The spring 2022 anime season is coming to a close, with many a surprise, both welcome and unwelcome.
Shield hero 2 proved that the promised neverland wasn’t the only show that could completely destroy
the legacy built by a great first season with a gut-wrenchingly miserable second season. But on
the other hand, kaguya sama’s third season rightfully took the throne at the number 1
spot on myanimelist- until the fullmetal alchemist resistance force have their say, that is, proving
that no incredible anime stands a chance against a good review bombing. and the highly anticipated
Spy X Family (yes, it is pronounced spy family, just like how hunter x hunter is pronounced,
well, like that) and the highly anticipated spy family reigns as not only one of the most highly
rated anime of the season, but it’s most popular, as well. It’s likely that not a single viewer here
has not seen the show yet, or at least felt the reverberations of its effects rippling across
social media. The numerous positive parts that were produced out of the show’s mass popularity,
incredible cosplays, fanarts, and the such, seemed to be all be cursed by the law of equivalent
exchange, as society’s deviants emerged from the descents of their delinquency to clamp their claws
upon poor Anya, the young girl and focus of much… misconduct… at the hands of the community, as was
unfortunately expected, to be fair. And if you have not yet witnessed any of this,
frankly, what are you doing? I mean this not to be demeaning, nor interrogative, but moreso
a genuine question on how you’ve managed to evade one of the past couple year’s most popular shows.
Yet, I suppose if you’ve stumbled upon this humble video, then you can no longer make that claim,
as today i will dive into, not only the origins of spy family, but how it’s managed to grasp
the love and admiration of so many souls within the anime and manga community in such
a short time. Come along with me, and if you haven’t: just watch spy family, already.
Tatsuya Endo, the creator of Spy X Family’s manga, began his journey as an assistant for
other rather reputable Shonen Jump manga, Blue Exorcist and Tatsuki Fujimoto’s Fire Punch.
Building on this strong foundation and his tutelage under quite successful artists,
upon undertaking his own career as a mangaka, his initial one-shots formed a surprisingly extensive
collection of more mature stories that stand in stark contrast to the comedic backdrop of
his latest, breakout work. Despite seeming polar opposites in tone or topic, after digging a little
deeper, his last 3 one shots before beginning Spy X Family, most notably, contain clear inspiration,
actually, for the series. Anya’s character design quite clearly originated in the main character of
Rengoku no Ashe, written to be a witch with pink hair and horn-shaped ornaments adorning her head.
Likewise, Endo claims that Ishi ni Usubeni, Tetsu ni Hoshi was the first work to inspire him to draw
a “small child character”, which was very far out of his comfort zone as a primarily seinen and dark
mangaka, making him attribute this work to the reason he was even able to write a young character
like Anya in the first place later on. His last work before spy x family, I Spy, is, well,
I’m sure you can tell the similarities here. Upon the suggestion of his editor, after combining the
best parts of these three one-shots and imbuing them with the comedic basis that was missing
from all of his previous works- something the editor believed could really turn around the
popularity of his writing- Endo created Spy X Family, a series whose initial reception among
the editorial department was supposedly so good that its serialization was practically decided
before any proposals or meetings were even extended. An auspicious foreboding for what
was to come: since debuting in 2019, spy x family has risen to critical acclaim and cemented its
place in shounen jump’s top 10 best selling manga in both years since- and it’s safe to say that Wit
Studio and CloverWork’s adaptation of its anime is following in the footsteps of that giant.
But now that I’ve finished that chapter of the lore, it raises the question of just what exactly
elevates it to that level. Looking once again at the best selling shounen jump manga of last year,
spy family is almost nothing alike its high rolling compatriots: shounen jump
has been experiencing a transition into darker series for the past couple, illustrated by the
frontrunner of the pack, jujutsu kaisen, and the rising popularity of work of his former mentor,
tatsuki fujimoto’s, huge cult hit, chainsaw man. Spy x family, a romantic, charming, and
endearing comedy stands alone as a black sheep. But perhaps that’s exactly why it’s so great.
Spy x Family revolves around a spy named Twilight, who must infiltrate into a foreign country,
find a prominent, yet secretive, politician, and gather intelligence on him in order to maintain
the safety of the entire world. However, the only public outings this politician attends
are at his son’s school- exclusive to society’s elite- forcing Twilight to enlist the help of a
young girl, Anya, and woman, Yor, to act as his pretend daughter and wife
in order to invade the politicians close circle through this school and complete his dire mission.
However, unbeknownst to Twilight, the seemingly tame civil servant Yor moonlights as an
underground assassin known as the Thorn Princess, and the strangely perceptive Anya happens to be an
esper who can actually read minds. And this three-pronged dynamic is the source of the
humor throughout Spy X Family, as Twilight, Yor, and Anya hide their identities from each other;
however, Anya actually knows from the start exactly what everyone is hiding by reading
their minds. Because of this, Anya is arguably the most fundamental factor that spy x family
hinges upon, restating the importance of the character that Tatsuya Endo has been crafting
throughout his works- purposefully or not- over the span of almost the last decade of his career.
Us viewers experience this family vicariously through Anya, as she is aware of other character’s
thoughts, plans, things that normally only we would have access to, forming the dramatic irony
of the story. She shares those feelings with us, except through the special lens of a child;
moreso than jokingly manipulative, it is endearing to watch her take advantage of her father’s need
to complete his mission and obligation to do anything for her to make sure she does well in
school. In moments of fear, her cries to her mom come across not as genuine panic for the viewer,
but rather joy in seeing her dependence on her mom who can and will annihilate anyone. The very
serious jobs of spy and assassin are twisted into the perspective of a 6 year old child;
we get to enjoy what Anya sees as a childlike fantasy rather than the objectively strange and
precarious situation that it really is. But interspersed among these moments of hilarity,
shine moments of real insight into the heart of family as well.
Though Twilight, Yor, and Anya are created to be very different characters, defined by their
rather extreme traits, they share one similarity: they are alone. Twilight lives a life of deception
and impermanence, moving from mission to mission and reminding himself to remain detached. Yor,
though she has a brother, is forced to live a life of secrecy and crime for the sake of both of their
wellbeing and maintain a facade on the outside so as to not be suspected for her double life.
And Anya, a child out of a decrepit orphanage and result of human experimentation,
has never had real family. Underneath the surface, the comedy masks the story of three lost souls
finding solace in one another. What initially begins as a strictly professional agreement,
slowly develops into a heartwarming realization of the comfort that genuine relationships can have
for any of us. So whether you’re watching spy x family for this, or the humor,
or for anya- you scoundrel- it is a great show, regardless.
As always…