Anime Review: Spy X Family
In an alternate Earth’s 1960s, an uneasy peace exists between the nations of Westalis and Ostania. There are those who have forgotten the horrors of war or even welcome them, and are working to break out of this “cold war” situation. The Westalian spy organization WISE works against those in Ostania who would bring about war again. Their top operative is Twilight, a master of disguise who has deliberately discarded his birth name to become whoever WISE needs him to be. But his newest assignment is perhaps the most difficult, as Twilight must become husband and father Loid Forger!
For convoluted reasons, Loid has to enroll a child in a prestigious private school. Checking out a poorly run orphanage that will allow him to bypass most of the paperwork, Twilight finds enthusiastic orphan Anya, who seems to have all the qualifications. What neither the orphanage’s negligent manager nor Twilight know is that Anya is a telepath, apparently made that way by the secret government lab she escaped from. She can read Twilight’s thoughts, and decides having a spy for a father would be cool.
But Loid Forger also needs a wife for the school interview. By chance he runs into office worker Yor Briar, who is socially awkward and is still unmarried in her late twenties. The Ostanian secret police are suspicious of unmarried women, so Yor needs a husband or at least a boyfriend so no one will dig into her past and realize that she’s actually the government assassin Thorn Princess. Anya decides that having an assassin mom would be awesome, and manipulates the adults into meeting cute. A bit of shenanigans later, Yor is Mrs. Forger, at least on paper.
Anya gets into the school, barely. (Telepathy doesn’t actually make you any smarter.) Getting enough Stella Stars (achievement awards) to become an Imperial Scholar is…unlikely, but maybe she can befriend the scion of Twilight’s target, Damien Donovan. Uh, no, he takes an instant dislike to her (or he thinks it’s dislike–his six-year-old emotions are confused.) How will the Forger family ever bring about world peace?
This spy drama/family comedy was pretty much an instant hit in manga form, so it’s not too surprising that it got an anime adaptation, of which I’ve seen the first series.
One of the series’ running conflicts is that every member of the family is keeping secrets from the others, and they are a fake family (“forgers” if you will.) And yet their feelings towards each other are becoming very real. Anya loves her Mama and Papa, they both love her, and the officially married couple loves each other (even as they’ve never even actually kissed!) A particular reoccurring event is Loid or Yor fearing that they’re not fulfilling their role correctly. (Real world married couples and parents will identify.)
There’s also enjoyable supporting characters, like Ostian informer Frankie, who is the closest thing Twilight has to a friend, Anya’s teacher who is obsessed with elegance, and Becky Rockbell, Anya’s new best friend, who watches way too much romance on television. Yuri Briar, Yor’s little brother, is not as enjoyable. He’s in the secret police, and is overly protective of his sister in an unpleasant way.
As mentioned, this is an alternate history, so Ostania with its capital of Berlint is not precisely East Germany. The aesthetics are primarily the 1960s but there are various anachronisms. Ostania looks pretty prosperous and there’s a considerable amount of surface freedom, but the scars of war still lurk in the background. (No one’s coming for the other kids in Anya’s orphanage, and everyone with any brains fears the secret police.) This gives depth beyond the surface shenanigans.
This animated adaptation is very good. Some of the comedic timing from the manga is missing, but it’s made up for by the movement visuals and expansion of some scenes that didn’t get full treatment on paper. The music is also fun.
Content notes: Both Twilight and Thorn Princess kill people. Sometimes it’s bloody. Yuri tortures a man.
The season ends just before the introduction of the fourth member of the Forger family, which promises to make the second season start with a bang.
Strongly recommended to people who enjoy spy comedy and family comedy.
