Spy x Family Reveals Waku Waku Fifth Anniversary Plans

Spy x Family has some amazing things in store for the manga’s fifth anniversary.

Posted by celebrated editor Shihei Lin, who not only edits Spy x Family but is also the editor of Chainsaw Man amongst other works, Spy x Family will release five projects to celebrate its fifth anniversary. The first is a short film, animating the manga panels, with the anime’s voice actors providing the voices. A special website will be created in honor of the anniversary. In addition, Spy x Family will release new merch, new original illustrations and comments from creator Tatsuya Endo, and Endo will be holding their very first autograph session with only 400 people invited from Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, and Seoul.

Endo wrote a note celebrating the milestone with a new adorable illustration of the Forgers. “I started [Spy x Family] casually, thinking that as long as I could enjoy drawing it, that would be enough, but I never dreamed that so many people would also come to enjoy it,” the mangaka wrote. “It has been a very fulfilling five-year run, both enjoyable and fleeting, as well as painful and long, but the reason I have been able to continue this long is because of you, the readers, who have always supported me. Thank you very much.”

Spy x Family launched in Shōnen Jump+ on March 25, 2019 and contains elements from Endo’s previous one-shots. When the manga’s manuscript was first presented to the editorial department, it received such positive reception that the editors wanted it serialized before a meeting was officially held. The series currently has 13 tankōbon volumes as of March 2024 and has recorded over 34 million copies as of December 2023. Reception to the manga has been overwhelmingly positive with many praising the characters, family dynamic, comedy, and Endo’s artwork.

The series revolves around a seemingly normal family named the Forgers. There’s the father, Loid Forger, who works at a hospital and has an unusually vested interest in his daughter’s education. There’s the mother, Yor Briar, who is a city worker and possesses a rather unusual amount of strength. And then there’s Anya, the six-year-old daughter, who gives off the feeling that she can read your mind. It turns out Loid isn’t actually his real name; it’s a fake name the spy Twilight has adopted for his all-important mission called Operation Strix where he must get close to a man named Donovan Desmond in order to prevent him from breaking the fragile peace between Westalis and Ostania. The problem is is that he can’t do that unless he has a child to enroll in the prestigious Eden Academy, which is where Anya comes in.

The series received an anime adaptation, courtesy of CloverWorks and Wit Studio in April 2022 where it ran for two split cours. A second season aired in October to December 2023. An original film called Spy x Family Code: White released on Dec. 22, 2023 and earned 1.224 billion yen in the first three days and was number one in the box office for three weeks in a row. The film earned 4.41 billion yen in 18 days of its screening, selling over 3.29 million tickets.

The first two seasons of Spy x Family can be streamed on Crunchyroll. The first season will also be available to stream on Netflix later this year. The manga updates on a biweekly basis on Viz Media.

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