It’s going to be a big year for the popular anime series Spy x Family! Not only did season 2 recently premiere on Crunchyroll, but a feature-length film, Spy x Family Code: White, is set to be released in Japan in December!
So yeah, lots of big doings! But what about the basics? Season 1 of the show has dubs not only in English, but also in Japanese, Dutch, Spanish (from Latin America and Spain), French, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, and Arabic. Yet the season 2 episodes that have been released so far only have subtitles in those languages, while the audio tracks are Japanese-only.
When can we expect season 2 dubs for Spy x Family?
As of this writing, neither Toho nor Crunchyroll have announced when we can expect dubs for Spy x Family. However, we might be able to make some educated guesses on when to expect them based on how season 1 was handled.
There’s an entire Crunchyroll Reddit thread devoted to speculation about season 2 dubs, with knowledgeable fans trying to set expectations:
“If it follows the last season that aired, that followed two weeks (plus some hours) behind the corresponding sub. But that’s just a guess until it is announced formally on their News page. It is possible that it may just appear without notice, but given the popularity of the show, they usually make it a point to post a news article.”
u/asharka on reddit
“I’d guess it would be closer to 4 or 5 weeks after the first episode. I say this because there were delays during the previous season, and the actors might have scheduling conflicts. Also, when Crunchyroll has a show they market so heavily, they tend to be a bit more careful on their dubbing process, so naturally it takes longer. Not always the case, but I’d definitely say so for Spy Family.”
u/Shining_Falcon on reddit
One fan even brought up the current SAG-AFTRA strike as a possible factor to consider based on what’s happened with other anime dubs:
“I’m not 100% sure if the SAG-AFTRA strike will impact the dub or not, but there is a possibility. The second half of the Nier Automata dub was affected by it so depending on whether the VAs are part of the guild on strike, it may take longer.”
u/tanman_266 on reddit
Season 2 of Spy x Family premiered on Crunchyroll on October 7, so if asharka is right, we might be able to expect dubs at least for episode 26 (the first of season 2) as early as this weekend. However, quality control and/or the SAG-AFTRA strike could delay things. As soon as there’s an official announcement, we’ll let you know.
Do we at least know the voice cast for the English dub?
This hasn’t officially been announced either. However, for the sake of consistency and quality, it’d make sense for the season 1 voice cast to reprise their roles for the second season. As reported by epicstream.com, the voice cast for Spy x Family season 1’s English dub was:
- Alex Organ (Decim in Death Parade) as Loid Forger
- Megan Shipman (Yuki Endo in Asteroid in Love) as Anya Forger
- Natalie Van Sistine (Sofia in Arte) as Yor Forger
- Tyler Walker (Taihei Noka in All Out!!) as Bond Forger
- Anthony Bowling (Inukai in Darwin’s Game) as Franklin
- Caitlin Glass (Miria Harvent in Baccano!) as Damian Desmond
- Dallas Reid (Shiro Tanaka in Boogiepop and Others) as Yuri Briar
- Dani Chambers (Chise Hatori in The Ancient Magus’ Bride) as Becky Blackbell
- Lindsay Seidel (Belfast in Azur Lane) as Fiona Frost
- Morgan Laure (Tatsumi Inada in D-Frag!) as Camilla
- Stephanie Young (Sophia Belin in Aquarion) as Sylvia Sherwood
- Clifford Chapin (Kusa in Alderamin on the Sky) as Keith Kepler
- Jordan Dash Cruz (Taketo Aida in Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid) as Dominic
- Barry Yandell (Zelada in Cop Craft) as Henry Henderson
Here’s hoping they do reprise their roles! While I generally prefer watching anime subs over dubs because I enjoy hearing the original Japanese performances, there are certain shows where the dub actually works for me. Kaguya-sama: Love Is War is one where I feel like the dub actually adds to the experience of watching it in a positive way. And Spy x Family is another. So, I’ll usually watch the season with subs first, then re-watch it with the English dub to see what, if anything, changes or is deepened.
Regardless, we can be sure that we will have dubs eventually. It’s only a matter of time.
Also a matter of time is learning whether Spy x Family Code: White will be made available with subs or dubs in North America after the Japanese release, and whether it will get a theatrical release or go straight to Crunchyroll. We’ll keep you updated on that, too, as more information is released!
Until then, we’ll just have to listen to season 2 Bond “borf!” in Japanese.
(featured image: Toho)
