Spy x Family Ch. 97 / Mission 97: Henry x Martha Pt. 1 [Review]

Spy x Family Ch. 97 (aka. Mission 97) begins an arc I never thought we would see for a long, long while. All because this arc stars Henry Henderson and Martha Marriott, and how these two elderly lovebirds became that way in the first place. Truly, this is the childhood arc for these characters we’ve been waiting for.

Spy x Family Ch. 97 / Mission 97: Details

Spy x Family Ch. 97 (known officially as Mission 97) is the latest chapter (as of this writing) of the action spy comedy manga by Tatsuya Endo (Blade of the Moon Princess, TISTA). Alas, this chapter does not continue the story of the previous chapter, which does make sense since it was a Short Mission, after all.

Casey Loe returns as the translator for Spy x Family Ch. 97, with Rina Mapa returning as the letterer. Shueisha originally published this manga in Japan under their Jump Comics+ imprint in the magazine Shōnen Jump+. Viz Media is the company publishing this manga in English in the NA region.

When and Where to Read

Spy x Family Ch. 97 made its online debut on April 28, 2024. You can read this chapter entirely for free on Shonen Jump on Viz Media. Ch. 97 will remain free for two chapter releases after it. Upon the release of the third chapter after it, Ch. 97 will go into the Shonen Jump vault. Once there, you will have to pay a subscription fee to read it and all previous chapters. Admittedly, the fee is only $2.99 per month, so it’s not that big a hit to your wallet. All the same, if you’re short on cash, then you might want to hurry up and read Ch. 97 for free before you can’t anymore.

Anime Adaptation Details

As a side note: Spy x Family now has an anime adaptation that premiered on April 9, 2022. In fact, season 2 just recently premiered on October 7, 2023, and even more recently ended on December 23, 2023. There was even an anime film spinoff called Spy x Family Code: White that premiered in Japan December 22, 2023; and will finally make its NA debut on April 19, 2024. You can watch all episodes on either Crunchyroll or Hulu. Note, though, that only Crunchyroll has any of the dubs. So if you like watching the English dub for some reason, then you have to watch the anime on Crunchyroll. If you want to purchase tickets for that Spy x Family Code: White anime film though, then you can do so from its official website.

Spy x Family Ch. 97 / Mission 97: Plot Summary

Spy x Family Ch. 97 began with Henry Henderson talking to a housekeeper about his dance with Martha Marriott at the ball, which led to him reminiscing about his childhood. That reminiscing reveals that he actually started his whole obsession with “elegance” after he saw Martha dance ballet in their childhood. The utterance of that word turned him into the local weirdo but gained him a tradition of private teatime with Martha throughout their childhoods. And also a tradition of Martha using ballet fu on kids trying to bully Henry, but that’s beside the point.

A tradition that ends when Henry decides to go into public education in response to the evils of the then-current education system. Alas, this means Henry has to go off to be educated as a teacher after his graduation. A trip he undertakes…without ever realizing that Martha had fallen in love with him. Thus, Martha is basically left alone with her feelings until she’s 19…and then Henry comes back as a new teacher. Perhaps this is a chance for their love to bloom anew. Alas, all of that changed when the war came. How do, you might ask? Well, we’ll just have to wait for the next chapter/mission of Spy x Family to find out.

Spy x Family Ch. 97 / Mission 97: The Good

As always, it’s the story of Spy x Family Ch. 97 / Mission 97 is the best part about it. Tatsuya Endo clearly knows what his readers want out of his manga. I’m not sure if anyone was clearly asking for Henry and Martha’s backstories, but it’s definitely right up there in the top 10 of what we want out of the manga’s story. Henry and Martha’s backstory was something Endo-sensei kept hinting and hinting at throughout the previous chapters, along with their romance. This backstory arc not only confirms that romance, but delves into it in a detail we never expected to see for a while. It must’ve been time.

I can only imagine just how the war prevented their romance. Martha’s physical ability strongly points to her having a past as a soldier. Heck, maybe the trauma or even injuries from the war were what prevented their romance. However, that’s something we’ll have to wait for Endo-sensei to confirm for us. Hopefully in the next chapter.

Spy x Family Ch. 97 / Mission 97: The Bad

Do you not like a romantic comedy? Do you not like ballet fu action? Not even elegant tea parties? Well then, I’m sorry. I’m not sure how to help you here. Perhaps a manga in an entirely different genre like The Ancient Magus’ Bride, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, or Spice and Wolf might be more your speed then.