I went into Sanda, knowing this work was by the creator of Beastars, Paru Itagaki. While I only watched a couple of episodes of Beastars, I had a general idea of what I was getting into. I did not expect the protagonist to get stabbed within the first few pages. In a near-future Japan, Christmas has faded into myth, and the birth rate has dropped so dramatically that children are now the most precious commodity. Society has artificially extended adolescence to preserve its youth, and traditional holidays, like Christmas, are a mere legend of the past.
Sanda Vol. 1 introduces Sanda Kazushige, a middle-school student who unexpectedly becomes entangled in a strange and dangerous mystery. When his classmate, Fuyumura Shiori, accuses him of carrying a curse that could help find her missing friend, Ono Ichie, Sanda’s life takes a dramatic turn. Together, they embark on an incredible adventure to unravel the truth behind Ichie’s disappearance and uncover the hidden magic of Christmas itself.
Itagaki continues to tell strange stories that mimic our world, with a lot of heart and soul behind them. From anthropomorphic high school animals to bringing a superhero Santa Claus to another alternate universe high school setting, she has no creative limits. The art style is distinct enough from Beastars, having many of its main characters have big eyes and scratchy lines on their clothing.
“For Sanda’s Santa Claus design, the jaggedness and sharpness of his hair and facial features make him the most dad bod Santa I have ever seen.”
The excessive dark lines remind me of the way Hajime Isayama used hard, black lines to create fear factor in the environments and characters in Attack on Titan. This shows in Sanda Vol. 1 when Amaya is afraid of the towering principal with his cane. For Sanda’s Santa Claus design, the jaggedness and sharpness of his hair and facial features make him the most dad bod Santa I have ever seen. The crop style red and white tracksuit jacket accents a modern Santa vibe too, creating a new look for the man in red.
Sanda Vol. 1’s art differs with less of the watercolour feel, and opts more for using zip-a-tone and cross-hatching techniques. There is a lot more dark shading in this work compared to Beastars, which added to the darkness and fear of many of this manga’s main characters—with Sanda, Fuyumura, and Amaya. Fuyumura’s design stood out to me in a similar way Taizan 5 made Takopi’s Original Sin’s characters unsettlingly drawn.
For one, Fuyumura has hard, dark lines around her eyes. This suggests that she may not sleep well, possibly because she has been up all night trying to find out where her friend has gone missing. Second, it is a nice change to see a different female model compared to other manga or anime properties that tend to oversexualize female character designs. This is not a commentary on attractiveness, but rather, Fuyumura is one of the tallest characters in the story, not typical in most high school stories. However, she also dresses more androgynously than a traditional Japanese high school female.
“I am very curious to see where this story ends up.”
Itagaki naming Sanda as a descendant of Santa Claus is very on the nose and quite cheesy. Despite some cheesy names and cringeworthy dialogue, Itagaki continues making meaningful characters to care about. Sanda comes off as a stereotypical male protagonist, one who blushes hard at even touching a thread of a girl’s hair—a common Japanese trope in manga. But I would argue Sanda is more along the lines of Okarun in DANDADAN when talking to his female classmate Fuyumura than the way Wakana blushes around Marin in My Dress-Up Darling. Essentially, Sanda does not emotionally crumble at another girl’s touch.
With a mix of supernatural elements, heartfelt moments, and a nostalgic quest to restore childhood wonder, Sanda Vol. 1 launches a sixteen-volume saga that blends mystery, adventure, and emotional depth. I am very curious to see where this story ends up. The manga is also greenlit to be adapted into an anime by Science SARU so that fans can dive further into the world of Sanda. With Science SARU on the anime, I trust they will take another abstract storyline and make it enjoyable and entertaining—when it releases on October 3rd, 2025.
