DO NOT discuss the source material beyond this episode. If you want to discuss future events or theories, please use separate threads.
DO NOT ask where to watch/download this episode or give links to copyrighted, non-fair use material.
DO NOT troll/bait/harass/abuse other users for liking or disliking the series/characters.
DO read the Anime Discussion Rules and Site & Forum Guidelines.
DO NOT ask where to watch/download this episode or give links to copyrighted, non-fair use material.
DO NOT troll/bait/harass/abuse other users for liking or disliking the series/characters.
DO read the Anime Discussion Rules and Site & Forum Guidelines.
| Lol, yup this anime is aware itself with the Santa reference. Good to know Sanda didn't hold back this episode in his fight. He needed to awaken his full power in this episode's showdown. This episode gave itself a theatric vibe climax. He handled this in the best way he possibly could. |
 |
| The final fight between Santa and Oshibu really is a test of not just the physical aspect, but a psychological one that shows off the headmaster's ego and narcissism to its full development. Worse still, the cheers of the children all going to Oshibu, that leaves Santa questioning how to get them to his side, he has no choice but to reveal the Christmas legend to the kids and let them interpret it as it is. But it's clear that it's quickly becoming a distraction, with Oshibu bringing the fight to the roof for an uninterrupted 1-on-1 fight to reject his philosophy, all etched for a swordfight between Santa's feet sleighs and Oshibu's sword cane. But too bad, with Santa almost losing his footing, the duel goes to Oshibu for this one. With the ceremony still in order of its extension under the directive of Chief Director Tetsudome, Sanda comes back to Fuyumura and the cast having a celebratory feast to continue the fun wthin the night that never fades away, as is Sanda with Niko, and Fuyumura finally letting her feelings out for Ono. That said, the vague wish from Ono to Sanda, with her knowing that he's Santa to begin with, reveals its state the week after hearing of her unfortunate passing due to her accelerated puberty at 14 years of age. Clearly, Fuyumura feeling out of her depth for Sanda to confront her, only for him to be met with her disdain, he can only appease by comforting her in a bawling and sorry state, not as Santa, but as a fellow 14-year-old classmate Anything that Paru Itagaki creates, is an experience, as is watching this series that's in quite the contrast to Beastars. Hope for a Season 2 someday. |
KANLen09Dec 19, 2025 10:37 AM
 |
| Ono is dead for real this time or I hope so. Repeating it again would make it cheaper than before. That said pretty disappointed with this so far. Started off strong and immedietly piqued my interest untill the second half where I gradually stopped caring. Beastars was much better initially or overall which Idk how upcoming stuff are for this one so can't compare as a whole. Still intriguing world building from Paru Itagaki. She has a certain unique view of things for sure. |
MegamiRemDec 26, 2025 9:05 PM
 |
| And so we end on a rather downbeat note with the end of the festival...and Ono's life. What a weird way to end the season, but if I think about it I guess it fits given how random and unfocused this series felt throughout to me. I mean, the closest thing to an overarching goal we had seemed to be saving Ono and getting her back in school, even if that did often take a backseat as we focused on other characters and their issues. So now that she's dead it makes sense that I'm left wondering where do we go from here? I genuinely don't know. The death itself left literally no impact on me other than confusion, bewilderment. It's funny, I didn't really dislike this show all that much as I watched it, but if I think about it in hindsight I feel largely empty about it. I dunno, I guess I wouldn't mind watching more. Several characters I did like and am somewhat curious about where we go from here. But yeah, this series with its rather unique and outlandish premise left me moreso puzzled than anything else. Merry Christmas Santa Claus. 6/10. |
| Sanda is by no means bad. But it’s just not my cup of tea and I really don’t like it. Science SARU did a great job though. Ending was also bad. 4/10 |
| Man, Fuyumura's slow realization was heavy. The premise deserves props for the sheer novelty factor alone but this could've used a little more sauce as a finale. It's neat the "ancient" incarnation of Santa got featured on the week leading up to Christmas at least lol |
| This had everything for it for me to like it but i didn't, didn't like the cast, didn't like the subplots (found myself skipping so much scenes by pure boredom) i'm not even sure what the message this show tried to convey was, i get like Beastars it's a lot of self psychology but i was annoyed by it from episode 3 and so on, so yeah cool concept, cool lore, pretty visual and some memorable moments but i'm kinda glad it's over 4.5/10 |
| Deep dark fantasies |
| If nothing else, the premise of this show was unique and exciting at first, but not a fan of where they took the plot. Like you can't really call this a Christmas anime in the traditional sense of calling Home Alone a Christmas movie. It was just a weird mismatch of ideas that leaves me largely indifferent at the end. |
| Good stuff, would love a season 2. |
| HEWWO :3 |
| Easily the show of the season for me. It’s thought-provoking, occasionally bizarre, and often very funny. Strong animation, great music, and outstanding seiyuu work. Honestly, what more could I ask for? |
 » Escapism. |
| Oshibu was kicking some fine ass for a dude at his age. All the kids were rooting for Oshibu and not Santa Claus 'cause why would they for a creepy old grandpa lol Sanda discovered a new ability of his which is fighting in the air effortlessly through the use of wind. The fight for the animation was awesome. They brought Ono back and gave us hope just to show her end again.. 💔 She must have really held on to her life until she saw Fuyumura one last time and she must have died peacefully knowing that Fuyumura loved her back when she heard those words from her for the first time 😭😭 Fuyumura returned to being who she was after losing Ono. But she is not alone anymore and she has a shoulder to cry on. It all started with Ono and it ended with Ono. Not a happy Christmas 🥺🥺 Can't believe that it's already been 3 months since I started watching this show. Gonna miss Sanda so much. Science Saru never misses when it comes to making explosive adaptations. I hope we get season 2 by next fall or even more earlier. |
| The action in this episode is magnificent, although it's a shame that Fuyumura only realized her feelings and, in the end, everything ended in tears of grief. It's difficult to understand the meaning of the system, especially when its leaders include people like the director, and what's the point of delaying childhood until a certain age? In any case, the characters are good, as is the adaptation. |
| This must be the most unique Christmas related anime I've ever seen. Science SARU was an amazing pick to animate this. The ending did feel a bit empty, but the whole show was so well animated, and the bizarreness made it interesting. I don’t think I could ever predict what was going to happen next. I felt like they handled Ono's ending and Fuyumura response too quickly, but story-wise, it was a decent finish to her story. I assume there's still quite a bit of content left as it felt like there was more to say. Overall, it was good episode, show and a great Christmas recommendation. Hopefully it gets a 2nd Season. |
 |
| anticlimactic as hell. sure subverted my expectations. things that would have made it better: >everyone starting to believe in santa giving him super powers >then he realizes he has to win as sanda, >sanda wins, by default because headmaster logic >onoo saying fucking anything >any backstabbing by either onoo or 3rd wheel guy >headmaster dying of old age |
| 馬鹿げた倫理 全部ガラクタで |
| The anime was 1:1 with the manga, but part of me hoped it was going to subvert and/or improve upon the writing. I wish we spent more time with Ono. Her disappearance is the catalyst for the story and it feels strange that we didn't see more of her dynamic with not only Fuyumura but the rest of the main cast. I think it would've been a lot more compelling if Ono lived and learned that she's allowed to still be a kid. She's 14 and no matter how much she tries to "be an adult" she still only has the experiences of a 14 year old. We even see her acting a little childish when Fuyumura finally finds her. That aside, the story provides interesting commentary on growing up. It's painful, it's messy, it's alienating, it's scary. Your relationships change, your perspectives change, your appearance changes but that's all part of growing up and there's no shame in that. I agree with a lot of the sentiment that the story felt disjointed. I think the mystery of Ono's disappearance should've been longer. We open the show with Fuyumura pleading to bring Ono back and then Ono just kinda...shows up not even five episodes in? Then she more or less takes a backseat to Namatame. Everything with Namatame feels like it could've been its own arc in season two, allowing the first season to breath a little. (Though that's just me) I don't think I will continue the series, since I already know the direction of where it'll go from here on out. But despite everything, I still enjoyed the show and when it hit, it hit. The animation is great, the characters are fun, and the voice acting is solid. Happy holidays everyone |
| is it really the end??? could have been better no??? I enjoyed the episode but not the last part... S1: 8/10 |
| if you hated this episode/chapter, just watch/read something else... 100k on IG (https://www.instagram.com/otakuweek?igsh=em5kY3Q4NTVtNXlh) Discord (https://discord.gg/vbZrk64uH7) for anime links / news / recom etc |
| Bit of a weird ending, feels like there should maybe be one more episode. But overall I enjoyed this series, but without a season 2 it feels incomplete. |
| https://www.honeyfeed.fm/u/34774/novels Why must the products of man trouble me so? |
| This series reminded me why I love anime so much. Anime is able to present us with stories that are strange, sometimes repulsive, but still make sense in their madness. It's something Western productions are afraid to do, and I hope we get more gems like this that aren't afraid to do something different. I hope that another season will come out. |
| Ending definitely felt abrupt, like there should either be one more episode or at least a post-credit epilogue scene, but it is what it is. This was a wacky series for sure but I found it pretty enjoyable. Nothing too crazy but it was entertaining and the setting/premise is interesting so at least there's that. |
| People on MAL refuse to actually enjoy watching anime. Your taste in anime isn't a personality trait. Take me back to the days before MAL became infested with Twitter's favorite buzzwords. |
| I honestly wasn't expecting Ono to die T.T I hope we get a season 2, this was such a great and unique anime |
| This was a very exciting finale for the most part thanks to Sanda and Oshibu’s battle in front of the burning shed and on the roof, production went stupid (I mean the good stupid lol) during their fight, it’s unfortunate Sanda didn’t win but he did discover a new power he has which related to the Santa of old (our Santa to be exact) making use of the wind to pretty much fly, it didn’t give Sanda much of an upper hand since he wasn’t used to it, but it was still a cool moment. I also gotta give it to Oshibu, he may be a crazy old bastard but he’s got the moves no doubt, also his line “I reject your respect for the elderly” was really funny to me lol, to think being respected for your age could be seen negatively like that, only in this show. But man, RIP Ono, it was clear that it was coming but it still hit pretty hard seeing Fuyumura cry at the end of the episode, I’ll admit her death on its own didn’t make me feel much but Fuyumura’s reaction really made it, and the fact it’s the last thing we see before the credits rolled, damn that is a tough spot to end on. And then no after credits scene or anything, can’t say it was a very satisfying ending, but I do think the last moment of the episode was very well done regardless, it was a good character moment for both Sanda and Fuyumura. And that was it for the “The Santa Clause, but instead of Tim Allen, it’s a Japanese kid” anime, this was such a weird and unique ride, and I gotta say I loved it. It was no doubt helped by Science SARU’s S tier production, but I also just found this story to be so damn interesting because of its weirdness and stepping outside the box, it really is such a wild take on Santa Claus but it worked so well at the same time. That being said, I don’t think it was perfect, like I wish there was a bit more focus on Ono in the second half of the show, the Namatame plot was great but it did overshadow what was going on with Ono a bit imo. Other than that tho, I can’t really think of anything else I had a problem with, maybe besides that I wish there was more lol, but yeah I’m really gonna miss the wacky adventure of Sanda, Fuyumura, Amaya and Yagiuda, and throw Niko in there too, she wasn’t as prominent but she was so damn fun. And I gotta mention the OP and ED, I think they’re one of the best pairs of the season, I really liked the OP but the ED with its song and visuals hit the most with me, gonna miss hearing that one every Friday. And I know Science SARU’s gotta work on Dandadan, but I hope they can make a Season 2 of this happen as well, I’d love to see it one day, maybe I should check out Beastars sometime as well. And lastly, although it’s not the day, merry Christmas fellow MAL dwellers! |
TheColonel76Dec 19, 2025 4:37 PM
| What a series from start to finish. The ending was pretty abrupt and a little awkward, but hearing “I reject your respect for the elderly” was enough for me. Fuyumura’s breakdown was great, Umeka really nailed it. Abrupt ending aside, a fantastic finale and a great series overall. |
 |
| That was the ending? As in it adapted the entire manga material? I see some people mentioning a potential season 2 and yet others are talking about it as if it was the final chapter. Well, I think the adaptation was amazing. Beautiful show. Voice acting and music were all good. I just didn't enjoy story that much. A little bit too weird for me. Beastars was weird too, but I was able to get into that one much more easily. Not really sure why she had to go with Santa as a hero instead of creating a new character altogether. The blades jutting out of his feet... The immortality.... Children being allowed to murder adults... Hugging people... The Black Santa persona... No aging... Just hard to wrap my head around this world. It's too out there. That said, I'd be up for a season 2. I liked it. |
Reply to JaysonNnN
Could a reader tell us how far the anime adapted the manga?
| @JaysonNnN I think the anime ends around chapters 43-45, don't remember the exact chapter though |
| I have no idea why Ono died. She ... became an adult. Also what was that "she slept a whole night and that caused her to grow up", wat. All in all, I wouldn't recommend this anime to others. I somewhat enjoyed my time with it, but it's a very confusing, crazy anime that's all over the place. Not bad, but also ... nothing I can latch onto and say "THIS is great about it!!1". |
| If you haven't watched "Fantastic Children", don't talk about "best anime". Thank you. |
| Great ep Noooo kids, don't glaze that evil principal! So the fight ends like that, alr..... RIP Ono🥲 Ah yes, the haircutting trope by the female lead, lol. Sometimes venting is all someone needs to heal. 9.5/10 Sanda s1: 7.5/10 |
 "Hard work is worthless for those that don’t believe in themselves" - Naruto Uzumaki I rate by enjoyment |
why no yuri if not yuri-shaped |
Reply to Kenchiin
Easily the show of the season for me.
It’s thought-provoking, occasionally bizarre, and often very funny.
Strong animation, great music, and outstanding seiyuu work.
Honestly, what more could I ask for?
It’s thought-provoking, occasionally bizarre, and often very funny.
Strong animation, great music, and outstanding seiyuu work.
Honestly, what more could I ask for?
| @Kenchiin I agree. Was a great ride. |
| One of the best anime this year, might be my fav of the year I will pray every second for a second season |
| absolutely mesmerizing as anything that Paru creates glad that the anime was good as Beastar's anime is bad in comparison to the source material |
| The final fight between Sanda and Ooshibu was a bit disappointing, with no standout scenes. It feels quite fragmented, but that doesn’t take away from the importance of the moment. A rather tragic season end, I can’t wait to continue with the manga scans or to wait for a potential season 2. |
 |
| Hopefully Sanda can watch over Fuyu and Ono can truly R.I.P.! I really hope this gets continued/a season 2 happens! |
| OK it's absurd but that's how it keeps you guessing, it feels like there's no endgame |
More topics from this board
Poll: » Sanda Episode 11 DiscussionStark700 - Dec 12, 2025 |
44 |
by Spirelord
»»
Jan 9, 10:45 PM |
|
Poll: » Sanda Episode 9 DiscussionStark700 - Nov 28, 2025 |
44 |
by Eva_PhoenixAnime
»»
Jan 8, 5:06 AM |
|
Poll: » Sanda Episode 6 Discussion ( 1 2 )Stark700 - Nov 7, 2025 |
61 |
by piroriparopirira
»»
Jan 3, 1:19 PM |
|
Poll: » Sanda Episode 5 Discussion ( 1 2 3 )Stark700 - Oct 31, 2025 |
112 |
by woodyotaku
»»
Dec 29, 2025 8:42 AM |
|
Poll: » Sanda Episode 8 DiscussionStark700 - Nov 21, 2025 |
48 |
by Eva_PhoenixAnime
»»
Dec 29, 2025 8:18 AM |