Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
Ba-Cii10
-🟠Fall 2025
Claus, but definitely not Santa
Sanda isn't the worst anime I've ever watched, BUT it's definitely the most exhausting anime I've ever watched. It took me literally two months to watch all 12 episodes, and it was pure torture.
Just as reading this far too long and overly chaotic review might be torture for someone.........
Plot:
"In a future where children are rare and Christmas has fallen into oblivion, student Shiori Fuyumura tries to find a missing friend. She believes her classmate, Kazushige Sanda, is a descendant of Santa Claus and can help her." I don't even know where to begin because too many things in this anime simply seem poorly written.
The plot doesn't seem to have a sensible direction, the worldbuilding is flawed, and the characters, while mostly quite inter…
Read at the sourcereilove69
To its credit, SANDA is a very smart show. It explores a ton of concepts and themes beyond just being your average coming-of-age story: the interface between adulthood and childhood, gender identity, sexuality, perceived value of youthfulness, aging and death, declining birth rates, the responsibilities of adults. All of this is presented through a very clever reimagining of the Santa myth. It was a very interesting show to consume. At the same time, it was perhaps too smart for its own good? Its hard to put into words, but I feel like it needed to have more fun with itself. Not to say it took itself too seriously, or wasn’t silly, but I also felt like it could have been more playful with its concept. Suffice to say, I was never all that excited to watch the next episode, hence why it took…
Read at the sourceemberreviews
Sanda is by far one of the weirdest shows I’ve seen this year and it is all the better for it. It’s extremely theme-forward in its presentation, covering an impossibly wide range of topics centered around growing up, parenting methods, and the tried-and-true “let’s fix the declining birth rate,” with each new idea adding more and more layers of complexity to the central issue of how to raise children in an ever-complicating and ever-darkening world. Also the main character can transform into Santa Claus, which turns out to be way less silly and way more hype than you’re currently picturing, as this story’s version of Santa is essentially an immortal tank bent on bringing hope to children in need by punching the lights out of every naughty adult in his path. It’s giving My Hero Academia but…
Read at the sourceMonteMonte
Sanda is an anime that tries too hard to be something it isn’t. It attempts to explore deep themes of adolescence through an interesting near-future setting, while simultaneously presenting itself as a shounen action series whose protagonist is a 14-year-old boy who can transform into Santa Claus with superpowers. Originality isn’t the problem here, but the execution absolutely is. The concept doesn’t come together, and you’d honestly be better off watching something else.
Before watching the show, I struggled to understand what it was even about. Santa? A murder mystery? A dystopian future? After finishing it, I understand why the premise was so unclear: the plot itself is a jumbled mess. The anime starts in one direction, then introduces new characters, factions, and goals, only to chan…
Read at the sourceTeray
When you start watching this anime, the first thing that catches your eye is the character design and overall art style.
The anime starts interesting enough to hook you in with its visuals and story. I also really liked the use of color throughout the show. The characters’ facial expressions, especially in emotional scenes, are very well done, and the voice acting is solid as well.
The background music is nothing special, but the opening and ending are both good, both musically and visually.
The story itself is good and creative. One of the biggest positives for me is how human interactions are written in this anime. In a lot of anime, relationships and interactions feel unrealistic, weird, or sometimes even cringy and questionable. Here, the interactions feel closer to real human behav…
Read at the sourceFanfics
Sanda is overflowing with really top-notch elements - an original premise with surprisingly strong themes that it takes seriously about adulthood and growing up. Its art style is expressive and stylized, it's setting is deeper than it seems on the surface, its characters are also relatively deep, its writing is good most of the time.
Despite all those great ingredients, however, the total package never really comes together. I won't belabor that point - it manages a 7/10 with its components, but could've been an 8 or 9 if it had actually done anything with them.
The thing that truly makes this review mixed is that the absolute climax of the show is based on a plot point that, without spoiling anything, is just really stupid and contrived. Failing to build to anything meaningful, the show…
Read at the sourceNexyaUser
Though “masterpiece” sounds a little bit overrated, I personally loved the anime up until the first season of the manga adaptation.
Firstly, the art style is wonderful, and I can't put into words how much I love it. It's somewhat fitting for the series how the characters vary in appearance and construction, resembling how everyone there is a different student.
The storyline itself feels unique, with some interesting points and objectives that fit how the characters feel and their perspectives. And pointing out the characters, every single one of them is well explored; their traits are nicely worked out in the series, and they are not that black-or-white kind of characters — they are grey. The way they react to and think about situations fits pretty well with their position: teenagers, disc…
Read at the sourcekillyilly
I'd kind of been hoping for a Christmas show for years and I always figured that any sort of Christmas series would be mostly unfeasible unless it was of a particular genre. Sanda manages to be exactly that, though, and it surprised me when it popped up.
I enjoyed this show a lot and a good part of that was because of Paru's very striking character designs. This is one of those shows where you can simultaneously tell that it's both animated by SARU and drawn by Paru Itagaki within minutes of watching and most of the time it makes this show an absolute blast to watch. Fuyumura in particular REALLY stands out (partially because she's really tall but) and, for me and I think a lot of others, ends up being quite a relatable character as the show progresses.
Towards the end, I was a bit worri…
Read at the sourcefire_alchemist_2
There are very few works of fiction that genuinely understand what Christmas is about. Not the decorations, not the songs, not even nostalgia—but wonder, and the fragile, fleeting space where childhood belief still exists. Sanda is a rare modern work that captures that feeling, and in doing so, earns its place as legitimate Christmas fiction rather than a seasonal novelty.
On the surface, Sanda may look unconventional for a holiday story, but beneath that is a deeply sincere exploration of what it means to protect children without robbing them of growth. The series uses myth not as spectacle, but as a moral framework—asking what happens when belief fades, when fear replaces wonder, and when adults decide that safety is more important than choice. These ideas are handled with surprising re…
Read at the sourceChuy_diazz
I don't know who was more high, the person who created this story or those who managed to adapt it so exceptionally.
Trying to explain the premise of Sanda is a bit difficult while sober, and writing this review would be very difficult in the same state as Paru Itagaki when she wrote it. You just need to know that the story is about a boy who can transform into Santa Claus. If you think that's already weird, then you haven't seen the anime. Without going into too much detail, believe me, the experience alone makes investing time in Sanda totally worthwhile.
Sanda starts in a way that leaves you looking around, wondering what you just saw. As the story progresses, you start to understand the crazy stuff. You see how Santa's powers make sense according to the lore we all know. Up to this p…
Read at the sourceFr3gGamer
Sanda is a fabulously animated, fabulously voiced, and fabulously absurd romp through a Christmas-less and abhorrently chaste dystopian future. From first impressions I would absolutely recommend it to anyone who likes esoteric, excellently-animated, theatrical nonsense, à la Kill la Kill. But, I must warn you that it may not hold your attention for long. I'll explain in four main segments, outlined below:
Animation/Visuals: Holy moly. Science Saru does the impossible every time. Fight choreography rarely is this well paced and shot, so if you love that sort of thing this is absolutely your thing. Nothing at a grand scale, but it's all super tight and lavishly animated. The backgrounds are simple but clean, but in fight scenes they usually take care to make a more interesting setting than…
Read at the sourceWidhala
What must be said is, this show is not for the weak.
To think that it's for children simply because the MC is a child and they're at a school is like saying happy tree family is for toddlers simply because of it's art style. let's be honest, the art style of sanda is somehow creepy, which the story itself... to not give a spoiler i must say, some parts of it are, not visually but psychologically creepy. the main attraction of the show though, is the philosophical side, which does say a lot about human behavior these days, especially in Japan, well, in the world really, where children's mindset are made to be more productive than creative, like, going a bit off topic, let's be honest, young people these days, like, let's say, those with the age between 15 to 25, well, actually more than th…
Read at the sourcekiyo_seibah
A very interesting story concept combining adolescence, identity, fear of being old, and santa claus! (Still sad they didn't make the last eps airing on Christmas tho)
From the very first eps, the whole premise are intriguing me and kept on giving me some storyline that i never seen before. With how obsessed people with youth and fear of being old? Tbh i can see why it can be a very interesting plotline. And combined it too with the tale of santa claus? Totally unique!
The character design also really unique, i love it. The opening and ending also really well made. Animation and fighting choreo are amazing too. And scoring are absolutely masterpiece i love the scoring sm!!!
Overall really recommend it, it's definitely unique but minus points are the ending which for me are pretty disappoi…
Read at the source5iv3_
Sanda as a whole series I feel is a social commentary or observation of how society views both children & adults. One wants what the other has (in this case, Adults regaining their youth & children growing up). By using the Santa Claus tradition that is so well-known throughout our lives, within a society that has no knowledge of it/erased it, displays how they view themselves as a society.
Sanda being the bridge between both adulthood & childhood showcases the struggles that both go through. Whether it's the fear of growing up/aging and wanting to return to your youth-filled childhood, Sanda lays bare that none need to have fear. That it's natural and that bith can coexist.
Stepping away from analyzing the meaning for a bit, animation was really superb. Frames looked nice all around a…
Read at the sourceluxray978
__Light summary__
Sanda follows the titular young boy “Sanda” who is from the ancient Santa bloodline, cursed (or blessed) to turn into a 40-year-old invincible man when he dons the color red. The twist is that he lives in a world with a declining birth rate where the existence of Santa has been actively covered up by the government, and children are coddled.
__Animation and visuals__
Sanda is visually all right, and I'm particularly fond of the character designs, which feel unique and fun for even minor members of the cast. However, I felt that the animation at certain points lacked the visual dynamism that I've seen in other science saru productions like Dandadan and the Night is Short Walk on Girl. Below average for Saru is still quite impressive, but the result is a product placed ab…
Read at the sourceFoggyRadiation
This is a good one.
Recurring and relevant themes center around adulthood and what it means, childhood wonder and joy, mysticism and coming to terms with it, hope against oppression, totalitarian control and standing against it (please, don't go bashing people's limbs apart, it's a shounen after all), understanding your spaces, understanding trust, understanding conflicting and selfish desires, understanding sexuality, staying creative and unconventional, understanding yourself and your role in the world. Among others.
Sanda is a home run that really handles itself maturely. It juggles a 14 year old's impulses with those of an immortal god-being well. It shows progress in every character every time they're shown on screen. It handles coming of age in an understandable and, of course, ani…
Read at the sourcegreysional
this anime is such a unique coming-of-age story (haha get it). at first, the plot seems so insanely bizarre, its the main hook. but the WORLD BUILDING. its a fascinating look at a society that doesnt feel too far away; one where absolute beauty and youth is prioritised over health. so its not that weird. oh wait the main character is a descendent of santa claus and there exists a "saint nick pursuit unit". nevermind. but its the same mangaka as beastars... should be expected that it'd be insanely weird but written so so so well.
- worldbuilding/concept
as i said, the exploration of the future japanese society is created so masterfully. it feels so dystopian yet so familiar to our current society. its so good that its the only reason my rating isnt a 10. i just have so many questions about…
Read at the sourceSupersonic_Pain
I was a little skeptical going into this show because I strongly dislike Beastars. To be honest, I was kind of only there out of morbid curiosity since I heard this was Paru Itagaki making yet another show just for one of her fetishes and I personally don't have a burly old man/Santa Claus fetish, so I didn't expect much going in.
And you know what?
Fair play, Paru Itagaki. I enjoyed this show quite a lot.
I think part of my issue with Beastars (other than it being about anthro characters which were, quite frankly, disgusting to look at, which Sanda avoids by having human characters) is that I'm not really sure what it was going for other than "predator/prey", I felt Sanda was more clear in what it was trying to SAY and in that respect, I felt more of a connection to the themes of Sanda…
Read at the sourceTkit
Sanda is like a headless chicken, shitting out golden eggs and walking around in confusion. There are a ton of very nice ingredients here but the cook doesn't really know what to do with them.
Sanda presents you a very interesting setting exploring a very Japanese problem. The big idea behind this story is fresh for anime while fitting in the larger shonen formula by adding themes that make sense for this concept. Declining birth rates, adolescence, coming of age, confidence and becoming reliable for others. All in a world that is wonderful in its exaggeration of problems related to said ideas. The production is also stellar. Science SARU known for its bold style visually made Sanda into one of its kind looking anime, as if to match the interesting foundations of the story. The art style…
Read at the sourceKANLen09
Sanda - When Christmas isn't a thing anymore, you have to be its figure to show children that there's still hope in Santa Claus. So...a Merry (not so) happy Christmas, I guess?
I love it when personal inspirations can influence unique settings ever to grace the meaning of life, and that's not a skill that a lot of people have — to show that there's still an abundance of mystery behind it, even more so by translating that inspiration into a physical form, say, like a book or something. This is even more difficult when it comes to integrating both art and content together, which is something that most comic book authors try to do, no matter their origin. Regardless of the fame that comes around to gain publicity from the outside press, standing out is what ultimately makes or breaks the mou…
Read at the source