By: Olivia Ho

Anya Forger, a telepath, role in the family: daughter. Loid Forger, code name: Twilight, a spy, role in the family: father. Yor Forger, code name: Thorn Princess, an assassin, role in the family: mother. The three of them are all in a pretend family and hiding their true identities from one another both for their own benefit and to keep the family together.

SpyxFamily, pronounced Spy Family, is an increasingly popular anime that has fans excited, and many are waiting for the next book and anime season to come out. Some fans are so excited that, rather than wait for the new book, they actually read the new book by chapter since the chapters are released one at a time.

The story is about a fake family that was made by Loid for each family member’s benefit. Loid Forger, the father in the family, is given a mission known as Operation Strix. Loid is assigned to keep an eye on Donovan Desmond, a political extremist and leader of the National Unity Party in Ostania and who is suspected of trying to sabotage the truce between the two governments in the anime, Westalis and Ostania.

Because Desmond is a very private person, he only appears at events related to his son Damian’s school. So, to get close to Desmond and track his activities, Loid has to enroll a fake child (Anya) into the school that Damian is in allowing him to attend the same events where Desmond is seen, and ultimately bring Desmond down.

What makes this anime so special is how the personality of each character is so different and extremely funny in their own unique ways. For example, Anya, because she is a telepath, found out about Loid’s mission and his job as a spy, which intrigued her. To get adopted by Loid he wanted to make sure that Anya could read and write, so after solving a crossword puzzle by reading Loid’s mind she got adopted.

Each student and their family must also do an interview with three of the headmasters of the school, this meant that Loid needed a woman to act as Anya’s mother. Soon he meets Yor and after an awkward meeting for the first time and a conversation they decide on attending a party with Loid acting as Yor’s boyfriend and Yor acting as Anya’s mom at the interview.

However, when Loid arrives at the party, he accidentally says that he is Yor’s husband which makes things complicated for Yor because none of her friends or family knew that Yor even had a boyfriend, let alone a husband. So, because of this mistake Loid asks Yor if they could keep their small agreement of a fake relationship long term and Yor agrees which is how the Forger family is formed.

As most of us know, many anime characters are cute, especially when they are annoyed or mad. So how Anya is drawn and considering her age, contributes to how her actions are and how it makes her quirky actions seem funny. The same goes for Loid who is shown as a serious man, and Yor who is usually flustered which makes it seem funny. When the whole fake family is in a situation and the expressions and thoughts of each person are different the anime makes clear just how special and humorous it is.

So, if you ever have a chance to watch or read SpyxFamily, know you’re going to be pulled into its fun and addicting world.