Christmas in Anime
Dec. 10th, 2023 03:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jennariaI am not claiming these are the best Christmas episodes, just to be clear. There are a lot of Christmas episodes of anime*, and I have not nearly watched all of them. Instead, call this a Christmas sampling, in order from 'do not need to have watched any of the series' to 'you will probably be lost without having watched the preceding episodes beforehand'.
INITIAL D: THIRD STAGE
This is a movie, rather than an episode, so it has the advantage of not assuming that anyone watching it knows the series. (Although it does assume you have at least a basic knowledge of it - cars, racing, maybe who these characters are.) The disadvantage is that it's less a coherent single plot, and more three stories from the manga smushed together, so if you're interested in trying out the series, this isn't where I'd suggest you start.
The third story is the one where Christmas appears. Takumi's friends talk about how alone they are, alas, without girlfriends, and then Takumi''s ex-sorta-it's-complicated Natsuki tries to win him back, by showing up at his house with a little Christmas tree and a Christmas cake. It's a brief interlude, because then things happen and it all has to be resolved with a car race, because this is Initial D. Christmas appears as the equivalent of Valentine's Day, with ever so slightly more leeway for partying with your friends instead of going on a date, but still a lot of heavy expectation that Christmas is a day for lovers.
SWORD ARTS ONLINE, ep. 3: Red Nosed Reindeer
Romance? Nope! Angst! Aaaaangst! Pain for Christmas!
In all seriousness, this one doesn't require a lot of series knowledge (beyond the very basic, 'stuck in a video game where if you die in the game, you die in RL' premise of the entire show), although also it's only episode 3, so. My memory is that Kirito has spent the first couple episodes being the Isolated Hero, and this episode he bonds with people! One guess what happens. It's Christmas apparently for maximum pain factor: Now He's Really Alone! You could watch this for Christmas, but only if you're in the mood to cry.
CARD CAPTOR SAKURA, ep. 35: "Sakura's Wonderful Christmas"
This one actually turns up on 'best Christmas episodes of anime' lists. Part of that, of course, is because it's Card Captor Sakura, and it knows how to bring the cute. Part of it is because it doesn't try to make things complicated. Christmas is for lovers, according to the episode - all presents discussed are given to either family or romantic partners - and Sakura wants to go to a theme park with her crush so she can give him a present. Naturally a Clow Card appears while she's there. There's a few hints of the larger plot arc - enough that I've put it in the middle of my list, rather than the beginning - but not so much that you can't enjoy it without having watched the previous 34 episodes.
YURI!!! ON ICE, ep. 10: "Gotta Supercharge it! Pre-Grand Prix Final Special!"
I love this episode. I will never not love this episode. It leans into the Romantic Christmas vibe, but not as completely as CCS does. But can it be watched on its own? …maybe? I am not an impartial observer. And of course, this episode contains the Big Twist of the entire series, so I feel like watching it on its own is missing the point.
POLAR BEAR'S CAFE, ep. 37: "Christmas Planning/Christmas Trouble"
If you go onto the Crunchyroll app (as I did), and put 'Christmas' into the search bar, this is the first episode that pops up. …and that's pretty much all it has to recommend it. I have watched none of the rest of this series, and I was indeed hopelessly lost. Who are these animals? Is that one Panda a guy or a girl, and does the guy with a crush on him care? What exactly are the expectations with presents - does it have romantic implications, or is it just 'yay, stuff'?
At its core, it feels like the anime equivalent of The Christmas Episode Of Some Random American Sit-Com That You Stumbled Across While Channel-Surfing - by which I mean, I suspect that a good half of my confusion comes from culture issues, and the Weeb score (if I were to write it up properly) would be 10/10. So perhaps it would be more interesting to someone with better understanding of Japanese culture. As for me: not worth watching again, and I won't be watching more of the series.
*And by 'a lot', I mean 'a search on Google produced at least one master list of Christmas episodes in anime that has 300-odd series listed. And several of those have more than one Christmas episode.'
INITIAL D: THIRD STAGE
This is a movie, rather than an episode, so it has the advantage of not assuming that anyone watching it knows the series. (Although it does assume you have at least a basic knowledge of it - cars, racing, maybe who these characters are.) The disadvantage is that it's less a coherent single plot, and more three stories from the manga smushed together, so if you're interested in trying out the series, this isn't where I'd suggest you start.
The third story is the one where Christmas appears. Takumi's friends talk about how alone they are, alas, without girlfriends, and then Takumi''s ex-sorta-it's-complicated Natsuki tries to win him back, by showing up at his house with a little Christmas tree and a Christmas cake. It's a brief interlude, because then things happen and it all has to be resolved with a car race, because this is Initial D. Christmas appears as the equivalent of Valentine's Day, with ever so slightly more leeway for partying with your friends instead of going on a date, but still a lot of heavy expectation that Christmas is a day for lovers.
SWORD ARTS ONLINE, ep. 3: Red Nosed Reindeer
Romance? Nope! Angst! Aaaaangst! Pain for Christmas!
In all seriousness, this one doesn't require a lot of series knowledge (beyond the very basic, 'stuck in a video game where if you die in the game, you die in RL' premise of the entire show), although also it's only episode 3, so. My memory is that Kirito has spent the first couple episodes being the Isolated Hero, and this episode he bonds with people! One guess what happens. It's Christmas apparently for maximum pain factor: Now He's Really Alone! You could watch this for Christmas, but only if you're in the mood to cry.
CARD CAPTOR SAKURA, ep. 35: "Sakura's Wonderful Christmas"
This one actually turns up on 'best Christmas episodes of anime' lists. Part of that, of course, is because it's Card Captor Sakura, and it knows how to bring the cute. Part of it is because it doesn't try to make things complicated. Christmas is for lovers, according to the episode - all presents discussed are given to either family or romantic partners - and Sakura wants to go to a theme park with her crush so she can give him a present. Naturally a Clow Card appears while she's there. There's a few hints of the larger plot arc - enough that I've put it in the middle of my list, rather than the beginning - but not so much that you can't enjoy it without having watched the previous 34 episodes.
YURI!!! ON ICE, ep. 10: "Gotta Supercharge it! Pre-Grand Prix Final Special!"
I love this episode. I will never not love this episode. It leans into the Romantic Christmas vibe, but not as completely as CCS does. But can it be watched on its own? …maybe? I am not an impartial observer. And of course, this episode contains the Big Twist of the entire series, so I feel like watching it on its own is missing the point.
POLAR BEAR'S CAFE, ep. 37: "Christmas Planning/Christmas Trouble"
If you go onto the Crunchyroll app (as I did), and put 'Christmas' into the search bar, this is the first episode that pops up. …and that's pretty much all it has to recommend it. I have watched none of the rest of this series, and I was indeed hopelessly lost. Who are these animals? Is that one Panda a guy or a girl, and does the guy with a crush on him care? What exactly are the expectations with presents - does it have romantic implications, or is it just 'yay, stuff'?
At its core, it feels like the anime equivalent of The Christmas Episode Of Some Random American Sit-Com That You Stumbled Across While Channel-Surfing - by which I mean, I suspect that a good half of my confusion comes from culture issues, and the Weeb score (if I were to write it up properly) would be 10/10. So perhaps it would be more interesting to someone with better understanding of Japanese culture. As for me: not worth watching again, and I won't be watching more of the series.
*And by 'a lot', I mean 'a search on Google produced at least one master list of Christmas episodes in anime that has 300-odd series listed. And several of those have more than one Christmas episode.'