Disclaimer: This review covers Season 1 of "Spy x Family," episodes 1 - 25.It's funny how "popularity" in anime works; sometimes, a show will be a breakout hit overnight with virtually no expectations the day before. That's what "Spy x Family" felt like to me when it came out in 2022. I knew that it was based on a recent best-selling manga series, but I didn't expect the general worldwide success and marketability that the show would have. One major point of interest is that it isn't a shonen action series aimed to 10-year old boys, like most other "mainstream" anime (think "Naruto," "One Piece," "My Hero Academia"); instead, it's a spy-thriller-comedy with adult protagonists raising a child, the sort of premise you'd think wasn't mainstream purely for the different target audience. Another factor was that this came out near the tail end of the worldwide pandemic, and near the beginning of multiple world-war-level conflicts, which perhaps explains why such a show would appeal to audiences at that time, including adults looking for a light-hearted escape. Set in a fictional world with fictional countries, the major East and West powers are at the brink of war, with any single potential attack likely to set off a powder keg. There are three main characters in the story. Loid Forger, a.k.a. Agent Twilight, is a secret-agent spy and a master of disguise, efficient and perfectly controlled, working behind the scenes to maintain peace and avoid war. His newest mission is to stage a family with a young child, in hopes of gaining access to important figures in the East nation for intel. Seeking a child he can adopt for this purpose, he finds Anya from an orphanage, but the girl has her own secret: she's a psychic that can read everyone's minds. Shortly after, he finds a suitable wife in Yor Briar, who was also seeking an actor family to maintain social appearances (and continue hiding her secret double-life as a professional assassin for the East). Thus, a picture-perfect father / mother / daughter family is born, even if only temporary for the duration of Loid's mission. The fun part is that none of them are aware of each other's secrets, except for Anya, who's smart enough to know not to reveal those secrets or her own powers. She tries to help each of her new parents without bringing suspicion... but being only five-years old or so, she acts with the logic and motivations of a toddler, for better or for worse. Later, they even get a pet dog, with its own secret power to foresee the near future. It's a broad but good premise, and seems to have something to offer everyone. It has cold-war-style spy-thriller missions, for those who like James Bond mixed with Mr. and Mrs. Smith. It has exciting action. It has sweet family bonding and parenting moments. It has cute moments from the child. And more than all of that, it's funny. There are ample opportunities for comedy, from Anya's misunderstandings and exaggerated reactions, to Yor's struggles as a housewife, to Loid trying to maintain his composure while running his new household. This mix of genres appeals to men and women, young and old, but particularly to adults and parents while also being something they can share with their kids. Yes, there are brief moments of serious violence, but nothing beyond what an episode of "Naruto" might have.Speaking of the comedy, "Spy x Family" has an odd sense of humour at times, and can struggle with tonal balance. An early example is a plot to reveal a politician has a false toupee (and therefore is a liar, losing trust with the people): when a henchman questions the plan, the boss shoots him dead on the spot. Not for him to get back up with a bandaid on his head - he's dead. It's an odd mix of Saturday-morning-cartoon and serious-thriller, with comedy sometimes being in the foreground, and sometimes being in missable moments like these because the characters take it seriously. This isn't a bad thing, but it is unusual and might give tonal whiplash. As the story goes on, I quickly got the sense this could be a long-running series without an end in sight, for better or for worse. It can feel tedious to watch a story that felt aimless, with seemingly no progress with each episode, but can also be forgivable if the show is entertaining. The premise allows for that and finds some supremely creative diversions that the animation team takes full advantage of (a "mock castle seige" and a "tennis tournament" are great examples), but some plot threads are weaker than others. For example, Anya doesn't stay home for long, and enrolls into a prestigous first-grade school, in order to get close to the son of a key political figure. Anya's new friends and bullies at school are cute, and allow for some of her best facial expressions, but I didn't think this was as much fun as when she spent time with her parents (a shame, because after this point, the school takes up at least half of the storyline). It doesn't help that the school is full of one-dimensional characters that repeat their jokes, such as the whiskered headmaster that conveniently acts as subtitute teacher whenever a class is on screen - he lives for all things to be "elegant," which is funny the first few times, but less so 87 times later. 
One major issue I had was with Yor, the mother. Both Loid and Anya are treated as the main characters, but Yor feels like a side-character by comparison. That's a shame, since her secret job is arguably as cool as Loid's, and surely her missions are just as interesting. But no, we instead see her purely as a mother, enjoying her time with Anya, and defending her with the strength of a tank whenever threatened, like any real-world mom would strive to do. Or we sometimes she her anxieties about correctly acting as a mother and wife after living a relatively secluded and socially-lacking lifestyle. It's a shame to only see Loid both "at work" and "at home," while we only watch Yor "at home." My experience here is purely from the first season, and I'd hope a better balance is set in future episodes. These are all minor but present nitpicks. By and large, "Spy x Family" is one of the best anime comedies I've seen in years, with a great volume of jokes in every episode. But my enthusiasm isn't maintained for the entirely of every episode. In terms of production quality, "Spy x Family" is consistently solid throughout. There's a certain high-class British style in the fashion and locations, but it's not overdone to the point where I'd say the show itself was "stylish." While mostly limited in the frequent dialogue scenes, animation is elevated in the sparse action scenes, but not to an extreme degree - in these cases, the choreography stood out more than the motion, as if it was directed like a live-action action film. 3D models for distant crowds are frequently relied on. The good thing is that the animation always feels consistent without significant drops in quality. Both Wit Studio and Cloverworks are cited for the series, and I suspect Cloverworks did most of the production work based on the output. The opening and ending credits, however, are more ambitious in style, lighting, and overall quality, while still feeling true to the character designs... a hint of what could have been if the time and budget was significantly increased. But for the episodes themselves, I'd put both Visuals and Animation at a 3.25 score out of 5.0, so I split the difference here.The music score does a lot of extra heavy lifting to complement the visuals, helping present a tone and style to the show. The opening and ending themes are catchy and hard to skip. Crunchyroll's English dub was solid, and I have to give extra credit to the English voice of Anya, acting out lines with just enough believability that they came from a child with grammar and spelling mistakes, while still being understandable and entertaining. So yes, "Spy x Family" is a global hit, and it's easy to see why. I don't think it'll bring world peace, but consistently solid production values and barrels of meme-able laughs, all without much vulgarity or violence, make it easy to recommend to everyone I know, and everyone they know.