There is a specific emptiness that appears after catching up with Spy x Family . One minute, Anya is misunderstanding an adult situation in the funniest way possible. The next, Loid is treating a school interview like an international hostage crisis while Yor casually demonstrates enough strength to frighten the furniture. Then the episode ends, and everything feels suspiciously quiet. Thankfully, anime has plenty of other unconventional families ready to fill that space. Some feature assassins attempting preschool drop off. Others follow single parents, reluctant guardians, and supernatural daughters. These are the best family anime like Spy x Family for viewers who want comedy, emotional warmth, memorable children, and adults improvising their way through parenthood. One warning: “family anime” here means anime about families, not necessarily shows for young children. Several picks include violence, grief, or heavier themes. 10. School Babysitters School Babysitters begins with tragedy but quickly becomes one of the gentlest shows here. After losing their parents, teenage Ryuichi and his little brother Kotaro are taken in by an academy chairwoman. In exchange, Ryuichi helps at the school daycare, where he becomes surrounded by tiny agents of destruction disguised as adorable toddlers. Like Loid, Ryuichi learns that children do not care about carefully prepared plans. They have snacks to reject, feelings to express, and unexplained reasons for sitting on the floor. It is ideal when you want maximum cuteness with minimal danger. 9. Sweetness and Lightning Food is practically a family member in Sweetness and Lightning . Widowed teacher Kohei Inuzuka struggles to cook proper meals for his young daughter, Tsumugi. With help from one of his students, he begins learning how to make the homemade dishes she has been missing. There are no spies or international conspiracies. The greatest threat is an improperly prepared dinner. Yet its appeal resembles the quieter parts of Spy x Family : a caring father wants to do better but has no idea what he is doing. Tsumugi can make a simple meal feel like a tournament arc finale. 8. Deaimon: Recipe for Happiness Deaimon takes place in a traditional Japanese sweets shop, which means nearly every episode looks delicious enough to sabotage your diet. Nagumo returns to Kyoto expecting to inherit the family business, only to meet Itsuka, a serious young girl who already works there and is treated like a possible successor. Their relationship begins awkwardly. Nagumo is irresponsible, Itsuka is guarded, and neither knows what role the other should play. Gradually, the shop becomes a home. Fans of the Forgers’ slow emotional growth should enjoy how this family forms through shared meals, small kindnesses, and dependable everyday support. 7. Hinamatsuri Imagine if Anya crashed into Loid’s home inside a mysterious metal pod, possessed overwhelming psychic powers, and had the appetite of a competitive eater. That gets you somewhere near Hinamatsuri . Yakuza member Nitta suddenly finds himself responsible for Hina, a strange girl with telekinetic abilities and almost no understanding of normal social behavior. Their forced arrangement gradually becomes one of anime’s funniest father daughter relationships. Beneath the psychic property damage is a surprisingly thoughtful story about children searching for stability and adults discovering they can care about someone besides themselves. 6. Mission: Yozakura Family Viewers who specifically want more spies, secret organizations, and dangerous domestic life should put Mission: Yozakura Family near the top of their queue. Taiyo Asano discovers that his childhood friend Mutsumi belongs to a family of elite spies. Through circumstances that can only be described as aggressively anime, Taiyo marries her and joins the Yozakura household. He must train, survive missions, protect his new wife, and coexist with wildly eccentric siblings. It is more battle shonen than parenting comedy, but it captures the same contrast: deadly professionals handling ridiculous family problems with total seriousness. 5. The Yakuza's Guide to Babysitting Toru Kirishima is a feared yakuza enforcer known for solving problems with violence. His boss decides the obvious cure is to assign him a more terrifying responsibility: babysitting his young daughter, Yaeka. The Yakuza’s Guide to Babysitting gives its central relationship genuine warmth. Kirishima becomes more patient while the shy Yaeka grows comfortable expressing herself. Watching a dangerous man worry about school events scratches the same itch as seeing Loid approach parenting like a covert operation. Kirishima can intimidate an entire room, but one disappointed look from Yaeka lands like a critical hit. 4. Somali and the Forest Spirit Somali and the Forest Spirit replaces modern espionage with a beautiful fantasy world, but its emotional center is pure found family. A golem discovers a human girl named Somali and begins searching for other humans before his limited lifespan ends. The golem initially treats everything logically. Somali needs protection, so he will protect her. Naturally, this emotionally distant plan becomes complicated when she starts calling him her father. Like Loid, the golem believes he can separate feelings from the mission. Like Loid, he is hilariously incorrect. Its message is powerful: family can begin when one person decides another will not face the world alone. 3. Kakushigoto Kakushi Goto is a single father with a secret occupation. No, he is not a spy. He draws a crude comedy manga and is convinced that discovering this fact would ruin his daughter Hime’s life. That fear leads to ridiculous schemes as Kakushi hides his workplace and attempts to maintain the image of a respectable father. The secret identity comedy makes Kakushigoto an easy recommendation for Spy x Family fans, but the real attraction is the father daughter bond. Kakushi may be dramatic, paranoid, and three bad decisions away from exposing himself, yet his love for Hime is never in doubt. Come for the manga industry jokes. Stay because Hime must be protected at all costs. 2. Kotaro Lives Alone Do not let the simple art style fool you. Kotaro Lives Alone can make you laugh at a four year old behaving like a tiny feudal lord and then emotionally ambush you before the episode ends. Kotaro moves into an apartment by himself and forms relationships with the adults around him, especially struggling manga artist Shin Karino. The neighbors initially treat him as an odd curiosity but gradually become an unofficial family surrounding a child who learned independence for heartbreaking reasons. This is the heaviest pick on the list, dealing with neglect and loneliness without becoming hopeless. Its message is that family can be assembled from people who consistently show up, pay attention, and choose to care. Anya makes viewers cheer for a child finding a home. Kotaro activates the same protective instinct, only with considerably more tissues required. 1. Buddy Daddies Of all the anime like Spy x Family , Buddy Daddies is the closest match without feeling like a copy. Kazuki and Rei are professional assassins whose controlled lives collapse when they unexpectedly begin caring for Miri, an energetic four year old girl. The similarities are obvious: killers with secret lives, dangerous missions, and adults pretending they understand families. The difference is that Buddy Daddies spends more time on the exhausting logistics of parenting. Daycare applications, illnesses, meals, laundry, work schedules, and public tantrums become obstacles as serious as any armed target. Miri is louder and more realistically chaotic than Anya, while Kazuki and Rei develop distinct parenting roles. Their apartment slowly changes from a place where two assassins sleep between jobs into a genuine home filled with noise, mess, and affection. The action is stylish and the emotional growth feels earned. More importantly, the series understands the secret ingredient behind Spy x Family : a mission may create the household, but everyday love turns it into a family. Which Family Anime Should You Watch First? For the nearest replacement for the Forgers, start with Buddy Daddies . For more spies and absurd action, choose Mission: Yozakura Family . Anyone seeking pure warmth should try Sweetness and Lightning or School Babysitters , while viewers ready for emotional damage can approach Kotaro Lives Alone with tissues already deployed. The wonderful thing about these shows is that none of their families look quite the same. Some are connected by blood, some by circumstance, and some by a professional assassin accidentally becoming responsible for a small child. Anime is flexible like that. Spy x Family may have perfected the mixture of espionage, comedy, and family warmth, but it is far from the only series that understands why found family stories hit so hard. Watching people choose one another, protect one another, and slowly build a home together will always be satisfying. Also, any anime proving that elite spies and hardened criminals can be defeated by preschool paperwork deserves our respect.