The Spy x Family manga now has 16 million copies in circulation thanks to the sales boost from the anime premiere.
This announcement doesn’t mean the Spy x Family manga has sold more than 16,000,000 copies…at least, not yet! If there are 16 million copies of manga in circulation, it just means that they are being printed and distributed and will probably eventually be bought.
Of course we can partly thank the anime for this, but the real reason is the story itself.
Father is a spy, mother is an assassin and daughter is an esper. The best part is that Mom and Dad don’t know the truth about their partner, while Anya knows everything.
Spy x Family takes the best of action and (ever) romance and combines them into one unforgettable book. I’ll focus on the first three chapters of this article and break them down.
So, covering the plot and characters and going through some theories about where the manga is headed. I’ll also discuss the awards Spy x Family won for the manga.
What is the Spy x Family story about?
In Chapter 1 we meet the spy known as Twilight. He is the man of a thousand faces, has been in the field for 10 years and is the best agent of WISE.
After receiving his next orders, Twilight must get married and have a child within a week. The mission is critical. The target’s name is Donovan Desmund.
He is the chairman of the National Unity Party of Ostania and the one who stands in the way of peace. The problem is that he rarely goes out in public.
But he does have two sons who attend Eden Academy. Demetrius and Damian. Eden Academy hosts an annual party for their best students known as The Imperial Scholars.
Luckily for Twilight, Eden is a huge school that takes in students as young as six, and any of them could become an Imperial Scholar.
He needs a child to enroll and a wife. And he only has one week to make it happen, and that’s where we meet Anya. Her actual age is unknown but she claims to be 6 so now famous man Loid Forger will adopt her.
Loid doesn’t realize that Anya is an esper, and she’s been reading his mind ever since they met. Thinking about her height and age, she tries to make herself taller by standing on tiptoe.
When he sees a crossword puzzle and begins to think of the answers, Anya writes them down and shows Loid. Anya’s ability is more for comedic purposes as she often takes thoughts out of context or puts a shocked face around her parents after hearing their thoughts.
Anya’s past is still a mystery, but we know she was once a test subject. Her favorite things are peanuts and spy anime. The fact that she quickly tells Loid after he thinks understanding Anya is the key to world peace.
Loid buys many parent books and studies them for the mission. Unfortunately, he did not understand that leaving a young child alone was difficult.
Loid returns to the apartment and discovers that Anya has been kidnapped. He disguised himself and told Anya to run to a police station. But he finds her sitting outside their apartment after the fighting is over, and Loid remembers why he became a spy.
He wants to create a world where children no longer have to cry.
How did Spy x Family become so popular?
Chapter 1 shows us that Loid is a nice man and will be a good father. Chapter 2 introduces us to Yor Briar. Also known as Thorn Princess and will be our lead actress.
Yor is one of those characters who walks between super cool and stupid. When she’s on a mission, Yor is unstoppable, and her hitman skills make her very good at cleaning.
Her cooking is another story. Unfortunately for Yor, being single at her age could be a reason to have her arrested as a spy. The fact that her younger brother Yuri and her colleagues quickly remind her.
Yor is stuck, she has to go to a party, but she has no boyfriend. So she goes to a shop to get her best dress polished, and Loid is surprised by her sudden appearance.
Yor’s name is on a list of potential wives, but Loid didn’t expect to notice that he was watching her. When she politely asks him if he wants something, Loid says he thinks she’s cute and apologizes.
Anya had her measurements taken and was delighted to read Yor’s thoughts. Anya decides to help Loid by saying how upset she is that there is no mother.
After talking for a while, Yor asks Loid if he would pretend to be her boyfriend at the party. Loid agrees and asks if she wants to give something back by posing as his wife for the school interview.
He tells Yor that his late wife’s dying wish was for Anya to attend Eden Academy, and Yor agrees. But Twilight often gets pulled away from other missions and shows up late to the party.
Loid has blood on him and is breathing heavily as he introduces himself as Yor’s husband. This makes one of Yor’s colleagues jealous and she tries to embarrass Yor.
But Loid waves it off, stating that Yor is a remarkable woman. But for Loid, nothing is more important than self-sacrifice and family.
Loid gives Yor a ring he stole earlier and the two exchange vows. It’s a very romantic scene, even with the murder and mission references in the background.
Will Spy x Family have a happy ending?
It’s too early to say, but Chapter 3 shows how quickly our main characters become a family. Anya calls Yor her Ma from the start and gets along very well with her.
To Anya, Yor is intense, scary and cool, and she wants to be just like them. Yor believes Anya is Loid’s daughter and tries her best to be a good mother.
The three practice interview questions and Anya studies a lot for the test. Unfortunately, Anya and Yor give bad answers, so Loid takes them to town.
They visit the opera and the museum and eat in a first-class restaurant. But when he sees Anya and Yor eating, Loid tries to come up with a plan that doesn’t require him to rely on them.
Seeing Loid get upset, Yor takes them to a park she likes to visit. The family enjoys the view until they see an old lady having her wallet stolen.
Loid says the old woman was careless, but Yor jumps down and tries to catch the thief. Anya uses her powers to find the wallet thief and attracts Loid’s attention by saying she wants cake.
Yor returns and Loid runs off; and he catches the thief and returns the purse. The old woman thanks them and says they make a nice family.
How successful is Spy x Family?
It’s time to talk about numbers† Tatsuya Endo’s latest masterpiece was published on the Shonen Jump+ website on March 25, 2019. On the Manga Plus app and website, Shueisha publishes Spy x Family in Japanese and English.
Viz Media started publishing Spy x Family on their website in English on September 22, 2019, with the first printed volume coming out in Spring 2020.
Japan has 9 parts while the English version is 7. You can also read Mission: 62-1 and Short Mission: 7 on Shonen Jump+. In 2020, Spy x Family was the 9th best-selling manga with more than 4.5 million copies sold.
In 2021, it was the 8th best-selling manga with over 4.9 million copies. Spy x Family had 800,000 copies in circulation when the second part came out.
It reaches 2 million with volume 3 and 3 million in volume 4. Volume 6 started with a print run of 1 million copies, which was a first for Shoen Jump+.
In 2019, Spy x Family won the Next Manga Awards and the 4th Tsutaya Comic Awards. Spy x Family won 2nd place in the 13th Manga Taisho and 3rd in the Da Vinci 21st annual Book of the Year award in 2020.
In 2021, Spy x Family won 10th place in the 14th Manga Taisho Prize. Unfortunately, only two episodes of the English dub are available, but Crunchyroll is doing well with the series.
What happens next for the Forger family? Will the truth come out? Will mommy and daddy fight each other? And Anya? Her powers make her an asset, but she’s still a kid, so how will this family survive?
I hope Spy x Family has a happy ending and that the series continues for a long time to come. Family is more than blood relationship. It’s about being accepted and accepting those you care about.
Loid and Yor are a perfect match and have already proven that they will do anything to keep Anya safe. Anya is the glue that holds this family together.
I feel sorry for anyone who hurts her when Mom and Dad are around.
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