Review: ‘Spy x Family: The Official Guide — Eyes Only’
by Anna Lindwasser
Spy x Family: The Official Guide — Eyes Only is one of those awesome pieces of media that’s perfect for hardcore fans; an official guidebook that gives you tons of extra info about the characters and the series.
The book contains a collection of art published everywhere from hygiene leaflets to Tatsuya Endo’s personal Twitter, character, story and world guides with fun bits of trivia, an interview section, Q&As, and character-specific sections dedicated to things like Anya’s favorite toys and the weird things that Yor cooks. There were plenty of intriguing details, like the fact that Damian is the baby version of Domyoji from Boys Over Flowers and the fact that Endo wanted to make Bond a cat, but rejected the idea because Anya wouldn’t be able to ride on a cat.
Personally, my favorite part was the interview section. I don’t create manga, but I do write fiction, so it’s always fascinating to me to learn about how other people get their inspiration and go about their daily work. One interview was a round table discussion between Tatsuya Endo Amu (Kono Oto Tomare!) and Kazue Kato (Blue Exorcist), while another featured Endo getting to meet the creator of Kyō Kara Ore Wa!!, Hiroyuki Nishimori. There was also a more standard matchup between Endo and his editor.
During these interviews, Endo reveals that he originally started drawing Spy x Family because he was burnt out from manga and wanted to draw something low-key and therapeutic, but the series ended up taking over his life. He doesn’t like to look back at his old work and has trouble taking compliments about it. He purposely avoids getting too attached to his characters because he’s “had to compromise on so many things”.
I think most creators can relate to some of his feelings here. Not that I’m anywhere near his level, but I’ve certainly had some of these feelings about my fiction.
Overall, this is a great volume to have if you love Spy x Family or enjoy deep dives into manga.
Note: I received a free copy of this guide in exchange for the write-up. The content of the review represents my opinions and not necessarily those of Viz Media. You can buy a physical or digital copy now.
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