Sanda First Impressions

Written by Ross Locksley on 16 Oct 2025

If my mailbox is anything to go by, there's a lot of hype surrounding Sanda. Titan Manga in the UK are publishing the manga from Paru Itagaki (Beastars) on which the series is based and they seem keen to promote it most of all. It's easy to see why given the rather appealing premise.

In the near future, Christmas has faded into myth and a declining child population has made the young the most valuable commodity in society, to the point where adolescence has been artificially extended. None of this is really explained in the first episode of the anime, which opens with young Kazushige Sanda being attacked at knifepoint by his wild-eyed classmate Shiori Fuyumura. Mistaking her aggression for a spirited confession of love, he's somewhat shocked when it turns out that, yes, she is trying to take his life.

Fans of the manga will be pleased to know that this is a very accurate adaptation - the rough lines of the original art are perfectly transferred to screen along with the zany energy. It fees almost Burton-esque in places, which is appropriate given the film-makers affinity for Christmas. Shiori has more than a passing resemblance to the stylised Lydia Deetz from the Beetlejuice cartoon. A quick search online shows I'm not the only one to make that connection (even if the creator has made no comment), which is reassuring for my style radar!

Shiori and Lydia share several design cues

Shiori manages to make her kill, but far from an act of malice, it's a desperate attempt to bring forth the legendary Santa Claus from myth, Father Christmas himself. She's following a ritual of making the target show love for a child (Shiori is the child and Sanda has a crush on her), he must provide the child with an item they demand and he must wear red. Refusing to wear the red tracksuit provided, Shiori plunges the knife into Sanda's chest and his blood soaks his clothes - now, where once lay a confused, panicked and now, presumably, dead Sanda stands the muscular might of Santa Claus, the ritual completed. Shiori needs the power of Santa to find her missing friend Ono, and come hell or high water, Santa Claus is going to help her.

It's an amusing (if hugely over the top) premise, but the sheer energy of both the manga and the anime carry it through incredulity and into hugely enjoyable entertainment. The off-kilter designs and animation style make it a joy to watch on screen, the characters almost looking like puppets at times, especially those characters with dots for eyes. The facial expressions in particular are often hilarious, especially those of various students - I love the expression on the tallest kid's face in the scene below, it's just bizarre!

The first episode ends with Sanda embracing his curse and wholeheartedly taking on the role of Santa, leaving us with a buzz from all the expended energy that just exploded on screen. The script is sharp and witty, it looks great and overall it's a classic take on the "kid becomes a superhero" trope with more in common with Bananaman than Shazam!

So should you watch it? Absolutely (unless you'd rather read it, in which case Titan has you covered) - the series is currently streaming weekly on Amazon Prime. Ho ho ho? Go go go!

I swear if a Santa knocks out a goon and writes "now I have a machine gun, ho ho ho" on his shirt, my life will be complete.