Anime RE-Claimed: Spy X Family

So here's a fun fact about me, I love me some James Bond, I love spies and spy stuff, I love James Bond so much that I even made my own James Bond-type character complete with a series of adventures that sound like unused Bond titles. This isn't to say that "Spy X Family" or "Spy Family" (because the "X" is silent) is anything like James Bond, it's not, not at all, BUT that is the groundwork for the series. When two different genres meets, the exciting spy thriller with...slice of life hilarity ensues. The American market does this often when some high-ranking military bad-ass is suddenly saddled with a bunch of kids ("Suburban Commando", "The Pacifier", "Cop and a Half", "The Spy Nextdoor") the list goes on, usually American tends to ramp up the comedy and while this isn't much different, anime has a way of making things more organic. What "Spy X Family" offers us is an unlikely trio of misfits who by hook and crook are somehow making a lie as thin as a sewing needle work as the foundation of a family, let's dive in.

"Spy X Family" is set in a fictional Europe where there are 2 countries currently engaged in something of a cold war, Westalis and Ostania. Representing Westalis is Agent Twilight, a master of disguise and WISE's top agent. Twilight is James Bond, Ethan Hunt, Jason Bourne, and anyone else you're thinking of combined, he's that damn good. The new mission Twilight has been given is to infiltrate the social circle of Ostania's central political figure Donovan Desmond, only Donovan Desmond only socializes when obtaining his son from Ostania's private school for the elite, ergo, Twilight must have a child enrolled in that school. This is where Anya comes into play, Anya, unknown to Twilight is a mind reader codenamed Subject 007 by whatever lab experimented on her. The school is hesitant to accept single fathers as that'd look strange in the country of Ostania and this is where Yor comes into play. On paper, Yor is an absolutely stunning 27-year-old woman working for Ostania City Hall as a low-level clerk, off paper, Yor is an absolutely stunning professional killer known as "Thorn Princess" with skills that could rival Twilight's. By happenstance (and meddling from Anya) they pair up to protect each other's social reputations and be Anya's parents, blissfully ignorant of each other's true identities (with the exception of Anya, who knows everything) and thus we have "Spy X Family".

The Forger Family

I won't lie, "Spy X Family" hits a lot of notes for me, it got spies, it got family and neither outshines the other. Twilight, taking on the name of Loid Forger balances his life of being a spy and being a father and husband very well. Although initially opposed to children it's actually a brief flashback to Loid's childhood that compels him to continue on with the mission of attempting to be a good father and the lines start to blur between how much of this is Loid and how much of this is the mission. While Loid is actively using Anya and Yor, Yor's motives are much more innocent and she's not exactly using Loid as a cover. Yor is an absolutely stunning woman at 27 years of age and has never had a committed boyfriend or talked relationships with the girls at the office, such a discrepancy in the Cold War era would cause someone to look very carefully at that person and as a professional assassin, Yor doesn't need anyone looking too closely at her. But Yor's motives for joining the Forger family find her actually attempting to be a good mother and good wife, learning how to cook, and legitimately caring for Anya.

Am I allowed to say "Yes?"

The family aspect is where "Spy X Family" shines, because despite everyone's ulterior motives (aside from Anya) Twilight genuinely cares about people and his mission. There are some monkey wrenches in the mission, the first is Yor's younger brother Yuri. Yuri is a high-ranking member of The Ostanian Police and something of a Spy Hunter. Yuri has declared it his mission to find and arrest the spy known as Twilight by any means necessary, unbeknownst to him that Twilight is married to his sister. While Yuri considers Twilight his rival, Loid isn't off the hook either, as due to severe childhood issues Yuri is madly in love with his sister (and who can blame him?) and can't bare to see her with another man. Despite his hatred for Loid, he concedes that Loid is a decent man. The other monkey wrench is Fiona Frost, a WISE agent who is madly in love with Twilight BUT given her professional demeanor and RBF, Twilight sees her as nothing more than a colleague. Fiona makes numerous attempts to take over Operation Strix (as it's called) and prove to Twilight that she'd make a better mother for Anya, but neither Twilight nor Anya feel she's fit for the job. While Twilight is aware of Yuri's feelings about him, Yor has no clue Fiona sees her as a rival.

Fiona mad Thirsty!

The show is a fun watch from start to finish with some very wholesome moments, with Yor genuinely wanting to be a good mother (and actually being a good mother) and nods to James Bond. After all Anya's Subject code is 007 and later on in the series she acquires a pre-cog dog and names him Bond (after her favorite cartoon show "Bondman"). The series has funny moments and moments of real tension. Only time will tell if they all eventually discover each other's secret or if Anya spills the beans. One of the more frustrating things about the series is that Anya doesn't use her powers to do anything substantial, granted a lot of the time she manages to save the day because she's got a leg up on everyone else but because of her age she isn't able to make her abilities work in her favor. It's clear Damian Desmond, Donovan's son has a crush on Anya and if Anya were able to utilize her abilities more Operation Strix would have been completed ages ago, but that's storytelling for you. All in all, "Spy X Family" is a fun watch and read in whatever medium you choose. Catch you guys next time!