I first found out about this series when barely five chapters had been released, and I’ve been a faithful follower ever since. We’re now about 120 chapters in, with no clue about when it may end, due to its mainly episodic nature. Amidst a fuckton of isekai stories (I’m not shitting on them; I love me some isekai) and stories similar to other existing ones in the Japanese market, Spy x Family is unique in setting, concept, and general tone. The story is set in a fictional continent similar to Europe in the fifties (or at least the Japanese’s idealized image of past Europe), that is experiencing a cold war between two countries named Westalis and Ostania (basically West Germany and East Germany while the Berlin wall was still up).

Our protagonist is a man whom we come to know as Loid Forger (fake name). He’s generally known as Twilight, a legendary spy feared by the rival country of Ostania. He’s been tasked with stopping the warmongering ways of a former prime minister of the enemy country. Given the former prime minister’s reclusive nature, Twilight’s handlers decide that their best chance of worming their way into the prime minister’s life is through his son Damian, who is going to attend an exclusive school. Twilight can’t attend it himself, so he needs to figure out how to get a child, and because the exclusive school looks down on single parents, he’ll need to get himself a wife as well.

Twilight, settled in the enemy country of Ostania, visits an orphanage. That’s how we’re introduced to the most popular character of the story, as well as one of the most popular of modern manga: Anya. The author could have reduced her to an adorable child, which she is, but instead she’s also smug, a bit of a dolt, barely interested in anything but food and her hobbies, and can also read minds.

The author masterfully makes Anya a constant source of joy thanks to her peculiar personality and how she approaches problems. A telepath, she’s aware that her new father is a spy for a foreign nation, which she finds exciting. One of the first things she does is use his spy devices and accidentally get herself kidnapped.

As mentioned, Twilight needs a wife for the mission. They meet Yor, an attractive yet socially and emotionally stunted woman who also requires a husband for the sake of appearances. In her case, she’s the most lethal assassin of Ostania. Through an extremely memorable proposal involving a grenade pin, Twilight ends up married to his number one enemy.

Anya becomes the only person aware of the thorny circumstances of her new family, yet remains unable to fully comprehend them, as her mind is addled by the spy shows she’s addicted to.

What follows are the struggles of Twilight as he tries to turn his new daughter into an elite student, even though she’s an unmotivated idiot. Meanwhile, the overworked guy deals with other spy missions, as both countries continue with their tug-of-war to get the upper hand on the other. We meet many more memorable characters: Yor’s younger brother, who works for the secret police, is in love with his sister, and would love to throw Yor’s new husband in jail on principle. Twilight’s fellow spy Nightfall, his protégé and competent spy on her own right, is madly in love with the guy, and eager to get Twilight’s new wife out of the picture. Damian, the target’s son, a haughty tsundere who can’t accept the fact that he has fallen for the adorable Anya, as getting involved with a commoner would be unfitting of his station. The kids’ headmaster, an earnest man who evaluates the world in terms of elegance. The target’s wife, a subdued mess of nerves, obsessed with the occult, who has a bizarre suspicion about her husband’s real nature. Bond, a precognitive dog that the Forgers adopt. Becky, Anya’s best friend, the heiress of an arms manufacturing company, who despite being a child is planning to replace Yor’s role as Anya’s stepmother.

The author perfectly mixes humor with poignancy. Plenty of characters are marked by the pointless wars that both countries have fought against each other. Twilight himself lost his family (I don’t recall if he lost them in the war or if he was an orphan for as long as he can remember), and also lost his childhood buddies. He works as spy to preserve world peace against forces from both countries that intend to inflame hostilities.

This is mainly an episodic series. We’ve gone through elaborate arcs, such as one in which Twilight and Nightfall have to win a preposterous tennis tournament to get their hands on a piece of intel, one in which the Forgers fight off assassins in a cruise ship, or one in which Anya’s school bus gets hijacked by terrorists. We regularly get chapters focused on secondary characters or on minor aspects of the main characters’ lives, which don’t contribute much to the plot but are always well done. This is one series you always want to return to because you want to see more of the characters and the circumstances they find themselves in.

They’ve adapted this series, to my knowledge, into two seasons of anime and a movie. I only watched most of the first season, but it’s great.

Spy x Family is already a classic of modern manga, which you must read if you’re into the medium.