Prime Video's Santa Claus Anime Is A New Edgy Christmas Classic You Need To Check Out

There aren't exactly a ton of Christmas-centric anime. "Tokyo Godfathers" (one of the best anime movies of all time) is one of the few that directly fits the spirit of the season as Western audiences understand it — Christmas celebrations in Japan are more about romantic dates and eating KFC. Curiously, 2025 has seen the premiere of two different anime series dealing with Santa Claus and also puberty. One of them, "Rascal Does Not Dream of Santa Claus," is part of an ongoing franchise and inaccessible to those not already fans of the other "Rascal Does Not Dream..." anime. The other, "Sanda," is a must-watch for anyone seeking a unique, dark take on traditional Christmas lore.

Set in a dystopian future where the Japanese government has taken extreme measures in response to the country's declining birth rate, "Sanda" centers on Kazushige Sanda (Ayumu Murase), a 14-year-old boy with the power to transform into his mythical ancestor Santa Claus (Hiroki Tochi). After risking the cold and helping a child on a snowy Christmas, all that's left to trigger his powers is to wear something red. When he refuses, his classmate Shiori Fuyumura (Umeka Shoji), desperate to summon Santa, stabs him in the chest so his blood turns his shirt red. It only gets weirder from there.

"Sanda" is a based on a manga by Paru Itagaki, the author of "Beastars," and animated by Science SARU, the studio behind "Dandadan." Streaming on Prime Video worldwide, the show has a few more episodes to go (the final episode will air December 18), but if "Sanda" sticks the landing, it's going to go down as an alternative holiday classic.

Paru Itagaki's vision of Santa Claus is basically a superhero. He's the most muscular old man you've ever seen and going down chimneys all the time means Santa is fireproof. Other traditional Santa lore gets interpreted in creative ways: "He knows if you've been bad or good" translates to him having a built-in lie detector (objects fall to the ground when people lie to him) and sleigh-blades pop out of his feet like Wolverine's claws. He's also got a Wolverine-level healing factor, making him capable of surviving gunshots to the head.

While Santa's powers resemble Wolverine's, the superhero whose Sanda's circumstances most closely parallel is Shazam/Captain Marvel. Rather than saying magic words to transform into an adult hero, Sanda becomes Santa by wearing red and changes back to Sanda by eating "Bratty Bean" jelly beans. What makes this transformation extra complicated is that it's not only physical but psychological. Santa must protect all children and can't fall in love with them, while Santa's adult mindset starts to override the still-young Sanda. It makes for a strange coming-of-age metaphor of the type which anime excels at; if you're a fan of "FLCL," "Sanda" delivers similar vibes in addressing the confusion of adolescence via action-packed insanity.

As if being simultaneously a middle schooler and Santa wasn't hard enough on its own, the world of "Sanda" has made it extremely difficult for anyone to grow up. Because there are so few kids, society tries to keep them kids for as long as they can. Children are born into pre-arranged marriages and sexual education is verboten in Daifuku Welfare Academy's "trauma-free curriculum." Medical advances have eliminated the need for sleep and kids are banned from sleeping to slow down physical maturity. Fuyumura has broken this rule, experiencing growth spurts, and deals with broader questioning of her identity and sexuality.

The sheltered status of children goes so far in this future that it's not a crime for kids to kill adults; young murderers take special classes in the school's basement. Adults in this world are obsessed with their own appearance of youth through extreme plastic surgery. Headmaster Hofumi Oshibu (Toshihiko Seki) is 92 years old and goes to extreme lengths to seem younger, replacing almost all of his organs with cybernetics. Only the wrinkled skin on his hands indicates his true age.

As you would expect from the creator of "Beastars," "Sanda" goes to some dark and uncomfortable places. It contains bloody violence and complicated sexual themes, so it might not fit into every viewer's Christmas stocking. However, for anime fans seeking holiday viewing that challenges as well as entertains, it's a streaming gift well worth unwrapping.