Spy x Family Ch. 86: WISE Vs. SSS Part 6 Finale [Manga Review]

Spy x Family Ch. 86 marks the finale of the deadly dance between WISE and the SSS. As well as the somewhat (and surprisingly) one-sided fight between “Wheeler” and Fiona Frost/Nightfall. Not only that but with the conclusion of this arc, it looks like it will have some major repercussions for the story overall. Mostly in terms of Twilight’s cover identity as Loid Forger.

Spy x Family Ch. 86: Details

Spy x Family Ch. 86 is the 6th and final part (you can read reviews of Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and Part 5 here) of this thrilling latest arc of the action comedy-drama spy manga series by Tatsuya Endo. Casey Loe once more returns as the translator, with Rina Mapa also making a return as the letterer. Shueisha originally published this manga in Japan under their Jump Comics+ imprint in their magazine Shōnen Jump+. Viz Media is the company publishing this manga in the NA region.

Where to Read

Spy x Family Ch. 86 made its debut on August 6, 2023. You can read this chapter for free on Shonen Jump at Viz Media. Note that this chapter will remain free for 2 chapter releases after this one. Upon the release of the third chapter, Ch. 86 will go into the Shonen Jump vault. Once there, you’ll need a paid Shonen Jump subscription in order to read it and all previous chapters. That said, it is only $2,99 per month, so it’s not that big a hit to your wallet.

On a side note: an anime adaptation of Spy x Family premiered on April 9, 2022, and is currently ongoing as of this writing. In fact, season 2 of the anime will premiere sometime in October 2023. You can watch all currently available episodes of the anime on Crunchyroll or Hulu.

Warning: spoilers for Spy x Family Ch. 86 below. If you want to read how this deadly dance of WISE and the SSS concludes for yourself, then stop here and come back once you’ve lost your tail(s). Whichever side you’re on.

Spy x Family Ch. 86: Plot Summary

Spy x Family Ch. 86 directly picks up from where we last left off in the previous chapter. Nightfall’s last punch basically turned “Wheeler” into a human hamburger, and now she is about to finish the job with her head. No, I mean that, literally. She is about to smash “Wheeler’s” head with her own when Loid/Twilight reveals that he’s awake and stops her from performing the melee equivalent of a kamikaze attack. The shock nearly causes Nightfall to declare her love for him accidentally, but it does put her plans on indefinite hold. Thus, they end up with a bagged and tagged “Wheeler,” ready to be transported back to WISE HQ for interrogation.

Fortunately, a fellow WISE agent disguised as a SSS agent arrives on the scene and helps them out with transport. The older WISE agent carries the unconscious and badly injured “Wheeler,” while Twilight carries the nearly as badly injured Nightfall. In a fireman’s carry, not a bridal carry. In spite of what the joyously panicking Twilight believes. She isn’t expressing any of it externally, though. Amazingly, she’s having a perfectly normal-sounding argument with Twilight about her condition while squealing like a schoolgirl. Thus though, they all arrive at the extraction point safe and sound, with “Wheeler” now on his way to an interrogation cell. It’s not a perfect win, though, since WISE’s mole in the SSS’s communications department got taken out during this whole debacle. However, it’s as good a win as WISE is going to get here. And just in time for dinner too.

Back to Loid: A Return to Slice of Life Normal?

At long last, Twilight gets to return home to become Loid Forger once more. However, he’s still worried about Yor’s seemingly innumerable grievances with him at the time of his leaving. Then he walks in, and Yor basically acts like nothing’s wrong…because she has seemingly forgotten about the entire debacle. As you might imagine, Loid is sorely confused. It’s when Yor finally explains herself that he then collapses onto his back (and with the funniest derp face he’s ever shown), having lost all of his energy over being worried over nothing.

And then, Yuri arrives to complain to Yor about his awful day without revealing any details about his SSS double life. Unfortunately, he’s also a very good SSS agent. So when he sees that Loid has an injury in his right arm (after just a few seconds of watching), right where he’d shot Twilight, he immediately suspects something is up and rushes over to pull up Loid’s sleeve…only to find nothing. A confused Yuri leaves none the wiser as a relieved Loid later pulls off the fake skin he’d put over his gunshot wound as a precautionary measure against just that.

Then Loid smells something burning, and he rushes out, thinking that Yuri had returned to…burn down the house? Instead, it was just Yor trying to iron his shirt and failing miserably. Loid, unable to take the strain, collapses in a heap off-camera. Does Yuri have a seed of doubt about Loid’s identity, though? Well, we’ll probably find out in a future chapter of Spy x Family.

Spy x Family Ch. 86: The Good

I’ll give it to you straight: this entire arc is one of the best arcs of this manga, with Spy x Family Ch. 86 as the perfect cherry on top. It’s all because of this epic spy vs. spy action and drama here. Even better, in a fairly realistic manner, it doesn’t end even with the capture of “Wheeler.” WISE had to basically expose their own mole within SSS just to capture him, which might have its own consequences down the line. It’s the kind of spy intrigue that would put any James Bond film to shame, and why I love it so.

However, the consequences for the overall story are another reason why Spy x Family Ch. 86 is great. Especially since the final parts of this chapter with Yuri basically spell out the consequences. Now Loid will have to be extra careful around Yuri to avoid arousing his suspicions once more. After all, just because Loid fooled Yuri this time doesn’t mean that Yuri’s suspicions will go away, especially if Loid does anything suspicious again. Thus, this will create an interesting game of cat and mouse in future chapters with Loid and Yuri. We’ll just have to see how that plays out in said future chapters of this manga.

Spy x Family Ch. 86: The Bad

There’s not much I can criticize about Spy x Family Ch. 86. If you don’t care for spy action-drama or slice-of-life comedy and feels, then this might not be the manga for you. Maybe a creepy horror manga/anime like Jujutsu Kaisen is more your style?

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