Spy X Family Is Anime's Answer To The Family Sitcom, But With More Espionage And Assassins
(Welcome to Ani-time Ani-where, a regular column dedicated to helping the uninitiated understand and appreciate the world of anime.)
The family sitcom is a staple of American television, a genre that has drawn audiences for decades by poking fun at daily life and the perceived idea of the nuclear family. It's no wonder that the biggest American animated shows are sitcoms, like "The Simpsons," "Family Guy," and even "Rick and Morty."
I firmly believe that the easiest anime to recommend to people not already familiar with the medium are those that are in some way recognizable to them. Shows like "Attack on Titan" start out as a more messed up "The Walking Dead," and "Monster" essentially operates like an animated prestige TV drama. Also on that list is "Spy x Family" (like in "Hunter x Hunter" the x is silent), a show that embraces the absurdity that makes anime special and the incredible action and comedy that only animation can do, all within the confines of a family sitcom.
The premise is simple: Loid Forger (a fake name) is a master spy from the fictional country of Westalis, which is engaged in a cold war with rival country Ostania. In order to finish his most important mission yet, Loid has to get himself a wife and child, and then enroll that child into the most elite school in Ostania. There is only one problem, though. Loid is unaware that the child he adopted is a telepath, and the woman he is fake-marrying is actually a master assassin. Oh, and their dog can see the future.
From there, the show evolves into a hilarious sitcom full of all kinds of hijinks, fantastic action set pieces, and many, many memes. Shania Russell once described the anime as, "What if "The Americans" but wholesome?"
What makes it great
"Spy x Family" is a co-production between Wit Studio ("Ranking of Kings," "Attack on Titan") and CloverWorks ("Bocchi the Rock," "My Dress-Up Darling"). This is to say that this show looks stunning, and it makes for some really funny moments when the production makes the most ridiculously mundane moments look like blockbuster action productions. Take a simple dodgeball episode featuring a group of 6-year-olds (including one with a growth spurt that makes him look like a "JoJo" protagonist) that feels like a "Dragon Ball" fight.
"Spy x Family" balances several tones and genres effortlessly. The episodes are often action-packed — with either Loid or his wife Yor getting involved in deadly hijinks — but also have a big focus on quiet domesticity. It is the quick and seamless shift from one tone to the other that makes this show so funny. Watching Loid fight a group of bounty hunters feels important, but his child Anya not failing a simple math test is made to be just as important to the fate of two entire countries.
As mentioned, "Spy x Family" plays out like a sitcom. As with any good sitcom, the show is all about weird, varied, and funny situations. There's the more conventional, like Anya's troubles at school with the boy who bullies her (but secretly loves her). Then we get the espionage stories, like the season 2 premiere that sees Yor get shot in the glutes while doing her assassin job. What is already a painful situation turns worse when Loid mistakes her excruciating pain for a bad mood and decides to take her on a date. What follows is a hilarious series of escalating gags where Yor refuses to sit down (even at a movie theater!) while Loid agonizes over trying to please his fake wife.
The queen of anime has arrived
The secret ingredient of "Spy x Family" is the gem that is Anya "Waku Waku" Forger. This small child (says she's 6, but she's likely even younger) is the kind of scene-stealing child character that turns TV shows into cultural phenomena. Like Dewey in "Malcolm in the Middle" or the Olsen twins in "Full House," Anya just makes every scene better. What separates her from other sitcom children is Anya's position within the format of "Spy x Family." She is not just the child, she is the audience surrogate — and the only person who fully understands what is going on. Her telepathic abilities mean she knows both her parents lie about their job and she knows how dangerous their situation is.
And yet, she is extremely thrilled about having an assassin mom and a spy dad. After all, her favorite cartoon is a spy show, and all she wants is to help her dad with his spy mission. This results in some of the most meme-able reactions on TV.
A big part of the fun of the show is seeing Anya quietly helping her parents succeed by placing them in the right spot with some childish demand — often by accident. While she may know everything that is happening, she is still very much a toddler, and does not understand the information she possesses. This results in plenty of hilarious chaos because, again, Anya is a small and very, very clumsy child. In a show where every kid acts like a posh adult (which makes sense given the only ones we meet are well-connected kids attending a very prestigious private school), watching Anya being the only one who actually acts like a proper kid is delightful
What it adds to the conversation
Like any good sitcom, "Spy x Family" is as much about the characters as it is about the shenanigans they get into. Sure, it's fun to see Loid beat up some people or infiltrate a secret facility. What's funnier and more wholesome is seeing this cold spy go fight a bunch of fellow spies in an elaborate reenactment of Anya's favorite cartoon to celebrate her getting accepted into school.
Loid's story is slowly realizing that parenting is quite hard and that he kind of does care about his fake family. Meanwhile, Yor may be a great killer, but she is also extremely gullible and naive, and seeing her slowly (very slowly) overcome that as she realizes she actually wants to be a mother to Anya is cute as hell. Still, their jobs never end, and it is rather relatable how "Spy x Family" portrays the endless annoyance over your work bleeding into your personal life.
Though this is very much a comedy, it does imply rather dark and nuanced subjects. Take Loid and Yor's obliviousness. Despite both being extremely good at their jobs, both of them are completely ignorant of the other's secret — because they have no sense of what normal people are like. For Yor, this is due to her being forced to work as an assassin from an early age to support her brother. Meanwhile, Loid is an orphan who grew up in the middle of a war, and his becoming a spy was to create a world where children don't have to cry. The show doesn't really spend too much time on emotional stuff or on darker subjects — there are zero message-of-the-week or "very special episodes" here — but it is moments like these that make the story and characters more lived-in.
Why non-anime fans should check it out
If you're looking for a new anime to recommend to people unfamiliar with the medium, or a show to get yourself into it, "Spy x Family" is a great gateway anime. The show plays out just like any sitcom you might recognize, complete with a dysfunctional family and funny hijinks. But this anime shines due to its embracing of anime's heightened reality, the blending of the mundane with the extraordinary, and one of the best sitcom characters ever.
And like any traditional sitcom, the episodes are — for the most part — standalone, making it easier to rewatch any one episode without feeling lost since the general story doesn't change. Will Loid and Yor ever find out the truth? Who knows, but it is a delightful ride so far.
Watch This If You Like: "Malcolm in the Middle," "The Americans," "The Simpsons."
"Spy x Family" is streaming on Crunchyroll.