Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. Say, have you heard of the Shonen Jump app? It’s a very cool app that gives you access to the popular Japanese magazine, Shonen Jump and other magazines under the same company. You can read all of their current mangas such as One Piece, My Hero Academia, Jujustu Kaisen and many more. No, this isn’t a sponsored blog. I wish they were sponsoring me. I just think it’s a great app and would recommend it to anyone who likes manga. This app signifies a good change in the industry. In the past, manga writers and artists were practically killing themselves to finish a chapter for the weekly magazine, but this app gives them an alternative. They can finally go at their own pace and have a life outside of work. There are still some series that continue on a weekly basis and if the author is confident they can keep up the work pace I say go for it. The app is there for them if they want to change over. One of the things that helped the app stand out were exclusives. Some of the titles were experiments and had a short lifespan while others found success and would become popular series that could compete with Shonen Jump’s most popular titles. One of the app’s first success stories is SpyxFamily. Released in 2019 and written by Tatsuya Endo, who was an assistant for Blue Exorcist and Fire Punch. SpyxFamily was the first series to reach a high level of popularity. It received many awards within the first year of its debut with people calling it both funny and wholesome. The only person who didn’t seem too fond of it was Endo himself. He goes on record saying that he wrote this when he was in a slump. A lot of his previous ideas and stories didn’t get any attention so he just decided to write a story he knew a lot of people would like not really having any attachment to the characters. In 2021 it was rumored that an anime was in production for the series and in the winter they announced that it would be making its debut in 2022. Fans were naturally excited and got even more excited when it was announced that Wit Studio (Attack on Titan) and CloverWorks (Fate/Grand Order) were producing the anime. Did the anime live up to the expectations of everyone? You bet your ass it did and we’re here today to take a look at what made it so good. Let’s take a look at SpyxFamily.
Opening and Ending Theme
The opening is “Mixed Nuts” by Official HIGE DANdism. It took a few episodes to get into this opening, but I came around to enjoying it. I love the instrumental and the opening does a good job capturing the wacky side of our characters but also showing how wholesome they are with each other.
The ending is “Comedy” by Gen Hoshino. It’s a banger and a contender for ending of the year in my opinion. It’s a song that encapsulates everything we want in life, happiness. Whether that be having a loving family or spending our days in laughter, this song perfectly captures that. Every time I hear this song I can’t help but smile. It’s so uplifting and wholesome.
Episodes 1-4
The anime opens up with a diplomat from Ostania dying in a car accident (hope he had life insurance). While the press is saying it was an accident, the bureau of Westalis thinks otherwise and believe he was assassinated in order to give Ostania an excuse to go to war (definitely getting Berlin vibes from these two countries). The bureau decides to send their top spy named Loid aka Twilight voiced by Takuya Eguchi over into Ostania to gather information and see what they’re plotting. We get to meet Loid where they quickly establish he’s a man dedicated to the job and has no attachments to things such as marriage. He gets his mission briefing where he’s told his target is a man named Donovan Desmond, the president of the National Unionist Party who seems to want war between Westalis and Ostania. Loid’s job is to get close to him, but Donovan rarely makes public appearances except to attend his child’s school events (well at least he’s a family man). Loid gets told to find a child to attend the prestigious school of Donovan’s child within a week’s time (scene here: https://youtu.be/ZD9SsSytKYA, and be sure to get a cat or a dog to show them you’re an animal lover). Once arriving in Ostania he adopts a girl named Anya voiced by Atsumi Tanezaki (Juno from Beastars) who we find out can read peoples’ minds (scene here: https://youtu.be/AATfuAJp48o, her code name was 007. I see what you did there. Very clever. Give them props for that). She was part of some science experiment but ran away and has been traveling from place to place hoping to find a home. The two can’t seem to find their footing around each other. Loid doesn’t know the first thing about children (yeah, why didn’t we assign him a wife and child for this mission?) and Anya despite being able to read minds isn’t really all that smart (scene here: https://youtu.be/Aj9Sq8R3l5k). One thing we do know is that she likes spies, however it appears her perception of them is a lot different than what she’s seeing (yeah movies make spying look like a fun job, but in truth it can be rather boring stuff. Same with hacking. It looks exciting but it’s not). When Loid heads out alone, Anya breaks into his spy gear and finds his secret comms where she sends out a message that gets intercepted. When Loid returns he gets attacked by some thugs and Anya gets captured. Loid gets knocked out and brought to a diplomat named Edgar behind all of this where Twilight tricks the group, saves Anya, and escapes. Not wanting to put Anya in any more danger, Loid disguised as one of the thugs instructs Anya to go to the police station and hand them a note which will get her sent to a better orphanage. Loid takes care of the thugs and heads out where he runs into Anya who wants to stay with him and he allows it (he’s getting soft on us. Scene here: https://youtu.be/ubANS-7ey84?t=114). As the credits roll Anya takes the entrance exam where her plan was to read the minds of the other kids but that plan fails as they don’t know the answers either (well shit). Thankfully, Loid tutored her and she managed to score enough points to pass and gets accepted into the school.
In episode 2 Anya moves on to step two of the admission process a parent-teacher conference where both parents must attend, no exception (scene here: https://youtu.be/Ui6SedxSWdI. (Isis): What if one of the parents is dead? (Nitsuj): Then have the kid dig that body up and bring it to the conference. It’ll build character). We then focus on our third main character Yor voiced Saori Hayami (Shirayuki from Akagami no Shirayukihime) an office lady who comes across as weird by her co-workers and everyone seems to be pressuring her to find a boyfriend. She makes up the lie to everyone that she has a boyfriend that she’ll bring to the party they’re having that weekend. That night, we learn the truth about Yor, she’s an assassin known as the Thorn Princess (scene here: https://youtu.be/COofCsbpMQM. Hmm~, beautiful, sweet voice, and could kill me if she felt like it. Got any plans for tonight?). Back with Loid he starts looking for a potential bride while taking on the mission of uncovering some smuggling ring because they’re short on agents due to the recent spy hunts (and remember how I asked why they didn’t give him a female agent for this mission? Well they explained this plot hole with the spy hunts as most of the spies getting caught are female. Okay, I’m not a baseball guy but way to cover your bases). While getting Anya’s measurements at a clothing store, Loid runs into Yor where she notices his gaze on her (I mean who wouldn’t be watching her? She’s pretty). Anya reads her mind to find out that she’s an assassin and instantly likes her (man, your dad’s a spy and your mom is an assassin. Anya has the coolest and most badass parents ever). Wanting to add more entertainment to her life, Anya plays matchmaker by saying she doesn’t have a mom and this opens the door for Yor and Loid to work out a deal with each other (scene here: https://youtu.be/IfYruUj7QGQ, a relationship built on lies. (Corbin): Is there any other kind?). Loid gets more details about the smuggling ring making a deal this Saturday which is the same day as Yor’s party. Getting the help of his informant, Franky, Loid tries to bust the smuggling ring quickly where they succeed in getting all the paintings and making their escape. Yor goes to the party alone where her co-workers mock her (bitches can be so cruel) and just when she’s about to leave Loid arrives (uh you got a little blood on your suit, buddy). Loid accidentally says they’re married and this makes one of her co-workers jealous (why, I have no idea. Bitches get jealous over the stupidest of things). She tries to embarrass Yor in front of everyone but that fails and Loid even speaks up for her (scene here: https://youtu.be/xBJInyy2nRI). They quickly take their leave where remnants of the smuggling gang attack them and they fight back. During the fight Yor actually says they should get married as it’ll allow her to cover her tracks as an assassin and save her from the spy hunts. It also helps Loid on his mission (it’s a win-win for both sides). Using a pin from a grenade as a ring, Loid and Yor make a vow to be together until death do them apart (or until his mission or her killing takes them away. Scene here: https://youtu.be/vr68yGdMNJ0).
Yor officially moves in with Loid and Anya in episode 3 (a spy, assassin, and mind reader living under one roof. Why is this the coolest and most wholesome thing I’ve ever seen in anime?). While the three get along quite nicely, they’re still far away from appearing as the ideal family. They decide to go out together where they do all sorts of fun things such as go to the opera (Anya would be me in this situation), the art museum (where I have concerning questions about Yor’s taste), the tailor, and then to a family photoshoot (scene here: https://youtu.be/XbK4bkV4KhY). They stop and check out a political speech to the public where we discover that Anya isn’t good with crowds as the overwhelming voices in her head makes her dizzy (just don’t go all Phoenix on me like in X-Men). While getting something to eat we see Loid rightfully stressed out as he continues to see that this mission will most likely fail (scene here: https://youtu.be/1fcr1Kjl0aY, have you tried being honest with them?). Sensing Loid’s stress, Yor suggests a change of pace. They go to a park where they see a man rob an elderly lady and our cool yet wholesome family leaps into action where Yor loses track of him, but Anya manages to find him and Loid takes him down. They return to the elderly lady and even take her to the hospital where she recognizes them as a good family. While the group still has a long way to go before the conference they’re at least on the right track.
It’s go time in episode 4 as our wholesome “family” goes in for the school interview where the teachers take this exam very seriously. The interview literally begins as soon as the parents and students walk through the front gate as the teachers are watching how the children and their parents walk failing them on that merit alone (and I thought the entrance exam in Food Wars was tough). They manage to score some elegant points by saluting the statue of the first headmaster, rescuing a boy from a gutter and having a change of clothes for such an occasion (Loid came prepared). However, things get out of hand when the school animals get loose and go wild. Yor steps in where she subdues the bull by hitting its pressure points (mama knocked you out) and this manages to calm (or rather scares) the other animals who return to their pens and the family changes clothes once again after the second clothes got ruined (scene here: https://youtu.be/dEVWtc4QsNc). We then go to the interview where Loid is definitely nervous (for the first time ever he has to rely on someone else to make his mission a success). The interview begins where they win over two of the teachers but the third teacher poses as an obstacle to them. The guy went through a terrible divorce with his wife, lost custody of his daughter and visiting rights, and now takes his anger out on other families. He insults Yor for not cooking which secretly pisses off Loid (I do like how he keeps telling himself they’re not a real family but still gets mad whenever someone insults them. It shows how deep down he cares for Yor and Anya and thinks of them as his true family despite that they’ve only known each other for a few days) and even makes Anya cry by asking her which mom she loves best, Yor or her birth mom (insulting Yor is one thing. But making Anya cry? You have made a very very big mistake). Just when Yor is about to go all assassin for making Anya cry, Loid destroys a table squashing a mosquito to vent out his anger and takes his leave with the others saying he won’t allow Anya to attend a school that cares so little for a child’s emotions. Once they leave one of the teachers punches the teacher who was badmouthing them (scene here: https://youtu.be/fL9pqVD1C2E, elegant punch!). Later that night as everyone sits around believing that they failed and will have to kiss this family life goodbye, Yor and Anya stay positive believing that despite this misstep there’s still a chance that they’ll pass.
Episodes 5-8
Episode 5 starts with some bad news and good news. Bad news, Anya didn’t make the cut to get in (okay, who wants to get their ass kicked first?). Good news, she’s on top of the waiting list meaning if someone chooses not to attend the academy Anya gets to take their spot (alright, your asses are safe. . . for now). Three days go by where they receive the call that Anya has been accepted into the academy (now I don’t want to cast suspicion but did Yor assassinate someone? I mean she killed for Anya so I’ll accept it). Everyone celebrates with Franky coming over with booze and food (you forgot the blackjack) and in his drunken state makes Loid promise to get Anya anything she wants. Anya doesn’t want anything, however, she does want to do one thing that’s special to her. She wants to play spies and princesses in an actual castle. Loid and his agency make it happen by renting out an actual castle and calling all spies in the area to the castle to make Anya’s dream come true (Loid is such a good papa). Loid plays the hero, Franky the villain, Yor is an extra (scene here: https://youtu.be/sEs4b-XwsA8), the other spies are henchmen and Anya is the princess that Loid has to save. Now, one thing I really do like about this episode is how it expands on the chapter it’s based off of. What do I mean by that? Well, in the manga, the setup is pretty straightforward and quick as Loid beats Franky and that’s it. In the anime they go all out and show off. Instead of Loid just taking on Franky, all the other spies get involved and try to stop him, he dresses up as the character from Anya’s favorite spy show, we get to see more of the castle that they didn’t show in the manga, his fight against a drunk Yor is cute and funny, and even the ending with him easily defeating Franky and sharing a moment with Anya is hilarious and wholesome (scenes here: https://youtu.be/_WmJOtAYH80, https://youtu.be/Ipr0YNnwlXA and https://youtu.be/gnJk0J4trtA).
Episode 6 begins with our family at the tailor getting Anya’s measurements for her uniform. The tailor does warn them to be careful as there’s a wall between alumni and non-alumni parents which seems to breed discrimination and bullying amongst the students (sounds about right. Even at an early age kids can learn to discriminate against others without knowing it. They’re just following the behavior of their parents). There’s also the fact that students have been known to be kidnapped and held at ransom for money (anybody tries to kidnap Anya has a death wish. Because Loid and Yor will inflict the wrath of God on them. The question is who would be worse, Loid or Yor?). 5 days later Loid gets called in for a briefing where we meet the lovely Handler (whatever dirty thought you’re thinking erase it from your minds now) aka Sylvia. She gives him details of Eden’s system where the top students are known as Imperial Scholars. Donovan’s oldest child happens to be one of these Imperial Scholars so in order to reach him Anya must become one as well (easier said than done). In order to become an Imperial Scholar, students must acquire eight medals of merit known as Stellas which can be earned through academic achievements and contributions to society. There’s also Tonito which works as a discipline system at the school for students who get bad grades or misbehave. If you get eight of them you’ll be expelled. While Loid is getting his briefing, Anya and Yor go to get Anya’s uniform where they stop by the supermarket on the way home and Anya gets kidnapped by some thugs (oh you have made the biggest mistake of your stupid lives). Luckily, Yor finds them quickly and scares them away (scene here: https://youtu.be/pLBpBb_psG4?t=9). Anya then asks Yor to train her in martial arts so that she won’t feel afraid so much and can defend herself. The next day, it’s the first day of school and Anya gets put in the same class as Damian, Donovan’s second son thanks to Loid who has decided to go with plan B (because plan A is 90% impossible. I like Anya, but no). He’ll have Anya befriend Damian who will invite her over for a play date and this will allow the parents to meet (the quickest way to a parent is through their child). Damian quickly asserts himself as the alpha kid of his class (complete with stooges. Man, this kid works fast). Anya quickly gets on Damian’s bad side and becomes the subject of his bullying, but thanks to Yor’s training she establishes that his BS isn’t going to fly here and straight up punches him (friendship was never an option. Only violence. Scene here: https://youtu.be/7xX6SJ_g2q0). Anya gets in trouble and gets one Tonito starting the school year on an interesting note.
In episode 7 is the next day of school and Anya is determined to make amends with Damian. We quickly see that everyone is distancing themselves from Anya after yesterday’s incident except for one girl named Becky who befriends Anya because she believes she is mature (https://youtu.be/GGn25URIss8). Loid gets worried and infiltrates the school dropping subtle hints for Anya to apologize to Damian (scene here: https://youtu.be/Wl98WcY9nbY). At lunchtime Anya finally gets the chance to apologize to Damian (in tears) where it’s hinted that he has a little crush on her (aww that’s cute). She’s the first person to ever defy him and he unknowingly finds that fascinating. So naturally he’ll be interested in her (or he’s just a masochist discovering his kink). Damian rejects her apology and runs away embarrassed (scene here: scene here: https://youtu.be/Tg8C6yvZNhg, he’s entering his tsundere phase. Ah~ to be young). With the friendship plan seemingly destroyed (only on the surface), Loid doubles down on his efforts to make Anya an Imperial Scholar. Unfortunately, Anya doesn’t understand her math homework and runs away (something I’m sure we can all relate to). When Loid is about to go after all, Yor stops him and tells him to give Anya some space because he’s pushing her too hard. The two talk about Yor’s little brother Yuri for a little bit and this helps Loid realize that he doesn’t need to be in such a hurry with Anya (tranquilo, take it easy. We’ll reach our goals in due time). When Loid goes to check up on Anya he sees that she’s been doing self-studying this whole time and fell asleep (scene here: https://youtu.be/bfx3tboOwZ4).
We finally get to meet Yuri in episode 8 and just like everyone else in this anime he has a secret. On paper he’s a diplomat who works in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but in truth he’s a member of the National Security Agency or the Secret Police as people like to call them. His job is to find spies, interrogate them, and torture them (it’s the torturing that makes this job worth having). He’s also a huge siscon who won’t let any man near Yor (can’t say I blame him. She cleans, she protects, she assassinates and she’s cute. Who wouldn’t be protective of a sister like her?). Anyway, Yuri finally comes over to Loid and Yor’s house where he instantly doesn’t like Loid (in his eyes he’s not good enough) and Yor comes up with the perfect excuse for why she didn’t tell him about her marriage. Right away you can tell Yor doesn’t know about him being a Secret Police officer and Yuri isn’t unaware of Yor’s job as an assassin despite there being some pretty obvious giveaways (scene here: https://youtu.be/suCmElos4Q8. Fun fact, this scene was censored in China as they felt the blood was too gory for their audience. So they replaced the blood with a clear white liquid. THAT JUST MAKES THIS SCENE WORSE!). As the night goes on Yuri gets drunk not being able to handle this situation (and just like his sister he can’t handle his liquor) and Loid figures out that he works for the Secret Police based on a backstory about where he brought the wine. Yuri finally confesses that he’s okay with Yor getting married, but what he can’t accept is someone claiming that they’ll be able to protect Yor in his place. When he sees Loid and Yor flinch from touching each other he starts to get suspicious and demands that they kiss each other to prove they’re really married (https://youtu.be/sq_Fm7qfRQk. Scene here: https://youtu.be/908M5o2QBAY).
Episodes 9-12
At the start of episode 9 before Loid and Yor can make the internet explode Yuri stops them and a drunken Yor accidentally smacks him (twice. Scene here: https://youtu.be/coPvAg6DH08). Yuri takes his leave but he vows to find evidence that Loid is tricking her and execute him. In the second half Loid suspects that Yor might be working for the Secret Police as well. He plants a bug on her, spies on her, and even disguises himself as a secret officer in order to interrogate her and finds out that she’s clean (relatively speaking). She doesn’t know about Yuri being in the Secret Police which means she’s safe and Loid can’t help but feel a little guilty for suspecting her. In the afternoon they head home together where he removes the bug and tells Yor to just keep being herself as she’s been fretting over the events of yesterday and felt she wasn’t being a good wife.
Episode 10 is a quick one. There are rumors going around that students can get a Stella Star if they become the MVP in their next gym class (or as I was taught to call it, P.E. class). With rumors of a Stella Star being up for grabs, Anya gets trained by Yor to prepare for the dodgeball game (scene here: https://youtu.be/Z8GSmpR1FGI). We also see Damian do some training as he’s determined to get a Stella Star as well and earn favor with his dad. We find out that Damian is neglected by his dad who only pays attention to Damian’s older brother, so Damian tries extra hard to earn his dad’s attention (while this doesn’t excuse his attitude it does make him relatable to some extent). On the day of the dodgeball match, we see that Anya’s class is taking on another class where they have a kid on steroids (https://youtu.be/RvK1F-Thrzk). The steroid kid named Bill (nicknamed Bullet Bill. The sincerest form of flattery) easily takes out the opposing team leaving only Anya and Damian left standing. In a move I can only describe as a Chad move, Damian takes a hit for Anya who fell down leaving only her to play for her team (scenes here: https://youtu.be/jXtExN4ln3U and https://youtu.be/w0wmb10iFqc). Anya gets ready to unleash her ultimate move but she didn’t factor in her own strength (which is weak as fuck). Anya gets eliminated and the other class wins. It then gets revealed that the rumors about the Stella Star were false.
In episode 11 we see that Anya is still struggling with her schoolwork. While it would be easy for Loid to go in and change her grades he’s afraid that it’ll be too suspicious if she started scoring high marks out of nowhere (this is true, teachers are very suspicious of that). With the rate she’s going, getting a Stella Star might be impossible. However, we find out that there are other ways to get Stella Stars aside from academics. There’s art, music, athletics, and even community service (scene here: https://youtu.be/6iEUi4bcBs4). So the next day Loid and Anya head out to volunteer at the hospital. Anya keeps messing up on the simplest of chores and the staff asks them to leave (scene here: https://youtu.be/pNYmidPdqOQ). As they leave, Anya reads the mind of someone drowning in the pool and goes to rescue him. Anya tries desperately to swim to the drowning boy but can’t reach him (and that daunting music from Sonic the Hedgehog is starting to play). Luckily, Loid dives in and saves them both (scene here: https://youtu.be/h5tSZ05xl1s). Anya gets awarded a Stella Star for helping in the rescue (https://youtu.be/4cT13qRLQ0Y) and the next day at school is feeling incredibly confident and boastful (which is to be expected from a girl with an active imagination). However, some students are jealous and even badmouth her saying she pushed the boy in herself. Surprisingly enough, it’s Damian who comes to her defense despite being jealous himself (not because of the way she got the star but because she’s the first to get one fair and square. Scene here: https://youtu.be/estVoWcNXKw). Since she got a Stella Star, Becky makes the suggestion that Anya should ask her parents for an award. After discovering that Damian has a dog, Anya asks her parents for a dog as well in the hopes of getting closer to him. Loid says yes and they make plans to go out and find a dog.
In the final episode, we see Loid has been busy due to his organization giving him a number of missions per day. Due to a shortage of workers (I feel your pain man), Loid has had to take on more missions and is exhausted. This work has started to interfere with his main mission and the housewives are starting to gossip about him and the family (and that will attract the Secret Police). Not wanting his cover to be exposed, they decide to go on a family outing to the aquarium (a classic family trip). However, Loid gets forced to accept a mission to intercept a film capsule that contains information on constructing a bomb that terrorists are trying to get and the deal is going down at the aquarium. The capsule is in the belly of the penguin (no problem. We just wait for nature to call) but which penguin is the question as their exhibit has 200 penguins present (dressed in their best tux to boot). Anya is able to use her powers to find the penguin Loid was looking for and he goes under disguise as a new hire to get into the exhibit. He manages to secure the penguin but gets caught by one of the terrorists (just look at how creepy that guy is. I wouldn’t trust him for a second). Loid sees through his disguise and the terrorist escaped with Loid unable to pursue. Luckily, Anya and Yor take him down (scene here: https://youtu.be/J6VFqJ645Q4). Loid manages to secure the film and grills the terrorist for information on the other terrorists. Once Loid returns to the others, he gives Anya a giant penguin plushy as a gift. In the final quarter of the episode, Anya tries to sneak into Loid’s room only to get caught and yelled at which causes her to cry and she threatens to run away. Loid and Yor make her feel better by pretending to be her toys (scene here: https://youtu.be/D7kR4RldgR0) and after buying her some snacks her mood improved.
Final Thoughts
SpyxFamily manages to not only live up to my expectations but exceed them. The show has a good balance of comedy, action, and wholesomeness. I also like how the anime expands on some of the chapters a little more. Anya is by far my favorite character in this series. The one thing that makes her so great is the fact that she acts like a child her age. Whenever a kid has telekinesis powers, they’re usually smart and a little scary. Anya, on the other hand, behaves and thinks like a child. She has an active imagination, she’d rather watch cartoons than do homework, she’s not the smartest, and just like any child her age she longs for excitement and adventure. She has a good sense of right and wrong and I like how she uses her powers to help out Loid and Yor from time to time without exposing herself. Speaking of Loid and Lor they’re also good. Yor is cute and funny and I like how even though she’s an assassin she’s an incredibly sweet person. Her daytime and assassin persona are like night and day. If I didn’t know her and someone told me she was an assassin I wouldn’t believe you. Even though she’s only pretending to be a mother/wife she does care for Loid and looks after Anya as if she were her real mother. Loid is slowly enjoying his time as a family man. Despite this being a mission you know he cares for Anya and Yor as seen in episode 4 when he was ready to punch that guy for insulting Yor and making Anya cry. While these three may be keeping their secrets from each other they’re slowly becoming a family. In fact, they might be more family than most anime families out there. The rest of the side characters are good as well. The three that stand out to me the most are Franky, Damian, and Yuri. Franky and Loid are bros even though they don’t want to admit it. Damian’s tsundere feelings for Anya are cute and seeing how he has his own family troubles adds to his character. It makes us see him in a new light and not just some rich kid living off the name of his family. While it doesn’t excuse some of his actions we do get a better understanding of why he’s like this and it’s not like he’s an unlikable character. He has his moments where he’ll shine and show his caring side. Yuri’s sister complex makes me laugh and even though we didn’t get to see him that much he made his time on screen count. I look forward to seeing more of him and his interactions with Loid. I mean the fact that he’s a Secret Officer just feels right in this fake family setting.
The animation is good. You can tell Cloverworks took the lead here as the animation does resemble Kaguya-sama: Love is War. Once again the time frame gives off that early 1960s vibes as well as East/West Berlin conflict. While Cloverworks takes the lead on the animation aspect of the anime, Wit clearly led the charge in the music department. The music is great here. It’s a great mix of jazz and thriller that captures the spy aspect of the show. I really can’t think of any negatives on the show. Each episode does a good job exploring the characters, furthering the story and like I said expanding on chapters from the source material to make them better. I guess if I had to nitpick the ending did feel anticlimactic. It’s not bad but not the spot you would expect the season to end. It probably should have stopped on episode 11 and used episode 12 as a starting point for the next season.
Final Score
My final score for SpyxFamily is a very high and well-deserved 9/10 with a must-watch stamp of approval. This anime delivered and then some and I really encourage everyone to check out the manga on the Shonen Jump app. It’s easily one of their best exclusive mangas and I’m happy this anime wound up exceeding everyone’s expectations. The second half is set to come out this fall and I’m excited for what happens next. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.