Spy × Family

• 1. Introduction

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  Spy × Family, a Japanese web manga written and illustrated by Tatsuya Endo, had more than 42 million copies in circulation by April 2026. That puts it among the best-selling manga series of all time. Its hero is an agent known as Twilight, and his latest orders sound like a joke: he must "build a family." There is no vault to crack and no border to cross. The assignment is a household, complete with a child and a spouse. The story plays it as comedy, with spy action running through every chapter. Why would a government spy need a daughter and a wife? Who dreamed this up, and how did a biweekly series on a phone app end up on stages, in theme parks and in cinemas? The answers begin with a mission that goes sideways from the first page.

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• 2. The Mission

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  Two rival nations, Westalis and Ostania, sit uneasily at peace, and a Westalian agent code-named Twilight has been ordered to keep it that way. His target is Donovan Desmond, leader of the National Unity Party in Ostania. Desmond is notoriously reclusive, so Twilight cannot simply walk up to him. The one opening is the private school attended by Desmond's son, Damian. If Twilight enrolls a child there, he can stand beside Desmond as a fellow parent.

  To make that cover work, Twilight becomes Dr. Loid Forger, a psychiatrist. He adopts an orphan girl named Anya. He then marries Yor Briar, a clerk at an Ostanian city hall.

  Each new relative hides something Loid does not know. Anya is a telepath, and Yor is a professional assassin. Yor has her own reason for the marriage. In paranoid Ostania, a single adult woman draws suspicion and attention, so she wanted a cover too. Loid and Yor have no idea who the other really is, while Anya can read both secrets straight from their minds.

  Later the household takes in a Great Pyrenees dog named Bond. Bond has precognitive abilities, and only Anya is aware of them. Meanwhile Twilight, after years of spying, sometimes lapses in ordinary common sense as he tries to be the perfect father and husband. That mix of professional polish and everyday slips is where much of the story's humor lives.

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• 3. Making the Series

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  Tatsuya Endo and his editor Shihei Lin have known each other for more than ten years. Lin edited Endo's first manga series, Tista, which dates to 2007. When Lin moved from the Jump Square editorial department to Shōnen Jump+, Endo happily followed, and the two began developing a new work.

  That work borrowed elements from three one-shots Endo had published in Jump Square, one of them titled I Spy. Lin says the editorial department reacted so warmly that serialization was practically decided before the official meeting was even held.

  The first draft carried the working title Spy Family, written in Japanese. Endo came up with more than 100 alternatives. In the end they kept the original idea but wrote it in English with a "cross" between the two words, a touch influenced by Hunter × Hunter.

  Tone was a deliberate choice. Both Tista and Blade of the Moon Princess have a dark mood, so Lin asked Endo for something more cheerful. Lin says the two of them stay conscious of the line where the violence a spy story needs is excused for the sake of comedy.

  Anya was inspired by the main character of Rengoku no Ashe. Her extrasensory perception was settled early, and Lin cites its comic use as one of the series' strengths. He also credits Endo's clean art and skill at conveying emotion, and says readers span all ages and genders.

  By volume two, Lin felt the world and characters were firmly established. He revealed that he and Endo would start adding longer narratives from there.

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• 4. Print and Prose

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  Every other Monday, a new chapter of Spy × Family appears on the Shōnen Jump+ app and website, a rhythm that began on the 25th of March 2019. Shueisha gathers the chapters into tankōbon volumes, 17 of them by April 2026. The publisher also posts the series in English, free of charge, on its Manga Plus platform.

  Viz Media began publishing an English version on its own website, also free and digital, on the 22nd of September 2019. Casey Loe translates it. The first Viz print volume followed on the 2nd of June 2020.

  The manga has one companion book, Spy × Family Official Fanbook: Eyes Only, published on the 2nd of May 2022. It collects character and world details, colored artwork, early character designs, guest artist contributions, a long interview with Endo, and commentary on most chapters by Endo and Lin. Viz announced on the 3rd of February 2023 that it had licensed the book, and the English edition arrived on the 3rd of October 2023.

  On the 2nd of July 2021, a light novel by Aya Yajima appeared with four unconnected chapters and a seven-page short story. In one, Anya and Damian get lost in a forest during a school nature camp. In another, Yuri takes Anya to a mock-up of future jobs for kids. A third follows Franky's short-lived romance with a blind opera singer from a prestigious family. A fourth shows the Forgers posing for a famous painter in a park. The short story features two waitresses who name the Forgers as their ideal family, among the many unhappy ones they see.

  On the 20th of December 2023, Shueisha released an audiobook of that novel, voiced by Miyuri Shimabukuro and Ryōhei Arai. It was the first Jump J-Books light novel ever to get one. The English edition from Viz followed on the 26th of December 2023, with Loe translating, Holly Fisher editing and Francesca Truman designing.

  A separate line of novel adaptations came from Shueisha's Mirai Bunko, announced on the 7th of April 2023. Hitomi Wada wrote the first volume, released on the 26th of May 2023, which follows the manga's first volume. The second, on the 4th of August 2023, covers manga volumes two and three. The third, on the 11th of November 2023, follows volume four.

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• 5. Anime and Film

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  On the 1st of November 2021, a trailer and a website announced an anime adaptation of Spy × Family from Wit Studio and CloverWorks. Kazuhiro Furuhashi directed, Kazuaki Shimada designed the characters, and (K)now Name composed and produced the music.

  The first cour aired on TXN stations from the 9th of April to the 25th of June 2022. The second ran from the 1st of October to the 24th of December 2022. Crunchyroll licensed the series outside Asia and announced an English dub on the 11th of April 2022. Muse Communication handled Taiwan and South and Southeast Asia, with streaming on YouTube, Netflix, iQIYI, Bilibili and Disney+ Hotstar, among others.

  Guidebooks tracked the run. Animation × 1st Mission arrived on the 4th of April 2022, and Mission Report:220409-0625 followed on the 2nd of September 2022, covering the first twelve episodes. Official Hige Dandism and Gen Hoshino, who performed the first opening and ending songs, are among those interviewed in it.

  At Jump Festa '23, on the 18th of December 2022, a second season was announced. Ichirō Ōkouchi replaced Furuhashi as scriptwriter, and its twelve episodes aired from the 7th of October to the 23rd of December 2023. A third season was announced on the 9th of June 2024, with Yukiko Imai taking over as director from Furuhashi and Takahiro Harada. It aired from the 4th of October to the 27th of December 2025.

  The film was also announced at Jump Festa '23, and on the 25th of March 2023 its title was revealed: Spy × Family Code: White. Takashi Katagiri directed, Ōkouchi wrote the screenplay, and Endo supervised and supplied original character designs. Tomoya Nakamura and Kento Kaku voiced the movie-original villains Dmitri and Luka. Banjō Ginga and Shunsuke Takeuchi were cast as Snidel and Type F. The film opened in Japan on the 22nd of December 2023 and in the United States and Canada in April 2024.

  Early audiences in Japan received a booklet called Spy × Family Code: White Film File, which held an original eight-page manga by Endo. Its print run was limited to 4 million copies, and the earliest screening on opening day was set for midnight, when distribution began. Later, AR illustration cards by Endo carried a QR code that shows a 3D pop-out Anya speaking her lines.

  The film also sparked crossovers. On the 2nd of July 2023, a collaboration with Street Fighter 6 was announced. Wit Studio animated a short in which Yor duels Chun-Li, and players received avatar costumes based on Yor's Thorn Princess dress and Loid's dark cyan suit. Parody posters followed for Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One and, on the 19th of September 2023, for the film Wish, featuring Anya and Bond.

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• 6. Beyond the Screen

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  The Imperial Theatre in Tokyo hosted the premiere of the Spy × Family musical in March 2023, with Toho Stage producing. A nationwide tour followed in April and May, stopping at the Kobelco Grand Hall in Nishinomiya and the Hakata-za Theatre in Fukuoka.

  Win Morisaki and Hiroki Suzuki played Loid, while Fuka Yuduki and Mirei Sasaki played Yor. Anya was shared among four actresses: Risa Masuda, Aoi Ikemuda, Miharu Izawa and Miharu Fukuchi. G2 handled the direction, screenplay and lyrics, and Shuhei Kamimura composed the music.

  A second musical was announced at Jump Festa '25 on the 21st of December 2024. It toured multiple cities from the 20th of September to the 30th of December 2025. Morisaki and Yuduki returned, Genki Hirakata and Sora Kazuki also played the leads, and four new actresses shared Anya.

  A Nintendo Direct on the 14th of September 2023 revealed the video game Spy × Anya: Operation Memories. Groove Box Japan developed it and Bandai Namco Entertainment published it. Players live through Anya's daily life with friends and family, taking photos for her diary, visiting places from the series, playing minigames such as dodgeball and customizing outfits. It reached Nintendo Switch in Japan on the 21st of December 2023, with PlayStation and Steam versions arriving worldwide in June 2024.

  At Universal Studios Japan, an attraction ran from the 17th of February to the 2nd of July 2023. Guests played newcomer agents of the in-universe spy agency WISE, solving hidden codes around the park before a live show with the Forger family. From the 1st of July 2025 to the 4th of January 2026, a VR/XR ride returned, converted from Hollywood Dream the Ride. Riders heard dialogue from Eden Academy students Anya, Becky Blackbell and Damian Desmond.

  An official art exhibition opened at Matsuya Ginza in Tokyo on the 20th of July 2023 and ran to the 13th of August. It then toured Osaka, Fukuoka and Sapporo, with "mission keywords" hidden around the venue for visitors to find.

  Shueisha's "Manga Dive" VR show at the Lumine Zero hall in Shinjuku featured Spy × Family alongside Chainsaw Man and Dandadan. Twelve projectors covered five surfaces and eight speakers supplied sound. The Spy × Family screening ran from the 14th of August to the 23rd of August.

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• 7. The Sales Climb

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  Less than a month after the first volume appeared in 2019, Spy × Family had 300,000 copies in circulation, counting both digital and print. Two months later, with volume two out, the figure reached 800,000. Volume three pushed it past 2 million, and by volume four it stood at 3 million. Shortly before volume four, the series ranked as the second fastest hit, behind Assassination Classroom.

  In 2020, volume three received an initial print run of 400,000 copies. Oricon placed volumes three and four among the top 30 best-selling manga volumes of that year. Volume six, released in December 2020, made Spy × Family the first Shōnen Jump+ series with an initial print run above 1 million, and the total passed 8 million. More than 4.5 million copies sold during 2020, making it the ninth best-selling manga that year.

  Volume six sold 537,558 copies in its first week, the second consecutive volume to debut at number one on Oricon's weekly manga list. In May 2021 the total hit 10 million, and it grew to 11 million by the next month. By November 2021 it was above 12.5 million, and more than 4.9 million copies sold that year, enough for eighth place.

  The anime changed the pace. On the 3rd of April 2022, on the eve of volume nine and the anime premiere, circulation stood above 15 million. By May 2022 it was over 21 million, and by August 2022 it reached 25 million, doubling in nine months. Over 10.6 million copies sold in 2022, the third best result of any manga that year, and the first ten volumes all ranked among the year's 25 best-selling volumes. The year closed above 29 million.

  On the 23rd of March 2023, Lin reported more than 30 million copies, on the eve of volume 11. The total reached 34 million by the 17th of December 2023. Volume 11 had a first print run of 1.55 million, Shueisha's third-highest of the 2023-24 period. Volume 14 followed with 1.3 million, also third-highest for 2024-25. By December 2025 the total passed 41 million.

  Overseas readers joined in. Circana BookScan, formerly NPD, has listed the series in its monthly top 20 adult graphic novels since June 2020. Volumes have appeared on the New York Times Graphic Books and Manga bestseller list since May 2021. Six volumes sold 220,000 copies together in the United States in 2021. In France, sales reached one million as of volume 6, and publisher Kurokawa reported more than 4.375 million by volume 11.

  The most recent volume on record, volume 17, ranked as the second best-selling manga volume between November 2025 and May 2026, with 553,059 copies.

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• 8. Acclaim and Awards

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  In December 2019, Brutus magazine put Spy × Family on its "Most Dangerous Manga" list of works with the most stimulating, thought-provoking themes. Later that month, Polygon named it among the best comics of 2019. The 2020 Kono Manga ga Sugoi! guidebook ranked it the best manga series for male readers. Honya Club surveyed 1,100 bookstore employees in Japan, and they put it first on their recommended comics of 2020.

  Online numbers kept pace. Lin reported 350 million views on Shōnen Jump+ in May 2022, then 480 million in August and 500 million about a month later. Da Vinci magazine topped its 2022 Book of the Year list with the series, which placed nineteenth in 2023 and seventh in 2024.

  Critics praised the humor and the art alike. Antonio Mireles of The Fandom Post reviewed the first 11 chapters as a great comedy about a dysfunctional family. He saw Loid as the straight man, Yor as the "dumb character" and Anya as the adorable child readers love. He did feel the joke of Yor's naivety was underused.

  Hannah Collins of Comic Book Resources called the first volume one of the best manga releases of 2020. She named Endo's range of facial expressions his secret weapon and wrote that Anya "steals every page she appears on." Morgana Santilli of The Beat praised the balance of espionage and heartwarming family moments, and compared the comedy to From Eroica with Love.

  Julia Lee of Polygon wrote that Endo took a premise that could have been a "typical, corny, action manga" and made one of the funniest contemporary series. She admired his knack for action scenes and his expressive panels.

  The prizes ran across continents. Spy × Family won the Kodansha Manga Award for best shōnen and the Manga Taishō. It took the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize Grand Prize twice, in the 24th and 27th editions. It also earned the Eisner Award for Best U.S. Edition of International Material - Asia, the Harvey Award for Best Manga, and a Youth Selection at the Angoulême International Comics Festival. In 2023 it received the Grand Prize of the 52nd Japan Cartoonists Association Award.

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