For Your Eyes Only: A Sneak Peek at SPY x FAMILY
The Forger Family
Espionage has always been some of the coolest works of fantasy around. From James Bond to the Kingsman series, some of the wildest action and most intriguing plots have come from spy media. Now, what would happen if you took these men and women of mystery… and forced them to settle down? That’s just the question Tatsuya Endo’s breakout manga Spy X Family poses and answers in its first volume.
I was first introduced to Spy X Family last year, when I spied some funny collections of fan translated pages of the manga on Tumblr. I was delighted with what I read, but I prefer to read from official sources. Thus I was thrilled and delighted to hear that VIZ Media had officially licensed it and had been publishing chapters online, and will soon be releasing the first volume in print here in America!
One of our friends at VIZ Media was even kind enough to provide us with an early digital copy of said volume so I could give it a look and after reading it, I can safely say that this story isn’t as simple as Tumblr made it out to be. That’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy Spy X Family, I absolutely adored it! The manga was simply far more complex than I had been led to believe.
Spy X Family focuses on a spy, codenamed Twilight. He is a reserved man, the victim of an as-of-yet unknown tragedy that spurred him toward a career that in his own words would “make a world where kids don’t need to cry”. Twilight is sent to the fictional country of Berlint (a clear parallel to East and West Berlin) to stop the leader of the National Unity Party, a man named Donovan Desmond, from inciting a civil war. Unfortunately, due to Desmond’s reclusive nature, the only way to get close to him is to find him at Eden Academy , where his son is currently studying. To accomplish his goal, Twilight assumes the identity of Loid Forger, and adopts a young girl named Anya.
Loid Forger
While Loid doesn’t let Anya in on his true profession, the girl has a secret of her own – she can read minds! The product of clandestine experiments by an as-yet-unknown organization, Anya possesses telepathy and as such, learns her new father’s real identity and intentions very quickly. She becomes enamored with the spy lifestyle thanks to cartoons on TV, and will do everything she can to impress Loid so that they can stay together as a family beyond his mission. The back and forth between Loid and Anya in the early chapters is sometimes hysterical, sometimes heartwarming and always engaging.
Yor Forger
But the story really shifts into gear when Loid is forced to find a wife to bring with him to the school interview. As luck would have it, he meets Yor Briar - a lovely, if somewhat socially dense woman that also happens to be an assassin by the name of Thorn Princess. All three members of this family have secrets that they keep from each other, and it’s fascinating to see how they work with each other to both conceal their own secrets but simultaneously grow closer and closer to each other. By the end of the first volume, you really feel like these three strangers have become something of a family, and that’s truly beautiful to see.
When I first picked this title up to read, I assumed it would be little more than slice of life fluff with a twist, much like Coolkyousinnjya’s Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid or Sanzo’s My Girlfriend is a T-Rex, but I was proven wrong in the very first chapter, which reads far closer to a typical spy plot – with Twilight assassinating a target, then being given his next assignment in Morse code on a train. But this is far from the only bit of action Spy X Family has to offer, from seeing Yor do her own bloody business to a high stakes rescue and even a car chase, there’s no shortage of drama in addition to comedy. At its best, Spy X Family’s action and comedy feed into each other. This makes for some stellar scenes like Loid proposing to Yor with a grenade’s pin as an engagement ring, or Yor using her lightning fast reflexes to avoid being embarrassed by a jealous housewife at a business party.
Anya Forger
Spy X Family is a very new manga, having only premiered in Shonen Jump on March 25th, 2019, but it’s certainly on my list of manga to look out for this year. The characters are fantastic, each one playing off of each other naturally and hilariously. The action is top notch, sure to keep you reading whether it’s against dangerous assassins or a runaway cow. As it stands now, this series is right up there with Delicious in Dungeon as one of my go-to manga recommendations for people looking to get into the medium. I can’t wait to hold the physical book in my hands, and to collect the rest of the series as it becomes available here in the States. Spy X Family Volume One will be available to purchase wherever good manga is sold starting June 2nd, 2020. You can also read ahead digitally on VIZ.com. This is one family affair I’ll be glad to be a part of for years to come.
DISCLAIMER: Region 99 was provided with an advance copy of Spy X Family: Volume One for review purposes thanks to our friends at VIZ Media.
All thoughts and opinions that follow are my own.
