If you’ve been anywhere (and I mean anywhere) on the internet in the past year, you’ve probably come across images or gifs of a cute pink-haired anime girl. You know the one. Big green eyes, an even bigger smile, and two black horn-like decorations on the side of her head. Even if you aren’t an anime fan, you can’t seem to escape her reign over the internet’s heart. Who is she, you ask? This girl is Anya Forger, one of the three main characters from the popular show ‘Spy × Family,’ whose second season is currently airing.
Since the internet hardly ever agrees on anything, you probably want to see how they all decided that Anya was a great and lovable kid. You load up Hulu or Crunchyroll before you remember something less than ideal. You’re a slave to schoolwork. You hardly have any time to do anything besides eat, sleep, and go to class. You want to spend those few moments you have to yourself doing something nice and relaxing. Is this show worth the time? And is it something you can watch even while being distracted by school worries? The short answer is: Yes!
Synopsis & Writing
Twilight, a spy, is handed an assignment where he has to get married and create a family as a part of his cover. Under the name Loid Forger, he looks for a child and wife. He adopts a girl who–unbeknownst to anyone, including himself–is a telepath. He meets a woman, Yor Briar, who is willing to get married to him after just a week. It turns out, Yor is an assassin. The three all have secrets they keep from one another, yet they have to do their best to act like a normal family.
The plot of the show sounds complicated, but it is well constructed. The first two episodes set everything in place with its comedic writing style and animation. Within the first seven minutes of episode 1, Twilight’s mission is read aloud to you, as well as Anya’s backstory and adoption, which is perfect if you have to look away or don’t have time to watch an entire episode. The second episode introduces Yor and her backstory, which also is explained pretty simplistically.
What’s the Show Like?
It is a comedy-action mix, with some slice-of-life and feel-good thrown in there. Most of the episodes also have multiple stories/plots in each one, which makes it perfect in watching in short bursts. If you’ve ever watched Phineas and Ferb, you’re already with familiar with the ‘A story, B story, C story’ kind of show where the multiple different plots come together to make one larger story. Spy × Family is very similar, but even shorter. The average ‘B/C story’ lasts less than 5 minutes, and they alternate between action-packed spy missions and cute family moments between Yor, Loid, and Anya.
Sub or Dub?
I personally enjoy watching it with the Japanese dub, so I have to take small breaks and watch 5 minutes here and there. But if you watch it in the English dub, you can have this show playing in the background and understand the jokes and story. This is one of the few anime that genuinely has a good voice cast for the English dub. You might miss out on the occasional visual joke, but besides that, the story is solid. While writing this, I’ve been watching episodes and followed along perfectly.
Recap – Is It Worth Watching?
I would absolutely say so. The ratings speak for themselves. On MyAnimeList, a site dedicated to reviewing thousands of different anime and manga, Spy × Family is 8.73/10 while being ranked 43rd best anime. This may not seem like a big accomplishment, but this is ranked higher than some of the larger names such as One Piece, Jujutsu Kaisen, and Death Note. On Crunchyroll, an anime streaming service, it’s rated a whopping 4.9/5 stars. And as this review hopefully shows, it’s perfect for busy students like yourself! Happy watching!
Contributing writer Vaneza Morales is a first-year DSC student.