, he marries some random woman he meets in a tailor shop. And finally, he finds out that having a family — even a pretend one — is going to be the hardest mission of his life.

Spy x Family is one of the best anime of the season. It was also one of the most anticipated anime of the season, if not the entire year. So, yes, it’s a good anime and you should watch it. But, after watching the whole first season, I do think it’s a bit overrated.

Most of the episodes are good. There were one or two I didn’t like all that much. But, I was definitely bought into the hype surrounding the series while watching it. Now that I’ve had a chance to reflect on it as a whole, I’ve lowered my score.

And, the main reason for this is that I don’t feel that this series did anything exceptionally well. It’s a good, solid anime. There are anime that do everything Spy x Family does, but better. Kaguya-sama Season 3 is one example from this same season.

The Forgers

Loid Forger, code name: Twilight, is a spy with the organization WISE from the country of Westalis. His mission is to infiltrate the inner circle of Ostanian politician Donovan Desmond. Loid is a master of disguise and something of a rockstar among WISE’s agents.

Anya Forger is Loid’s adopted daughter. Like her father, she too has a secret. Anya is actually an esper who can read the minds of those around her. Because of this, she’s aware that Loid is a spy — something she finds exciting since her favorite anime is about a spy.

Yor Forger, formerly Yor Briar, is Loid’s wife and Anya’s adoptive mother. Her secret is that she’s actually an assassin, though we don’t yet know whom she’s an assassin for. As an assassin, she goes by the name Thorn Princess, referencing the signature spikes she uses to kill.

While not a Forger, Yuri Briar is Yor’s younger brother, and therefore a part of the family. If you guessed that he has a secret as well, you’d be right. Yuri works for the secret police of Ostania. Specifically, his job is to track down and arrest spies from Westalis.

So, the dynamic between the various members of the Forger family is pretty good. They all keep their various secrets from each other. But, some of them have others figured out. For example, Anya knows her parents are a spy and an assassin respectively. And Loid doesn’t take much time to figure out Yuri’s secret.

I’m assuming that at some point more of their secrets will come out. But, I’m also afraid that could mess with the dynamic they currently have. Would the series have its same charm if they were no longer keeping secrets from each other?

What I Want from Part 2

A second season of Spy x Family is in the works. It’s currently called “Part 2,” but it’s a second season. And there are a few things I’d like to see from this second season that we didn’t get from the first.

The main thing I want is more Yor content. There is Yor content in this season of the anime. There were entire episodes dedicated to her. But, of the three Forgers, she’s the one with the least content by far in the first season. Most of the time, Yor isn’t much more than a background character.

We see a lot of Loid since he’s the first of the main characters we meet. He goes on various missions aside from having a fake family. And we get to follow along with some of these missions. Often, they’re intertwined with the main story.

Likewise, we see a lot of Anya. She’s the big draw of the series since she’s cute and funny, so of course, she needs a lot of screen time. And she gets plenty of this screen time while she’s at school when Yor isn’t around (Loid sometimes is).

Yor doesn’t get much in the way of her own content. We sometimes see her at her fake job working for the government. But aside from that, she’s playing the role of the wife. We don’t get to see her going on assassination assignments like Loid with his missions.

The other big thing I’d like to see is more of Yuri. He’s definitely not my favorite character. But, he and Loid are opposites by nature due to their jobs (and relationships with Yor). So, having them interact more could be interesting. Also, Anya never got to meet Uncle Yuri.

Conclusion

In the end, I gave Spy x Family a 7/10. Originally, I had it at an 8. But, after looking back at the season as a whole, I can’t give it a rating that high. While I’m looking forward to this series continuing, it’s not one I would ever rewatch.

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My review of Part 2 is available now.