T5W#487-Top 5 Anime Set During the Holidays

The Holiday Season is upon us once more (and I’ve already lost Whamageddon thanks to my stupid work radio).  While we’re all out buying gifts for family and friends and prepping the house with decorations, for Anime fans this is definitely a time to relax, keep warm and catch up on a show or two with lots of Anime binging.  And while that’s an all fine and good marathon option, there’s also those Anime with a ton of holiday cheer (or at least a ton of snow).  So to kick off the month of gifts, hugs and cookies, here are my picks for the Top 5 Anime Set During the Holidays.

 
#5-Spy X Family: Code White

Ah something the whole family can enjoy.  The Forgers first big screen adventure sees the pretend family visiting a winter wonderland for a much needed vacation.  But this is Spy X Family so it’s hardly a vacation when it involves Anya getting kidnapped cause she ate the wrong piece of candy and Loid and Yor having to work around each other to keep their true identities intact.  While Code White has a lot of familiarity to it, Spy X Family is still Spy X Family and that means a lot of faced paced and fun action with Loid and Yor and Anya being the most adorable thing in the Anime world at the moment.

 
#4-Dragon Ball Z Abridged Holiday Specials

The good Gentlemen at Team Four Star love getting into the holiday spirit, especially when that means infusing happy go lucky Goku with it.  They have two hilarious DBZA offerings in this vein. The first is their first Abridged Movie of Tree of Might which sees the Z Fighters battling the Christmas Tree of Might planted by a legion of former Santa employees. Then in Plan to Eradicate Christmas (an abridged version of the HD Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans OVA), Goku, Gohan, Vegeta, Picolo and Trunks must confront the big man in red himself, who has put all of them on his naughty list.
 

#3-Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz/Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket

Gundam and Christmas can hit a bit hard given the subject matter.  But that doest mean the stories aren’t really good or the action the kind of Hell Yeah hype you need to get through the holiday madness.  And both of these entries take place during Christmas too.  With 0080, you’ve got one of the best Gundam tales in the franchise even if it isnt a happy one.  Conversely, you have Endless Waltz, which has the Gundam Wing Boys kicking ass one more time in souped up new Gundams.  If anything, both of these tales will definitely give the Gunpla builder in you options for your next build once gift giving time comes.
 

#2-The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya

Could this be the Anime equivalent to “It’s a Wonderful Life”?  That’s debatable but what is certain is that The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzimiya is one of the best Anime films of the last century and even if you haven’t seen the series, it’s still worth watching.  Just before Christmas, Kyon finds his life turned upside down when Haruhi is seemingly erased from existence.  What follows is a tough introspective journey as Kyon tries to figure out once and for all if having the energetic overlord that is Haruhi Suzumiya is what he wants in life.  It’s beautiful, it’s kind of a tear jerker and honestly you don’t even feel the 2.5 hour runtime at all.  It’s Kyoto Animation at its storytelling finest.
 

#1-Tokyo Godfathers

This is THE quintessential holiday Anime film.  On Christmas Eve, three homeless people discover an abandoned baby and begin a week long quest to find her parent.  It’s a story of redemption, self discovery and some pretty zany mind tripping escapades that only a master of psychological imagery like Satoshi Kon could pull out.  You love the characters as much as the little bundle of joy they’ve sworn to protect and it really is a feel good Anime for one of the best times of the year.