Maddies Manga

After running away from the secret agency she lived most of her life serving, former spy Chloe decides to take on the name Victoria and start a new life for herself.

You can check out volume one of this series for yourself below!

Author

This series was written by Syuu, Komo Ushino, and Nanna Fujimi.

Genre & Tropes

Slice of life, found family, very light romantic themes.

Info about this volume (ongoing)

There are currently six volumes in Japanese, and three in English.

This series also has a translated light novel.

TL;DR rating

I liked this volume quite a bit more than I was expecting to! The story was at its best when it focused on Victoria and Nonna’s relationship, in my opinion.

Official Synopsis

Victoria’s peaceful, everyday existence has begun! Ever since she retired from the espionage world, Victoria’s been living as a civilian, just like she’s always dreamed of. But her past as a spy is hard to run from―even though she turned her back on danger, it can’t stop danger from finding her! So when she meets Nonna, a young girl totally on her own in the world, Victoria has to decide what’s truly important to her…peace, or her new friend?

My thoughts on this volume (Spoilers!)

If you’re a fan of the found family trope, I highly recommend checking out Victoria of Many Faces! Volume one quickly surpassed all of my expectations and then some—I cannot wait to check out the rest of the series.

I do have to admit, I was a little hesitant to start this one. I judged it by the title and cover, and assumed it would be a darker series. Perhaps it would follow the spy Victoria as she took on several roles throughout the volume, I thought to myself. I also wasn’t all that excited about there being a prominent child character, as I find children can really make or break a series for me.

Thankfully all of my concerns were for nothing, as this ended up being a lovely read! Rather than being a dark story about a spy and young girl, it instead ended up being a more lighthearted story of a former spy and the young girl she adopts. While there were small bouts of tension found throughout the volume, overall this made for a pretty relaxing read.

Victoria quickly became a character I could root for, as though she’s incredibly overpowered and independent, she’s humanized right from the start. Rather than being a cold spy without any emotions just going from mission to mission, she’s a former spy who is trying to live for herself for the first time in her life. In picking up the young orphan Nonna, Victoria is slowly able to learn more about herself.

I really enjoyed following both Victoria and Nonna! As Nonna clearly had a rough upbringing—she was abandoned by her parents, and has difficulty expressing herself—she has to depend on Victoria to teach her just about everything in life. Victoria, also having her own rough upbringing, balances making sure Nonna can have as fulfilling of a childhood as possible and learning about herself.

Because Victoria is so capable, it’s not all that surprising that Nonna quickly also shows herself to be rather impressive—like her randomly doing cartwheels while on a picnic! I loved that Victoria stated that she wanted Nonna to grow into a woman who never has to depend on a man. I really love just how much this volume focuses on Victoria and Nonna being able to handle things for themselves!

I can’t end this review without talking a little about the potential (definite, in my opinion) love interest, Jeffrey. I actually thought he made a wonderful addition to the story! He’s respectful of Victoria’s boundaries, is good with Nonna, and is clearly into strong, independent woman. (who isn’t?) I really don’t mind there being little sprinklings of romance here and there, as this volume is all about Victoria moving to a new city to have a new life. It makes sense for her to develop a romantic relationship with someone.

As Victoria is only beginning to understand herself come of the end of volume one, I don’t think she really sees Jeffrey as a romantic interest just yet. She says herself that while she’s dated people for the sake of missions in the past, she’s never actually developed romantic feelings for anyone. While I do think she and Jeffrey will end up dating by the end of the series, I think it’ll take at least a few volumes before it happens. Thankfully, Jeffrey seems to be a perfect gentlemen who doesn’t mind waiting until Victoria is ready. If anyone deserves her, it’s him!

I’m excited to see where Victoria and Nonna go from here, and if Victoria will continue teaching Nonna not just physical skills, but intellectual ones as well. As Victoria can speak a number of languages, it would only make sense for her to pass that on to Nonna!