Content Warning: Male fan service, gore, physical violence
What’s it about? Kazushige Sanda has a secret—he’s the descendent of Santa Claus. That comes with Santa Powers, and his deranged classmate and crush Fuyumura is determined to put them to use, whether he wants to or not.
Christmas carol soundtracks. Santa Claus transformation sequences. The horniest internal monologues in any anime since Beastars. A child who is the literal descendent of Santa Claus. Powers that come only from helping a child who “truly believes in the meaning of Christmas.”
SANDA may be one of the most head empty, heart full shows on TV. That is precisely why it works so well.
I don’t want to give away too much of what makes SANDA tick, because discovering it for yourself is the best part of the experience. Every moment of this show I was waiting for the next ridiculous thing to happen, and it never disappointed.
The reason the buffoonery is so necessary is because I know what Itadaki Paru is capable of. In Beastars, she created a story that was so laden with meaning that it was hard to watch. With gestures at slut shaming, teenage desire, social class, and many other Big Topics that were all handled with the subtlety of a sledgehammer, it was hard to square Beastars’ attempt at social commentary with the show’s overall gonzo ridiculousness—never queer enough to be camp, yet never graceful enough to be taken seriously, I had to put it down.
By contrast, SANDA makes no such attempts to be anything other than it is: the horny Santa anime. Muscle daddy appreciators like myself will be having a field day with this. There is far more male fan service in this than there is female, and Science Saru has thankfully graced us with the male nipple, so rare in anime these days. The gonzo storytelling of Beastars is still there, but without any of the anxiety that such storytelling brings of the show WEGGing out, as it were.
The characters themselves in this are so far thinly sketched tropes. Our female co-lead Fuyumura is mentally unwell and violent, having lost any sense of moral scruples over the death of her…friend? Crush? Unrequited love? Something like that. The tit-ular male lead, on the other hand (heheh get it?), begins this series with mostly horniness for Fuyumura that makes him the picture of delulu, but when he becomes Santa everything is about generosity towards children. There is definitely room for the characters to become more complex and interesting with time, but honestly I wouldn’t need that to continue enjoying this show. I’ll be curious to see what the other female characters are like.
Science Saru’s animation of SANDA, is, of course, impeccable. It’s been interesting (and somewhat concerning) to see them transitioning from more out-of-the-box adaptations to battle shounen fare, but so far they seem to have been selecting manga that fit their maximalist animation style better, with Dan Da Dan and SANDA both sharing an anything-could-happen spirit that works well with them. I question whether this show can remain as high octane gonzo as it has been so far, but with Itadaki as a writer it is almost certain to stay fresh.
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