Anime guide
Anime Like Spy x Family: 8 Warm, Funny Picks to Watch Next
Spy x Family is the easiest anime to recommend and the hardest to follow. Here are eight shows with the same warmth, comedy, and surprising amount of heart.
Spy x Family has an almost unfair premise: a spy, an assassin, and a telepathic child form a fake family, and none of them knows what the others do. It should be a one-joke setup. Instead it became one of the most genuinely warm shows in years, and the reason is that it actually likes its characters — the comedy comes from affection, not from cruelty.
That combination — laugh-out-loud gags, real action, and a soft centre — is harder to find than it looks. Here are eight shows that hit the same notes.
1. Buddy Daddies (2023)
P.A. Works · 12 episodes
Two contract killers accidentally end up raising the four-year-old daughter of a target. One is the irritable professional, the other is the cheerful one who cannot cook. The child is not a telepath, but she is observant.
This is the closest match available, and it is not subtle about it: same genre mash-up, same comedic rhythm, same willingness to make you care. If you want one recommendation from this page, take this one.
2. Hinamatsuri (2018)
feel. · 12 episodes
A yakuza lieutenant finds a psychic girl inside a mysterious metal container, and she refuses to leave. He has no idea what to do with her. She has no interest in helping him figure it out.
Hinamatsuri is funnier than Spy x Family and considerably stranger, but it nails the same dynamic: a cold, competent adult slowly becoming a parent against his will, played for laughs that turn sincere.
3. The Yakuza’s Guide to Babysitting (2022)
Gaina × feel. · 12 episodes
A feared enforcer — nicknamed “the Demon” — is assigned to look after his boss’s young daughter. She is unfazed by him. He is entirely fazed by her.
It is gentler and more slice-of-life than Spy x Family, with less action, but the architecture is identical: a dangerous man, a small child, and the comedy of a soft side he did not know he had.
4. Kaguya-sama: Love Is War (2019)
A-1 Pictures · 12 episodes (season one)
Two student council prodigies are obviously in love and will each die before admitting it, so every interaction becomes a tactical engagement.
The comedy here is about over-competent people undone by ordinary feelings — which is exactly the engine of Spy x Family’s best scenes. The production is inventive in ways that catch you off guard.
5. Saiki K (2016)
J.C.Staff · 24 episodes (season one)
The most powerful psychic in the world wants nothing more than to be left alone, and is surrounded by idiots who will not allow it. The jokes come at roughly one per four seconds.
If what you like is specifically the deadpan psychic surrounded by chaos, this is the purest version. There is no plot to speak of, and that is the point.
6. Ouran High School Host Club (2006)
Bones · 26 episodes
A scholarship student breaks a vase, is mistaken for a boy, and is drafted into a club of rich boys whose job is to be charming. It is a comedy about performance, family, and found community.
It is older and broader than Spy x Family, but it shares something important: an ensemble where every character’s gag is also their wound.
7. Sakamoto Days (2025)
TMS Entertainment · 22 episodes (season one)
A legendary hitman retires, gets married, runs a convenience store, and becomes the target of everyone who wants the legend back. He is now extremely round.
Same premise family as Spy x Family — deadly professional in a domestic disguise — pushed further into full comedy. The action choreography still delivers when it needs to.
8. Mob Psycho 100 (2016)
Bones · 37 episodes
The most powerful psychic alive is a shy middle schooler who wants to be popular, and none of the show’s problems can be solved with power.
Structurally it is more action and coming-of-age than Spy x Family, but it belongs here because of one shared conviction: kindness is a legitimate punchline, and the animation is doing the heavy lifting. It is also, like Spy x Family, a show you can hand to almost anyone.
Quick comparison
| Show | Core premise | Action? | Feel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buddy Daddies | Hitmen raise a kid | Yes | Warm, funny |
| Hinamatsuri | Yakuza + psychic kid | Some | Very funny |
| Yakuza’s Guide to Babysitting | Enforcer babysits | Light | Gentle |
| Kaguya-sama | Two geniuses bluff | No | Sharp comedy |
| Saiki K | Overpowered psychic | No | Gag machine |
| Ouran High School Host Club | Found family comedy | No | Warm, silly |
| Sakamoto Days | Retired hitman | Yes | Broad comedy |
| Mob Psycho 100 | Powerful, shy teen | Yes | Funny + heartfelt |
Frequently asked
Which of these is most like Spy x Family? Buddy Daddies. It was made close enough in time to the same trend that the comparison is unavoidable, and it earns it.
Is there anything with actual spy craft? Mostly no — Spy x Family treats espionage as a costume rather than a subject. Sakamoto Days is the closest thing to professional-level action in a domestic wrapper.
Do any of these have romance? Kaguya-sama is a full romance comedy, and it is excellent. Spy x Family gestures at it without committing; Kaguya-sama commits completely.
Any of them dark? Not really. The darkest moment on this list is still softer than most of what we cover elsewhere on the site. That is the point of the list.
The short version
Watch Buddy Daddies next, then Hinamatsuri for the biggest laughs. If you want the action to stay serious while the family stays warm, go with Sakamoto Days.
For more, browse our editor’s picks or all anime guides.
Series mentioned