Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. You know, Spy x Family shouldn’t have worked. At a time when dark manga is in right now and even the author admitting to not being emotionally invested in the fate of his characters, Spy x Family is considered one of the most popular mangas today. The wholesome comedy won fans over with its cast of likeable characters each having a secret they kept from each other and their whacky day to day life. After two successful seasons it was announced that an original movie based off the manga would be made. This was obviously a way to keep the hype for the series up while we waited for the third season. Done once again by Wit Studios (Kabaneri) and Cloverworks (The Promised Neverland), the movie debuted in 2023 and was met with positive reviews all around. Let’s be real while looking at a fake family. This is Spy x Family Code: White.
The movie begins by quickly establishing the Forger family and their secret lives (because there’s always that one person who goes into the movie not knowing who these characters are and what the story is about. I’m looking at you MCU movie goers). We see Loid successfully infiltrate a masquerade ball and escape unnoticed. Yor assassinates some gun smugglers and Anya welcomes them back with open arms after reading their minds (a spy, assassin, and Esper living together and pretending to be a family. Nothing out of the ordinary here. Oh, and they have a dog that can see the future and an uncle who’s working with the secret police and has a sister complex). After introductions are done, Loid finds out that he’s being taken off his current mission and being reassigned to another one. The higher ups are upset by how slow the operation is going, but Loid thinks he can change their mind if he shows major progress in the operation (kill Desmond). As Loid leaves, he runs into Fiona and Yor spots them from afar believing they kissed (good eyesight woman. Forget 20/20, that was 40/40) and thanks to the gossip from her friends she starts to believe Loid is cheating on her (anybody who cheats on Yor deserves to die). When Anya returns from school, she tells them that she’s entering a dessert competition where the winner will receive a stellar star. Seeing this as an opportunity to show progress on the operation, Loid steps in to help. The judge is the school’s principal and knowing that his favorite dessert is meremere (based off the lemon meringue tart) from Frigis, Loid plans a family vacation to visit the restaurant so that they can taste the tart and recreate it.
On the train ride to Frigis, Anya discovers a key and unlocks a suitcase which cases some chocolate treat. Apparently, this treat was big as some suspicious men go after her, but she gets saved by Yor (scene here: https://youtu.be/sVpy03c6X6c?si=eKW1wqrnaJ7dfz1h, fulfilling her motherly duties as always). They finally make it to Frigis which is giving off major Canada/Hokkaido vibes (I wonder if they have a Tim Horton’s here?). They go to the restaurant and order the meremere but before they can enjoy it military personal led by Colonel Snidel burst in. He forcefully takes the meremere from them so that he can enjoy it for himself (https://youtu.be/EYWbatgKN4g?si=eBh8h03RFMnYxQ38). Loid steps in and tries to get the meremere back diplomatically, but Snidel has a better idea. He challenges Loid to a tasting contest and identify the sugars within each item. While Loid gets the answers right, Snidel not only answered them correctly, but he actually wrote down how many grams of sugar were used in each one (that’s the level of detail I aspire to have when I eat food). Snidel eats the meremere and takes his leave. The restaurant can’t make anymore as they don’t have the ingredients so Yor suggests that they gather the ingredients themselves. They head out with Loid gathering a majority of the ingredients. Including the orange syrup from this rigged game stand. As they continue to gather ingredients we see Yor still worried about Loid cheating on her despite giving her a gift earlier (Loid, spoil your wife). After getting drunk and causing a scene, Anya forces Loid and Yor to ride the Ferris wheel where they sort out their issues (albeit with an unorthodox ending. Scene here: https://youtu.be/6JSv55v-4HI?si=EDEdmaXzAFebQsYu).
Meanwhile, we find out that Snidel is trying to instigate war with Westalis and that the chocolate ball Anya ate contains a microfilm with information to spark the war (that little girl’s digestive system is the only thing preventing war). Back with the Forgers, Loid sends Anya and Yor back to the hotel to find the last ingredient, cherry liquor. He has no luck finding it (he even went as far as sneaking into places conducting shading business to find it) but Anya and Bond use their powers to find it and decide to go get it themselves (this girl sneaks off just as much as the Rugrats). Anya and Bond sneak out and retrieve the liquor (it’s non-alcoholic and apparently she had the money to buy it) only to get captured by Snidel’s men and brought to his airship. Loid finds out about this and takes off to rescue her along with Yor tagging along. Anya tries to keep herself from having to go number 2 but there’s only so long you can hold it in (not to mention it’s bad for your bowels). After getting the most created and weirdest animation sequence in the movie (seriously, they put way too much effort into this), Snidel has enough and orders his men to cut her belly open. She manages to escape just as Loid crash lands onto the ship and heads inside while Yor sneaks her way inside. From here, the movie gives us all-out action. Yor takes on this terminator-like super soldier and Loid takes on Snidel and his men to rescue Anya (one thing I do like is how Loid and Yor are different in their approach to fighting. Yor is more head-on while Loid is more tactful. He tries to avoid fights but if he must can hold his own. While Yor uses her agility and assassination skills to take down her opponents. Both are also masters at using the environment to their advantage. A showdown between these two would be very interesting). Yor manages to defeat the super soldier (you’re fired) and Loid takes down Snidel while disguised at him. Loid tricks all the soldiers to abandon the ship and rescues Anya. They then meet back up with Yor (the family is reunited) and land the ship safely in a lake. They all escape leaving no trace of their involvement (scene here: https://youtu.be/g2VtbzAmL_E?si=syxm4jj1A7ThyvCb).
We then wrap up the movie with Loid being allowed to continue the operation as his replacement was caught cheating (what a dumbass). As for Anya’s cooking class, there was an explosion and the competition got postponed (what did you expect, they’re like 6 years old) with the principal being replaced by the vice principal who happens to like a special pudding that you can only find in the south (well, time for another family trip).
Final Thoughts
And that was Code: White. Overall, it’s a good movie that feels like an extended episode and actually fits within the canon. The story is good, there’s funny moments, and the action scenes are well-animated. The movie shows off once again why we love this fake family and how much they truly care for each other. If I had to nitpick I think the subplot of Yor thinking Loid was cheating on him might have dragged on more than it should of but at the same time it fits within her character to overreact to what her coworkers gossip about. Real or not this is her first relationship with a guy so of course she’s going to be self-conscious about what others say about relationships.
Final Score
The final score for Code: White is an 8/10. If you’re a fan of the anime, manga, or both definitely check this movie out. You’ll enjoy it. Hopefully, they make more movies down the line. I would love to explore new places in the Spy x Family world they don’t show in the manga. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.