I’ve never watched Spy Family before. The manga has been a hit since 2022, with 30+ successful TV episodes under their belt. Going from a TV show to a movie can be a tricky proposition at times, but for the most part, based on White, I’m now much more interested in this weird little concoction of characters and premise that has delighted manga fans for a couple years now.
For the uninitiated like me, Spy x Family is as the title suggests, a story about a spy family. The funny hook: all of them have weird skills the rest of the family really don’t see. Dad Loid Forger (Takuya Eguchi) by night is Twilight, one of the great spies on the planet managed by handler Sylvia (Yuko Kaida). His wife/mom is Yor (Saori Hayami), one of the deadliest assassins on the planet called the Thorn Princess. They have an adorable dog Bond (Kenichiro Matsuda), who, like all dogs, can see into the future, which the parents don’t know. But the only one in the know is adopted like 8-10ish year old Anya (Atsumi Tanezaki), a telepath who can read the minds of human/animal, alike. The movie is about Loid’s latest mission to get Anya a special cooking award which helps him get closer to power to spy on them. But along the way, a misunderstanding makes Yor completely unsure of her position in this mission anymore, and Anya become wrapped up in Loid’s world when she stumbles upon intelligence desperately wanted by rogue military Colonel Snidel (Banjo Ginga) who will try to get back that information by any means necessary.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith, but with powers and a whole family. The well of misunderstanding comedy is wide and deep, and Spy x Family goes to it early and often. And yet, the jokes work, over and over again. That’s because of the fun double mission going on here. While Loid and sorta Anya are in the middle of an espionage mission, they’re also trying to win a school bake off, and have to gather the ingredients to help the restaurant make the dessert that will give Anya a heads up in the competition. All parties treat each new challenge/scenario with the exact same amount of urgency and attention, whether it be stop a giant war escalation, or searching for regional cherry liqueur across Frigis’s various markets. So watching Loid use his swift covert operations to outduel various carnies in carnival games is just beautiful silly nonsense. The family has all sorts of ulterior motives going on that emotionally messy the waters in ridiculous ways too. I particularly enjoyed Yor, remember, the deadliest bad assassin on the planet, and her deep insecurity about Loid’s potential infidelity and how she has to work harder to make him happy. There’s a matter of fact dialogue here that also just cuts right to the core of what’s going on, making everything 10% funnier too. When Anya, around a fountain, exclaims why aren’t there any fish in this water? Instead of either parent being sweet and explaining it to her, Loid curtly responds, “well, it’s a fountain…so….” that was so direct I burst out laughing to the surprise of my seat neighbors.
As far as animation style goes, Spy x Family is simply fine: not bad, not spectacular. For a long time the animators only have to draw markets and mountainside towns that look pretty, but likely won’t bring anyone to tears with their beauty. The best moments are when the family is in action, flying onto a blimp and scaling its surface in midair. Or confronting a giant bad guy in a firey room from hell. When the camera starts moving, the animators step up their game to give audiences something cool to look at while they’re laughing their butts off. In those moments too we get some sick action to wow at, in particular Yor’s confrontations, which escalate in difficulty and prove she’s the real star of the show.
At times Spy x Family Code: White does feel just like a long episode of the TV show. That’s fine, as long as the film stays true to the essence of the show. Sitting around a bunch of excited fans cackling at the stuff they were watching means the animators nailed it here, and for people like me, really made me think twice about getting a Crunchyroll subscription. I won’t, but I did think twice about it.