AGXStarseed
Well-Known Member
I know some of you may find this a bit early, but considering many of us are already getting bombarded with Christmas adverts on the TV as well as how generally miserable this year has been, I'm going with the flow a bit earlier this year.
Also, I do intend to watch Tokyo Godfathers this year when December comes around. So with all that said, I'll get into the thread.
Much like with western shows and movies, anime - be it an episode of a show, a special or a movie - is no stranger to having a festive theme for when the nights draw in, the tree lights go up and children eagerly await the sounds of a reindeer-drawn sleigh landing on their rooftop.
Question is, for those of you who have watched these festive specials, do you have any favorites?
I'm going to throw in a few I do like to start us off and maybe add some more later. I'll also explain a bit about what the anime is about so you get a general gist of it.
01. ESPer Mami - "An Esper Christmas"
ESPer Mami is essentially one of the predecessors of the 'Magical Girl' anime style that most of us are familiar with. This 1980's anime is about a junior high school girl named Mami Sakura who develops the power of teleportation (followed by telekinesis and telepathy) before - with the aid of her school friend Kazuo Takahata and her dog Konpoko - going on various misadventures, helping people and solving mysteries along the way.
In the Christmas episode, Mami gets concerned when she (dressed in a Santa costume for a job) meets a girl who wants a baby panda for Christmas; Mami later discovering that the girl and her brother live alone with their jobless father - who spends his time lazing around and drinking rather then trying to get a new job due to bad experiences in the past.
As such, Mami and Kazuo decide to put together a plan to give the children a happy Christmas Eve and leave them with some fun memories, while in turn trying to inspire their father to try and find a new job for the sake of his kids.
I find this episode decent for what it is; there's some cute moments, sad moments, happy moments and moments of Mami using her Esper powers - at one point flying through the sky like Santa. All in all, it left me satisfied.
02. Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid - "Troupe Dragon, On Stage! (They Had A Troupe Name, Huh)"
Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid is set in the modern day as a woman named Kobayashi drunkenly saves an injured dragon before offering said Dragon to come and live with her as her maid. The dragon, Tohru, accepts out of gratitude for been saved and becomes Kobayashi's maid - although other Dragons soon follow her into the human world afterwards, including Tohru's young friend Kanna (who Kobayashi becomes a surrogate mother to), Tohru's gluttonous rival Elma and the legendary dragons Fafnir and Quetzalcoatl.
In the Christmas episode, Tohru is asked asked by one of the shopping district's retailers to put on a Christmas show for the elderly - which he is unable to do due to injury. As such, Tohru and the dragons - along with their human friends Riko and Shouta - eventually decide to put on a play adaptation of The Little Match Girl; albeit taking some extreme liberties with the source material in their attempt to prevent it from being boring.
In a side plot, Kanna is worried that Santa might not come to visit her - with Tohru making some alterations to their home to try and ensure that Santa will visit; much to Kobayashi's annoyance.
This episode got more than a good number of laughs out of me, while still having plenty of cute and heart-warming moments. I definitely recommend it, as well as the rest of the series.
03. Dragon Ball Z Abridged - "Plan to Eradicate Christmas"
Not official but I do enjoy Dragon Ball Z Abridged - a fansub series created by TeamFourStar that streamlines the Dragon Ball Z series (along with some of the various Dragon Ball movies) and adds their own comedy to it. The full series of DBZA - this special included - is available to view on YouTube.
In this special, Santa has become a villain and decided that the only way to get rid of the excess of 'naughtiness' is for Earth to be culled. To do this, he arrives in a dark mini-moon before depositing numerous machines - each spraying a toxic miasma resembling coal dust.
Soon enough, the Z-fighters (Goku, Gohan, Vegeta, Piccolo and Future Trunks) gather to find a way to destroy the machines and stop Santa. However, the former Christmas icon has not come alone as old enemies lurk in the sooty air, while Santa himself has secrets the heroes are yet to discover.
While for this one it's necessary for you to know about Dragon Ball Z Abridged beforehand to fully enjoy it, I got a blast out of this - with it been a funny and action packed special - with it never been a bad thing to have an action-packed Christmas special to help relieve the stresses from the rest of the holiday season, instead of relieving them in less healthy ways.
I also have to give credit to TeamFourStar for taking a non-festive special (Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans) and turning it into a festive special.
Give it a watch if you get chance.
So what about you guys? Do you have any festive anime episodes, specials or movies that you like to watch come Christmas time?
Also, I do intend to watch Tokyo Godfathers this year when December comes around. So with all that said, I'll get into the thread.
Much like with western shows and movies, anime - be it an episode of a show, a special or a movie - is no stranger to having a festive theme for when the nights draw in, the tree lights go up and children eagerly await the sounds of a reindeer-drawn sleigh landing on their rooftop.
Question is, for those of you who have watched these festive specials, do you have any favorites?
I'm going to throw in a few I do like to start us off and maybe add some more later. I'll also explain a bit about what the anime is about so you get a general gist of it.
01. ESPer Mami - "An Esper Christmas"
ESPer Mami is essentially one of the predecessors of the 'Magical Girl' anime style that most of us are familiar with. This 1980's anime is about a junior high school girl named Mami Sakura who develops the power of teleportation (followed by telekinesis and telepathy) before - with the aid of her school friend Kazuo Takahata and her dog Konpoko - going on various misadventures, helping people and solving mysteries along the way.
In the Christmas episode, Mami gets concerned when she (dressed in a Santa costume for a job) meets a girl who wants a baby panda for Christmas; Mami later discovering that the girl and her brother live alone with their jobless father - who spends his time lazing around and drinking rather then trying to get a new job due to bad experiences in the past.
As such, Mami and Kazuo decide to put together a plan to give the children a happy Christmas Eve and leave them with some fun memories, while in turn trying to inspire their father to try and find a new job for the sake of his kids.
I find this episode decent for what it is; there's some cute moments, sad moments, happy moments and moments of Mami using her Esper powers - at one point flying through the sky like Santa. All in all, it left me satisfied.
02. Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid - "Troupe Dragon, On Stage! (They Had A Troupe Name, Huh)"
Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid is set in the modern day as a woman named Kobayashi drunkenly saves an injured dragon before offering said Dragon to come and live with her as her maid. The dragon, Tohru, accepts out of gratitude for been saved and becomes Kobayashi's maid - although other Dragons soon follow her into the human world afterwards, including Tohru's young friend Kanna (who Kobayashi becomes a surrogate mother to), Tohru's gluttonous rival Elma and the legendary dragons Fafnir and Quetzalcoatl.
In the Christmas episode, Tohru is asked asked by one of the shopping district's retailers to put on a Christmas show for the elderly - which he is unable to do due to injury. As such, Tohru and the dragons - along with their human friends Riko and Shouta - eventually decide to put on a play adaptation of The Little Match Girl; albeit taking some extreme liberties with the source material in their attempt to prevent it from being boring.
In a side plot, Kanna is worried that Santa might not come to visit her - with Tohru making some alterations to their home to try and ensure that Santa will visit; much to Kobayashi's annoyance.
This episode got more than a good number of laughs out of me, while still having plenty of cute and heart-warming moments. I definitely recommend it, as well as the rest of the series.
03. Dragon Ball Z Abridged - "Plan to Eradicate Christmas"
Not official but I do enjoy Dragon Ball Z Abridged - a fansub series created by TeamFourStar that streamlines the Dragon Ball Z series (along with some of the various Dragon Ball movies) and adds their own comedy to it. The full series of DBZA - this special included - is available to view on YouTube.
In this special, Santa has become a villain and decided that the only way to get rid of the excess of 'naughtiness' is for Earth to be culled. To do this, he arrives in a dark mini-moon before depositing numerous machines - each spraying a toxic miasma resembling coal dust.
Soon enough, the Z-fighters (Goku, Gohan, Vegeta, Piccolo and Future Trunks) gather to find a way to destroy the machines and stop Santa. However, the former Christmas icon has not come alone as old enemies lurk in the sooty air, while Santa himself has secrets the heroes are yet to discover.
While for this one it's necessary for you to know about Dragon Ball Z Abridged beforehand to fully enjoy it, I got a blast out of this - with it been a funny and action packed special - with it never been a bad thing to have an action-packed Christmas special to help relieve the stresses from the rest of the holiday season, instead of relieving them in less healthy ways.
I also have to give credit to TeamFourStar for taking a non-festive special (Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans) and turning it into a festive special.
Give it a watch if you get chance.
So what about you guys? Do you have any festive anime episodes, specials or movies that you like to watch come Christmas time?
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