The List

7 Christmas Anime To Ring In The Season

Even a mostly secular country like Japan can't escape Christmas holiday cheer. Christmas is celebrated as a couples' holiday with an inexplicable focus on cake, with the usual decorated trees and Santa Claus cameos. Anime series will throw in a Christmas episode the same way there is a "beach" episode and cooking episode. Here are seven favorites to watch with a hot of hot cocoa.

7. Itsudatte My Santa It's rare to get a whole anime about Christmas, but leave it to Love Hina creator Ken Akamatsu to retell the story of a Christmas humbug discovering the meaning of Christmas, with a romantic twist of course. The Christmas hater in this case is a guy born on Christmas Eve whose parents thought it'd be hilarious to name him Santa. He meets Mai (thus the "My/Mai Santa pun), a sort of santa-in-training who's determined to use her Christmas magic to turn Santa's attitude around.

6. Sailor Moon S Movie: Hearts in Ice This winter-themed Sailor Moon movie features cameos by Santa Tuxedo Kamen as Tokyo finds itself frozen solid by an evil ice space queen. If you like magical girls, topless monsters, and cats changing into humans instead of more traditional Christmas stuff, this hour-long movie is perfect.

5. White Album The second series is currently airing in Japan and streaming on Crunchyroll, but it has nothing on the wintery romance of the first season. The series follow a college-age protagonist Tōya Fuji as he attempts to date his sweetheart-turned-idol Yuki (get it?) in a time before cellphones. The series is one drama after another with Christmas as a major plot point.

4. Chocotto Sister Chocotto Sister is was skipped over by North American licensors but seems right up Media Blaster's alley. The show follows only child Haruma who, in his youth, asked Santa for a little sister. Now living alone as a twenty-something bachelor, Haruma is surprised when a female Santa on a sleigh brings him a little sister who he names Choco. Haruma is now responsible for raising his new little sister and teaching her about the world.

3. Polar Bear's Café Episode #37 The Polar Bear Cafe Christmas episode might be standard in plot. The characters mull over what gifts they're going to get and if there will be party. The difference is, of course, that the characters are a polar bear, penguin, llama, alpaca, and other furry folk. It's suddenly much cuter when a wolf shows up in a Santa costume with Christmas cake, a penguin tells his traditional comedy routine, an alpaca knits some socks, and a pair of otters go out on a date.

2. Ranma 1/2 OVA Episode #2, "Tendo Family Christmas Scramble!The Tendo/Saotome family decide to throw a huge Christmas party at the dojo and literally everyone shows up. The usual jealous hijinks ensue but it all comes together with a Christmas karaoke and gift exchange. The episode is like an anime version of Four Christmases or any of those other wacky family holiday films (but with characters you actually like).

1. Tokyo Godfathers A warm-and-fuzzy holiday movie about forgiveness and family, Tokyo Godfathers follows three homeless friends who find a baby on Christmas Eve. The three unlikely godparents encounter a series of coincidences revealing each others past while searching for the baby's birth parents. Directed by the late Satoshi Kon, if you were going to choose one anime Christmas film to end the season on, stick with this one.

The new poll: Which of the following super-powered dads is your favorite?




The old poll: The last poll asked which character is your favorite super mom? Here's the full results:

1. Izumi Curtis (Fullmetal Alchemist) 36.9%
   
2. EVA Unit 01 (Neon Genesis Evangelion) 15.5%
   
3. Kushina Uzumaki (Naruto) 12.1%
   
4. Nanoha AND Fate (Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha) 10.5%
   
5. Neo Queen Serenity (Sailor Moon) 7.9%
   
6. Amaha Masane (Witchblade) 7.4%
   
7. Naomi Armitage (Armitage III) 2.3%
   
8. Marianne vi Britannia (Code Geass) 2.2%
   
9. Miria Farino (Macross 7) 2.0%
   
10. Shuuko (Angelic Layer) 1.6%
    
11. Cattleya (Queen's Blade) 1.6%
    

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When she isn't compiling lists of tropes, topics, and characters, Lynzee works as Associate Editor for Anime News Network, blogs about women and LBGT topics in anime and manga on her blog Engendered Dilemma, and posts pictures of her son on Twitter @ANN_Lynzee.