A study from late last year discovered something many of us know intimately to be true: Christmastime can be incredibly lonely. The survey indicated that 55% of Americans are “experiencing sadness and loneliness during the holidays.” While it’s perhaps helpful to know that the majority of Americans may be feeling like you are, it’s little consolation—what someone in the doldrums of the holiday blues would rather know is how to get out of them. Unfortunately, I think many of us just avoid gatherings and other hallmarks of the season instead of finding an answer. This is where The Angel Next Doors Spoils Me Rotten comes in, providing a surprisingly biblical response to winter sadness by showing that avoiding the holiday isn’t the answer; what we need instead is even more of Christmas and the relationship it brings.
Christmas arrives relatively early in The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten. Near the end of episode three, Itsuki and his girlfriend, Chitose, convince Amane to let them have a Christmas Eve party at his apartment. The pair assumes that Amane will be alone, so it’s a perfect opportunity for the lovebirds to spend some time together (Itsuki’s father disapproves of his relationship with Chitose) and hang out with their friend.
What they don’t yet know is that Amane isn’t actually alone at all and the visit will throw a wrench in his regular schedule. You see, his neighbor, Mahiru (known as “the angel” at school for her perfect appearance, prim and proper behavior, and high academic achievement), visits his house daily to cook and clean for him. It’s her way of thanking Amane for being supportive while she was undergoing an emotional crisis the first time they met, and she also finds it satisfying to take care of someone who obviously needs the help and who treats her as more than the school’s untouchable princess. He’s somewhat uncomfortable with all the attention but certainly enjoys Mahiru’s company.
Amane informs Mahiru about the party, and she lets him know that it’s no problem for her to stay away during that time. But realizing that she will be alone on Christmas itself, Amane asks Mahiru if she wants to spend the holiday with him. She agrees. The plan then is for the two to see each other a bit later than usual on Christmas Eve and to spend Christmas together playing video games.
But wait, there’s more! As in more people. In episode four, the Christmas Eve party of three becomes a party of four when Itsuki and Chitose spot Mahiru outside on her balcony. Connecting the dots, they realize that she’s not only Amane’s neighbor but someone dear to him whom he had previously purchased a stuffed animal for. The friendly duo invites Mahiru to their party and begins the process of getting to know her.
The next day, Mahiru comes over and Amane teaches her how to play the Nintendo Switch. Cue super cute scene in which Amane puts his hands on Mahiru’s and the control, leading to blushing and awkwardness galore. Eek!
These couple of episodes nicely convey the happiness that you feel when you’re with loved ones and how togetherness in the holidays can warm your heart. You’ve probably felt similarly at some of your own holiday gatherings. While it may be a pain to get dressed up, prepare a dish, wrap a present, and drive to a friend’s or family member’s house, the experience of being with those you care about during Christmas often trumps those inconveniences. It’s not the eggnog and apple cider that’s warming you up—it’s the fact that the loneliness and sadness you feel when you’re by yourself has now been lifted, if even for just a few hours, with “Christmas joy” that comes with being around happy people.
I imagine there must have been a touch of this same feeling on the very first Christmas. Joseph and Mary, struggling alone in the bitter cold, scared about how to possibly deliver their first child, must have done a 180 when a crowd of shepherds gathered to them to celebrate Jesus’s birth. The fear and anxiety must have been driven away as visitors who cared about their child came to join them.
But those hours at the manger and the couple of days in Amane’s apartment were only good for temporary happiness. Once visitors go away (or you return home), you’re left with what you had before. And if that statistic I mentioned at the start is accurate, that means many of us are returning home, shutting our doors, and settling into a blue Christmas rather than a joyous one.
But what if your Christmas gathering is just the beginning? What if these times of togetherness were genuinely full of love? And what if time spent with loved ones was a more consistent and frequent event?
In The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten, both Mahiru and Amane get to experience that. While the Christmas events on the 24th and 25th were fun for them, these special days are really just part of their everyday life together. Itsuki says their daily routine is like practice for marriage, and though the two deny that, it’s somewhat true: as Amane and Mahiru serve each other every day with kindness and care, they are building a relationship piece by piece that may one day ensure that they will never be alone. Meanwhile, Itsuki continues to pour his friendship into Amane, while Chitose becomes as close as a best friend to Mahiru as the series progresses, adding further rich relationships to their lives.
If our times of gathering only happen for a few hours here and there in November and December, we’ll likely be left lonely and wanting. We were made to meet each other frequently and with a spirit of service and care. Family, friends, and the church should be present in our lives to help fill that lonely hole inside of us.
But frequency by itself won’t fill that space. It isn’t enough. What we need also, and more importantly, is depth—intimate, personal, meaningful relationships, the kind that let us know that we’re seen and that we’re loved regardless.
There’s a glimpse of this kind of relationship in The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten between Amane and Mahiru. You see, while Mahiru enjoyed the party with her newfound friends, she delighted in her time alone with Amane even more. He’s not just someone with whom she connects superficially; Amane meets her needs on a far deeper level. What he doesn’t yet know is that Mahiru is not just a student living on her own as he is. Mahiru really is on her own, almost completely. Neither her father nor her mother wants to spend time with her. And beyond that neglect, her mother literally hates her, blaming Mahiru for keeping her stuck in a failed marriage and wishing that her daughter had never been born.
What a terrible and painful burden to carry, made even worse by the interactions she has with those around her, particularly during Christmastime when Mahiru’s closest friends aren’t able to meet with her because they have boyfriends and because of the multitude of love confessions she receives from boys who don’t even really know her. In an example of “high school boys are the worst,” an entire group of them confess their love to her at the same time. She summarily rejects them all at once. They all desire her for what they see on the outside, but what Mahiru needs is someone who values her for who she is within.
Amane is the person who begins to fill the void in Mahiru’s life. He helps her when they first meet without a desire for reward or to get into her good graces. And then, bit by bit, the two get to know each other. Amane continues to be caring and honest, even when he sees her negative side (like a short temper) as well as the positive. He thinks of Mahiru frequently and serves her to make her feel seen and appreciated. In turn, she begins to open up and be more herself—first around Amane, then Chitose and Itsuki as well, and later her other classmates. Because of Amane, Mahiru is experiencing healing that is leading to transformation.
The thing is, no matter what our “relationship status” may be or how lonely and isolated we feel, we all have access to the same kind of connection that Mahiru enjoys with Amane—an even better one, in fact, that isn’t limited by awkward teenage fumbling and all our human imperfection. The relationship is centered on Christmas, on the very one whom we celebrate this time of year. Jesus’s birth is more than the cause for holiday cheer or a reason to party with friends; it is the very cure for the unrelenting loneliness in our souls, the hurts others have inflicted on us that just won’t seem to go away, and the fear building within us that paralyzes our lives.
And the promise of Christmas isn’t just for December 25th; Jesus is with us every day, caring for us through loneliness and fear, joys and triumphs. He would play video games with you all day long—even on his own birthday!—because he loves you for who are. And he remains with you when you’ve been abandoned by loved ones—even when your family treats you with contempt and neglect; he is closer than a brother and he invites us into his own family.
Jesus is “Emmanuel,” God with us. And when the loneliness is unrelenting, attacks are coming from all sides, and you feel worthless, Jesus refuses to give up on you. He will walk side-by-side with you, even through the valley of the shadow of death, even through the loneliness of this season—and all others, too.
If you’re in the valley right now, I hope that during this season, the emptiness will start to be filled by a Jesus who invites us to his Christmas party and desires us to have a life full of joy and belonging. The Savior born into this world came to ensure that none of us are lonely; and this Christmas, that’s worth celebrating.
The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten can be streamed on Crunchyroll.
- Enter the BtT-chan Art Challenge! - 04.29.2024
- Final Hours of the Spring Drive! - 04.25.2024
- Doki Doki News: Studio Ghibli at Canne, Insomniacs After the Earthquake, and Keanu the Hedgehog - 04.19.2024