The following contains spoilers for Spy X Family Episode 1, “Operation Strix,” now streaming on Crunchyroll.
Similarities across different types of anime are inevitable. While characters are almost never carbon copies of each other, you'd be hard-pressed to find any that didn't share at least one aspect of their personality or background with another character from a completely different story. This is usually recognized near the completion of their arcs, but eagle-eyed fans have already noticed some similarities between Spy x Family's Loid Forger and the leader of My Hero Academia's League of Villains.
When Anya got kidnapped after transmitting a childish dare over Loid's radio, her father wasted no time in setting off to rescue her. After he succeeded in retrieving her from the kidnappers, Anya began to cry out of happiness at being reunited with him. Her reaction was expected, but it had the unintended effect of reminding Loid why he hated the sound of children crying so much.
While fleeing, Loid reminisced about his childhood. Like Anya, he'd been an orphan but didn't even have the limited protection of an orphanage. Instead, he was left in the streets to fend for himself. After a period of being abandoned and then ignored by everyone who saw his destitution, Loid was pushed to tears out of sheer loneliness. His inability to change his situation put him in despair, and crying was the only thing he could do back then. Sadly this experience stuck with him, and every time he heard the sound of a child's cry, it would all come rushing back.
Loid's past in Spy x Family is strikingly similar to Shigaraki Tomura's from My Hero Academia. After destroying his family and home when his Quirk first manifested, Shigaraki was left to roam the streets just like Loid. He also had to deal with passersby realizing he was in distress but ignoring him anyway. His childhood was also similar to Loid's, but what's even more interesting is how these experiences shaped both their worldviews.
Shortly after rescuing Anya from her would-be kidnappers, Loid began to mentally scold himself for even involving a child in spy activities. His whole reason for becoming a spy was so he could help create a world where children would not have to cry anymore. He hated his own loneliness so much that he vowed to help make sure no other child would have to go through something similar.
Placing Anya in such a dangerous situation was the exact opposite of what he intended for her and the incident convinced him that returning her to a safer orphanage was for the best. Anya understood his reasoning immediately but decided for herself to stick with her "Papa" instead.
On the other hand, Shigaraki swung heavily in the opposite direction. His frustration with the passersby who ignored him -- and the heroes who afforded them the complacency to -- was so great that he resolved to destroy everything. He was soon rescued by All For One, who only fostered Shigaraki's worst instincts and groomed him to become the Symbol of Evil he currently is. Loid's genuine selflessness in Spy x Family and Shigaraki's primal evil in MHA are the factors that starkly differentiate the two.
