It’s easy to forget, but this series has been going on since 2019 (2020 in English print). With the release of Spy x Family volume 12 we’re now over four years along in this manga. In my mind, it has this habit as being represented as something that’s very static- very happy with its status quo and playing around within that. It heavily favors an episodic nature and the illusion of an endless hallway with its main story. One day, though, you wake up and realize everything looks different, that it’s all gone and changed.
Spy x Family volume 12, ultimately, suddenly feels like something brand new, like it’s returned to those early days where each development was new and exciting. Of course, it’s not quite the same feeling, but the freshness involved with stakes that feel ever more raised is completely palpable. Every corner hides a new threat- for both marriage and mission- while the humor and other consistently good work out of Endo remains present. It feels like they’ve turned a corner with the manga and found something totally new to explore.
For example, we get to see more of Handler-slash-Sherwood in this volume. Of course, it’s a very quick here and there appearance, but putting her in a context outside of just her role with WISE is really nice. Who would have guessed one of the lynch pins in Operation Strix would be such a mess maker, right? Either way, it’s great to get some more characterization for characters like Handler in the manga. It’s not “really” necessary, but it’s very nice to be able to take that time and say, “look at this character over here- they have a life that exists”.
Similarly, while we have seen Damian making a change in his character in recent volumes, Spy x Family volume 12 hits sort of a reset button with the majority of the school. It results in playing through much of Anya’s typical farces and whatnot, ultimately resulting in something very similar to the usual, but there’s just enough of that change. She’s now got two stella stars, and every day finds herself just a little closer to Sy-on boy. It’s a very noticeable difference that occurs earlier on in the volume, and is followed up by a total right hook of a side story featuring a teacher getting therapy from Loid for his fear of his wife. Getting stories of “Doctor Loid” in back to back volumes of Spy x Family feels almost as weird as getting another (rather comedic) monologue about Yor’s worries about remaining as the Thorn Princess and balancing her family in the other hand. Though, that piece in particular comes back to bite Loid in particular. The man that’s had it together for so, so long- if only barely- gets backed into a corner with this volume.
It’s great. It’s been so long of this man fighting with 110% to keep it all together, so having the mask slip (or rather, begin to tear) here is just so refreshing. The story is getting somewhere, the stakes are at a point of life and death- it is a spy drama through and through in this volume. It feels like a proper reveal of Endo’s talents again, something that was lost to all of the humor and repetition in the last few volumes. There’s not necessarily a world of action or anything, but the tension and sense of action they pull out with this volume is truly commendable. And it’s not for the sake of comedy, either. There’s plenty of instances where Endo’s darker tendencies tend to creep into the series, but Spy x Family volume 12 appears on a totally different level from those past experiences.
… I’m just begging Endo at this point to let Yor and Loid progress- even just a little, just a little bit to make me happy. Admittedly, Spy x Family volume 12 continues to test the limits of those emotions and moments, but it still comes up a few cents short of a dollar. I think every reader understands, the violent responses of Yor to love are funny. They were funny 12 volumes ago, 6 volumes ago, and even 2 or 3 volumes ago. Jokes have a lifetime, and when you abuse them they shrivel up and die a lot quicker. Joking about marital trouble between the two of them? Love it, give me more. Dangling physical romance in front of the reader for the umpteenth time? Like Yor, I’m at risk of putting my fist through a wall at the next sight of it.
Despite nearly losing composure, as much as Spy x Family volume 12 is delightfully (and importantly) fresh, there’s pieces that Endo just can’t seem to let go of. Maybe in the next volume we’ll see things change after a resolution of this spy action, but it’s hard to say. Endo’s given themselves the opportunity to reclaim a lot of the popularity and greatness of the manga from its early days, and all I can do is hope that they manage to do so. There’s a lot worth loving in this volume, and a lot that I want to see carry into the future of this manga- if it’s looking to continue going the distance.
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