MISC. MANGA, *Spy x Family

Being the basis for the hit anime TV series, Spy x Family was written and drawn by Tatsuya Endo who had previously created Blade Of The Moon Princess based on the legendary Tale Of The Bamboo Cutter. His next title was a one-shot titled I Spy which was not as deep in Japanese folklore, and this led into expanding the idea by turning it into an action sitcom. Spy x Family has a man, a woman, and a little girl all pretending to be a family to complete a secret mission, and while this is the main goal of the series, the thing that got fans hooked was the chemistry between the main characters. Endo illustrates this with some swinging action and sincere but stern facial expressions as each of them deal with their own personal conflicts and motivations.

The bordering nations of Ostania and Westalis are constantly at odds, and the secret agent Loid Forger known as Twilight is given a special assignment to investigate the enigmatic chairman of a government party who only makes appearances at the private school of Eden Academy where his son goes to. The only way to get close to his target is for Loid to put together his own family within the span of a week to get his new foster child admitted into Eden, so he first gets the darling little Anya from a local orphanage. What Loid doesn't know is that his adopted daughter is actually telepathic as the result of a science experiment that she managed to get free of, and she knows that Loid is really a spy from reading his mind, so she sets out to help him in his endeavor. To fill the role of the mother, Loid happens to come across the lovely Yor who has a job at City Hall but is really a highly trained assassin codenamed Thorn Princess that agrees to pretend to be Loid's wife when the academy enrollment tests begin. From this point on, Loid and Yor are totally unaware of the other's background, even though Anya knows all about them and strives to keep her new family together no matter the social or domestic struggles they have to go through.

Spy x Family has gained more progress as an anime, especially with their first movie in 2023. The manga however should not be overlooked, even for otaku who mainly only sample the anime adaptations and don't bother with the original source material. Viz has done an exemplary job translating this series and if the TV series caught your eye, then give the manga a look as well. It's the right blend of action, comedy, and romance that people have been looking for in a mature series.