Spy × Family facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Spy × Family |
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First tankōbon volume cover, featuring Loid Forger
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| Genre |
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|---|---|
| Manga | |
| Written by | Tatsuya Endo |
| Published by | Shueisha |
| English publisher | |
| Demographic | Shōnen |
| Imprint | Jump Comics+ |
| Magazine | Shōnen Jump+ |
| Original run | March 25, 2019 – ongoing |
| Volumes | 10 |
| Anime television series | |
| Directed by | Kazuhiro Furuhashi |
| Written by | Kazuhiro Furuhashi |
| Music by | (K)now_Name |
| Studio |
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| Licensed by | Crunchyroll |
| Network | TXN (TV Tokyo) |
| Original run | April 9, 2022 – ongoing |
| Episodes | 25 |
Spy × Family (stylized as SPY×FAMILY and pronounced "spy family") is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tatsuya Endo. The story follows a spy who has to "build a family" to execute a mission, not realizing that the girl he adopts as his daughter is a telepath, and the woman he agrees to be in a marriage with is a skilled assassin. The series has been serialized biweekly on Shueisha's Shōnen Jump+ application and website since March 2019, with the chapters collected in ten tankōbon volumes as of October 2022. It was licensed in North America by Viz Media.
An anime television series adaptation produced by Wit Studio and CloverWorks premiered on TV Tokyo and its affiliate stations in April 2022, and was licensed by Muse Communication in Asia and Crunchyroll worldwide. The second half aired from October to December 2022. A second season is set to premiere in October 2023 and an anime film, titled Spy × Family Code: White, will release on December 22, 2023.
By December 2022, Spy × Family had over 30 million copies in circulation, making it one of the best-selling manga series. The series has been praised for its storytelling, comedy, and artwork.
Contents
Plot
In order to maintain the state of peace between the rival nations of Westalis and Ostania, a Westalian agent code-named "Twilight" is tasked with spying on Donovan Desmond, leader of the National Unity Party within Ostania. However, due to Desmond being notoriously reclusive, the only way Twilight can get close to him is to enroll a child in the same private school as Desmond's sons and pose as a fellow parent.
To accomplish this and present the image of a happy family, he creates the alias of Loid Forger, adopts a young orphan girl named Anya, and marries a woman named Yor Briar. However, unbeknownst to him Anya can read minds and Yor is in fact a professional assassin. Neither Loid nor Yor are aware of each other's true identities, or that Anya knows their true professions. The family later takes in a dog with precognitive abilities whom they name Bond. Despite these unknown factors and Twilight's occasional lapses of common sense due to years of being a spy, he must learn to play the role of the perfect father and husband in order to carry out his mission.
Production
Tatsuya Endo and his editor Shihei Lin have known each other for over ten years; Lin was his initial editor on his first serial Tista (2007). When Lin was moved from the Jump Square editorial department to Shōnen Jump+, Endo happily followed, and they began developing a new work. Spy × Family takes elements from three of Endo's Jump Square one-shots: Rengoku no Āshe (煉獄のアーシェ, lit. "Ashe of Purgatory"), Ishi ni Usubeni, Tetsu ni Hoshi (石に薄紅、鉄に星, lit. "The Pink in Stone, the Star in Steel"), and I Spy. Lin said that its reception among the editorial department was so good that serialization was practically decided before the official meeting was even held.
The initial draft was given a working title of Spy Family written in Japanese. When deciding the final name, Endo came up with over 100 options, but they ultimately decided to use the same title but in English and with a "cross" in between, the latter influenced by Hunter × Hunter. Lin said that he and Endo are always conscious of the line where violence, a necessary aspect in a spy manga, is given a pass for comedy's sake. With Tista and Blade of the Moon Princess both having a dark tone, the editor told Endo to give Spy × Family a more cheerful one. Anya was inspired by the main character of Rengoku no Ashe. Her extrasensory perception was decided early on, and Lin cited its use for comedic effect as one of the series' strengths. Lin said that the series has a broad readership among all ages and genders. He also cited Endo's clean art and ability to convey emotions as part of the manga's appeal.
Lin feels that the world and characters were firmly established as of volume two. As such, he revealed that he and Endo would start to include longer narratives in the series.
Media
Manga
Written and illustrated by Tatsuya Endo, Spy × Family has been serialized biweekly on the Shōnen Jump+ application and website since March 25, 2019. The chapters, which are released every other Monday, have been collected and published into tankōbon volumes by Shueisha. Shueisha also simultaneously publishes the series in English for free on the Manga Plus app and website.
Viz Media began publishing Spy × Family in English digitally on their website for free on September 22, 2019. They released the first volume in print in Q2 2020.
The manga series has one companion book, Spy × Family Official Fanbook: Eyes Only. The book, serving as a collective information book, was published on May 2, 2022. It includes detailed information and analysis about the series' characters and worlds, colored artworks, early character designs, guests' art contributions, a long interview with Endo, and commentary on most chapters by Endo and Lin. On February 3, 2023, Viz Media announced that they have licensed the companion book for English publication.
Light novel
The light novel Spy × Family: Family Portrait (SPY×FAMILY 家族の肖像, Spy × Family: Kazoku no Shōzō), written by Aya Yajima, was published on July 2, 2021. The book contains four short story chapters and a seven-page "short novel". The first chapter, "Anya's Nature Class" (アーニャの自然教室, Ānya no Shizen Kyōshitsu), tells the story of the time Anya and Damian got lost in the forest on their school nature camp. The second chapter, "Yuri's Day Off" (ユーリの休暇, Yūri no Kyūka), recounts the day Yuri took Anya to experience a mock-up of future employment for kids. The third chapter, "Franky's New Love!?" (フランキーの新たな恋！？, Furankī no Aratana Koi!?), tells the story of Franky's short-lived love with a blind opera singer from a prestigious family. The fourth chapter, "Portrait of the Forger Family!?" (フォージャー家の肖像画！？, Fōjā-ka no Shōzōga!?), tells about the day the Forgers modeled for a famous painter in the park. In the "short novel" chapter, "Family (Temporary)" (ファミリー（休）, Famirī (kyū)), two waitresses were talking about their ideal family, the Forgers, among many unhappy families they saw.
On February 3, 2023, Viz Media announced that they have licensed the light novel for English publication.
Anime
On November 1, 2021, an anime television series adaptation for Spy × Family produced by Wit Studio and CloverWorks was announced via a trailer video and the anime's website. The series is directed by Kazuhiro Furuhashi, with character designs handled by Kazuaki Shimada, and music produced by (K)now_Name. The series ran for two split cours. The first cour aired from April 9 to June 25, 2022, on TXN stations. The second cour aired from October 1 to December 24, 2022. The first opening theme song is "Mixed Nuts" (ミックスナッツ, Mikkusu Nattsu) by Official Hige Dandism, while the first ending theme song is "Comedy" (喜劇, Kigeki) by Gen Hoshino. The second opening theme song is "Souvenir" by Bump of Chicken, while the second ending theme song is "Shikisai" (色彩, "Color") by Yama. Crunchyroll licensed the series outside of Asia. Muse Communication licensed the series in Taiwan, South and Southeast Asia; they are streaming it on their YouTube channel (limited release in some of the available regions during the first-air run), Netflix, iQIYI, bilibili, Disney+ Hotstar and other regional streaming services. Netflix streamed the series in South Korea.
On April 11, 2022, Crunchyroll announced that the series would receive an English dub. It had an early preview on Crunchyroll's Twitch channel on April 15, before premiering the following day.
Accompanying the anime, the guidebook Animation × 1st Mission, which includes anime character designs, storyboards, key animations, promotion images, interviews and comments from the staff and the voice actors, was released on April 4, 2022. The book acts as a starter guide for the anime series and does not contain many details about later episodes beside the first two. The second guide book Mission Report:220409-0625, which provides in greater details of the first half of the first season, was released on September 2, 2022. It includes information for the main characters; details of the first twelve episodes; key arts for location settings and stories; storyboards; interviews and comments from the staff, the actors and the singers of the first opening and first ending songs, Official Hige Dandism and Gen Hoshino.
On December 18, 2022, a second season was announced at the Jump Festa '23 event. The second season is set to premiere in October 2023, with the staff and cast returning to reprise their roles.
Film
An anime film was announced at the Jump Festa '23 event. On March 25, 2023, it was revealed to be titled Spy × Family Code: White, and the film will be released on December 22, 2023. It will contain an original story written by Tatsuya Endo, who will also supervise the production and provide original character designs. The film will be directed by Takashi Katagiri, and the screenplay written by Ichirō Ōkouchi.
Musical
A musical adaptation, titled Musical Spy × Family (ミュージカル スパイファミリー, Myūjikaru Supai Famirī), was reported to be in production under Toho Stage's production on May 1, 2022. The musical is set to premiere at Tokyo's Imperial Theatre in March 2023, with a nationwide tour following in April and May of the same year.
On September 30, 2022, they announced the musical play would debut on March 8, 2023 with Win Morisaki and Hiroki Suzuki playing Loid Forger, while Fūka Yuzuki and Mirei Sasaki playing Yor Forger. For Anya's role, the actor(s) will be selected via audition. The cast also features Kurumu Okamiya and Tsubasa Takizawa as Yuri Briar, Kento Kinouchi as Franky Franklin, Manato Asaka as Sylvia Sherwood, Sōma Suzuki as Henry Henderson, and Nonoka Yamaguchi as Fiona Frost. They also announce that G2 will direct the musical and also write the screenplay and lyrics and Shuhei Kamimura will be in charge of composing, arranging, and directing the music. For the nationwide tour, the musical will be performed in the KOBELCO Grand Hall at Hyogo Performing Arts Center in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture in April and at Hakata-za Theatre in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture in May. On December 14, 2022, the cast for Anya Forger is announced; she will be played interchangeably by 4 actresses: Risa Masuda, Aoi Ikemuda, Miharu Izawa, Miharu Fukuchi. On January 16, 2022, it was reported that Eima Saitō and Kichinosuke Yonemoto are cast to play child Loid's roles.
Others
An amusement park attraction based on the series, named Spy × Family Secret Mission (SPY×FAMILY シークレット・ミッション, SPY×FAMILY Shīkuretto Misshon), is opened for visitors at Universal Studios Japan theme park from February 17 to July 2, 2023. Participants are put on the role of a newcomer agent from the in-universe spy agency WISE, trying solving hidden codes at various locations around the park. After successfully solving the codes, they will be permitted to attend a live show featuring the Forger family members.
See also
In Spanish: Spy × Family para niños
