Well, what’s not to love about SPY x FAMILY characters?

Loid, the cool-type character who has a good look and happens to be a spy.

And then there’s Anya who everybody seems to be fawning over her because of how cute she is.

Sure, the story is great. But for the most part, people tend to recognize SPY x FAMILY for the characters alone.

Just take a look at Anya and you already know which anime or manga is from.

Not surprisingly, most people will think of Anya first when you mention SPY x FAMILY.

While most people seem to love the characters, particularly Anya, that doesn’t seem to be the case for SPY x FAMILY mangaka, Tatsuya Endo, though.

In the interview in SPY x FAMILY Official Fanbook: EYES ONLY, he admits that he doesn’t have any attachments to the SPY x FAMILY characters.

His reason behind that is that they’re the kind of characters that everyone expects to see in a manga, not the kind of characters that he wants to create in the first place.

In other words, you can say that he doesn’t like the characters that much since they’re not the kind of characters that he gravitates to as a creator.

Just take a look at his previous works and you’ll see that the characters in his previous work aren’t the kind of characters that people would fawn over.

I find his comment about the SPY x FAMILY characters rather disturbing, though

Okay, I know that it’s not unusual for the creators not to be fond of the main characters specifically.

Just ask them about their favorite character from their own series and they will tell you that their favorite character happens to be the minor one.

For some reason, they don’t like the main character that much. But they don’t hate the main character either.

Well, I can attest to that. If you ask me which character from the Trigger Locked series is my favorite, I will say that it’s Hayato and Minoru.

I can add Kaidou who made his first appearance in the third book of the series, The Virtual Mass Murder to the list as well.

Does it mean that I don’t like the main character of the series, Touka, at all?

Of course, the answer is no. I do like Touka, but not as much as the other characters that I mentioned before.

It’s because of this reason I find Tatsuya Endo’s remark about the SPY x FAMILY characters rather disturbing.

It’s fine not to like any of the characters. But it’s going to make you feel miserable in the long run when you have to create a story that revolves around the characters that you don’t like.

Not only the creator will suffer as a result. But the story will suffer too, especially when the creator is reaching the tipping point.

I can relate to what he’s going through

While I’m proud of the characters that I create for all of my books, I can relate to the feeling of having to create something not because you want to but because it’s popular.

If I have an editor like Tatsuya Endo, I won’t be surprised at all that my editor would want me to turn Twisted Destiny into a series.

Or at the very least, start a new series with a story similar to Twisted Destiny.

That doesn’t sound like a bad idea, considering that the book is selling so well, a lot more than the Trigger Locked series and my other book, The Diary of Modern Cinderella.

Believe me, I would have gone and started a new series that has a story similar to Twisted Destiny if I let the sales data have its way.

But the creative part of me knows well enough that I can’t bring myself to write another story that is similar to Twisted Destiny, let alone turn it into a long, ongoing series.

I can’t write a story like that anymore even if it’s the kind of story that most people want to read.

Don’t get me wrong.

I don’t hate Twisted Destiny. And I’m proud of it even if it doesn’t sell well.

But the book serves more as a way for me to gain clarity on the kind of writer I want to be. I doubt that I’ll come to the conclusion that I want to become a thriller author if it’s not because of Twisted Destiny.

It’s like what Tatsuya Endo did. SPY x FAMILY only serves as a way for him to break from the writer’s block, nothing else.

But he seems to be doing well right now

Sure, you can say that Tatsuya Endo is rolling in money right now considering that the SPY x FAMILY manga is now a bestseller.

And the popularity of the anime leads him to more opportunities too such as stage musicals and collaboration with UNIQLO.

So, my concern about his remark towards the SPY x FAMILY characters has no ground here.

All the things that he has to endure and the feeling that he has to shove aside are finally paying off.

But this is where most people get it wrong.

There’s no point in having all the things that people deem successful if you’re dying on the inside. And it’s even more true for someone like him who isn’t passionate about the characters that he creates.

Whether you realize it or not, it will eventually eat him alive sooner or later.

It’s no different from those who have a high-paying job but loathe the job every single day. The money is good. But no amount of money will make you feel any better if you simply hate what you’re doing.

The saving grace

At the very least, it’s good to know that he doesn’t loathe the story despite not liking the characters.

He didn’t say anything about not liking the story. So, I take that as a good sign, I guess?

But then again, will he be able to last long when he has to work on the manga where he’s not passionate about the characters?

To be honest, I can’t say for sure. I can only hope that the story is enough to keep him going even if he doesn’t like the characters.

But then again, it’s hard to know what the future will unfold.

The only thing we can do as a fan is to support him and the manga as much as we can.

While the fact that he doesn’t like the characters may come as a shock to many of us, at least he’s being transparent about it.

P.S While I admit that the Trigger Locked series isn’t the same as SPY x FAMILY, story-wise, the main character of the series, Touka and her twin brother, Yuuto is spies.

If you love spies character and you enjoy reading light novels, particularly in the thriller genre, then you may enjoy reading the Trigger Locked series.

Curious about the book? You can download the sample chapter of the first book from the series right here on my Payhip store:

Trigger Locked Book 1: The Mind Control Assassins

Interested in buying the book? Don’t forget to use the coupon code SEKINAMAYUBLOG during checkout to get 25% off on your order.

The book is also available in print and other retailers. But you can only get 25% off when you buy the digital version of the book directly from me.