In this article, we will look at all the previous works of Tetsuya Endo that served as inspiration for Spy x Family, mangas and One-Shots like Seibu Yuugi, Gekka Bijin, Rengoku no Ashe, PMG-0, Tista, Tetsu ni Hoshi, and ISpy.
Spy x Family is a success that saved the life of the author Tatsuya Endo, who was constantly creating One Shots that, despite having promising stories, did not achieve much success. Nevertheless, all these works are responsible for Endo’s wonderful creation and should be recognized.
Table of Contents
The Story of Mangaka Tatsuya Endo
Endō Tatsuya [遠藤達哉] was born on July 23, 1980, in Ibaraki Prefecture. From an early age, Endo aspired to become a manga artist.
His family consisted of a father and a brother. His favorite actors are Bruce Lee, Hiroshi Abe, Meg Ryan, and Audrey Tautou. His favorite mangakas are Akira Toriyama, Hiroyuki Nishimori, and Minetarō Mochizuki.
His hobbies include skiing, basketball, and racket sports. Endo worked as an assistant to the mangaka of Blue Exorcist and Fire Punch. He was mentored by manga artists Yasuhiro Kanō and Yoshiyuki Nishi.
Endo began his career creating one-shots, then created several mangas that did not achieve much success. Together with his editor Shihei Lin, the two began planning a work aimed at appearing in Shounen Jump.
This manga would combine what Lin believed to be the strengths of Endo’s previous works, thus creating Spy × Family. The reception was so good that its serialization was decided even before an official meeting. Today it has become one of the most successful mangas in the industry.
In addition to his original works and assistant roles, Endo has also illustrated One-Shots and Light Novels such as Okujoo Tantei Okutan, Yamamoto-kun’s Distress, and Kuroniko the Exile.
Spy x Family – A Fusion of Tatsuya Endo’s Works
All of Tatsuya Endo’s previous works influenced the creation of Spy x Family, from the art, characters, and even the story. It is very interesting to see these similarities, which is why we wrote this article.
Throughout this article, you will see many similarities in Tatsuya’s works, such as his preference for setting his stories outside of Japan in different periods and many situations involving wars, conspiracies, murders, espionage, and powers.
Spy x Family has been published since March 25, 2019, in Shounen Jump and, as of the date of this article, has more than 9 volumes with a highly successful animation.
For those who have dropped in and are not familiar with the story of Spy x Family, it is about a spy who marries an assassin and adopts a child with paranormal mind-reading powers, but none of them know each other’s true identities.
Seibu Yuugi – Bounty Hunters
Seibu Yuugi [西部遊遊] was released in the spring of 2000 in Akamaru Jump. It is Tatsuya Endo’s first work, a One-Shot released in Jump Next! The work won the 5th Story King Manga Division Semi-King Award.
The story takes place in the ruins of an ancient civilization, where crime has been steadily increasing. To combat it, the government instituted a bounty hunting system, like in the Wild West.
To avoid collateral damage, bounty hunters must attend a special school and obtain a license. This story follows Ellena Fiscuff, a new student at the bounty hunter school.
Similarities between Seibu Yuugi and Spy x Family
The first similarity is between a girl attending a special school while wanting to become a hunter; the character on the right side of the image has similar traits to the characters in Spy x Family.
Since it is just a One-Shot, it is difficult to know in depth which direction the story would take or if it really has similarities with Spy x Family, but even in his first work, we can establish his traits and styles of art and story.
The One-Shot of this story can be found in the manga Shihou Yuugi: Endou Tatsuya Tanpenshuu, which is a compilation of the first 4 One-Shots released by Tatsuya Endo between 2000 and 2004.
Gekka Bijin – The Legend of the Rebellious Kaguya
Gekka Bijin [月華美刃] started as a One-Shot in 2000, but in 2010 the work was serialized until 2012 with a total of 21 chapters in Jump SQ.
On the dark side of the moon, there exists a highly advanced civilization divided into two clans, the Takenouchi family and the Umenouchi family. Takenouchi Kaguya is the daughter of Takenouchi Fumiya, the interim queen of the clan.
Kaguya is next in line for the queen position, but she refuses to be obedient and wants to enjoy life. The mischievous Kaguya despises her mother and the people around her for being so rigid and often wishes she had never been born a princess.
Queen Fumiya has been seriously ill for many years but has hidden it from her daughter to protect her, but her condition has worsened. The Umenouchi family takes advantage of the opportunity to stage a coup and seize power.
Knowing she cannot ensure her daughter’s safety on the moon, Fumiya sends Kaguya to Earth with the powerful katana that symbolizes her ownership of the moon. Without the sword, the Umenouchi family cannot usurp control of the moon. Kaguya is forced to mature and become stronger to reclaim what once belonged to her mother!
This work is the least similar to Spy x Family, but we can see a bit of Anya’s personality and her style in the traits and story of the work.
Witch Craze and Rengoku no Ashe – Witches
In 2001, Tatsuya Endo released a One-Shot titled Witch Craze, but in 2014 another One-Shot called Rengoku no Ashe was released, both with a witch theme.
In the first One-Shot Witch Craze, we have little information and practically no images besides the cover. The only thing we can share is the synopsis:
Witch Craze
Witch hunters carrying blood-sucking swords hunt witches and take their blood. An unusual man and woman traveling together enter a town that already has at least one witch, just before a group of hunters arrives to take her down.
The names of some characters are derived from the legend of King Arthur. On the cover, we do not find much resemblance to the traits of Spy x Family, nor even with the second work Rengoku no Ashe, which apparently inspired Anya.
Rengoku no Ashe
Tatsuya Endo’s second witch work is called Rengoku no Ashe and tells the story of the protagonist Ashe Talton, who bears a strong resemblance to Anya from Spy x Family, especially in her hair.
At a time when the Church is the law and witch hunts are rampant, Bel, a sword monk, visits a town called Brokken Brook. There, he meets a nurse in training named Ashe, who helps him treat his wound, but little does he know that she is a Witch.
Most of Ashe’s design was reused in Anya; the young girl from the Witch story is also adopted. In reality, Ashe is practically an adult version of Anya with her spiky hair accessories.
PMG-0 – Police Story!
PMG-0 is a One-Shot released in 2004 inspired by the three musketeers, also inspired by the author’s first One-Shot, as a sort of remake.
Tania has been a member of the PMG, musketeers who form a special police guard. She becomes a member after her father’s violent death. She is not very disciplined, but she is a force to be reckoned with. In this story, the PMG is trying to stop a group of armed thieves.
The protagonist also appears to be quite young and has traits reminiscent of a mix of Anya and Yor. It is amazing to see the author’s previous works and find similarities with Spy x Family.
Tista – The Sniper Assassin
Between 2007 and 2008, Tetsuya Endo managed to serialize his first work titled Tista, involving action and comedy.
Tista is a manga set in New York that tells the story of a reclusive college student raised in a Catholic orphanage named Tista, who is actually a Sniper assassin.
Similarities of Tista with Spy x Family
The hair color and style of Tista closely resemble Anya, but her profession as an assassin is very reminiscent of her mother Yor, except for the fact that she does not use a precision rifle.
This manga lasted only a year, and Endo managed to publish only nine chapters of the story. Published in Jump SQ, the series was canceled due to low readership numbers.
Ishi ni Usubeni, Tetsu ni Hoshi
Ishi ni Usubeni, Tetsu ni Hoshi [石に薄紅、鉄に星] is a One-Shot released in 2017 in Jump SQ. The one-shot was later reprinted in Shōnen Jump+ on June 14, 2021.
Gath built his reputation as the strongest warrior in the country due to his natural resistance to the poison produced by magical beasts, earning the nickname “Gath of the Iron Blood.”
One day, while on a mission to subjugate magical beasts, Gath meets a young medusa who immediately clings to him due to her resistance to petrification. Strangely, Gath decides to take her home to the capital.
Similarities with Spy x Family
Like Anya, the Medusa Misha also had a lonely childhood because of her powers and was even abandoned by her mother. The author said that this work inspired Spy x Family.
Like Misha, Anya has a variety of cute expressions. This work shows the relationship between 3 distinct characters; Endo decided to carry the same thing into Spy x Family.
Endo also said that the character Regina inspired him to draw Yor. We can also see similarities between the warrior Gath and the spy Loid.
ISpy – The Beginning of Everything
In March 2018, Endo wrote a One-Shot called ‘ISpy‘, which served as a prototype for Spy x Family. Although it does not have the same story, the work gained popularity, being chosen for Shounen Jump and becoming Spy x Family.
In ISpy, A4 is a spy from the Ministry of Defense, dedicated to defending Japan against shadow foreign agents and earned the name Ghost for his skill.
He meets Mamiru Kai, a normal high school girl with extraordinary infiltration skills, who has a crush on him. The work is full of misunderstandings.
According to the author, this One-Shot emerged from some old sketches from the time he was obsessed with Shoujo mangas, which is why he decided to create this romantic comedy.
Similarities with Spy x Family
There is no need to say much; it is a story about spies, where the girl also has skills. The traits of the characters also closely resemble those of Spy x Family.
It was the basis for the creation of the great work; other names were even discussed, such as Spy x Stalke. ISpy also drew from the previously mentioned work, where there is an existence that takes care of you.
It was a long journey full of One-Shots until Tatsuya Endo achieved the perfection of Spy x Family. Endo’s persistence shows us that we should never give up on our dreams!
Leave a Reply