Hipster Hotline: Spy x Family

To prevent a war, a spy must have a family. Yep, welcome to the manga called Spy x Family.

Tatsuya Endo’s Spy x Family, as I said, stars a spy codenamed Twilight. He’s your typical super-spy, tough, suave, a master of disguise. If you’ve seen it done in a spy movie, he can do it. Twilight quickly gets what could be his most important mission yet, preventing a war between the East and West. And, all he has to do is form a family so get can get close to the guy behind it all. Easy, right?

This is where things get interesting. See, Twilight can usually don a disguise, plays the role, then bam, he’s done and off on the next mission. But now, he has to play an everyday father and husband for however long it takes. And, that includes getting a daughter.

Anya, is a little girl Twilight adopts from an orphanage to be his daughter. She’s also an esper possessing mind-reading powers. Using her power, she quickly learns who Twilight really is and despite not being the super smart and capable child Twight was looking for, is able to get Twilight to adopt her. What makes Anya such a strong and fun character is her knowing her dad’s secret mission and even secretly helping him at times without revealing she can read minds.

Our last main character is Yoru, an office worker being pressured by her brother and co-workers to find a husband. Yeah, I know. But, what makes this concept work is Yoru has another job as an assassin. How did she become one? We don’t know, but she’s good at it, really good. And, naturally, she and Twilight decide to get married because Toru’s brother keeps nagging her and their country seems to be suspicious of unmarried women after a certain age (Wha?), and, according to the story Twilight told Yoru, she wants Anya to have a mother. And just like that, we have our family.

A three-person family, each with a big secret they’re keeping from each other, Spy x Family gives us tension right off the bat but also keeps the story light-hearted. That’s the secret of this manga (besides its wonderful art, that it), Spy x Family is part spy/ part comedy. The action and humor blend perfectly together, giving us tension, not only from outside forces that could jeopardize Twilight’s big mission but from the characters all hiding their biggest secret from each out while growing closer as a real family.

Spy x Family is wonderful. The overall threat of war coupled with three powerful and interesting main characters trying to act less than they really are brings constant tension and fun. I highly recommended it. Check it out on Manga Plus. That’s right, it’s on Shueisha’s official manga site, complete with high-quality scans and an official English translation! Now, if that’s isn’t an elegant enticement, I don’t know what is.