The Forger family; what’s not to love? One’s a spy that’s easily manipulated by his young daughter’s puppy eyes, one’s a precise and lethal assassin who can’t cook to save her life but still tries for her family, and one’s an adorable little girl that cheats during exams by reading minds so her dad can fulfil his mission. Based on a manga of the same name by Tatsuya Endo, SPY x FAMILY has garnered more fans than ever with its anime serialization. Most everyone has fallen in love with the dichotomy of the secret, dangerous lives the three lead and their wholesome love for each other. The light-hearted, comedic atmosphere makes it a perfect show that’ll help you relax after a long day and have you laughing so hard you’ll be in stitches.
1. Kaguya-Sama: Love is War
Also known as Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai: Tensai-tachi no Renai Zunousen, Kaguya-Sama: Love is War is the show for those who love the romance between Loid and Yor in SPY x FAMILY. At the prestigious Shuchiin Academy, student council president Miyuki Shirogane and vice president Kaguya Shinomiya are both intelligent, rich, and most importantly: in love with each other. Both are aware of the other’s feelings; however, they refuse to be the ones to confess, as that would mean ‘losing’ by seeming more eager than the other. A serialization of the manga by Aka Akasaka, the anime features the two main characters using their supreme intelligence to one-up each other in increasingly complex situations… all to get the other to confess first. It’s funny, it’s cute, and the romance between Kaguya and Miyuki has you on the edge of your seat, screaming at your TV: “JUST KISS ALREADY!!”
Where to Watch it: Netflix
2. Horimiya
Also known as Hori-san to Miyamura-kun, Horimiya is an anime about two unlikely friends finding solace in each other and, eventually, developing a romance. Just like Loid and Yor, the two main leads each have their secret sides. At school, Kyoko Hori is popular, cheery, and gorgeous; at home, she’s dressed down and harried as the sole caretaker of her little brother, Souta. Meanwhile, Izumi Miyamura seems like the typical glasses-wearing quiet nerd at school but actually has multiple tattoos and piercings that he reveals after hours. When Souta is saved from bullies by Miyamura, the two meet and discover each other’s hidden identities, and become comfortable around each other. Miyamura begins to help around the house and with taking care of Souta, and the two find themselves spending nearly every spare moment after school together.
Where to Watch it: Crunchyroll
3. The Way of the House Husband
Tatsu, known in the underground world as ‘The Immortal Dragon’ was an infamous Yakuza boss feared by all. Tatsu is now a househusband for his career-focused wife, using his skills with knives for cutting the perfect steak dinner and his skills with cleaning up blood for maintaining a spick and span house. His intimidating demeanour and rowdy manner of speech are a contradiction to his cutesy aprons and unending love and support for his wife, leading to hilariously funny misunderstandings between him and the general public (“You got any of the good white powder stuff?” Tatsu asks the cashier while in search of flour. You can see how this would be misinterpreted, especially coming from a man that looks like Tatsu.)
Where to Watch it: Netflix
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4. Usagi Drop
Daikichi Kawachi, a 30-year-old salaryman, is attending his grandfather’s funeral when he sees a curious little girl he doesn’t remember as part of his extended family. It then comes out that her name is Rin, and she’s the illegitimate child that his 73-year-old grandfather had with a 23-year-old mangaka who abandoned him to her care in favour of focusing on her career. Due to the shame the family feels regarding how Rin was conceived, none of the family members wants to take her in and talk about deciding what to do with her like she’s a mistake rather than a child. Daikichi takes offence to how the little girl is treated, and in a fit of rage, offers to adopt her himself despite being unmarried and having no idea how to take care of a child. Similar to Loid’s relationship with Anya, Usagi Drop sees Daikichi make mistakes but try his best to raise a child, and Rin is amused by her adoptive father’s attempts. It’s wholesome, it’s cute, and please do not read the manga it is based on as that is neither of these terms.
Where to Watch it: Crunchyroll
5. Barakamon
Calligrapher Seishu Handa punches a curator at an exhibition for criticizing his work as being too unoriginal and textbook-like. His father sends him on a vacation to the countryside in the hopes that it will calm him as a person. Handa then meets a lot of interesting villagers, including a kid named Naru Kotoishi who takes to hanging out at his place and bringing all his friends, and slowly begins to find his own style.
Where to Watch it: Crunchyroll
6. Lovely ★ Complex
Risa Koizumi is much taller than the average Japanese girl, and no one lets her forget it. Atsushi Otani is much shorter than the average Japanese boy, and everyone constantly teases him about it. When the two fall in love with each other’s friend, they make a pact to help each other out; but the people they’re in love with end up falling for each other. Consequently, they make a bet that they can get into a romantic relationship faster than the other and, no shock here, end up falling in love with each other instead.
If you liked the slow burn romance between Loid and Yor, you’ll love Lovely ★ Complex; not to mention, the show has its fair share of comedy (mostly surrounding the size difference between Risa and Otani.)
Where to Watch it: Crunchyroll
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7. Princess Principal
Leaning into the spy themes, Princess Principal is set in an environment similar to SPY x FAMILY with a once-dominant country divided into an East and a West, and spies that must work to prevent an all-out war from breaking out between the two. In Princess Principal, however, the spies are all girls and infiltrate the kingdom’s prestigious Queen’s Mayfair School.
Where to Watch it: Crunchyroll
8. March Comes in Like a Lion
Also known as 3-gatsu no Lion (san-gatsu no lion), March Comes in Like a Lion is the first non-comedy on this list. It is, however, about building a family, and has a cute little pink-haired girl named Momo. The story follows the life of Rei Kiriyama, who loses his parents at a young age, and is adopted only to be abused by his adoptive sister. When his adoptive parents refuse to acknowledge it, Rei sets out on his own and moves to Tokyo. He supports himself financially using his skill as a shogi player but has lost interest in both the game and life in general. This changes when he meets Akari, Hinata, and Momo Kawamoto, 3 sisters who have suffered tragedies and trauma like him. They form a familial bond with him, forcing him to take care of himself, and Rei slowly rediscovers what it means to be in a loving and supportive family.
March Comes in Like a Lion is heart-wrenching, but it soothes the pain as we watch these lost souls find each other and face the world together.
Where to Watch it: Crunchyroll
9. Asobi Asobase
For something a little more light-hearted after the last recommendation, Asobi Asobase is a fun and lighthearted show with humour very similar to that of SPY x FAMILY. Three girls, Hanako Honda, Olivia and Kasumi Nomura, are part of the unofficial ‘part-timers’ club, where they do… whatever they want, really. It’s fun, it’s silly, and it’s wholesome, with the cute girls doing ridiculous things all in the pursuit of fun. If you’re a fan of all the hijinks Anya gets herself into, this is the show you should watch
Where to Watch it: Netflix
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10. Kotaro Lives Alone
This show surrounds the life of Kotaro, a 4-year-old boy, who moves into an apartment building all by himself. Concerned, his neighbours befriend him: Mizuki Akitomo, the young woman who lives next door, Isamu Tamaru, a rogueish looking eccentric man. The most important is Shin Karino, a struggling manga artist who forms a deep bond with Kotaro. As the series progresses, more is revealed about how Kotaro came to live alone.
In a lot of ways, Kotaro is like Anya from SPY x FAMILY: Anya started out on her own, too, and made her own family in the form of Loid and Yor. Both children are determined, tenacious, and adorable. Despite the darker themes of abandonment, the show is overall a slice of life comedy and is very similar to SPY x FAMILY in terms of genre.
Where to Watch it: Netflix
11. Love of Kill
This story features a romance between a bounty killer and a professional hitman. Song Ryang-ha, the hitman, begins brokering information for bounty killer Chateau Dankworth on the condition that she joins him on dates. The two develop a romance despite the difference in their values and the discovery that they have a secret connected past.
Where to Watch it: Crunchyroll
12. Teasing Master Takagi-San
This is for the fans of the relationship between Anya and Damian. Teasing Master Takagi-San (also known as Karakai Jōzu no Takagi-san) is about a girl named Takagi who loves teasing her classmate Nishikata, and his failed attempts at teasing her back. This cute slice of life anime can’t help but warm your heart as you watch the two kids move from a teasing relationship to slowly developing innocent crushes on each other. The show has three seasons and each episode is made up of shorts where either Takagi teases Nishikata or Nishikata tries to tease her back only to fail and give her more ammunition in their war of teasing.
Where to Watch it: Netflix
13. Sweetness And Lightning
Kohei Inuzuka is a warm and kind-hearted teacher who loses his wife to an unnamed disease and must now be a single parent to his kindergarten-aged daughter, Tsumugi. He finds himself struggling to give her healthy meals due to his inability to cook, often having to rely on convenience store meals to feed her. This changes when he takes her to his high school student Kotori Iida’s family restaurant; Kotori is a foodie, but also a loner, and doesn’t have many friends. She takes it upon herself to teach her teacher how to cook, and though he’s first reluctant because he believes it would be unprofessional, Kohei gives in when he realizes Kotori is just looking for a friend and that his daughter really gets along well with her. The three cook together and form a cute and innocent friendship together.
Where to Watch it: Crunchyroll
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14. Kakushigoto: My Dad’s Secret Ambition
The show surrounds the father-daughter relationship between Kakushi and Hime Goto. Kakushi has a secret profession that he can never let his daughter know: he draws ecchi manga. The story takes place across two timelines, primarily with single father Kakushi and 10-year old Hime but with the occasional flash-forward scene where Kakushi has been in a coma for over a year and 18-year-old Hime is aware of his secret.
Where to Watch it: Crunchyroll
15. Millionaire Detective Balance: Unlimited
Moving away from the more familial and kid-focused shows, Millionaire Detective Balance: Unlimited is a show for the fans of humorous spy/police hijinks. Detective Daisuke Kambe is a member of the Metropolitan Police Department’s Modern Crimes Prevention Task Force and his solution to every case is simple: money. Daisuke is from an incredibly wealthy and influential family and his well never seems to run dry, so his solution to any problem is throwing money at it. If that doesn’t work, he simply throws more money at it, until it eventually sticks. This attitude greatly annoys his partner, the hard-working but irritable Haru Katou, who was transferred out of his position in Division 1 due to an accident he made. Despite Haru’s annoyance towards him, Daisuke is very amused by him, and as the two undergo cases both big and small they become good friends (even if Haru won’t admit to it).
Where to Watch it: Netflix
16. Great Pretender
Another recommendation for the spy and crime aspect, Great Pretender follows Makoto Edamura, a Japanese man that gets imprisoned for working for a company he wasn’t aware was fraudulent in an attempt to pay his mother’s hospital bills. Following his release, he is unable to get a job due to his arrest record and is forced to take up the job as a con-man. When he attempts to con Laurent Thierry, who he’s unaware is a con-man himself, Thierry ends up forcibly mentoring him, and the two targets the rich and powerful, often exposing their dark secrets in the process.
Where to Watch it: Netflix
17. Mob Psycho 100
This is a show I can never stop recommending. Mob Psycho 100 is a story about mentorship and found family, with the ultra-powerful but autistic-coded middle-schooler Mob learning to control his telekinetic powers from Reigen Arataka, a con-man who just pretends to be a spirit-medium. The show is wonderful at displaying the complexity of people; Reigen, for example, is a con-man but usually ends up solving his clients’ problems, and has a very strict moral code. It’s also one of the few shows that have the adult actually acting like an adult treating the children like children no matter how powerful they are. Of course, one of the best-known features of the show is the quality of its animation, which is fluid and encapsulating.
Where to Watch it: Netflix
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18. Hinamatsuri
A yakuza member named Yoshifumi Nitta comes home one day to find Hina, a teenage girl with telekinesis who has decided she wants to live there. He is forced to unofficially adopt her, and the two form a bond; you can see the similarities to Loid and Anya’s relationship. When Hina’s life begins coming under threat, it is Nitta who utilizes his position and skills as part of the yakuza to protect her.
Where to Watch it: Crunchyroll
19. Listen to Me, Girls. I Am Your Father!
The show follows the life of Yuuta Segawa, a freshman in college. Orphaned as a child, he was raised by his sister Yuri. Now they’re both older and Yuri has a child, Hina and two stepchildren, Sora and Miu, with her husband. When the two want to go on an overseas trip, Yuuta agrees to babysit the kid as a way of thanks to her for raising him; unfortunately, the plane crashes and the couple is missing and presumed dead. It’s now up to Yuuta to care for the three young girls all by himself.
Where to Watch it: Crunchyroll
20. Banana Fish
The show follows teenage gang leader Ash Lynx from New York and a Japanese photographer’s assistant named Eiji Okumura who visits Japan to investigate street gangs along with his sensei as they team up to uncover the meaning of the phrase ‘banana fish’, spoken by multiple mortally wounded dying men as their last words. The show is action-packed and has its fair share of fight scenes, as well as a romance that blossoms between Ash and Eiji.
Where to Watch it: Banana Fish
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