Spy x Family, Vol. 1

This was a really fun read. There were several out-of-this-world elements to it but I found those tolerable if you focus on the main premise of this book: how a “fake” family of 3 people harbouring secrets of their own will deal with that tension while inevitably getting closer and more attached to each other.

Our protagonist is a spy, codename Twilight, who receives a mission to get closer to a reclusive politician. The only public appearance this politician makes is when he attends parent-teacher conferences at the school his son is attending: the prestigious Eden Academy. In order to get close enough to his target, Twilight has to create a “fake” family and pass off as a parent of a legitimate enrolled student in the Academy. He adopts Anya from the orphanage, not knowing that she is in fact psychic and knew from the very beginning about his true job as a spy and the nature of his mission. Later, he meets and proposes a fake marriage to Yor, a salesgirl with a predilection for kicking ass, also without knowing that she is in fact a secret assassin. The scene where Twilight “proposes” to Yor was truly iconic.

While the premise might have the tendency to get gritty, the story is uplifted by good doses of humour. It doesn't hurt to have little Anya around to lift the mood as well. There're some slightly more conservative values in here, at least in this first volume. The reason why Twilight needs to find a fake wife in the first place is because Eden Academy emphasizes traditional family value - so no single-parent families apparently.

Nevertheless, this was a light-hearted, episodic, and enjoyable read and I'd look forward to reading more from the series.