Spy X Family has joined One Piece and My Hero Academia in the annals of (at the time of release) currently running Shonen Jump (or Jump+) anime adaptations that have gotten non-canonical (or mostly non-canonical in the case of MHA) anime film tie-ins. In this case, we have Spy X Family: Code White, which sends the Forger family on a weekend vacation to the mountains, leading to some Bond-Film-level shenanigans.
The movie like many Spy X Family plots, starts innocuously. Eden Academy is having a baking class and competition, with the winner getting a Stella. Loid is under pressure to show more results, with the higher-ups considering bringing in someone else to take over Operation Strix – against his and Handler’s own objections. The gossiping and general water-cooler conversations by Yor’s co-workers have made her start worrying about infidelity by Loid, and with it the possibility that she might end up being replaced in this sham marriage. Anya is just pumped about the idea to win a Stella – both for the mission and to show up Damian Desmond’s stupid face. Fortunately, the principal is judging the contest, and Loid has investigated the principal and knows what his favorite dessert is – so they’re going to go on an “ooting” to find out how to make this dish.
As per all Spy X Family plots, things go spectacularly out of hand. This leads to a daring dash across this resort town to find ingredients, the rare instance of Loid and Yor openly communicating about their feelings, Anya getting kidnapped, a showdown in a Bond-Film-style evil villain lair, and probably some of the best-realized bathroom humor I’ve seen in my life. And somehow, despite all of this, because this is a non-canon Jump/Jump+ movie, everyone’s secrets are somehow maintained.
The animation in the film is gorgeous. The action scenes are very well done and include a few ideas that I wouldn’t mind seeing added to the manga or anime. For example, Yor, keeping with her nickname as “The Thorn Princess”, has a stylistic rose flourish pop up in her action scenes – like the blood spray after she stabs a guy in the neck in her opening fight scene, and later in a different context in the climax. Loid goes into a JoJo-esque multicolored space in a couple of sequences where he’s disguised. And then there are a couple of Pink-Elephants-On-Parade level sequences toward the end of the film as part of that truly spectacular bathroom humor part I mentioned that cannot be described, you have to see it for yourself.
We even get a few little cameo appearances for Agent Nightfall and for Frankie as well (along with appearances by Becky in the school sequences), so everyone gets their little moments. Also, unlike the cruise ship Ooting, Bond gets to come along as well, so we also get a bunch of moments where A Very Good Boy gets to contribute to the adventure.
Now, I will say the fact that everyone’s secrets remain intact by the end of the story, if you were unfamiliar with the concept of the Non-Canon Jump/Jump+ Movie, would strain creduility a little bit. I’m familiar with the concept and it didn’t cause any problems for me, and otherwise, the film does a pretty good job of getting across the ways that Yor and Loid are… selectively dense – in ways that help convey why they wouldn’t put two and two together.
As of this writing, Spy X Family: Code White is currently available for streaming on Crunchyroll. It hasn’t received a physical release yet, but there are figures for the film on the Crunchyroll Store (affiliate link).
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