Sanda Anime: Is This Santa Claus Curse Thriller Worth Watching?

What is Sanda about?

The story follows Kazushige Sanda, an ordinary boy whose life is upended when he discovers that one of his classmates, Shiori Fuyumura, is willing to violently force a transformation out of him, stabbing him to trigger it. Her motivation traces back to her missing friend Ichie Ono and a specific, mysterious "curse" tied to Sanda's own family, one whose exact nature and connection to Santa Claus (a literal character in the cast list) forms much of the story's central, unusual mystery.

That's a deliberately strange, hard-to-categorize premise, blending ordinary high-school drama with genuine supernatural threat and a character literally named Santa Claus woven into what's ostensibly a story about curses, guilt, and violence between classmates. The specific combination of mundane teenage setting and bizarre supernatural mythology is very much in keeping with creator Paru Itagaki's established reputation for stories that resist easy genre categorization.

Who's in the cast?

• Ayumu Murase as Kazushige Sanda
• Hiroki Tōchi as Santa Claus
• Anna Nagase as Ichie Ono
• Misato Matsuoka as Nico Kazao
• Umeka Shōji as Shiori Fuyumura
• Yūki Shin as Hitoshi Amaya

Ayumu Murase anchors the series in the title role, carrying the considerable challenge of playing an ordinary protagonist thrust into a strange, high-stakes supernatural conflict while keeping the character grounded and relatable enough for audiences to invest in amid the story's more surreal elements. Hiroki Tōchi's casting as Santa Claus himself, presented as an actual character within the story rather than purely symbolic or seasonal framing, signals just how far the show is willing to lean into its own specific, unusual mythology.

Who's behind the show creatively?

Science SARU animates the series, a studio with a distinctive reputation built on visually bold, tonally unconventional projects including Devilman Crybaby and Ping Pong the Animation, both widely celebrated for their willingness to pursue unusual visual styles and challenging tonal territory rather than more conventional anime production approaches. Tomohisa Shimoyama directs, with Kimiko Ueno handling series composition and scripts, Masamichi Ishiyama on character design, and Paru Itagaki, creator of the widely acclaimed Beastars, as the original creator.

How does this compare to Paru Itagaki's prior work?

Paru Itagaki previously created Beastars, an anthropomorphic-animal high-school drama that used its unusual furry-society premise as an effective vehicle for exploring predator-prey social dynamics, sexuality, and identity with real thematic depth beneath its initially strange-sounding concept. Sanda's premise, ordinary teenage life colliding with a curse connected to Santa Claus, follows a broadly similar creative pattern: taking a premise that sounds bizarre or even faintly absurd on paper and using it as a vehicle for exploring more grounded emotional and thematic territory, grief, guilt, and the specific violence that unresolved trauma can produce between people who might otherwise have nothing to do with each other.

Why does the "ordinary world colliding with strange mythology" approach work so well for this creator?

This is worth examining, because Itagaki's specific creative pattern, grounding bizarre, high-concept premises in recognizably ordinary emotional and social settings, tends to produce stories that use their strangeness as a genuine narrative tool rather than empty novelty. Beastars succeeded specifically because its anthropomorphic premise wasn't simply a gimmick; it gave the show a fresh, defamiliarized lens for exploring real adolescent anxieties around desire, social hierarchy, and belonging that a more conventional human high-school setting might have made feel overly familiar or well-trodden.

Sanda's premise, if it follows that same creative pattern, suggests the show's Santa Claus-connected curse mythology isn't meant purely as shock value or novelty, but as a specific, defamiliarizing lens for exploring themes around inherited guilt, targeted violence, and the specific, complicated grief Shiori carries over her missing friend, using the curse's mysterious mechanics as a structural device for slowly revealing the emotional truth underneath the story's stranger surface elements.

My honest take on Sanda

I think this is an intriguing, distinctive anime, and the sheer specificity and strangeness of its premise, an ordinary boy targeted by a classmate over a curse connected to an actual character named Santa Claus, is exactly the kind of bold creative swing that's difficult to pull off but memorable when a production succeeds at it. Paru Itagaki's track record with Beastars gives me real confidence this isn't strangeness for its own sake; the creator has demonstrated a genuine ability to use unusual, high-concept premises as vehicles for real emotional and thematic substance rather than empty novelty.

Science SARU's involvement as animation studio feels like a well-matched pairing for this specific material. The studio's established reputation, built on projects like Devilman Crybaby that similarly blend disturbing, surreal content with real emotional and thematic weight, suggests real visual and tonal confidence in handling Sanda's own blend of ordinary teenage setting and bizarre supernatural mythology without the tonal whiplash that a less experienced or less bold studio might struggle to manage.

The central mystery, exactly what this curse is, how it connects Sanda to Shiori's missing friend, and what Santa Claus's specific role and nature actually are within this mythology, gives the show real forward narrative momentum beyond its already-distinctive premise and visual approach. That's exactly the kind of structural hook that can sustain audience investment through a story willing to take unconventional creative risks rather than settling into more familiar genre patterns once the initial novelty of the premise wears off.

Given creator Paru Itagaki's strong track record with thematically substantive high-concept storytelling, Science SARU's genuine pedigree with bold, visually distinctive projects, and a premise specific and strange enough to stand out clearly amid a crowded current anime landscape, I think this is well worth seeking out for anyone drawn to anime willing to take real creative risks rather than playing it safe with more conventional genre premises.

Do you need any specific background to follow the story?

No, the series is designed to work as a self-contained mystery, with its central curse mythology and character relationships established within the show itself.

Frequently asked questions

When did Sanda premiere? October 2025.

Who stars in Sanda? Ayumu Murase as Kazushige Sanda, alongside Umeka Shōji as Shiori Fuyumura and Hiroki Tōchi as Santa Claus.

Who created Sanda? Paru Itagaki, also known for creating Beastars.

Who animates the series? Science SARU, known for Devilman Crybaby and Ping Pong the Animation.

What is the plot about? An ordinary boy discovers a classmate is willing to violently force a transformation out of him over a mysterious curse tied to his family, connected to her missing friend and to Santa Claus.

Who directs the series? Tomohisa Shimoyama.

What genre is Sanda? A genre-blending mix of supernatural mystery and grounded teen drama.

Is this connected to Beastars? Not directly in story or setting, but it's from the same creator.

Where can I watch Sanda? Streaming details vary by region; check current listings for availability.

Is this a good pick for fans of unconventional anime? Yes, its distinctive premise and Science SARU's bold visual approach make it a strong fit for viewers seeking something outside conventional genre norms.

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