SANDA (and Santa!) returns in volume two with more dystopian goodness, Burtonesque character designs, and action-packed confrontations. In fact, with the basic story and introductions of most of the main characters now out of the way, volume two is even stronger than volume one, taking the story into interesting directions, both creatively and, if you’re looking for it, spiritually.
Ono’s sudden appearance ended volume one, but much of the first half of the story in volume two surrounds her funeral. The headmaster has arranged a mock funeral for the “missing” girl in order to draw Santa out and set his “St. Nick Pursuit Unit” upon them. Meanwhile, the back half of the volume offers challenges and relationship drama for Sanda and Fuyumura both, while deepening the mystery of their world.
These two halves I described offer a variety of creative elements for readers to enjoy. I particularly liked the confrontation at the funeral, with St. Nick Pursuit Unit making me feel like this was a Wes Anderson story being drawn into comic form. How the students react to seeing Sanda in his Santa form for the first time is always both wildly funny and religious; if you connect the dots, it’s easy to see Santa’s mission and the reactions to him as being very Christlike, adding an unusual and unexpected element to the series, though you can expect us to write about this in more detail next month during our annual 12 Days of Christmas Anime series!
The back half is full of excellent writing, as Fuyumura and Sanda face interrelated but largely unique challenges. The latter has to deal with a new character and how she and Fuyumura are inhibiting Sanda’s transformation; it’s the kind of fun relational stuff that manga often excels in. On the other hand, Fuyumura’s challenge is both inward-looking and directly related to Ono. If you’ve alternately avoided Sanda because of hints of LGBTQ content or been frustrated at its only broad references to the genre, there’s a far deeper dive into this realm in the final chapter. The content is somewhat sexual and becomes uncomfortable as it explores adolescence, puberty, and adulthood (some of this could also be said of Sanda’s story) on the thin line between being exploitative and being creative and serving the story well.
The artwork in volume remains as brilliant as ever. This is my first Paru Itagaki series, and while I’ve been aware of his excellent artistry from series like his classic, Beastars, I’m equally impressed by how tight and snappy his writing is; so much happens over the course of these pages, but it doesn’t feel rushed. Nor does the story feel perfunctory at any point; there’s a free-flow feeling to it all, which keeps us readers in the tale and wondering what’s going to happen next.
While the content I mentioned related to Fuyumura’s story may turn some readers off, I remain sold on the creative and emotional aspects of the series. Ending on yet another cliffhanger—this one as surprising as the first—I’m left wondering if I should wait for volume three to release or go ahead and just return to the excellent anime adaptation of the show to see what happens next. Either way, you better believe that I believe in SANDA!
SANDA is published by Titan Manga. Volume two releases on November 18th.
