Well obviously I have to start this year's holiday reviews with the manga about Santa Claus!
SANDA, by Paru Itagaki. First published in 2021 and first published in North America in 2025.
PLOT:
In the not-too-distant future, the Japanese government has taken drastic measures to combat its declining birthrates. Children are shielded from the world and their own bodies well into adolescence. Anything that might serve as a marker of adulthood is suppressed, including the notion of Santa Claus and Christmas.
Shiori Fuyumura believes in Santa Claus. More specifically, she believes that her middle-school classmate Kazushige Sanda is Santa Claus, and that his powers can help her uncover the truth behind the disappearance of her best friend, all while evading the machinations of their fellow classmates and their ghoulish principal.
