It is undoubtedly one of the animated series that has achieved innumerable success, for its lively, fun and action-packed plot, in which the protagonists manage to excellently support each other, giving life to a rich and not trivial. We are talking about “Spy X Family”, the anime based on Tatsuya Endo’s manga from which two seasons were made.
The spy Twilight, very skilled in disguises and impossible missions, is in the pay of the Westalis secret services which operates in the nearby state of Ostania, with the task of preserving peace between the two countries. To do this she must approach the powerful politician Donovan Desmod, to carry out the mission he is forced to create a fake family, so as not to arouse suspicion and have reliable cover.
With the name Loid Forger, he turns out to be the husband of Yor Briar, a young woman who is actually an infallible assassin known as Thorn Princess belonging to a mysterious organization called Garden. She accepts this fake marriage to create cover for herself from the secret police of Ostania, as being unmarried could create suspicion. Completing the family is Anya Forger, Loid’s adopted daughter who is used to enroll her in the prestigious Eden school, in order to bring her closer to Desmod’s son, a rather difficult undertaking, given that the two do not get along very well and also Anya doesn’t even excel in studies and sports. But unbeknownst to her two parents, she is able to read her mind. Finally there is the dog Bond, who escaped from a secret project, which leads him to see the future.
Apart from Anya, none of the family knows the true identity of the other…
A screenplay that immediately pleases, involving the viewer in the family dynamics and the missions that the two parents must complete, with a variety of characters who interact with them and create ever new, paradoxical and pathos-rich situations, from Yor’s brother , Yuri, who has a morbid attachment to his sister, turns out to be an agent of the secret police of Ostania and hates Loid. Secret agent Fiona Frost aka NightFall who works with Twilight is secretly in love with him
The setting that recalls an Eastern European nation, during the Cold War, in which no modern technology is shown, brings to mind works such as “The Spy Who Came in from the Cold”, “Stockholm Intrigue”, with that action and pathos aspect of the Secret Agent 007: James Bond films.
A title that everyone can enjoy, with the protagonists who despite being skilled spies, when it comes to family management they enter into crisis, the young Yor is not able to cook and feels like a failure, while Loid is afraid of not being able to manage the family unit well, with the risk of making the mission fail.
While I find it compelling, there are some points that leave me a little perplexed: every time the plot focuses on little Anya, the episodes appear banal, childish and grotesque, losing that charm of unpredictability and mystery. Furthermore, after two seasons, the mission has remained rather stagnant, there has not been much progress in getting to know and getting closer to the powerful politician. A lot of focus was placed on one-shot adventures, which are pleasant and interesting because they allow you to get to know the characters better from a psychological point of view but which, after a while, are ends in themselves.
Now we are all waiting for the third season and the film which will be released in Italian cinemas on April 24th.