Imagine having the balls to propose in a middle of a gun fight with a grenade pin as a ring. A kid cheating on a crossword to get adopted. A lady that makes you forget best waifu of the season, coz she's literally BEST WIFE arguably the past decade of anime. Mr. and Mrs. Smith played by Yukino and Hachiman in an alternate reality, and with a child that bulldozes wholesomeness for everybody.
That's right! Welcome to the bizarre cold-war world of this kickass-pseudo-family of three.
If you look closely, there's at least 5 isekai anime that's been airing per season for the last 4 seasons.
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Sifting through the list, you can maybe find 2 or 3 shows that may interest you to watch for like 3 episodes, and most of the time, even drop those shows. In the sea of trash, there's nothing much to be excited for unless there's a sequel to an already big show, an IP that is hyped up either by manga fans or light novel fans, or an anime with good marketing that you can't escape no matter where you go. This series right here ticks off 2 of the aforementioned factors (Japan hyped this adaptation so much and even the source material fans are talking like it's the second coming of Jesus Christ), but for all the right reasons.
(I'll borrow an excerpt from my previous review for this series) Spy X Family basically has two things: 1) No matter what your job is, raising a kid is still the hardest and 2) Every plan can be executed even without a plan.
In it, we have a tsundere spy who is dead serious about saving the world and it's peace, an airheaded-but-lovable assassin that just wants to live and experience what "normal" is like, and a child telepath who does things to quench her entertainment. Result? A manzai trio in random situations, hilarity for sure will ensue. Spy x Family scratches every itch you might need from a comedic, family media and some action here and there.
I was skeptical since Cloverworks did the infamous 2nd season of Promised Neverland and Wonder Egg Priority (I'm still salty about how they ended that), so I kept my expectations in a reasonable sense, but now considering it's a joint adaptation of WIT studio too, directed by one of the legends who gave us Mononoke and Dororo, Kazuhiro Furuhashi, I immediately knew that this series is in good hands. The setting with mid 20th century aesthetics sold me to pay attention to the backgrounds and how much work they put into a single frame, not on KyoAni levels of set design but this is also not something to scoff at too. The animations they did is A-tier, since Spy x Family is a visual heavy comedy and it relies visuals for punchlines and jokes to work, and no cap I think this is the strongest I've seen of both studios, incorporating the mundane storytelling of My Dress Up Darling and Akebi-chan with the insane choreographed fights of Vivy, it's an understatement to call this adaptation "excellent" because in my opinion, it exceeds excellency. The story is showing a side that I absolutely love, the fact they are not treating the world as real, so the animators can go ham with the comedy instead: the fact that Yor believes anything Loid says, Anya manipulating situations for her own satisfaction, and Loid being an inconsistent spy sometimes, that they can focus on how to build up scenarios instead, without shoving down your throat that you should believe in the scenes to your suspension of disbelief which also weirdly doesn't break immersion since the audience are willing to getting into it. Even though Spy x Family majors in comedy, if the story wants serious moments, it hits good. The last time I laughed this hard, even though I'd seen the source materials before the anime was Asobi Asobase and Grand Blue, for all these similar reasons.
I love everything about the audio of this show: from the voice actors, the sound design, the ambiance, the opening and ending song, they are all bangers. The cast is perfectly placed for everyone: the legends Hayami Saori, which is a perfect fit for a naive grown woman like Yor and big daddy ikemen-master Eguchi Takuya are just so versatile to whatever role they get but the important piece of the family is Anya's voice actor Atsumi Tanezaki, which at first glance, "How can a someone who most likely plays soft-spoken characters can play a bombastic kid like Anya?", but oh boi she proved me wrong. If I think about Tanezaki-san, I instantly think of Chise from Ancient Magus Bride, Rio Futaba from Bunny Girl Senpai, or Mizore from Hibike Euphonium, who are purely emotionless and doesn't talk much, she nailed those roles, but she made Anya literally sound like how a child would speak. Her childish sentence structures made it immersive especially if you understand Japanese, which I absolutely adore. It's so hard sometimes to find a series where characters act their age (e.g. Sangatsu no Lion and Pingpong the Animation) and that's what made Spy x Family great. Sound design, you can never go wrong if you have Shouji Hata-sensei on the directing role and Noriko Izumo for sound effects. These two knew each other well and very underrated on what they can do with the magic of sound. The audio team made the world super compelling throwing you back in the 1970's with crackling TV static and jazz on the radio, and oh my god, it felt nostalgic even if I didn't live that era. The opening visuals probably the best you could expect with a series of this setting since it also compliments the song choice; the song from HIGE DANdism is fitting to what the anime's message is trying to convey: a family built from lies and could fall apart easily, but where's the fun if you always try to be mundane, right? The OP is such a refreshing take of the "entirely different artstyle from the main story" troupe and made it fun as hell, as the drummer of the band would know (he came to music studio one day and dude said, "Don't worry guys, I'll smash this" and he did, the drums are fire bro). The ED tho, the song and the visuals made it so fun in a completely different sense, since it shows the perspective of Anya of her life and the happiness she always wanted, and Gen Hoshino, you thought the OP was great, but the ED juxtaposed a hype intro to a chill lo-fi vibe, which is a home run hit.
For all what's it worth, for a best-selling manga, there's just that satisfaction knowing the thing you liked has been adapted respectfully, and I love you Wit and Cloverworks for doing that. I don't want to make a longer wall of text so I'm gotta cut it short, so the show is essentially the full-package I could recommend to anyone who is looking for a different take in shounen with older MCs, character chemistry, with a pretty straight-forward plot that you can just chill on your couch and eat popcorn. If you liked a good comedy like Saiki K, Hinamatsuri, or Mob Psycho, I guarantee you will adore Spy x Family like I did.
Apr 23, 2022
Spy x Family
(Anime)
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Imagine having the balls to propose in a middle of a gun fight with a grenade pin as a ring. A kid cheating on a crossword to get adopted. A lady that makes you forget best waifu of the season, coz she's literally BEST WIFE arguably the past decade of anime. Mr. and Mrs. Smith played by Yukino and Hachiman in an alternate reality, and with a child that bulldozes wholesomeness for everybody.
That's right! Welcome to the bizarre cold-war world of this kickass-pseudo-family of three. If you look closely, there's at least 5 isekai anime that's been airing per season for the last 4 seasons. ... 
Apr 24, 2019
Spy x Family
(Manga)
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Mangaka: "You guys want a Spy story?"
Otakus: "Ughhhh, really? Bet it's going to be digustingly cliched." Mangaka: "Well, let's reverse the personality roles." Otakus: "Okay? Let's go home guys." Mangaka: "You sure? I have an esper loli to spare. Oh! I also have an ultra-sexy hitman and a guy tsundere." Otakus: "You what???" Mangaka: "Wait, there's more. Did I mention this also sets in Cold War era with many bullshit shenanigans?" (Weebs have entered the chat) Weebs: "Give me that!" (Mangaka offers this) ... 
Mar 10, 2019
Hinamatsuri
(Manga)
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I don't usually write reviews but this... this manga is way beyond my expectations! Yeah, we got that this is like Saiki or Mob Psycho but this manga had a league on it's own. We don't see very often a metal pod coming out from nowhere. We also don't see a girl, that had been kidnapped, mistakes the scene as a T.V shooting. We will never see a pot-addicted yakuza (I don't mean drugs, really) buy a 7-million yen worth of chinawares. This manga is very much unique and the features it's showing keeps on coming. Seriously, this puts the nail in the coffin that
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