The Fourth Day of Christmas Anime

Itsudatte My Santa!
Original Video Animation, Episode 1

Itsudatte My Santa!
Source: Anime Paper
The Christmas Story
The protagonist of the story has always hated Christmas, not least of all because he was born on December 24th and named Santa.  This Christmastime becomes complicated when a woman claiming to be a Santa Claus (her name is Mai) makes it her mission to cheer Santa up, leading to a blending of Christmas fantasy and romance.
Christmas Gifts

The OVA is focused entirely on Christmas, so seasonal items and such are plentiful, including Santas, decorations, a reindeer (named Pedro), and…fanservice?

The true meaning of Christmas is…
Celebrating the birth of Jesus – really! Mai and Santa say as much in the OVA.  Shocking, but nice to hear in what’s a short and touching scene in which Mai says people are celebrating for the depressed Santa, as well.  Of course, that’s just a short interlude between the overall theme, which is that it’s about happiness (not bad) and a magic, genie-like Santa that, in effect, takes the place of God (not quite on the dot).  For all the corniness (a requirement for Christmas shows, I believe), badness (the show was pretty poorly received) and just plain wrongness (don’t get me started on Mai’s inflating breasts), the quiet moments of touching dialogue stand out and mark why Ken Akamatsu has gained a legion of fans (including me) and why he does Christmas like few others.

On the fourth day of Christmas, anime gave to me:
a blonde Santa Claus,
a Christmas tree comet,
Paper Sisters birthday,
and Sakura knitting a nerdy dollie.

Tomorrow’s Forecast
Conditions in Tokyo Jupiter…unknown.

Twwk
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11 thoughts on “The Fourth Day of Christmas Anime”

    1. Ha, I avoided it like the plague until I did this series of posts…this despite how much I like Akamatsu. I totally skipped the second episode in the OVA, though. 😛

      1. Smart man. The second OVA was absolutely terrible. The first one I did like, regardless of public opinion, but Akamatsu is a very divisive figure in anime fandom — at least lately here in the West.

        Truth be told, the reason why I finally got into the anime fandom is because of Akamatsu’s Love Hina.

        That’s right. I said it. And I will not apologize for it.

        Speaking of which, is the Love Hina Christmas Special going to be one of your 12 Days of Christmas or are you just Akamatsu-ed out?

        1. No need to apologize for liking Love Hina. EVER. I freely admit it, too – I love Love Hina! The manga was a bit fan-servicey for me, but I still enjoyed it, and the anime, which I watched first, remains one of my all-time favorites. The tone, emotions, characters and humor are OFF THE CHARTS.

          I won’t say if I’ll do the Christmas special…but I based on my like of Love Hina, I bet you can take an educated guess. 😛

  2. I didn’t see this or have even heard of it until now, but I agree with you on Akamatsu doing Christmas episodes well. He has a knack for being able to tease you with what you completely expect to happen, which Christmas episodes tend toward, that payoff in the end that makes you feel good.

    1. That’s true – you know it’s coming, but it’s really HOW you get there that matters. He’s taken a familiar formula and pretty much mastered it.

    1. Mwahahaha, I’ve never seen the infamous special, though I’ve seen clips of it. Perhaps I should begin any Christmas show by watching Carrie Fisher sing the lyrics to the Star Wars opening – and you’re right, everything would look better in comparison. 😛

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