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Within the constellation of popular titles that exist in the vast Japanese manga and anime universe, few shine brighter than Tatsuya Endo’s humorous espionage creation, Spy x Family. First introduced as a smash manga series written and drawn by Endo in 2019, this wild super-spy offering has attained the sort of loyal following that might make most comic books blush: It has enjoyed a total circulation of 30 million copies over its brief five-year history, and this spring its die-hard fans can enjoy a new animated feature film based on the treasured franchise.
The movie, which is titled Spy x Family Code: White, opened in theaters in Japan last December. Thanks to Crunchyroll and Sony Pictures Entertainment, it also arrived on U.S. screens this month (in its original Japanese language and a fresh English dub). According to the Japanese box office tracking firm Kogyo Tsushin, Spy x Family Code: White raked in over 6 billion yen (U.S. $41.39 million) as of Feb. 18, 2024, representing 4.44 million tickets sold, giving the feature-length release the distinction of being one of the year’s standout successes.
Clairvoyant Clan
Spawned from the pair of acclaimed 2022 and 2023 anime series and based on the mega-hit manga, this all-new animated action-comedy is directed by Takashi Katagiri (Attack on Titan, Great Pretender) based on an original script by Ichirō Ōkouchi (Code Geass) and produced by Wit Studio (Vinland Saga) and CloverWorks.
Spy x Family Code: White chronicles the comedic exploits of the Forgers, a fake family consisting of Loid, his wife Yor, young daughter Anya and their clairvoyant canine companion Bond, all of whom appear to be part of a seemingly mundane domestic unit — except for their uncanny skills as spy assassins and adept telepaths.
‘I valued the Spy x Family manga ever since I made Season 1 … I made reference materials by collecting the facial expressions of characters from the manga and the TV series.’
— Director Takashi Katagiri
As the official synopsis tells us: “He’s a spy. She’s an assassin. Together, Loid and Yor keep their double lives to themselves while pretending to be the perfect family. However, their adopted daughter Anya, a telepath, knows both of their exciting secrets unbeknownst to them. While under the guise of taking his family on a weekend winter getaway, Loid’s attempt to make progress on his current mission, Operation Strix, proves difficult when Anya mistakenly gets involved and triggers events that threaten world peace!”
Katagiri was a key contributor to Spy x Family’s first two anime seasons, acting as storyboard contributor, episode director and overseeing the production as series assistant director.
“I valued the Spy x Family manga ever since I made Season 1,” Katagiri explained in Newtype magazine regarding the transition from anime series to feature film. “For example, I made reference materials by collecting the facial expressions of characters from the manga and TV anime. In addition, I added the elements of the manga while checking what kind of reaction this character would have in a specific situation. In this sense, there was a concept of making it the same as a TV series. Of course, this time it was a movie so it was long, but Okouchi’s scenario was quite interesting, so I was able to follow it and make it.”
Megan Shipman is the English-dub voice actor for Anya Forger, who attends the upper-crust Eden Academy and whose accidental mishaps seem to be the trigger point for their pretend vacation operation going awry.
“I really enjoy the element of ‘found family’ that runs throughout the entire series,” Shipman tells Animation Magazine. “Tatsuya Endo has written the Forger family in such a fun and dynamic way that makes you root for them no matter what is happening. It’s wonderful that even when they are all focused on different tasks, the driving force behind it all is to keep their new family together.”
Goofy Games
Shipman adds, “Anya is such a fun kid that is truly just a goofy kid at heart. She just happens to have a superhuman ability. When I initially auditioned for Anya, I could immediately tell that she was a source of comedic relief in the show. She was silly and said whatever popped into her mind. I based a lot of my vocal style on what I heard of the Japanese cast in that initial trailer. I do my best to bring the amazing and talented works of the Japanese cast into everything I do, and I hope that English viewers have as much fun listening as I do voicing Anya.”
Another prominent member of the English cast is Phil Parsons, who portrays Dmitri, one of two comic-relief minions working for the sinister Type F’s nefarious crime organization.
“The family dynamic blended with international intrigue is, for me, a winning combination,” Parsons explains surrounding the project’s appeal. “Dmitri is a bungling villain with a lot of quirks. I tried to give him enough menace to be a credible threat to Anya but enough goofiness to bring the comedy. Cris George, one of the great ADR directors at Crunchyroll, is always fun to work with, and he knew what the project and this role needed, so no research was necessary on my part.”
The main action in Spy x Family Code: White takes place in a chilly region called Frigis, just north of the Forger clan’s regular home base of Berlint in the fictional country of Ostania, which borders the rival republic of Westalis. This wintry location provided Katagiri with many gratifying artistic challenges and opportunities to expand the world-building.
“Drawing snow country is difficult in terms of animation production,” Katagiri notes in the interview. “In the daytime scene the screen becomes white, so the balance of the screen must be considered so that the color does not disappear, and I had to make sure the screen didn’t get monotonous in the night scene. If you draw a scene where snow falls or a scene where a character leaves a footprint when walking, the paper sheets will increase tenfold. In terms of sound, the method of making sound varies depending on whether it snows or not. It was important to adjust the whole thing so that the workload did not increase unnecessarily.”
Crunchyroll and Sony Pictures Ent. released Spy X Family Code: White in select U.S. theaters on April 19. The film is available in both Japanese with English subtitles and dubbed in English.
