Series creator Tatsuya Endo and Editor Lin Hayashi talk about the setting of Spy x Family.
When Spy x Family first launched, how much of the story did you have drafted?
Endo: None (laughs). When I look back at my early rough drafts, I find that I didn’t use any of the characters I had in mind and my drafts were completely different. Frankie was supposed to play an “uncle” role. Yor was supposed to be a cleaner. When the second chapter came out, that’s when I decided she (Yor) would be a City Hall clerk. I draw and revise as I go.
Are there any settings that you had trouble with or got stuck in?
Endo: I had trouble with Yor’s assassin set-up (laughs). It felt etchically difficult to draw, but here we are now (laughs).
Lin: Loid was already set-up to be a psychiartrist,, and we debated whether he was a general practitioner or worked at a large hospital.
Endo: I wanted Loid to be someone who had a wealthy job making a pretty good income so I wanted him to be a doctor or a lawyer. But I have no knowledge about the lawyer world so I decided he’d be a psychiatrist because I like psychiatry and I studied it a bit.
Lin: I really like Yuri being a part of the Secret Police.
Endo: I was supposed to have another character in the Secret Police but I felt that we already had enough characters. Also by chapter 10, I realized that I didn’t really think of anything for him after his phone call with Yor in chapter 2.
Lin: I asked Endo to make Yuri a very sweet younger brother but look how he turned out (laughs).
Endo: I also really like Anya’s psychic abilities. I didn’t think too much about her being able to read minds but I realized the comedy works because of it. I can control her inner monologues and spoken dialogue separately, which also gives the reader another point of view. In the beginning, I just wanted a kid with some kind of ability.
Lin: I remember going through a list of supernatural abilities with him, wondering what would work in the story. I remember him (Endo) saying “even if I do give this character telekinesis, it wouldn’t make sense in the story”.
Endo: Being able to read minds is critical to spies, so we adoped that ability. But during the development stages, when the idea of telekinesis was brought up, it was obvious that I didn’t really think about the concept of “a misunderstanding between characters” gags. (laughs). So I’m glad Anya can read minds. That was all just luck.
Is it a lot of work to come up with ideas for every chapter?
Endo: It’s not. Meetings are the fun part of manga development. Utilizing them is a different story, but I still have a lot of gag material. We tend to come up with silly stories and I apologize for those who are expecting something serious.
Source: Spy x Family Official Fanbook Eyes Only
More Spy x Family Reading:
- Spy x Family Creator Answers Some Questions About The World
- Takuya Eguchi Talks About His Character Loid – Spy x Family
- Animate Interviews the voice of Yor Forger — Saori Hayami
- The Anime Production of Spy x Family
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