I remember when I was younger, I would always wake up on Christmas Day and the first thing I would do was open the curtains to see if it was white outside. Little did I know back then that Texas doesn’t get winter. I’d be lying if I said I don’t feel that way now when I wake up on Christmas, but I know better than to have high expectations.

And when you’re very young, I feel like you don’t ask for as many grandiose things for Christmas. It wasn’t until I was in middle school that I remember asking for anything and everything. The first Christmas memory I have is of asking for an ornament just so I could hang it on the tree by myself.

I bring this up, of course, to show the innocence and pureness of Ui Hirasawa.

The Christmas episode of K-On! begins with Ui reminiscing over a Christmas pas when she and sister, Yui, were decorating the tree together. Yui asks Ui to make a wish to Santa Claus, to which she replies saying that she wants white Christmas this year.

Christmas morning comes and it is a bright, sunny day with not an inch of snow in sight.

If I could describe my feelings during this season of the year, I think the best way to put it is that this is a “fuwa fuwa time.” There’s that gushy, fluffy feeling in the air where you just can’t help but feel giddy and happy wherever you go. It’s the season of goodwill and giving, where we often choose to be sacrificial and go out of our way to lift up one another.

These same feelings are reflected in Yui’s actions. On Christmas Day, Yui wakes up a sleeping Ui with excitement. She gestures her to rush outside to show that her wish “came true.”

What transpired is an act of giving that is above and beyond what you should expect of a 5-year-old. Yui woke up earlier than Ui, only to see that her wish wasn’t granted. Instead of showing her condolences and moving on, she does everything in her ability to make her wish “come true.” She can’t manipulate the weather. She can’t go out and buy a snow machine. Instead, she takes the cotton from the inside of a pillow and decorates a small tree outside their house to make it look like it was snowed on.

Though not what Ui was imagining, this was the best white Christmas any 5-year-old is capable of conjuring, let alone one like Yui who is already an airhead.

Ui, still being young, looked confused since this wasn’t the white Christmas, snowy wonderland she imagined. But at the end of the scene, present day Ui is seen smiling as she reminisces while decorating a tree with her sister.

The first time I saw this scene, I teared up. Every subsequent time, I’ve cried. Yui didn’t care about the consequences that might happen after (we’re told that she was “scolded really badly that day”); she just wanted to make her sister’s one wish that Christmas come true. It’s such a pure gesture completely out of love, that I can’t help but feel moved every time I watch it.

And just as Yui didn’t have to go out of her way to realize Ui’s wish, God didn’t have to send His son to the world, Jesus, for each and every one of us. Remember the gift the entire world received on the first Christmas was the birth of Jesus Christ.

A wish isn’t something that we deserve or are entitled to come true. When we think about the hardships in the world and everything bad that happens, remember that our wish for a savior has already been granted. We were given a loving savior named Jesus on December 25^th. The man who had everything He could ever want in heaven, decided to step down and live a human life just so we can be saved. Born with utmost humility in a manger, Jesus lived and would eventually answer our wishes as he took on all our sins on the cross so that we can be reunited with God in heaven.

It’s because Jesus lived that I can say I feel the way I do this season. Jesus gave everything He could to each and every one of us. His presence in my life inspires me to be selfless and giving this season and as often as I’m able. While I’m not going to be tearing up my new sofa so I can decorate the grass in front of my yard like Yui, if someone wants a white Christmas, I am still inspired to act in service to others. Whether it be something like doing the dishes after the Christmas dinner, buying someone’s dream present, or letting people know you appreciate them, I encourage everyone to spread goodwill and make everyone feel “fuwa fuwa” this season!

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K-On! can be streamed through Hulu.

12 Days of Christmas Anime (2021)