ARC Review: Spy x Family, Vol. 1 by Tatsuya Endo

Spy x Family, Vol. 1 by Tatsuya Endo
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

An action-packed comedy about a fake family that includes a spy, an assassin and a telepath!

Master spy Twilight is the best at what he does when it comes to going undercover on dangerous missions in the name of a better world. But when he receives the ultimate impossible assignment—get married and have a kid—he may finally be in over his head! Not one to depend on others, Twilight has his work cut out for him procuring both a wife and a child for his mission to infiltrate an elite private school. What he doesn’t know is that the wife he’s chosen is an assassin and the child he’s adopted is a telepath!

Warnings: gun violence, explosions

This manga was an absolute delight and a bundle of laughs; it is absurd at times, but still quite adorable in turns. The story is set in a Cold War era style setting between two neighboring countries that use espionage to sabotage each others’ politicians. Twilight is a master spy and his real identity (as in his name and his face both) have been a well-kept secret. He receives a new mission to infiltrate the circles of a paranoid politician who only makes appearances at his child’s school functions – so Twilight has to find a child, get said child admitted in that elite school and thus come in contact with his target.

He finds the child easily enough – Anya is in an orphanage that readily gives her up since she has had low chances of success in finding a family – but taking care of a child is not easy as he thought. Anya, seemingly precocious, is actually a telepath, but he doesn’t know that. He gets her to pass the entrance exam but for the interviews the school insists on having both parents present, which means he has to find a wife, too. Meanwhile, Yor is a civil worker who moonlights as an assassin, and keeping that second job a secret and under the radar is difficult when she is eyed with suspicion over being single. Apparently this country despises single people and is determined to make their life miserable. So she needs a boyfriend, and he needs a wife – and they happen to meet, and enter into a marriage without knowing about the other’s true profession, and without knowing the child being a telepath. Anya knows about both of them, and she is just immensely awed by both of them.

The interactions between the characters are hilarious, but also often adorable! Anya’s knowledge about both of them adds another layer of humor, because her reactions are A+. The school’s entrance test was also quite entertaining with both Twilight and Yor coming off as elegant, but in reality, they both are just very paranoid people who are very good at stealth. The character design, artwork and storyboard are also pretty good, so the book overall is a nice package of joy. I honestly can’t wait for more shenanigans from this trio!

Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review from Viz Media LLC, via Edelweiss.

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