In recent years, there seems to be a noticeable trend with anime movies making short but sweet appearances in theaters here in the United States. Popular series like “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba” and “Neon Genesis Evangelion” made recent appearances in movie theaters, with “Spy x Family Code: White” joining the select few series to make an appearance on the silver screen on American soil.
Released in the U.S. on April 19 in both subtitled and English-dubbed versions, the story is a spinoff of Tatsuya Endo’s hit manga “Spy x Family,” which follows the story of Loid Forger, (voiced by Takuya Eguchi), who is a spy codenamed Twilight, and his pretend family. His wife, Yor Briar (voiced by Saori Hayami), works for a government office, but is also a contract assassin. Their daughter Anya (voiced by Atsumi Tanezaki) is a telepath that was made in a lab.
The film is animated by CloverWorks, the same studio that did the original “Spy x Family” series, which is a subsidiary of Sony Music Production Japan’s anime firm, Aniplex. CloverWorks has animated other hit shows that have a very big audience here in the U.S., including “The Promised Neverland,” “Fairy Tail,” and “Bocchi the Rock,” all of which have won awards in regard to story, animation, and soundtrack.
In “Spy x Family,” the two rivaling nations of Ostania and Westalis are at risk of warring with one another. In order to keep the peace between the two nations, Twilight, a spy from Westalis, is tasked with spying on someone by the name of Donovan Desmond, who’s a very prominent political figure in Ostania.
To achieve this, Twilight must infiltrate his inner circle, which is only possible by enrolling his child at the same school as his son. In order to properly prepare for the operation, he adopts Anya and marries Yor as a means to establish their image as a ‘perfect family.’ No one in the Forger family knows each other’s true identities, which gives for very interesting and humorous events and coincidences as they try to operate as a normal family without revealing their own secrets.
I’ve been watching “Spy x Family” since its initial release in the Spring 2022 anime season. Since then, there have been a few more developments made from its initial run in the earlier seasons that are showcased in the movie, mostly the addition of characters not seen in the first season which aired from April to June 2022, which is where I stopped watching. These characters play momentous, pivotal roles in the plot and provide a deeper insight into Twilight’s affairs, as well as the dynamic of the family.
Overall, the film creates a fantastic visual and storytelling experience, while giving those who aren’t into anime-esque media room to enjoy the film too. CloverWorks offers a vivid experience for everyone regardless if they watched the original series. I would argue that it gives new life to the series because it’s a movie original, so there’s no original source material to compare it to. With few flaws pertaining to plotholes and background, Director Takashi Katagiri takes this film to new heights with exploration of the story in a new light.
My final rating of “Spy x Family Code: White” is 9/10.
