Twilight is a super spy. He knows his mission, and he’s gathered a team to accomplish it. One teammate is a mind-reader, one is a deadly assassin, and one can tell the future. They ought to make short work of this mission. But first, they must learn to be a family.
The incredible spy known as Twilight has been given an equally incredible assignment: He must infiltrate the locked-down compound of one Donovon Desmond, the chairman of Ostania’s National Unity Party. It’s a matter of international urgency!
However, even Twilight can’t just stroll into a secure and heavily guarded domain like that. He may be a master of disguise, but he needs something extra for this mission, something special. So Twilight devises a brilliant plan: He’ll create a family! Then he’ll use that front to get to the chairman through the prestigious school that Desmond’s son, Damian, attends.
First, he assumes a new identity as Dr. Loid Forger, a respected, mild-mannered psychiatrist. Next, he adopts a child. He chooses a cute and seemingly intelligent orphan named Anya.
However, unbeknownst to Twilight, Anya isn’t all that smart at all. But she can read minds. And that gives her a leg up on the other orphans when Dr. Loid Forger shows up. (And just so nobody will kick her back out on the curb, she keeps her super ability a secret.)
Next Forger runs into a pleasant and attractive young woman named Yor. Forger convinces Yor to help him by telling her a sad story of his wife’s passing. He also describes his hope to get his daughter Anya into a good school—a school that only excepts well-balanced families.
Yor readily agrees to take on the short-term role of mother. (They won’t marry, and things will stay chaste.) After all, she has her own secret: She’s an incredibly powerful assassin who’s trying to step back from her bloody ways. And, well, Loid is rather handsome, and Yor has never been very confident around men. So it’s a win-win.
Then, seemingly by happenstance, the Forgers adopt a dog named Bond that happens to have been a former military test subject. Through bizarre experiments, Bond now has the power to see into the future.
Wow! Twilight, aka Loid Forger, doesn’t have a clue just how gifted a team he’s assembled.
The fact is, the only one who knows everything is the cute little mind reader, Anya. What a cool stroke of luck. She’s gone from being a lonely orphan to being an undercover super-duper-secret-agent who’ll save mankind.
If only she were any good at math. Or reading. Or spelling. Or, well, anything to do with school.
Sigh.
Let’s go Forgers!!
There are no elements of faith in this manga series.
Despite this book’s lack of Christian spirituality, though, we do see the Forgers, a make-believe family, begin to grow closer to one another. Almost instinctively we see them each enjoy the idea of having a family to rely on and to care for. (Anya, in particular, is desperate to hold on to her newfound mom and dad.)
Even Loid/Twilight begins bending his super-spy rules in favor of his family team. Without verbally saying so, we see each of the members begin to make loving choices because of the bonds they’ve created as a family.
Yor is known in some circles as the Thorn Princess. She’s feared for her deadly prowess. But, in truth, she only ever took on that role as a way to earn money to raise her younger brother after their parents died. She’s really quite sweet and caring, especially with little Anya. We sometimes see her use her strength and agility to protect her daughter.
We also meet Yor’s brother Yuri, who’s grown up to be a secret police officer. He’s incredibly devoted to his beloved sister for all that she sacrificed for him when he was a child. And though he hates the idea that Loid has earned Yor’s affections, he tries to curb his upset feelings for her sake.
Loid’s fellow spy, Fiona Frost, code-named Nightfall, loves Loid. She desperately wants to play the role of wife in his fake family. And she’s willing to sacrifice her wellbeing in this pursuit.
Twilight/Loid comes off to the world as a very caring dad and husband. And though this loyal persona is initially all an act, we slowly see the caring side of this “uncaring” spy peek through and become a reality.
Melinda Desmond (Donovon Desmond’s wife) and Yor meet at one point. And though many expect this woman from a powerful family to be harsh and uncaring, she’s actually sensitive and kind. She and Yor become instant friends. Melinda even apologizes to someone who lost a loved one in the war, because her husband had a part in beginning that conflict.
Anya meets an elderly man named Sigmund at the local park. Sigmund is struggling with age-related memory loss. But with Anya and Yor’s help, he finds his way back to his wife after a daylong adventure. And the older couple happens to live in the same building as the Forgers.
Sigmund assumes a grandfatherly role in Anya’s life. And since he was once a teacher, he aids the girl in her studies and helps her find joy in learning and studying. He tells Anya, “Children like you are this nation’s greatest treasure.”
We read uses of “d–mit,” “h—,” “oh my gosh” and “moron.”
We see some spy-action violence in the mix of the eight mission stories. For instance, Fiona fights to protect Loid, who’s been shot. She subdues a much larger opponent, even though it takes breaking bones in her hand and dislocating her arm to do so. Loid stops her from killing the unconscious foe.
Yuri fights with criminal enemies of the state. And he gets pretty beaten up himself. But as he works to improve his skillsets, he always uses his sister Yor as motivation to focus and improve.
Yor helps with a veteran’s benefit event. She and other volunteers talk about the painful losses of loved ones during the war. The conversations center on showing respect to those who sacrifice and being decent to one another.
Young Damion Desmond has something of a secret crush on Anya, though he would never admit it, even to himself. There’s never any physical interaction between Loid and Fiona, but her secret thoughts make it clear that she wishes they could be romantic, even if it were for just one mission.
An elderly husband and wife kiss after being separated all day.
There are a lot of funny bits and spy action in the Spy x Family mangas, but what do you think the book’s missions say about family?
How do you think being adopted is different than being born into a family? For that matter, since Anya is an orphan, does her newfound family represent something extra to her than what it might mean to other kids?
The letter “x” in a title can sometimes be used to represent the word “versus.” If that were the case here, what do you think the title would be saying? Do you think his makeshift family is impacting Twilight (Loid) differently than he expects?
How does your family change and impact you? Are there ways that you’re better because of them?
The Spy x Family books are fun and filled with interesting short manga (or graphic novel) stories. They regularly challenge readers to think about friendships, daily interactions with others, and the ways that a family unit can change even the hardest individuals in positive ways.
All of that said, parents of younger readers should note that a bit of coarse language slips into the mix of Vol. 13 along with some lightly bloody action. (It should also be mentioned that in other volumes of this manga series the spy mission violence and deadliness could be more intense.)
You can request a review of a title you can’t find at letters@pluggedin.com.
Book reviews cover the content, themes and worldviews of fiction books, not necessarily their literary merit, and equip parents to decide whether a book is appropriate for their children. The inclusion of a book’s review does not constitute an endorsement by Focus on the Family.
After spending more than two decades touring, directing, writing and producing for Christian theater and radio (most recently for Adventures in Odyssey, which he still contributes to), Bob joined the Plugged In staff to help us focus more heavily on video games. He is also one of our primary movie reviewers.
