Not the release date — well, actually, this time it is partly the release date. On Saturday, November 8, 2026, at the SPY×FAMILY Anime Extra Mission II event in Tokyo, the official team announced that SPY×FAMILY Season 4 is officially in production and will air in 2027 — and that a second SPY×FAMILY movie is also on the way, coming to Japanese theaters that same year. Two announcements, one stage, and a brand new teaser visual to go with them. In today’s special episode of The Nerds List Daily, Nova breaks down everything we actually know, what the manga has waiting, and why 2027 is shaping up to be the Forgers’ biggest year yet.
The announcement: two reveals, one stage
The news dropped at a live cast event, the Anime Extra Mission II show in Tokyo, with eight members of the main cast on stage together. Right after the reveal, the confirmation went up on the anime’s official website, and a brand new teaser visual was released, drawn by character designer Satoshi Kadowaki. It shows the whole Forger family together on a sunlit European-style street — Loid holding his hat up, Anya smiling with her arms wide open, Yor standing beside Bond, and newspapers floating around them. It is a warm, hopeful image, and it is the first new official art for Season 4. Fans have already been poring over it: the newspapers floating around the family seem to focus on Anya, which has people guessing about what the season will spotlight.
Within hours of the event, the teaser visual was everywhere, shared by the official accounts and reposted by fans around the world, with anime news sites picking the story up in multiple languages before the day was over. That is the scale of this franchise now. It is not just a popular anime. It is a global event every time it moves.
Season 4: what we actually know
Season 4 will air in 2027. That is the whole date we have — no month, no season of the year, no episode count. The animation is once again a joint production between WIT Studio and CloverWorks, the same two studios behind all three previous seasons. There is a change at the top, though: Yasuhiro Akamatsu is directing Season 4, stepping in as the new series director. He is joined by assistant director Hiroki Shinagawa, series composition by Aya Takaha (with Yoko Yonaiyama assisting), character designs by Kazuaki Shimada and Satoshi Kadowaki, and art direction by Ichiro Tatsuta. It is a mix of familiar hands and fresh leadership, which is exactly what you want for a fourth season.
It is worth pausing on that director change, because it tells you how this production thinks about itself. Kazuhiro Furuhashi directed the first season and came back for the second alongside Takahiro Harada. Yukiko Imai, who had directed episodes in the earlier seasons, took the chair for Season 3. Now Yasuhiro Akamatsu steps up for Season 4. That is three different directors across four seasons, and each handoff has kept the show’s look and feel consistent while letting a new voice shape the tone. The studios stay the same, the cast stays the same, the character designs stay the same, and the person at the center changes just enough to keep things fresh. If Season 4 feels a little different from Season 3, that is probably why, and probably by design.
The voices are all coming back. Takuya Eguchi returns as Loid, Atsumi Tanezaki as Anya, Saori Hayami as Yor, and Kenichiro Matsuda as Bond and as the narrator. Those four were on stage for the announcement, along with Kensho Ono, Natsumi Fujiwara, Emiri Kato, and Ayane Sakura. No recasts, no surprises — the family stays the family. That matters more than it sounds, because Anya’s voice is one of the most recognizable in all of anime, and a fourth season only works if that chemistry is intact.
Where Season 3 left off — and what the manga has ready
Season 3 ran for thirteen episodes, from October 4 to December 27, 2025, and it covered the manga from Mission 64 through Mission 78. It ended on the Red Circus arc, the bus hijacking story, where Anya and her classmates from Eden Academy are taken hostage on a school trip by the terrorist group called the Red Circus. It was one of the tensest stretches the show has ever done, and it ended the season on a real emotional high. Season 4 picks up right where that left off, from Mission 79 onward in the manga.
And here is the good news for everyone wondering what Season 4 will actually be about: the manga has plenty of story ready. The next arc after the bus hijacking is the Mole Hunt arc (Missions 79–89), where a set of sensitive WISE files is stolen and the hunt for the traitor inside puts Operation Strix itself in danger. After that comes the Term Finals arc (Missions 90–96), where Anya faces her first final exams at Eden Academy, and a poor showing could end her school life — and with it, the mission itself. Then the manga takes a turn longtime fans have been waiting for: the Love and War arc (Missions 97–102) steps back in time to tell the story of Henry Henderson and Martha Marriott, whose shared past stretches from their school days all the way to the first war between East and West. After that, the Term Break arc (Missions 103–113) slows things down as Anya enjoys time away from Eden, with a quiet clue about her own past surfacing along the way. And then there is the Poacher Hunt arc (Missions 114–120), which sends Yor into the forests of Ostania to protect endangered animals from hunters and puts her double life front and center.
One honest note: the official announcement did not say which of these arcs Season 4 will adapt, or how many episodes it will have. What Nova lays out is what comes next in the manga, in order. The material is there, and there is easily enough for a full season. But until the staff confirms the episode list, treat the arc order as the likely road map, not a promise.
The second movie
Then there is the movie, and this might be the bigger surprise of the two announcements. A second SPY×FAMILY theatrical film is in production, set to open in Japanese theaters in 2027. We do not have a title, we do not have a story, and we do not have an exact date. What we do have is the track record of the first one: SPY×FAMILY CODE: White opened in December 2023 and grossed more than ¥6.26 billion at the Japanese box office. It was an original story, not an adaptation, and it proved that this franchise can fill theaters, not just living rooms. Whether the second film is another original adventure or adapts a manga arc is still unknown — and that is honestly part of the fun. The announcement gives us a year and nothing else, so the speculation starts now.
One thing to keep in mind, especially if you are listening outside Japan: the movie’s 2027 window was announced for Japanese theaters. International release plans have not been announced, and the first film took time to reach audiences overseas, so fans outside Japan may be waiting a little longer for the big screen part of this. The television season should be easier, since Crunchyroll has streamed every season so far, but the movie is a wait and see.
Why 2027 is the Forgers’ biggest year yet
Season 3 ended on December 27, 2025, so by the time Season 4 airs in 2027, fans will have waited more than a year — closer to a year and a half depending on the month. That is a long gap, and the team clearly knew it, which is why they gave us two announcements instead of one. The manga, meanwhile, has not slowed down at all. Tatsuya Endo’s original manga has been running on Shonen Jump+ since 2019, and its eighteenth volume was published on November 4, 2026, just four days before the announcement. The story is healthy, the audience is there, and the anime has more than enough material to keep going for years.
And this is not the only SPY×FAMILY project on stage right now. A sequel stage musical, SPY×FAMILY 2, has been running in Japan from September through December 2026, adapting the manga’s Doggy Bomb and Luxury Cruise Ship arcs. So the franchise is everywhere at once — on stage, on screen, and in print — and 2027 is shaping up to be its biggest year yet.
It is worth remembering why this show works in the first place, because it is the reason a fourth season and a second movie both make sense. SPY×FAMILY is built on a joke with real heart. Loid is a spy who needs a family for his mission. Yor is an assassin who needs a husband to look normal. Anya is a telepath who can read minds, and she is the only one who knows everyone’s secret. Bond, the dog, can see the future, and nobody knows that either. Every character is lying to every other character, and the audience knows all of it. That is the engine of the show. The comedy comes from the secrets, the action comes from the double lives, and the emotion comes from the fact that this fake family keeps accidentally becoming a real one.
How to catch up before 2027
If you need to catch up before 2027, the road map is simple. Season 1 premiered in April 2022 with 25 episodes. Season 2 ran from October to December 2023 with 12 episodes. Season 3 ran from October 4 to December 27, 2025, with 13 episodes. That is 50 episodes in total, plus the CODE: White movie, and all of it streams on Crunchyroll. If you have never watched SPY×FAMILY, start at the beginning, because the show earns every payoff it sets up. If you have watched it all, a rewatch is the perfect way to wait.
What should you watch for next? The first thing will be a premiere window — a month or a season of the year — which usually comes a few months after an announcement like this. After that, a full trailer, which will tell us a lot more about which arcs are in and how the season is paced. And then, separately, the first real details on the movie: a title, a story hint, maybe a poster. The official website and the show’s official social accounts are where all of that will land first, and we will cover it here the moment it drops.
Listen to the full episode below — Nova walks through the announcement, the new director, the returning cast, the manga arcs waiting in line, and the second movie.
Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7BMCA5e8tjGbhUqbnt4LBb
Support the show: The Nerd’s List Daily — Insider Club on Patreon
Transcript
Key moments:
00:00 — Intro — the Forgers return twice in 2027
00:30 — How it dropped — the Anime Extra Mission II live event
00:45 — The new teaser visual by Satoshi Kadowaki
01:07 — What we know about Season 4 — 2027, WIT Studio + CloverWorks
01:25 — New director Yasuhiro Akamatsu + the full staff
01:51 — Three directors across four seasons
02:34 — The voices all return — Eguchi, Tanezaki, Hayami, Matsuda
03:02 — Where Season 3 left us — the Red Circus bus hijacking
03:38 — What’s next in the manga — Mole Hunt, Term Finals
04:13 — Love and War, Term Break, Poacher Hunt
04:56 — The honest note — no arcs officially confirmed yet
05:16 — The second movie — Japanese theaters in 2027
05:32 — CODE: White’s ¥6.26 billion track record
05:57 — The stage musical SPY×FAMILY 2 + the international wait
06:41 — The timing — a year-and-a-half gap, manga vol. 18
07:20 — Why the show works — a joke with real heart
08:06 — The catch-up guide — 50 episodes on Crunchyroll
08:39 — Instant reaction — the teaser visual everywhere
09:04 — What to watch for next — premiere window, trailer, movie details
“Every character is lying to every other character, and the audience knows all of it. That is the engine of the show.”
“The Forgers are back in 2027, on television and on the big screen, in the same year.”
Transcript generated from the episode audio; minor transcription errors may remain.
[00:00] Welcome to the Nerds List Daily. I am Nova. The Forger family is coming back, and they are coming
[00:04] back twice. On Saturday, November 8th, at the Spy Family Anime Extra Mission 2 event in Tokyo,
[00:10] the official team announced that Spy Family Season 4 is officially in production and will air in
[00:15] 2027, and that a second Spy Family movie is also on the way. Coming to Japanese theaters
[00:20] that same year. Two announcements, one stage, and a brand new teaser visual to go with them.
[00:25] If you've been waiting since Season 3 ended, the wait finally has an end in sight.
[00:29] Let us start with how this dropped, because the moment itself is part of the story.
[00:33] The announcement came at a live cast event, the Anime Extra Mission 2 show in Tokyo,
[00:38] with eight members of the main cast on stage together. Right after the reveal,
[00:42] the confirmation went up on the Anime's official website,
[00:45] and a brand new teaser visual was released, drawn by character designer Satoshi Katawaki.
[00:50] It shows the whole Forger family together on a sunlit European-style street,
[00:54] Lloyd holding his hat up, Anya smiling with her arms wide open,
[00:58] your standing beside Bond, and newspapers floating around them.
[01:01] It is a warm, hopeful image, and it is the first new official art for Season 4.
[01:06] So, what do we actually know about Season 4? It will air in 2027,
[01:11] that is the whole date we have. No month, no season of the year, no episode count.
[01:15] The animation is once again a joint production between WIT Studio and Clover Works,
[01:20] the same two studios behind all three previous seasons.
[01:23] There is a change at the top though.
[01:24] Yasuhiro Akamatsu is directing Season 4, stepping in as the new series director.
[01:29] He is joined by assistant director Hiroki Shinagawa,
[01:32] series composition by Aya Takaha, with Yoko Yonayama assisting on series composition,
[01:38] character designs by Kazuwaki Shimada and Satoshi Katawaki,
[01:42] an art direction by Ichiro Tatsuta.
[01:45] It is a mix of familiar hands and fresh leadership,
[01:48] which is exactly what you want for a fourth season.
[01:50] It is worth pausing on that director change,
[01:52] because it tells you how this production thinks about itself.
[01:55] Kazuhiro Furuhashi directed the first season,
[01:58] and came back for the second alongside Takahiro Harada.
[02:01] Yukiko and Mai, who had directed episodes in the earlier seasons,
[02:04] took the chair for Season 3.
[02:06] Now Yasuhiro Akamatsu steps up for Season 4.
[02:09] That is, three different directors across four seasons,
[02:12] and each handoff has kept the show's look and feel consistent
[02:15] while letting a new voice shape the tone.
[02:17] It is a smart way to run a long series.
[02:19] The studios stay the same, the cast stays the same,
[02:22] the character designs stay the same,
[02:24] and the person at the center changes just enough to keep things fresh.
[02:28] If Season 4 feels a little different from Season 3,
[02:30] that is probably why, and probably by design.
[02:33] The voices are all coming back.
[02:35] Takuya Aguchi returns as Lloyd,
[02:37] at Sumi Tanizaki as Anya,
[02:38] Sauri Hayami as Yor,
[02:40] and Kanichiro Matsuda as Bond and as the narrator.
[02:43] Those four were on stage for the announcement,
[02:45] along with Kencho Ono,
[02:46] Natsumi Fujiwara,
[02:48] Amiri Kato and Ayane Sakura.
[02:50] No recasts, no surprises,
[02:52] the family stays the family.
[02:54] That matters more than it sounds,
[02:55] because Anya's voice is one of the most recognizable
[02:57] in all of anime,
[02:58] and a fourth season only works if that chemistry is intact.
[03:02] Now, where did Season 3 leave us?
[03:04] Season 3 ran for 13 episodes,
[03:06] from October 4th to December 27th, 2025,
[03:09] and it covered the manga from Mission 64 through Mission 78.
[03:13] It ended on the Red Circus arc,
[03:14] the bus hijacking story,
[03:16] where Anya and her classmates from Eden Academy
[03:18] are taken hostage on a school trip
[03:20] by the terrorist group called the Red Circus.
[03:22] It was one of the tensest stretches the show has ever done,
[03:24] and it ended the season on a real emotional high.
[03:27] Season 4 picks up right where that left off,
[03:29] from Mission 79 onward in the manga.
[03:32] And here's the good news for everyone wondering
[03:34] what Season 4 will actually be about.
[03:35] The manga has plenty of story ready.
[03:37] The next arc after the bus hijacking is the Mole Hunt arc,
[03:40] from Mission 79 through Mission 89.
[03:43] A set of sensitive wise files is stolen,
[03:45] and the hunt for the traitor inside
[03:46] puts operations strikes itself in danger.
[03:49] It is Lloyd at his most spy-like,
[03:51] and it raises the stakes for the whole mission
[03:52] in a way the show has not done since the first season.
[03:55] After that comes the term finals arc,
[03:57] Mission 90 through 96,
[03:59] where Anya faces her first final exams at Eden Academy,
[04:02] and a poor showing could end her school life.
[04:04] And with it, the mission itself.
[04:06] Anya studying for exams might sound small
[04:08] after a bus hijacking,
[04:09] but in this show,
[04:10] a test score can be just as dangerous as a bomb.
[04:13] Then the manga takes a turn
[04:14] that longtime fans have been waiting for.
[04:16] The Love and War arc, Mission 97 through 102,
[04:19] steps back in time to tell the story
[04:20] of Henry Henderson and Martha Marriott,
[04:22] who shared past stretches from their school days
[04:25] all the way to the first war between East and West.
[04:27] It is the most emotional stretch of the manga in a long time,
[04:30] and it gives two of the show's best supporting characters
[04:32] a spotlight they have more than earned.
[04:34] After that, the term break arc,
[04:36] Mission 103 through 113,
[04:39] slows things down as Anya enjoys time away from Eden,
[04:42] with a quiet clue about her own past
[04:43] surfacing along the way.
[04:45] And then there is the poacher hunt arc,
[04:46] Mission 114 through 120,
[04:49] which sends your into the forests of Ostania
[04:51] to protect endangered animals from hunters
[04:53] and puts her double life front and center.
[04:56] Now one honest note,
[04:57] the official announcement did not say
[04:59] which of these arc season four will adapt,
[05:01] or how many episodes it will have.
[05:03] What I just told you is what comes next in the manga
[05:05] in order.
[05:06] The material is there,
[05:07] and there is easily enough for a full season.
[05:10] But until the staff confirms the episode list,
[05:12] treat the arc order as the likely roadmap,
[05:14] not a promise.
[05:15] Then there is the movie,
[05:16] and this might be the bigger surprise of the two announcements.
[05:19] A second by family theatrical film is in production,
[05:22] set to open in Japanese theaters in 2027.
[05:25] We do not have a title,
[05:26] we do not have a story,
[05:27] and we do not have an exact date.
[05:29] What we do have is the track record of the first one.
[05:32] Spy Family Code White opened in December of 2023,
[05:35] and it grossed more than 6.26 billion yen
[05:37] at the Japanese box office.
[05:39] It was an original story,
[05:40] not an adaptation,
[05:42] and it proved that this franchise can fill theaters.
[05:44] Not just living rooms.
[05:45] Whether the second film is another original adventure
[05:48] or adapts a manga arc is still unknown,
[05:50] and that is honestly part of the fun.
[05:52] The announcement gives us a year and nothing else,
[05:55] so the speculation starts now.
[05:56] And this is not the only Spy Family project on stage right now.
[06:00] A sequel stage musical, Spy Family 2,
[06:02] has been running in Japan from September through December of 2026,
[06:06] adapting the manga's doggy bomb and luxury cruise ship arcs.
[06:09] So the franchise is everywhere at once,
[06:11] on stage, on screen, and in print.
[06:13] And 2027 is shaping up to be its biggest year yet.
[06:16] One thing to keep in mind though,
[06:18] especially if you're listening outside Japan,
[06:20] the movie's 2027 window was announced for Japanese theaters.
[06:24] International release plans have not been announced,
[06:26] and the first film took time to reach audiences overseas.
[06:29] So fans outside Japan may be waiting a little longer
[06:32] for the big screen part of this.
[06:34] The television season should be easier,
[06:36] since Crunchyroll has streamed every season so far,
[06:39] but the movie is a wait and see.
[06:40] Let us zoom out for a second,
[06:42] because the timing of all of this tells its own story.
[06:44] Season three ended on December 27th, 2025.
[06:48] So by the time season four airs in 2027,
[06:50] fans will have waited more than a year,
[06:52] closer to a year and a half depending on the month.
[06:55] That is a long gap,
[06:56] and the team clearly knew it,
[06:57] which is why they gave us two announcements instead of one.
[07:00] The manga, meanwhile, has not slowed down at all.
[07:03] Tatsuya Endo's original manga
[07:05] has been running on Shonen Jump Plus since 2019,
[07:08] and its 18th volume was published
[07:10] on November 4th, 2026,
[07:12] just four days before the announcement.
[07:14] The story is healthy, the audience is there,
[07:16] and the anime has more than enough material
[07:18] to keep going for years.
[07:20] It is worth remembering why this show works
[07:22] in the first place,
[07:23] because it is the reason of fourth season
[07:24] and a second movie both makes sense.
[07:26] Spy Family is built on a joke with real heart.
[07:29] Lloyd is a spy who needs a family for his mission.
[07:32] You're is an assassin who needs a husband to look normal.
[07:35] Anya is a telepath who can read minds,
[07:37] and she is the only one who knows everyone's secret.
[07:40] Bond the dog can see the future,
[07:41] and nobody knows that either.
[07:43] Every character is lying to every other character,
[07:45] and the audience knows all of it.
[07:47] That is the engine of the show.
[07:49] The comedy comes from the secrets.
[07:51] The action comes from the double lives,
[07:52] and the emotion comes from the fact
[07:54] that this fake family keeps accidentally
[07:56] becoming a real one.
[07:57] Season four has all of that to play with,
[07:59] and the manga arcs coming up lean into it hard,
[08:02] especially the ones that give your
[08:04] and the Henderson family room to breathe.
[08:06] If you need to catch up before 2027,
[08:08] the roadmap is simple.
[08:09] Season one premiered in April of 2022 with 25 episodes.
[08:13] Season two ran from October to December of 2023
[08:16] with 12 episodes.
[08:17] Season three ran from October fourth
[08:19] to December 27, 2025 with 13 episodes.
[08:22] That is 50 episodes in total,
[08:24] plus the code white movie, and all of it streams
[08:26] on Crunchyroll.
[08:28] If you have never watched Spy Family,
[08:29] start at the beginning,
[08:30] because the show earns every payoff it sets up.
[08:33] If you have watched it all,
[08:34] a rewatch is the perfect way to wait,
[08:35] and you will catch jokes and details you miss the first time.
[08:38] And the reaction to the announcement was instant.
[08:41] Within hours of the event,
[08:42] the teaser visual was everywhere,
[08:44] shared by the official accounts
[08:46] and reposted by fans around the world,
[08:48] with anime news sites picking the story up
[08:50] in multiple languages before the day was over.
[08:53] That is the scale of this franchise now.
[08:55] It is not just a popular anime,
[08:57] it is a global event every time it moves.
[08:59] And 2027 is going to be a very loud year for the foragers.
[09:03] What should you watch for next?
[09:05] The first thing will be a premiere window,
[09:06] a month or a season of the year,
[09:08] which usually comes a few months
[09:09] after an announcement like this.
[09:11] After that, a full trailer,
[09:13] which will tell us a lot more about which arcs are in
[09:15] and how the season is paced.
[09:17] And then separately, the first real details on the movie,
[09:19] a title, a story hint, maybe a poster,
[09:22] keep an eye on the teaser visual, too.
[09:24] Fans have already been pouring over it,
[09:26] and the newspapers floating around the family
[09:28] seem to focus on Anya,
[09:29] which has people guessing about what the season will spotlight.
[09:32] That is the fun of a teaser image.
[09:34] It gives you just enough to argue about for months.
[09:37] The official website and the show's official social accounts
[09:39] are where all of that will land first.
[09:41] And we will cover it here the moment it drops.
[09:44] For now though, the headline is simple.
[09:46] The foragers are back in 2027 on television
[09:49] and on the big screen in the same year.
[09:51] If you are listening on Spotify or Apple podcasts,
[09:53] hit follow.
[09:54] It takes two seconds and it is how new listeners find us.
[09:57] And if you have a moment, leave us five stars
[09:59] and a line about what you liked.
[10:01] This is the Nerds List Daily.
[10:02] I am Nova and I will see you next time.
0 Comments