’Spy x Family Code: White’ review: A hilarious vacation from the anime

Spy x Family Code: White belongs to a very common archetype of anime film. Just like others such as One Piece Film Red, Code: White exists to enrich an existing brand name via a feature length non-canonical adventure. Business sense aside, the film is a very fun romp for fans. In fact, by virtue of a self-contained nature Code: White may be a great introduction to new fans too.

Spy x Family Code: White is a vacation from the story

In Spy x Family Code: White, the pretend family Forger departs on a weekend getaway only to get tied up in a plot to trigger war. This adventure is exasperated by each Forger bringing their own baggage to the trip. Super spy Loid (Takuya Eguchi/Alex Organ) is told that Operation Strix, the mission necessitating his fake family, is being reassigned. Master Assassin Yor (Saori Hayami/Natalie Van Sistine) witnesses him in a compromising position that sets off her inferiority complex. Child telepath Anya (Atsumi Tanezaki/Megan Shipman) is given a cooking challenge that could get her important recognition at school. Given the film cannot actually change the course of the story, Code: White has to rely on how these characters react to their own drama. That, of course, is Spy x Family‘s speciality.

Despite the espionage overtones and occasional violence, Spy x Family‘s premise would be right at home on the Disney Channel. Code: White comes from WIT Studio and CloverWorks, the same studios behind the anime. They know full well that the real power of this series is in its charm and humor. Accordingly, this film doubles down on those elements. More often than not, my pretty packed Friday night showing was filled with boisterous laughter. Fans of the anime won’t find any drastically new gags but the punchlines hit hard, aided by high quality expressions from more than just Anya.

Newcomers aren’t shut out

Directed by series directors Kazuhiro Furuhashi and Takashi Katagiri, Spy x Family Code: White makes a real effort to be welcoming to new viewers. The trade off for this is a slow first act. Just as much time is spent getting the audience up to speed as is setting up the film’s plot. It’s for the best, most anime firms of this type wouldn’t bother, but it does limit things until enough groundwork is laid. Once the Forgers get going on their outing, so does the plot, though true to spy stories, it’s not a straightforward one. The larger and more serious details often take a back seat and create a sense of two different stories happening at once. Newcomers might find themselves wondering where the action is.

If this had been a regular Spy x Family arc, each of these plot points would have been split out, pairing Anya with one of her adoptive parents while the other adventures elsewhere. By comparison, Code: White works to keep the family together as much as possible. The move is a nice departure, since the real existential threat is the separation of the unit. These three really are fantastic together, and even those looking for adventure will eventually warm to their cuteness. Really, the only downside is Yor’s conflict has to be resolved before the end of the second act. The film doesn’t sideline her — she’s a third of the series’ appeal — but she spends the third act just being in action scenes. Her fight in this act is the most ambitious of a larger scale final action sequence, but it lacks depth.

Thin villain, funny child

Lacking depth could also be assigned to the military Colonel (Banjō Ginga/John Swasey) that serves as the film’s antagonist. There are efforts to give him personality, which leads to a tense showdown with Loid, but it doesn’t highlight motivation. Spy x Family mostly avoids a specific political angle besides being anti-war, which works great in the series. That said, putting a military officer as the antagonist begs for that antagonist to advocate for war. It doesn’t have to be complicated. I think of Takashi Yamazaki‘s Lupin the 3rd: The First, whose antagonists basically just want to redo WWII. Simple, but works.

Of course, it’s hard to fault this when you’re too busy laughing at a surprisingly funny extended poop joke. Spy x Family Code: White is meant to be a good fun time and on that metric it’s a success. Anya Forger remains one of the best comedic characters in a while, and she extracts laughs from everything around her. I’m still not unconvinced she was designed by the Japanese government to try to raise birth rates. More of her humor than an average episode doesn’t diminish returns whatsoever. Anya is still the heart and soul of Spy x Family, and it beats even stronger in this film.

A fun time all around

Even though it’s quite literally a break from the story, Spy x Family Code: White is worth the detour. A heartfelt and funny adventure, fans owe themselves an “ooting” over to the theater. Take a friend, though. This film is a great introduction to the series in full as much as it is a fan-pleasing effort. Season three of one of the best anime we’ve seen hasn’t been confirmed yet, so savor this treat.

Spy x Family Code: White is in theaters now.

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Featured images © 2023 SPY x FAMILY The Movie Project © Tatsuya Endo, Shueisha