Stark700

Spy x Family is an anime of the year candidate. Yes, I say this with confidence for it managed to exemplify entertainment at consistent quality. It's an anime that sells itself as exactly what it is without misleading the audience. And with such a marketing wheel behind the show, it managed to reach a large audience. There's plenty of reasons why I believe Spy x Family indeed deserves its rating and to be quite honest, this is one of the few anime that I can recommend just about anyone this year. First, I want to congradulate Tatsuya Endou on putting himself on the map with hisSpy x Family franchise. To be honest, before Spy x Family launched, I don't remember any of his previous works. His one shots are obscure titles that most people have never heard of. That is, until Spy x Family launched in 2019. The series quickly established itself with its simple and complex themes. Mind you, the idea of a family of spies isn't exactly an unique idea, but it is the charm of the characters and refreshing writing style of the story that made this enjoyable from day one. Now you're asking yourself what exactly is Spy x Family? Do yourself favor and don't read the MAL synopsis as it may sound more complex than it looks. Meanwhile, you should watch the first episode and full indulge on what the author wanted to SHOW us. Watching the first episode brings together two characters with very different backgrounds and personalities - Loid Forger (also known as 'Twilight) and Anya. Loid proves himself to be a human with extraordinary skills in esponiage, physical feat, and master of disguise. You could say that he is the perfect spy. On the other hand, Anya is a young girl with the ability to read minds but also with a fascination of spies in the media. Watching their character chemistry immediately brings together a degree of elegance and charm. Let's just say how quickly the two connects with one another. Even though Anya knows Loid often lies to others for his work, she also knows that deep down, he is a kind hearted person. Representing the essence of a perfect spy, Loid deeply cares about his role but also has a soft side for his family. We can't have a family without the mother of course. That's where the assassin, Yor Forger comes in. Introduced in second episode, Yor is essentially an assassin with deadly skills to match her intellect and physical talents. Although sometimes airheaded with a lack of common sense, she deeply cares about Anya and Loid despite not knowing their full backgrounds. In fact, you could easily call Yor and Loid's first encounter as a chance meeting. It's as if destiny set these two up together. In perhaps one of the most memorable sequences of the this season, Loid ties the knot by putting a grenade pin on Yor's finger. It's a refreshing take as in most marriages, you see an generic type of ceremony with flowers and bridemaids. Obviously, Yor and Loid aren't actually a married couple a they pretend to be one to carry out their respective missions. And with Anya, they are the heart and soul of Spy x Family. Anya herself is a complex character despite her age. She has the ability to read minds and practically uses it as a necessity than just a helpful tool. It's with this ability that she barely gets into the prestigious Eden Academy. Academically wise, Anya is not intelligent and overly relies on her mind reading skill. From the first day of class, she isn't motivated and ends up falling asleep before her classmate Becky wakes her up. However, Anya makes an extreme impression towards her peers. Immediately, she is able to befriend Becky due to her kindhearted nature and standing up for her. Second, Anya also withstands another top student at the academy named Damian. Desmond. Proving herself to be a tough girl who isn't afraid to be pushed around by others, Anya withstands not just his verbal assault but also landing a fist into his face. It's the first time that Damian experiences defiance and thus, academy life for Anya becomes a whole lot more complicated. But trust me, understanding Spy x Family isn't too complex despite the author setting up various degrees of storytelling segments. To tell a story like this, Tatsuya made each relevant character unique and carrying their own role. Anya, Loid, and Yor are the main characters but there are also others who makes an impact in the show such as housemaster Henry Henderson or Yor's brother Yuri. The anime give a great impression of the casts' personality to always get audience to react in some way. Anya is the most prominent case for her various degree of human expressions. Because of her mind reading talent, she often reacts in exaggerated ways like a kid her age would. Besides, who can ever forget about her iconic 'heh' face when she punched Damian's wind out? Let me just say that Anya is destined to belong in this show for everything she represent. The big question to ultimately ask yourself is 'why should I watch Spy x Family'? After all, this just the first part and tip for the iceberg. To truly embrace into this franchise would mean to invest time into part 2 and the manga. However, I will say that Spy x Family is enjoyayble for all its character elements, comedy gags, and ultimatley the effective storytelling. It doesn't sell itself as an action thriller despite some of the advertised material. In today's anime industry where it's dominated by isekai, battle shounens, and rom-coms, Spy x Family is a breath of fresh air. Tatsuya Endo took this series into a lighthearted direction, a contrast to some of the action thrillers you're more used to seeing. According to the author himself, he often reads other works to brainstorm ideas of his own. By doing so, he invents and evolves his ideas into this series. It's what makes Spy x Family so special and amassing such a fanbase. Wit Studio and CloverWorks are not the perfect production studios but they managed to bring the creativity of Spy x Family in the most effective form possible. The theme songs are decorated with a simple and colorful chereography that further conveys the show's cheerfulness. Character designs for Anya, Loid, and Yor are unique and great to point out for their technical achievements. You can tell how their expressions are connected to their feelings when we see them in crucial scenes. Examples of these include the family's interview at Eden Academy or Anya's sincere apology to Damian. The fact is, human emotions is especially important for this show as it brings out the best out of its cast. Similarly, I applaud the voice actors for being spot on their roles, in particuar for Anya. It's not easy to voice a character at her age but she made the character as credible as she can be. Loid, Yor, and Damian are also voiced exactly as how I pictured from the manga and on point. In fact, I can say that this is one of the very few anime adaptation that may have exceeded its manga counterpart. If I said it once, I've said it a hundred times. Spy x Family is a contender for anime of the year. Yes, a show like this isn't absolute perfection but for what it has shown us, it captured just about everything I had expected and perhaps more. This is the type of show that is a refreshing breath of air that we need more often. And with part 2 to come, there's no better time than to jump into this hype train.

noob2121

Contains spoilers, Spoiler free TL;DR at the bottom. "I like this show" ~Anya Forger in episode 1. You could not have possibly missed this, Spy x Family has taken the community by storm. It is everywhere, be it in the form of Yor and Anya fanarts (with an appalling lack of Loid ones) or Anya smug face memes. I simply have to praise the production of this. This is clearly a passion project, you can't tell the difference between Wit's episodes and Cloverwork's episodes, because it's so coordinated and seamless. The anime takes the manga's material and elevates it by leaps and bounds. The best example of thisis in ep 5, or the (I guess you can call it a filler?) episode where Anya makes Loid and his agents enact out her favourite scene of a tv series she watched. If this was picked up by any other anime studio, it would likely be presented as a minor, unimportant slideshow that took place in their house, just as the manga presented it. However with the production's emphasis on seamlessness, the anime does not merely animate only the panels itself, rather it adds to the panels, and it goes above and beyond to show the flow between the panels too. Thus, the anime manages to make a seemingly unimportant sequence in the manga into a full length episode that is almost completely anime-original, with stellar animation, and an amazing, though rather short fight scene between Loid and Yor. The sound design in the anime is also very fitting. The combination of spy thrillers and jazz music has always worked perfectly since forever, and Spy x Family is no exception. The main background “suspense” theme strikes that perfect balance to be noticeable enough to add to the mood of the scenes it's in, and also subtle enough to not be distracting. SxF uses this music really well, without going overboard with it. This anime is called Spy x FAMILY, and one of the other key appeals of it is the dynamic of a found family that the anime creates. The facade of a family turns more and more into a genuine familial relationship as the anime goes on. This is made extremely clear to your face as the series goes on. Loid especially saw his family members at first as nothing more than a stepping stone to world peace. While he of course still sees them as tools to world peace, he also starts to genuinely care for them and look after his daughter’s well-being more and more out of love, and less out of obligation. He’s also uncharacteristically dense when it comes to Yor and her secret identity, which I find it funny above all else, but can be taken as a possible criticism. Yor and Anya’s relationship is also so heartwarming!! The most wholesome moments of Spy x Family for me at least, are the moments when Yor trains with Anya, both before the start of school, and the dodgeball match. I think the whole family dynamic is best exemplified in episode 4 during Anya’s interview to get into a prestigious school. Anya rates her parents with a “perfect 100 points”, spelling out their heartwarming familial relationship. The futility and stupidity of comparing parents, and worse trying to force a child to do it, is then embodied by a professor of that school, a rich, arrogant and pompous sadist. You are supposed to hate him, he was written to be hated, and the catharsis that the viewers experience after seeing Loid thoroughly intimidate him and causing the professor to be berated, though rather contrived and simplistic, is what helps us love and get behind this found family. The primary appeal of Spy x Family isn't the thrilling spy action, its stunning production, or its found family aspect. These are great reasons to love this anime, but the main reason that this is so beloved by the community is its comedy, and the thing that ties all the comedy together, is Anya. Anya carries the comedy, no scratch that, Anya IS the comedy. The whole ED is dedicated to Anya. Most of the comedic scenes will somehow involve Anya in it, whether that be Anya's shocked expression whenever Loid or Yor think of something unhinged, or her smug face when something goes her way. Chances are, if you think Spy x Family is overrated, or you straight up dislike it, you probably do not like Anya as well. Ep 11 being considered to be the worst episode of the series by some, just because Anya acted a little more kid-like than those people were comfortable with, just proves this even further. The one major scene where Anya was not involved would be Yuri Briar's visit to the family, and for me at least, this was easily the most unfunny episode of Spy x Family. In fact, Anya waking up the following morning complaining about missing the excitement was easily the funniest part of the whole sequence. Anya’s antics and shenanigans in order to feel that sense of excitement and go “waku waku” reflects her mischievousness, her eagerness to save someone from drowning reflects her purity, Her studying hard to appease her father and in her mind achieve world peace reflects her child-like innocence and naivete, all of these make her such an endearing and adorable character. Of course, the people who understandably dislike Anya will probably think her actions are cringe, or her cuteness is forced, but i have to disagree there. I simply think she acts like a typical child would, and am more than willing to dismiss her occasional “cringe” moments simply as child-like naivete. Anya's ability to read minds is one of the most unique things about Spy x Family, and it's worth talking about a little. It’s the perfect excuse to create funny internal monologues. The 2 differing backgrounds and mentalities of Loid and Yor will almost always allow them to offer 2 vastly differing perspectives, and the fact that they are actively hiding their identities just make it even funnier. However in episode 3 it's also used to show the differing but mostly negative attitudes of attendees of a nationalist rally. While Loid points to the importance of educating Anya politically, all Anya does is get dizzy from all of the hate and patriotism of the members of the rally, reflecting the gross state of politics within the country. This so-called “gimmick” is genuinely really well explored so far, and I really look forward to seeing how else Anya’s ability will be used more later during Part 2 in Fall. Spy x Family being this popular due to its family-friendly accessibility and great writing just gives me hope that passion projects can still exist amid the endless drag of seasonal anime these days. A brilliant adaptation we did not deserve, Spy x Family blends thrilling action, hilarious comedy and endearing characters to create an absolutely superb and well-rounded experience. Highly recommended indiscriminately to all anime fans. Thank you for reading.