Review - Spy x Family: 8 Reasons to Watch

Three liars share one apartment, and the only one who knows everything is six years old and cannot keep a straight face.

Words by Jamie Harper 05 November 2026

SPY x FAMILY: Loid, Yor and Anya together, the Forger family

Three liars share one apartment, and the only one who knows everything is six years old and cannot keep a straight face.

Spy x Family is a spy story built like a sitcom, and we think it is the warmest comedy anime of the 2020s. Here are eight reasons, one on each slide.

Reason 1 - A spy who needs a family by Friday

SPY x FAMILY: a spy who needs a family by friday

Twilight, the best spy in Westalis, must get close to a politician whose son attends an elite school. To do it he needs a child, and a wife, fast.

So he becomes Loid Forger, psychiatrist and family man, and treats parenting like any other mission.

Reason 2 - Anya reads every mind in the room

SPY x FAMILY: anya reads every mind in the room

Anya, the girl Loid adopts, can secretly read minds. She picked him because his thoughts were about spies, and spies are the most exciting thing she knows.

She is the only one who knows the whole truth, and she understands about half of it.

Reason 3 - Yor, the assassin who works at city hall

SPY x FAMILY: yor, the assassin who works at city hall

Yor is a polite city hall clerk who needs a husband so people stop asking questions. At night she is an assassin called the Thorn Princess.

By the second episode she and Loid have a marriage of convenience, and neither of them suspects the other.

Reason 4 - Every episode is a lie about to break

SPY x FAMILY: every episode is a lie about to break

Each member of the family hides a secret from the other two, so every school interview and dinner party is a heist that could fall apart.

The comedy comes from watching three professionals improvise to save a cover story.

Reason 5 - A school where you earn stars

SPY x FAMILY: a school where you earn stars

Anya must get into Eden Academy and win eight Stella stars so Loid can meet his target. One rude classmate, Damian, makes that much harder.

A spy mission that depends on a six-year-old's grades is the best joke in the series.

Reason 6 - Action that looks like a spy film

SPY x FAMILY: action that looks like a spy film

Wit Studio and CloverWorks made it together, and Kazuhiro Furuhashi directed. When Loid or Yor finally fight, it is staged like a real action film.

Then the scene cuts back to the kitchen, and the contrast is the point.

Reason 7 - Mixed Nuts and Comedy

Official HIGE DANdism's “Mixed Nuts” opens the series and Gen Hoshino's “Comedy” closes it, one fast and bright, one quiet and tender.

Between them they sum up the show: a caper on the outside, a family on the inside.

Reason 8 - Where to start

The first season, 25 episodes from 2022, adapts Tatsuya Endo's manga, and a second season and the film Code: White followed in 2023.

Start with episode one, and watch it with someone. It is the rare anime that works for every age at the same table.

Where to watch

SPY x FAMILY was listed on Netflix, Crunchyroll and Hulu in the USA when we last checked, in October 2026. Catalogues change by country and by month, so check the service where you are.