Spy × Family (TV series)

Spy × Family (stylized as SPY×FAMILY and pronounced "spy family") is a Japanese anime television series based on the manga series of the same name by Tatsuya Endo. The series broadcasts on TV Tokyo in Japan. It has been licensed by Crunchyroll in North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Oceania, and the Middle East. The series is distributed by Muse Communication in the rest of the Asia-Pacific region. It follows master spy Twilight, who must disguise himself as psychiatrist Loid Forger and build a mock family in order to investigate political leader Donovan Desmond. Unbeknownst to him, his wife, Yor, is actually an assassin known as the Thorn Princess, while his daughter, Anya, has telepathic abilities.

The series received critical acclaim for its storytelling, comedy, action sequences, characters, animation, voice acting, and world-building, as well as numerous awards, including Animation of the Year at the Tokyo Anime Award Festival. A feature film based on the series, Spy × Family Code: White, was released in Japan in December 2023 to positive reviews.

Cast and characters
Notes

Season 1
Produced by Wit Studio and CloverWorks, the first season of Spy × Family was broadcast on TV Tokyo in 25 episodes divided into two parts. The first part, consisting of 12 episodes, aired from 9 April to 25 June 2022, and the second part, the last 13 episodes, aired from 1 October to 24 December 2022. The first season was directed by Kazuhiro Furuhashi, with music by (K)now Name, character designs by Kazuaki Shimada, while Kazuaki Shimada and Kyoji Asano are chief animation directors. It was first announced in October 2021.

Following the chapter naming practice of the original manga, the episode titles in the anime series are written as "Mission" with a number (e.g. "Mission 1", "Mission 2", etc.) which the counting continues to the subsequent seasons. This season adapts 38 main chapters of the manga, from Mission 1 to Mission 38, along with a couple of side stories: Extra Mission 1 and Short Mission 1 to 5.

The series is licensed for streaming by Crunchyroll outside of Asia, while it is distributed by Muse Communication in a selection of countries in Asia-Pacific.

Season 2
In December 2022, a second season and a theatrical film were announced at the Jump Festa 2023 event. Ichirō Ōkouchi is replacing Furuhashi as scriptwriter, with the remaining staff and cast reprising their roles. The second season, consisting of 12 episodes, aired from 7 October to 23 December 2023.

The season is licensed for streaming by Crunchyroll outside of Asia, while it is distributed by Muse Communication in a selection of countries in Asia-Pacific.

Season 3
On June 9, 2024, a third season was announced at the Spy × Family Anime Extra Mission special event.

Music
The music of the Spy × Family anime series was composed and produced by (K)now Name. The opening theme for the first part of the first season uses the song "Mixed Nuts" (ミックスナッツ) by Official Hige Dandism and is directed by Masashi Ishihama; while the ending theme uses the song "Comedy" (喜劇) by Gen Hoshino and is directed by Atsushi Nishigori. The opening theme for the second part uses the song "Souvenir" by Bump of Chicken and is directed by Tetsurō Araki; while and the ending theme uses the song "Shikisai" (色彩) by Yama and is directed by Takayuki Hirao. The second season's opening theme uses the song "Kura Kura" (クラクラ) by Ado and is directed by Masaaki Yuasa. The ending theme uses the song "Todome no Ichigeki" (トドメの一撃) by Vaundy (feat. Cory Wong) and is directed by Eugene Winter.

The music of the movie Spy × Family Code: White was also composed and produced by (K)now_Name. On October 30, 2023, the anime social media announced "Soulsoup" by Official Hige Dandism as the main theme song. On the premiere day, they revealed the song "Why" (光の跡), performed by Gen Hoshino, was used for the ending theme.

Popularity
The anime had received high TV rating percentage since its release in April 2022, until the end of its first season. Japanese TV animation weekly ratings in the Kantō region:
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 * Episode 25: With the premiere of its second cour on 1 October 2022, Spy × Family sets a new record for TV Tokyo in time shift audience ratings. The president of TV Tokyo reveals that the series' second part was the "best among all programs on all stations for the July 2022 season", including the first episode of the second cour into July quarter's statistics. Its debut episode was the second most watched in Japanese streaming site. The series took second place in April and later rose and remained in the first place for the next three months (from May to July) in the Japanese monthly streaming rank lists and VOD rank lists, despite the fact that the anime stopped releasing new episodes in July.

Spy × Family has also started gaining mainstream popularity with a wide range of age groups, from children to adults. An official from Takara Tomy Arts said: "[the series] is popular among a wide range of people, just like Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba. Anya is particularly popular. It is likely that there will be even more toys and goods in the future, including products for children." Anya's popularity led to Toho make a music video heavily featuring her. Additionally, a Tamagotchi involving Anya was released in June 2022.

In a survey conducted by FinT, Spy × Family and Anya were ranked first and fourth respectively, on the top trending things among Generation Z in Japan for 2022. In the same survey, "Anya likes peanuts" (アーニャピーナッツが好き) was the no. 1 trending phrase of the year in part due to a mash-up with the song "Renai Circulation" on TikTok.

Critical response
The series has met critical acclaim. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the first season of Spy × Family holds an approval rating of 100% based on six reviews, with an average rating of 9/10. The reviewers of Anime News Network praised the first episode of the series. Caitlin Moore and James Beckett gave it a perfect score; Moore lauded the show for its "consistent sense of comic timing" which perfectly deliver each joke and calling it a "guaranteed crowd-pleaser and a solid choice for almost everyone," while Beckett wrote that the "breakout star of the show" is Anya though what made him won over the show is its heart. Nicholas Dupree noted that "[the show] operates in a very precarious space between a goofy comedy of coincidences and a serious spy thriller, where the result is a world that mostly runs on cartoon logic." Richard Eisenbeis described Anya as a "fantastic little character" while praising the anime for its characters and world-building. Rebecca Silverman, similar to all of her manga reviews, she called Anya as the "beating heart of the series" while praising the anime for its story and animation.

Kambole Campbell of Polygon noting about Twilight's parenthood to Anya. While the action isn't particularly flashy, Campbell found that the animation in those moments is quite pleasing, and the choreography is precise and snappy. Rafael Motamayor of IGN praised the show for its comedy, action, animation, characters, and poignant commentary on family and class. He also compare Anya to Baby Sinclair of the 1990s comedy series Dinosaurs, while stating that "Spy × Family manages to strike a great balance between commentary, drama, action, and slice-of-life comedy without undermining any of those respective elements in the process." Rebecca Silverman of Anime News Network listed Spy × Family as the best anime of 2022, stated that the story crafts a delightful and emotionally meaningful tale about one family wrapped up in all of this. Silverman also hailed Anya and Bond as the best characters of 2022, due to how wonderful they are as a person and the dog in which they represent the same sign that Anya gets to keep the family she desperately wants.

Accolades
In 2022, Spy × Family won in the anime category while Anya Forger voice actress Atsumi Tanezaki won in the voice actor category of the Yahoo! Japan Search Awards, based on the number of searches for a particular term compared to the year before. Yor and Anya Forger were ranked fifth and tenth respectively, on the top 10 overall buzzwords list while the anime series was awarded the Pixiv Award at Japan's Internet Buzzword Awards. In 2023, the series received the award for Animation of the Year at the Tokyo Anime Award Festival. At the 7th Crunchyroll Anime Awards, Spy × Family was one of the three series to win the most awards with six; the series won in the categories: Best New Series, Best Comedy, Best Supporting Character and "Must Protect At All Costs" Character (Anya Forger), Best Ending Sequence ("Comedy"), and Best VA Performance – Portuguese (Nina Carvalho as Anya Forger). It was also nominated for twelve other categories, including Anime of the Year. It won the 2023 Excellence Award at Japan's 28th annual Association of Media in Digital (AMD) Awards. In June 2023, the anime series won the Character License Award at the Japan Character Awards by Japan's Character Brand Licensing Association (CBLA).