Spy X Family is about an undercover spy, Loid Forger, who goes on an unexpected mission. As always, he uses his codename, “Twilight,” when he is on a mission. This time, his mission is to keep an eye on Donovan Desmond, the president of Ostania, who is not easily seen in public. The only time he is seen is when he attends his son’s school events. In order to take on the task, he needs to become a family man, which is the beginning of his journey with a child named Anya, who is a telepath.
The development of the relationship between Loid and Anya reveals the nature of his character. The opening shows that he is the type of guy who focuses on completing his mission at all cost. Just look at his reaction when he breaks up with Karen, the daughter of Edgar, after his mission is completed: to get the information he needed about her father, who is the leader of the Ostania criminal organization.
A similar thought comes to his mind when he adopts Anya from an orphanage. The reason he adopts her is because he thinks she is smart and will be able to get into the school that Desmond’s son attends. When the mission is over, he plans to bring her back to the orphanage instead of dealing with her crying. In the meantime, he just needs to find a way to learn how to handle her crying in public. He begins to read parenting books.
One day, he goes out without Anya, who tries to follow him. He spots her many times and ends up putting a barricade in front of the door to prevent her from getting out of the apartment. He meets Franky Franklin, an informant who informs him about Anya’s past. She was adopted four times, each with a different last name. Yet, she always ended up back at the orphanage. Her real name, her parents’ names, and her address are unknown. Twilight does not seem surprised. After all, he chooses her just for a mission, until a man breaks into his apartment and Anya is kidnapped.
Twilight looks everywhere in the apartment, but Anya is nowhere to be found. He begins to wonder who is the man who ambushes him in the apartment and who kidnaps Anya as a bargaining chip. He has a good idea of who is behind this. The problem is that he does not know if he should go get her back. His option is to rescue or replace her. If he rescues her, there is a good chance that his undercover identity will be exposed. If he replaces her with another child, his assignment will not be at risk.
Based on his reaction to Anya, it is assumed that he will find another child. He cannot stand her crying, and he is not planning to keep her after his assignment is over. However, something stirs in his heart that he chooses the first option. He goes to the location where Edgar is hostile to Anya, revealing the other side of his personality that has been hidden or forgotten.
Twilight is able to get her out by fooling Edgar and his team that he was caught, when in fact, that was not true. He disguises his facial appearance to look like the man who ambushes him in his apartment, to distract them from watching Anya. It works until Edgar and his criminal team discover that it is not the man who was caught.
Twilight runs while holding Anya, crying. He tries to console her as best he can, remembering why he despises the sound of a child crying. A flashback scene with his soliloquy reveals his part of his childhood’s memory of him crying in a destructible environment where no one came to his aid. He felt helpless, not knowing what to do except cry out in an act of desperation, hopelessness, fear, and pain.
When Twilight and Anya are out of the building, he writes something on a small piece of paper and directs her to the nearest police station. This way, she can give the note to the police officer. He tells her that this is a challenger game she used to play with others. Anya knows he is lying, but he does not know that yet. The doctor she knew in the past told her that she could never tell anyone about her ability. Therefore, she keeps it secret.
Anya listens as they go their separate ways. She looks back at Twilight, who feels bad for putting her in a situation like this. He thinks putting her in a better orphanage is better than getting her involved in his mission. His line of work is unsafe for a child like her to be involved in.
Twilight goes back to the building to finish the job. He had already set a trap there to the point where they could not go after Anya or escape from the building. After defeating Edgar and his team, he goes back outside, not expecting to see Anya again. She would be better off without him after what she had gone through, but no. He sees her hiding behind a public call box. He asks her what she is doing. Out of the blue, she runs up to him and hugs his leg. He does not want him to abandon her. They both know what it is like to be abandoned. That is why he brings her with him at the end.
Episode 1 has a good storyline. It is both funny and emotional. Blending the past into the present indicates that the character’s past is still haunting them, which is something that can relate to the audience. The investigation of the role conflict between the character and the environment advances the plot’s development. Then again, Forger feels like he needs to distance himself from her, along with not telling her his line of work. He does not want her to worry or put her in harm’s way. Therefore, will he expose his identity and his line of work to her later on?
Rating: 9.5/10
