‘Spy x Family’ follows a spy, an assassin, and a little girl who is a telepath as they pretend to be a family to achieve their individual goals. The anime is now streaming on Netflix.
Story
Twilight, a highly skilled spy working for the spy organization WISE (Westalis Intelligence Services Eastern-Focused Division), is given a new assignment where he has to form a family of his own.
WISE vows to maintain peace between the countries of Ostania and Westalis. In order to ease the tensions between these two countries, Twilight must secretly get close to Donovan Desmond, the leader of Ostania’s National Unity Party.
Desmond makes rare public appearances, and the only time Twilight could meet him is during the gatherings at Eden Academy, where Desmond’s two sons study.
Twilight picks up the identity of Loid Forger and adopts a girl named Anya so that he can enroll her in the same school and get close to Desmond. What Twilight doesn’t know about Anya is the fact that she is secretly a telepath.
When the school demands two parents to be present for an assessment, Twilight looks for a wife and meets Yor, who works at Berlint City Hall and is a secret assassin by night.
Twilight/Loid and Yor marry each other for their convenience. Loid needed a wife for his mission, whereas Yor wanted to secure her cover. The family navigates life, knowing nothing about each other’s secrets as they work towards their individual goals.
Positives
‘Spy x Family’, at first, comes out as an action-oriented thriller. While the viewers get comfortable with that, the anime turns its narrative toward family drama in a matter of a few episodes, and the viewers don’t even notice that.
The anime does have this ability to make viewers comfortable with itself. This keeps them interested in the show’s slice-of-life elements.
The show switching its genre doesn’t mean that the action part is completely omitted. The show has opted for action whenever required and given its best to satisfy the viewers who came looking for this.
The characters, on the other hand, are written to be likable. Almost all the characters are quirky in their own way, and they openly depict that side of their personalities.
The anime takes a long route to its main plot, but every other subplot becomes worth the viewer’s time once they get a grasp of this universe.
Negatives
The viewers will have to accept that ‘Spy x Family’ is not an anime where developments are important. It’s not about the characters completing their missions either.
The anime is more about the intriguing and hilarious situations a family faces where every other member is pretending and keeping a secret of their own.
The only takeaway is that these secrets are not ordinary; they are sensitive and also dangerous for everyone around them.
Verdict
‘Spy x Family’ is a slice-of-life anime that incorporates elements of action and a spy thriller. Despite combining all of these genres, which often becomes a problem, the anime manages to be entertaining. It is written to be fun, not ambitious.
Spy x Family
Director: Kazuhiro Furuhashi
Date Created: 2022-04-09 21:00
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