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Anya Forger (Japanese: アーニャ・フォージャー, Hepburn: Ānya Fōjā) is a character from Tatsuya Endo‘s manga Spy × Family. Anya is a telepath adopted by spy Loid Forger. Loid is tasked with spying on politician Donovan Desmond, leader of the National Unity Party within Ostania. However, due to Desmond being notoriously reclusive, the only way he can get close to him is to enroll a child in the same private school as Desmond’s son, Damian, and pose as a fellow parent, adopting Anya in the process.

Anya was one of the earliest characters Endo created for the manga, inspired by the protagonist of Rengoku no Ashe. As a child, Endo tried giving her fun stories and a likable design for comedic storylines where she commonly interacts with other students form the academy. Anya is voiced by Atsumi Tanezaki in Japanese. For the English dub, she was voiced by Megan Shipman and Bryn Apprill.

Critical response to Anya’s character has been genereally positive for her childish behaviour to the point of often being called the series’ best character and has become the mascot when it comes to promotion and marketing.

Creation

Manga author Tatsuya Endo first came up with the idea of using a spy and a child in the same manga but eventually wrote Yor to have a mother figure. The core of the cast was three people hiding their true idenities from one another. This trait was in particular inspired by the anime series Code Geass as its main cast also have a tendecy to hide their true personas. Since the series is a comedy, Endo wanted to make a perfect character and tried making her design, particularly her hair, charming. She was originally meant to be taller but changed in storyboards. Anya’s schoolmate Damian Desmond’s design changed due to negative feedback from his editor, resulting in the chemistry the two children have. When Anya entered into the academy, Endo decided to write absurd stories for her.[1]

With Tista and Blade of the Moon Princess both having a dark tone, the editor told Endo to give Spy × Family a more cheerful one. Anya was inspired by the main character of Rengoku no Ashe. Her extrasensory perception was decided early on, and Lin cited its use for comedic effect as one of the series’ strengths.[2] He conceived the series as a on theme of a “fake family”, and try a different type of spy that work fiction that tends employ. He had no experience with spy families so he decided that the manga should focus instead on Loid’s families and the lies each have.[3]

Casting

Megan Shipman voices Anya in English

For animated adaptationg of the series, Anya is voiced by Atsumi Tanezaki in Japanese.[4] Endo during casting, multiple people applied a “cute little girl character” for the role as Anya but the manga author was not looking for this pitch of the character. Instead, Endo look for a voice similar to the title character from Chibi Maruko-chan. Upon hearing Tanezaki’s take, the manga author was surprised by her range, praised her and submitted her to work as Anya. He felt that not only Tanezaki made a cute Anya but also comical and exaggerated to fit with the character’s imagination.[5]

For the English dub, she was first voiced by Megan Shipman and Bryn Apprill for season 2’s episodes 28–29.[6][7][8] Shipman found her as one of the best written child characters in Japan especially with how the script writers localized the lines needed for the dub. She found the character funny and at the same time surprising for her age.[9]

She was played by Risa Masuda, Aoi Ikemuda, Miharu Izawa, Miharu Fukuchi,[10] Rana Izutani, Mirei Tsukino, Miyo Nishiyama and Nonoka Murakata.

Role in Spy × Family

Anya is an orphan young girl who can read minds, Anya was adopted by Loid Forger early into Operation Strix’s plan.[ch. 1] As she is a very young child, Anya is very innocent and ignorant of the world around her.[ch. 1–2, 17] Thanks to her ability, Anya is the only one who knows the true identity of her family members but she keeps the information for herself, being afraid that, if her adopted parents would discover her ability, they would abandon her. Anya frequently and secretly supports her parents with their missions.[ch. 1–3, 9, Extra 2, 47] Anya attends Eden Academy and tries to befriend Damian Desmond for Operation Strix but because of an altercation with Damian during orientation day, she has been shunned by the whole class but has found a friend in Becky Blackbell.[ch. 8–9, 17, 36] She is unaware of Damian’s feelings toward her and does not have a favorable impression of him but still tries to make friends with Damian as per her father’s wishes.[ch. 9, 36–37, 42, 65] Thus far, she has received 4 Stella and 3 Tonitrus, much to Loid’s dismay about the latter.[ch. 8, 16, 61, 75, 93]

Anya was originally an experimental human test subject dubbed “Subject 007“ (被検体007, Hikentai Zero Zero Sebun; lit. “Test Subject 007”).[11] She claimed to be six years old, although per Loid’s assessment, she appears to be around age four or five. The only confirmed details of her past are her name, “Anya”, and that she had been adopted by several families, only to be returned to the orphanage each time.[ch. 1] Although she displays significant control in her mind-reading power, Anya cannot use it during a new moon or on numerous people’s minds simultaneously.[ch. 3–4, 26] Due to the trauma incurred when she was a test subject, she is not good at studying and usually refuses to do so, relying on her mind-reading ability to copy from others, although she appears to be talented in Classic Literature.[a][ch. 1, 10, 26–27, 42] She is quite flexible and quick-witted for a child her age. She also displays her bravery from time to time, such as saving a drowning child, standing up for her friends, and alerting Loid of a bomb trap, despite the danger to herself.[ch. 1, 16, 21, 28, 48]

Reception

Antonio Mireles of The Fandom Post enjoyed the comedy of the title dysfunctional family as well as their personalities. He described the family setup of Loid as the straight man, Yor the “dumb character” and Anya the adorable child “that readers fall in love with”, as the perfect recipe for a comedy.[13] Writing for IGN, Rafael Motamayor compared Anya to Baby Sinclair of the 1990s comedy series Dinosaurs.[14] Anime News Network wrote that the “breakout star of the show” is Anya though what made him won over the show is its heart.[15] Anime Feminist also noted that the series’ popularity is owed to the artwork, most notably Anya’s multiple facial expressions and felt that the first episode was appealing thanks to the bond Loid and Anya form when the former adopts the latter, giving potential for Yor’s debut.[16] Morgana Santilli of The Beat enjoyed the chemistry between the arranged family as he notes Anya makes the trio stand out.[17] IGN also enjoyed Anya to the point she could be one of the best characters from 2022, labelling her as the “adorable child character that steals every scene they are in, who will inspire a ludicrous amount of merch” while also addressing how her powers are also a symbolism of how receptive children can be. IGN also praised Yor due to how strong she can be despite early signs of a clumsy woman.[18] Rebecca Silverman of Anime News Network also hailed Anya along with Bond as the best characters of 2022, due to how wonderful they are as a person and the dog in which they represent the same sign that Anya gets to keep the family she desperately wants.[19]

Anya’s popularity led to Toho make a music video heavily featuring her.[20] Additionally, a Tamagotchi involving Anya was released in June 2022.[21] In a survey conducted by FinT, Spy × Family and Anya were ranked first and fourth respectively, on the top trending things among Generation Z in Japan for 2022. In the same survey, “Anya likes peanuts” (アーニャピーナッツが好き) was the no. 1 trending phrase of the year in part due to a mash-up with the song “Renai Circulation” on TikTok.[22] At the 7th Crunchyroll Anime Awards, Anya won “Best Supporting Character” and “Must Protect at All Costs” Character. Atsumi Tanezaki and Nina Carvalho were nominated in the “Best Voice Artist Performance (Japanese)” and Portuguese categories for their performances as Anya; the former lost to Eren Jaeger‘s Yuki Kaji while the latter won the award.[23] At the 8th edition, Anya won “Must Protect at All Costs” Character award again. Tanezaki was nominated in the same voice acting category, while Hiba Snobar and Majo Montesinos Guzmán were also nominated in Arabic and Castilian Spanish categories for their character’s portrayals.[24] At the 9th edition, Anya won the same award for the third consecutive year, while Snobar won the Arabic voice acting category as Anya.[25] At the 10th edition, Anya and Merlyn James have been nominated in the same character category and Hindi voice acting for the character’s performance respectively.[26]

Notes

  1. ^ Classic Literature is a fictional language in the series. It is written in Japan as “Kogo” (古語; lit. “Ancient Language”); in the anime, it is written as “Ancient Language”. It is equivalent to Latin in the real world.[12]

References

Spy × Family manga

Entire series

Individual volumes

  • Vol. 1 (ch. 1–5): SPY×FAMILY 1 (in Japanese). July 4, 2019. ISBN 978-4-08-882011-8. and SPY×FAMILY 1 (in English). June 2, 2020. ISBN 978-1-9747-1546-6.
  • Vol. 2 (ch. 6–Extra 1): SPY×FAMILY 2 (in Japanese). October 4, 2019. ISBN 978-4-08-882120-7. and SPY×FAMILY 2 (in English). September 1, 2020. ISBN 978-1-9747-1724-8.
  • Vol. 3 (ch. 12–Extra 2): SPY×FAMILY 3 (in Japanese). January 4, 2020. ISBN 978-4-08-882183-2. and SPY×FAMILY 3 (in English). December 1, 2020. ISBN 978-1-9747-1816-0.
  • Vol. 4 (ch. 18–Short 2): SPY×FAMILY 4 (in Japanese). May 13, 2020. ISBN 978-4-08-882229-7. and SPY×FAMILY 4 (in English). March 2, 2021. ISBN 978-1-9747-2103-0.
  • Vol. 5 (ch. 24–Short 3): SPY×FAMILY 5 (in Japanese). September 4, 2020. ISBN 978-4-08-882463-5. and SPY×FAMILY 5 (in English). June 1, 2021. ISBN 978-1-9747-2294-5.
  • Vol. 6 (ch. 31–Short 4): SPY×FAMILY 6 (in Japanese). December 28, 2020. ISBN 978-4-08-882545-8. and SPY×FAMILY 6 (in English). October 5, 2021. ISBN 978-1-9747-2513-7.
  • Vol. 7 (ch. 38–Short 5): SPY×FAMILY 7 (in Japanese). June 4, 2021. ISBN 978-4-08-882669-1. and SPY×FAMILY 7 (in English). April 5, 2022. ISBN 978-1-9747-2848-0.
  • Vol. 8 (ch. 45–Short 6): SPY×FAMILY 8 (in Japanese). November 4, 2021. ISBN 978-4-08-882843-5. and SPY×FAMILY 8 (in English). September 20, 2022. ISBN 978-1-9747-3427-6.
  • Vol. 9 (ch. 54–61): SPY×FAMILY 9 (in Japanese). April 4, 2022. ISBN 978-4-08-883076-6. and SPY×FAMILY 9 (in English). March 21, 2023. ISBN 978-1-9747-3628-7.
  • Vol. 10 (ch. 62–Short 8): SPY×FAMILY 10 (in Japanese). October 4, 2022. ISBN 978-4-08-883127-5. and SPY×FAMILY 10 (in English). October 17, 2023. ISBN 978-1-9747-4067-3.
  • Vol. 11 (ch. 67–75): SPY×FAMILY 11 (in Japanese). April 4, 2023. ISBN 978-4-08-883313-2. and SPY×FAMILY 11 (in English). March 19, 2024. ISBN 978-1-9747-4329-2.
  • Vol. 12 (ch. 76–Short 10): SPY×FAMILY 12 (in Japanese). October 4, 2023. ISBN 978-4-08-883675-1. and SPY×FAMILY 12 (in English). August 6, 2024. ISBN 978-1-9747-4705-4.
  • Vol. 13 (ch. 85–Short 11): SPY×FAMILY 13 (in Japanese). March 4, 2024. ISBN 978-4-08-883839-7. and SPY×FAMILY 13 (in English). January 14, 2025. ISBN 978-1-9747-5198-3.
  • Vol. 14 (ch. 93–Short 13): SPY×FAMILY 14 (in Japanese). September 4, 2024. ISBN 978-4-08-884154-0. and SPY×FAMILY 14 (in English). August 5, 2025. ISBN 978-1-9747-5600-1.
  • Vol. 15 (ch. 100–Short 14): SPY×FAMILY 15 (in Japanese). March 4, 2025. ISBN 978-4-08-884337-7. and SPY×FAMILY 15 (in English). December 2, 2025. ISBN 978-1-9747-5917-0.
  • Vol. 16 (ch. 109–Short 16): SPY×FAMILY 16 (in Japanese). October 3, 2025. ISBN 978-4-08-884527-2.
  • Ch. 119–Research Mission: Chapters not collected in tankōbon/volume in Japanese on Shōnen Jump+ platforms and in English on Manga Plus and Viz platforms

Other sources

  1. ^ “SPY x FAMILY Tatsuya Endo”. Kikan S. No. 69. April 2020. pp. 50–53, 56–57.
  2. ^ “The Making of a Jump Manga! vol. 7 – Spy × Family”. Manga Plus. Archived from the original on February 11, 2020. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
  3. ^ “Tatsuya Endo’s Lack of Interest in Spy Stories Turned Gave ‘Spy x Family’ a Surprising Advantage”. Fandom Wire. Retrieved April 1, 2026.
  4. ^ Pineda, Rafael Antonio (December 18, 2021). “Spy×Family Anime’s Video Reveals Cast, April 2022 Premiere, Half-Year Run”. Anime News Network. Archived from the original on December 18, 2021. Retrieved December 18, 2021.
  5. ^ ““This is it!”: Spy x Family’s Creator Gave The Highest Compliment To Anya’s Voice Actor”. Screen Rant. Retrieved April 2, 2026.
  6. ^ SPY x FAMILY EN [@spyfamily_en] (27 October 2023). “Exciting news! @18moptop (Anya’s English VA) is embarking on a special mission~motherhood!” (Tweet). Retrieved 27 October 2023 – via X (formerly Twitter).
  7. ^ Bryn Apprill [@BrynApprill] (6 November 2023). “Hello fellow peanuts!” (Tweet). Retrieved 21 November 2023 – via X (formerly Twitter).
  8. ^ Vincent Sophuok [@VincentSophuok] (20 November 2023). “Good and Bad Conscience Anya!” (Tweet). Retrieved 21 November 2023 – via X (formerly Twitter).
  9. ^ “Anya’s English Dub Actress For Spy X Family Spoke About Why She Loves Voicing Anya So Much, And Her Reasoning Why Makes Me Want To Read The Manga More”. CinemaBlend. Retrieved April 2, 2026.
  10. ^ “Butai “SPY×FAMILY” ānya-yaku no 4-ri happyō” 舞台『SPY×FAMILY』アーニャ役の4人発表 [Four actresses announced for the role of Anya in the play Spy × Family] (in Japanese). Oricon News. 14 December 2022. Archived from the original on December 14, 2022. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
  11. ^ Endo, Tasuya (2 May 2022). SPY×FAMILY Kōshiki Fan Bukku EYES ONLY SPY×FAMILY 公式ファンブック EYES ONLY [SPY x FAMILY Official Fanbook: EYES ONLY] (in Japanese). Tokyo, Japan: Shueisha. p. 34. ISBN 978-4-08-883118-3.
  12. ^ Endo, Tasuya (2 May 2022). SPY×FAMILY Kōshiki Fan Bukku EYES ONLY SPY×FAMILY 公式ファンブック EYES ONLY [SPY x FAMILY Official Fanbook: EYES ONLY] (in Japanese). Tokyo, Japan: Shueisha. pp. 215–216. ISBN 978-4-08-883118-3.
  13. ^ Mireles, Antonio (August 23, 2019). “Spy X Family Chapters #01 – 11 Manga Review”. The Fandom Post. Archived from the original on February 6, 2020. Retrieved February 5, 2020.
  14. ^ Motamayor, Rafael (28 June 2022). “Spy x Family: Season 1, Part 1 Review”. IGN. Archived from the original on 31 July 2023. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
  15. ^ Moore, Caitlyn; Beckett, James; Dupree, Nicholas; Eisenbeis, Richard; Silverman, Rebecca (10 April 2022). “The Spring 2022 Preview Guide – Spy×Family”. Anime News Network. Archived from the original on 5 November 2022. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
  16. ^ “SPY x FAMILY – Episode 1”. Anime Feminist. April 9, 2022. Retrieved October 10, 2022.
  17. ^ Santilli, Morgana (June 1, 2020). “REVIEW: SPY X FAMILY blends espionage and family comedy together in a perfect marriage”. The Beat. Archived from the original on November 12, 2021. Retrieved June 27, 2020.
  18. ^ “Spy x Family: Season 1 Review”. IGN. June 27, 2022. Archived from the original on October 10, 2022. Retrieved October 10, 2022.
  19. ^ Dupree, Nicholas; Eisenbeis, Richard; Silverman, Rebecca (30 December 2022). “Nicholas Dupree, Richard Eisenbeis, and Rebecca Silverman – The Best Characters of 2022”. Anime News Network. Archived from the original on 20 February 2023. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
  20. ^ “TOHO Animation Releases Spy×Family Anime’s Anya Music Video”. Anime News Network. Archived from the original on January 20, 2024. Retrieved October 10, 2022.
  21. ^ “Take Care of Anya With This Spy x Family Tamagotchi”. Siliconera. June 2022. Archived from the original on October 2, 2023. Retrieved October 10, 2022.
  22. ^ “2022年のZ世代トレンドランキング発表 目黒蓮、Ado、silent、Spy×Family…今年の顔が出揃う”. Oricon (in Japanese). 2022-11-24. Archived from the original on 28 March 2023. Retrieved 2022-11-26.
  23. ^ Eisenbeis, Richard (4 March 2023). “All the Winners of the 7th Annual Crunchyroll Anime Awards”. Anime News Network. Archived from the original on 4 March 2023. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
  24. ^ Hazra, Adriana (2 March 2024). “All the Winners of the Crunchyroll Anime Awards 2024”. Anime News Network. Archived from the original on 2 March 2024. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
  25. ^ Cayanan, Joanna (25 May 2025). “All the Winners of the Crunchyroll Anime Awards 2025”. Anime News Network. Archived from the original on 25 May 2025. Retrieved 25 May 2025.
  26. ^ Mateo, Alex (2 April 2026). “Crunchyroll Anime Awards Reveals 2026 Nominees”. Anime News Network. Archived from the original on 2 April 2026. Retrieved 2 April 2026.