“Spy x Family Ch. 72”: Anya Vs. Sudden Death Round Part 4 [Review]

Spy x Family Ch. 72 finally continues the story of Anya vs. her potential sudden death after a break for an art piece in the last “chapter”. Tatsuya Endo continues this story by upping the stakes (yet again) via a police siege that may yet still result in sudden death for Anya and her friends.

Spy x Family Ch. 72: Details

Spy x Family Ch. 72 is the latest chapter in this bus hijacking arc (you can read reviews for part 1, part 2, and part 3 here) of the manga by Tatsuya Endo. Casey Loe returns as the translator, with Rina Mapa also returning as the letterer. Shueisha originally published this manga in Japan under their Jump Comics+ imprint in the magazine Shōnen Jump+. Viz Media is publishing this manga in NA.

Spy x Family Ch. 72 made its debut on December 11, 2022. You can read it for free only on Shonen Jump at Viz Media. This chapter of the manga will remain free for 2 chapter releases after this chapter. Upon the release of the 3rd chapter, Ch. 72 will go into the Shonen Jump vault. Once there, you will then have to pay a subscription fee to read this chapter of the manga, as well as the rest of the manga in the vault. Admittedly, the said fee is only $1.99 per month, so it’s not much cash. However, if you’re strapped for cash, you might want to hurry up and read this chapter of the manga.

On a related note: Spy x Family now has an anime adaptation that premiered on April 9, 2022. The second cours of the anime recently made its debut on October 1, 2022. You can watch both cours only on Crunchyroll.

Warning: spoilers for Spy x Family Ch. 72 below. If you want to read about Anya and her sudden death round involving bus hijackers for yourself, then stop here, and come back once you’ve come back through the police barricade around the hijacked bus.

Spy x Family Ch. 72: Plot Summary

Spy x Family Ch. 72 picks up where we last left off, with the Berlint police having taken out the tires of one of the hijacked buses (specifically the one with Anya and her friends in it) with a spike strip, and are now besieging it. The children’s initial joy at seeing the police are instantly quashed by the Red Circus leader firing a pistol into the air, and using it to scare the children back into their seats. Said leader then forces the kids to put up blackout curtains on all the windows, and then uses Damian as a human shield to show himself to the Berlint police and finally proclaim his demands. Said demands consist of: freeing all 17 Red Circus members currently in custody, and safe passage to the nation of Nortica (totally maybe not the US and/or Canada).

Unfortunately, the Berlint police and the SSS get into a fight over these demands. Especially given that the SSS wants to kill all the terrorists with zero regard for civilian casualties. It doesn’t help that the SSS agent in charge reveals that they cannot fulfill the leader’s demands, because the SSS has already killed most of the people he wants to be freed. It seems that the SSS’s bloodthirstiness has backfired on them this time.

Fortunately, WISE is here to the rescue. Of course, they’ve been monitoring the situation due to how important the kids are to Operation Strix. Thus, their agents manage to locate the second bus and then leak the intel to the SSS. Yuri (who’d apparently been tied up in the meantime to prevent him from helping) then mentions that he has intel sources in the area. Thus, Yuri finally joins in on the hunt. Meanwhile though…

Henry Henderson, You Da Man!

Back at Anya’s bus, the situation and the stress start getting to the kids. Even worse, the negotiations are clearly going nowhere. In response, the Berlint police asks the terrorists to allow them to bring food and water to the kids as a show of goodwill. The leader agrees, but only 1 person may deliver the supplies, and it can’t be an officer. Henry Henderson, who’d been present as an observer, then volunteers himself to be the deliveryman. However, upon seeing the state of the kids’ chaperone (you know, because the terrorists tasered him back when they hijacked the bus), Henderson shows off his elegance by also volunteering to take the chaperone’s place as a hostage so that he can get medical attention. Truly, he defines the word.

As the kids much on Blackwell brand MREs, Henry tries to talk the Red Circus leader out of this whole ordeal. Specifically by appealing to the children’s well-being, especially after finding out that the leader was a father. However, he quickly also finds out that there’s an emphasis on “was”. Apparently, the man’s daughter was killed by government troops/police during a peaceful protest. Thus, there’s no talking out of this situation for him.

Fortunately, there is hope. Yuri has finally found the other hijacked bus in a warehouse. There are armed Red Circus terrorists guarding it, but he’s secret agent Yuri. Will he be able to free the kids? Well, that’s presumably what we’ll find out in the next chapter of Spy x Family.

Spy x Family Ch. 72: The Good

I know the story of Spy x Family Ch. 72 is the best part about it, but you can’t deny that the characters play a huge part in the manga’s greatness too. Especially in this chapter, and especially in regards to Henry Henderson. He showed off his courage and determination in this chapter. Not only through his delivery of supplies, but also in taking the chaperone’s place. Truly, his elegance level jumped up to over 9000 here.

But back to the story of Spy x Family Ch. 72, it truly does shine when Tatsuya Endo goes into dark plotlines. Just like this bus-hijacking arc, really. I know Endo has recently made comments about wondering why no one likes his dark and weird stories, but that’s not true, in my opinion. Again, Spy x Family is living proof against that. It’s just that we don’t want the story to be dark and weird all the time. Some light-hearted humor and absurd comedy balances out the dark and weirdness. Thus, it makes the whole story that much better. Rather like how dark chocolate is best with some sweetness to it.

Lastly, the art of Spy x Family Ch. 72 deserves a mention as well. Just like in all the previous chapters, Tatsuya Endo has done a wonderful job with the art. Especially in the facial expression department. Whether it’s comedic expressions or deadly serious expressions, it’s pretty clear by now that Endo excels in drawing facial expressions.

Spy x Family Ch. 72: The Bad

As a longtime fan of the manga since the very first chapter, I have a hard time criticizing Spy x Family. This is definitely the case for this current bus hijacking arc, including Spy x Family Ch. 72. I’m just sitting here eagerly awaiting the next chapter from Tatsuya Endo.