Spy × Family (TV series)

Season 1

Produced by Wit Studio and CloverWorks, the first season of Spy × Family was broadcast on TV Tokyo in 25 episodes divided into two parts.^[7] The first part, consisting of 12 episodes, aired from 9 April to 25 June 2022,^[8] and the second part, the last 13 episodes, aired from 1 October to 24 December 2022.^[9] The first season was directed by Kazuhiro Furuhashi, with music by (K)now Name, character designs by Kazuaki Shimada, while Kazuaki Shimada and Kyoji Asano are chief animation directors.^[10] It was first announced in October 2021.^[10][11]

Following the chapter naming practice of the original manga, the episode titles in the anime series are written as "Mission" with a number (e.g. "Mission 1", "Mission 2", etc.) which the counting continues to the subsequent seasons. This season adapts 38 main chapters of the manga, from Mission 1 to Mission 38, along with a couple of side stories: Extra Mission 1 and Short Mission 1 to 5.

Season 2

In December 2022, a second season and a theatrical film were announced at the Jump Festa 2023 event.^[12][13] Ichirō Ōkouchi is replacing Furuhashi as scriptwriter, with the remaining staff and cast reprising their roles. The second season, consisting of 12 episodes, aired from 7 October to 23 December 2023.^[5][14]

Continued from last season, the season starts with "Mission 26" and adapts 21 main chapters of the manga, from Mission 39 to Mission 59, along with a couple of side stories: Extra Mission 2 and Short Mission 6 to 7.

Season 3

On 9 June 2024, a third season was announced at the Spy × Family Anime Extra Mission special event.^[15][16] Yukiko Imai is replacing Furuhashi and Takahiro Harada as the season's director, while the remaining staff and cast reprising their roles.^[17] It aired from 4 October to 27 December 2025.^[18]

Continued from last season, the season starts with "Mission 38" and adapts 26 main chapters of the manga, from Mission 60 to Mission 87, along with a side story: Short Mission 10.

International release and distribution

This series is licensed by Crunchyroll, LLC^[c] along with streaming and home video,^[19][20] while it is distributed by Muse Communication in a selection of countries in Asia-Pacific.^{[d][21][22][23]} In other instances, Netflix handles distribution in the Asia-Pacific.^[24]

Japanese

English

Popularity

The anime had received high TV rating percentage since its release in April 2022, until the end of its first season.^[43] With the premiere of its second cour on 1 October 2022, Spy × Family sets a new record for TV Tokyo in time shift audience ratings. The president of TV Tokyo reveals that the series' second part was the "best among all programs on all stations for the July 2022 season", including the first episode of the second cour into July quarter's statistics.^[44] Its debut episode was the second most watched in Japanese streaming site.^[45] The series took second place in April and later rose and remained in the first place for the next three months (from May to July) in the Japanese monthly streaming rank lists and VOD rank lists, despite the fact that the anime stopped releasing new episodes in July.^[46]

Spy × Family has also started gaining mainstream popularity with a wide range of age groups, from children to adults. An official from Takara Tomy Arts said: "[the series] is popular among a wide range of people, just like Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba. Anya is particularly popular. It is likely that there will be even more toys and goods in the future, including products for children."^[47] Anya's popularity led to Toho make a music video heavily featuring her.^[48] Additionally, a Tamagotchi involving Anya was released in June 2022.^[49]

In a survey conducted by FinT, Spy × Family and Anya were ranked first and fourth respectively, on the top trending things among Generation Z in Japan for 2022.^[50] In the same survey, "Anya likes peanuts" (アーニャピーナッツが好き) was the no. 1 trending phrase of the year in part due to a mash-up with the song "Renai Circulation" on TikTok.^[50]

Spy x Family ranked as the most-watched anime title in the fourth quarter of 2025 in Japan.^[51] The series was also the most-watched title on Netflix Japan from 2021–2025, surpassing other anime series such as The Apothecary Diaries, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, and Dandadan.^[52]

Critical response

The series has met critical acclaim. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the first season of Spy × Family holds an approval rating of 100% based on six reviews, with an average rating of 9/10.^[53] The reviewers of Anime News Network praised the first episode of the series. Caitlin Moore and James Beckett gave it a perfect score; Moore lauded the show for its "consistent sense of comic timing" which perfectly deliver each joke and calling it a "guaranteed crowd-pleaser and a solid choice for almost everyone," while Beckett wrote that the "breakout star of the show" is Anya though what made him won over the show is its heart. Nicholas Dupree noted that "[the show] operates in a very precarious space between a goofy comedy of coincidences and a serious spy thriller, where the result is a world that mostly runs on cartoon logic." Richard Eisenbeis described Anya as a "fantastic little character" while praising the anime for its characters and world-building. Rebecca Silverman, similar to all of her manga reviews, she called Anya as the "beating heart of the series" while praising the anime for its story and animation.^[54]

Kambole Campbell of Polygon noting about Twilight's parenthood to Anya. While the action isn't particularly flashy, Campbell found that the animation in those moments is quite pleasing, and the choreography is precise and snappy.^[55] Rafael Motamayor of IGN praised the show for its comedy, action, animation, characters, and poignant commentary on family and class. He also compare Anya to Baby Sinclair of the 1990s comedy series Dinosaurs, while stating that "Spy × Family manages to strike a great balance between commentary, drama, action, and slice-of-life comedy without undermining any of those respective elements in the process."^[56] Rebecca Silverman of Anime News Network listed Spy × Family as the best anime of 2022, stated that the story crafts a delightful and emotionally meaningful tale about one family wrapped up in all of this. Silverman also hailed Anya and Bond as the best characters of 2022, due to how wonderful they are as a person and the dog in which they represent the same sign that Anya gets to keep the family she desperately wants.^[57]

Accolades

In 2022, Spy × Family won in the anime category while Anya Forger voice actress Atsumi Tanezaki won in the voice actor category of the Yahoo! Japan Search Awards, based on the number of searches for a particular term compared to the year before.^[58] Yor and Anya Forger were ranked fifth and tenth respectively, on the top 10 overall buzzwords list while the anime series was awarded the Pixiv Award at Japan's Internet Buzzword Awards.^[59] In 2023, the series received the award for Animation of the Year at the Tokyo Anime Award Festival.^[60] At the 7th Crunchyroll Anime Awards, Spy × Family was one of the three series to win the most awards with six; the series won in the categories: Best New Series, Best Comedy, Best Supporting Character and "Must Protect at All Costs" Character (Anya Forger), Best Ending Sequence ("Comedy" by Gen Hoshino), and Best VA Performance – Portuguese (Nina Carvalho as Anya Forger). It was also nominated for twelve other categories, including Anime of the Year.^[61] It won the 2023 Excellence Award at Japan's 28th annual Association of Media in Digital (AMD) Awards.^[62] In June 2023, the anime series won the Character License Award at the Japan Character Awards by Japan's Character Brand Licensing Association (CBLA).^[63]

Awards and nominations