Four Lives Remain: Tatsuya Endo Before Spy x Family Manga Shows Growth

When a mangaka behind a major series becomes famous, we’ll often get to see their early work thanks to publishers picking those up to capitalize on their popularity. It happened with Chainsaw Man creator Tatsuki Fujimoto. Viz Media started to do that with Spy x Family star Tatsuya Endo and Tista. Now it followed that up with The Four Lives Remain: Tatsuya Endo Before Spy x Family, and I feel like this manga collection shows a lot of progress and hints as to what Endo eventually would accomplish.

Editor’s Note: There will be some mild spoilers regarding the four stories in the The Four Lives Remain: Tatsuya Endo Before Spy x Family manga below.

The Four Lives Remain: Tatsuya Endo Before Spy x Family begins with “Western Game.” Ellena Fiscuff is a young woman who just joining the Third National Bounty Hunting Academy to deal with wild west-life in a world where things went to hell. Her childhood neighbor, who she affectionately knows as Uncle Holiday, is a teacher there. However, this rough-around-the-edges student proves she belongs there by immediately standing up to a bull named Kiel Kranston who tries to suggest she’d look better as a lady without a gun. It gets her suspended, but it also gets her a friend in the process. This is his debut work, but we already see the idea of a strong heroine who is working off of a bounty/mission system and is incredibly adept at fighting even without the use of any weapons. Likewise, this one-shot features a number of fights along the lines of ones in Spy x Family, so we’re already seeing the sort of framework and staging Endo was capable early on. 

From there, we move on to “Blade of the Moon Princess.” It pairs science fiction with an imperial and samurai sort of tale. Kaguya Crescentheart is the Imperial Empress who, as she’s about to ascend to the throne, is forced into exile. She and her father Nagi flee via escape pods, taking the sword signifying her position with them. He sends her to safety on the earth below, buying her time to escape and hone her skills with the blade in Hinomoto with local followers who moved there decades before the coup. We get to see her kindness and strength, some fun fight swordfighting scenes, and an unexpected mix of elements from different time periods. It feels the start of something fun and with political elements as Kaguya would fight back against the coup, and sure enough Endo eventually did create a Blade of the Moon Princess series! Viz picked that up as well, and it’s great to compare this one shot and that full story.

After that, the The Four Lives Remain: Tatsuya Endo Before Spy x Family manga gets into the story “Witch Craze.” As the title suggests, it’s about witches, with a pair of witch hunters named Nei and Morgana taking on the latest case. It gives us a sense of a power-couple duo like Loid and Yor could be. However, this is actually my least favorite story in the collection. It obscures too much for too long and then, by the time it gets going, I feel like Endo already assumes we know how the world works in this one shot. It feels like a chapter of a story you’d read after following a manga for at least a full volume, not an isolated piece.. So even though Nei and Morgana’s relationship and dynamic seems interesting, it isn’t well explained.

Finally, everything wraps up with “PMG-0,” which is my favorite manga in The Four Lives Remain: Tatsuya Endo Before Spy x Family. I felt like this story seemed a bit closer in structure to Spy x Family, given the concept of an established agency. Heroine Tania is an unarmed Frencelle Republic Polo Musketeer Guard Group 0 unit whose goal is to step in during shady or dangerous situations to save people’s lives. It honestly sort of reminded me of Loid’s more altruistic goal behind his work as a spy. However, as this is more of a comedy, she’s not as disciplined as Loid or Yor, as she knocks out the very hostages she was sent to save in the introduction’s mission. Here we’re getting an idea behind a structured organization, such as the one Loid belongs to in Spy x Family. We’re seeing what life is like for one of these types of agents outside of work. We watch her interact with coworkers and deal with assignments. In the postscript, Endo compared it to “Western Game,” and I see the similarities, but I also feel like it is similar to “Blade of the Moon Princess,” in that it could still easily be picked up even now and turned into something more.

It’s fascinating to revisit a mangaka’s past work, and the four manga in The Four Lives Remain: Tatsuya Endo Before Spy x Family are quite telling. Three of them feel like they could have been their own series, given the chance, rather than one shots. I especially liked the execution, characters, and stories told in “Blade of the Moon Princess” and “PMG-0!” But in all of them, we see already Endo’s foundations. There are strong female characters. The fight scenes seem well choreographed, though they do get better as the volume goes on. There’s worldbuilding here that comes across as fascinating, and even a look at some political intrigue or handling of corruption. It’s a great look back at this creator’s start.  

The Four Lives Remain: Tatsuya Endo Before Spy x Family manga compilation is available via Viz Media. It also handles Spy x Family outside Japan, while Crunchyroll handles the anime adaptation.