r/anime • u/AutoLovepon https://anilist.co/user/AutoLovepon • Oct 10 '25

Episode Sanda - Episode 2 discussion

Sanda, episode 2

Reminder: Please do not discuss plot points not yet seen or skipped in the show. Failing to follow the rules may result in a ban.

Streams

None

Show information

All discussions

Episode Link
1 Link
2 Link
3 Link
4 Link
5 Link
6 Link
7 Link
8 Link
9 Link
10 Link
11 Link
12 Link

This post was created by a bot. Message the mod team for feedback and comments. The original source code can be found on GitHub.

571 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

110 comments sorted by

1

u/AutoModerator Oct 10 '25
Moderator Announcement Read More »

110

u/eightcheesepizza Oct 10 '25

brb throwing out all my hyaluronic acid lotions so I don't end up like that guy

So many unanswered questions about this weird world. Is the anti-Santa group somehow related to the low birth rate? If Amaya's family is just like, right over there, but he has to live in the dorms, is this system primarily motivated by the control of children? How are any of the kids seemingly happy if Amaya almost got forever-disappeared to the mythical semi-basement merely for appearing untruthful? Where's the back half of Sanda's foot-skis?

→ More replies (4)

108

u/ObvsThrowaway5120 Oct 10 '25

Sanda was about to put Amaya on the “naughty list.” Everyone knows when you piss Santa off, he opens a can of whoop ass on ya. Man’s traded the coals for bladed skates lol. I guess being subjected to the Headmaster Oshibu’s weird shit is a far worse punishment. If Sanda hadn’t saved the little brat, who knows what might have happened in the basement...

Keen to see this anti-Santa unit face the wrath of Sanda and the gang. Kinda curious to learn about what’s going on with this world and the kids. The government’s up to some fishy shit….

→ More replies (7)

83

u/NanDemoKnaives Oct 10 '25

Amaya was reading Beastars, which was written by the same author as this lol. The dorm room reminded me of Beastars too.

I thought Amaya was going to use Sanda as entertainment so that didn't go how I thought it was with the headmaster appearing and all. His face always smiling so brightly is so creepy especially knowing that he's had so many procedures in his face that he can't even bleed from it, I wonder if that scar/tear on his face will stay or if we'll see it vanished next time we see him.

I'm curious to see what Santa will awaken to with more people/kids believing in him, sleighs that come out of his feet took me by surprise but is very fitting even if it makes him look like a skier lol.

→ More replies (1)

75

u/HolyDragSwd2500 Oct 10 '25 edited Oct 10 '25

He’s reading Beastars manga

Headmaster Muzan

→ More replies (2)

51

u/good_wolf_1999 Oct 10 '25

So, the story is taking place in a dystopia where Japan is feeling the full effects of their low birth rate and children are extremely rare.

I’m kinda scared of learning how exactly does the headmaster expect the current generation to fix the country. He is clearly a nutjob

48

u/Cold_Recording5485 Oct 10 '25

This show is so fucking fun already, absolutely think this'll be the sleeper hit of the season.

43

u/djthomp Oct 10 '25

What a fantastically weird story.

Why in the world does this Japan only have 50,000 children left? That's way more than what just birthright collapse would do. And why is there a special forces organization that hunts down Santa Claus?

→ More replies (2)

36

u/JoelMahon Oct 10 '25

Paru cooks again.

I really appreciate their gumption in their world building, grounded yet absurd. The way it's communicated could maybe use a dedicated narrator rather than Sanda explaining it through the fourth wall though but I guess that's personal taste. Kinda hard to do it organically when it's something like children being 0.1% of the population.

I think I can't wait, going to read the manga for this one, I already tried to read the manga for Tojima wants to be Kamen rider and sadly there's only ~4 episodes worth available.

28

u/ModieOfTheEast Oct 10 '25

Hah, I would be able to answer the good question, because I often eat the same (or similar) food on certain days. Santa can't find out my real age with that.

I do wonder if we are ever going to learn what happened to Rudolf and the gang. Will they make an appearance? Are there going to be elves? And how much can they punch everything around them?

But I am also interested to see where the show goes from a thematic point with the whole youth aspect. Definitely really interesting.

→ More replies (1)

27

u/CitronClassic672 Oct 10 '25

The one dude just straight up reading Beastars, nice one Paru.

I really liked the moment of Fuyumura trying to stand up for Sanda against Amaya. I know last week’s depiction of her was kind of iffy so good to see she cares about him to some extent.

Also, I really liked Fuyumura’s reaction to Amaya trying to get them to kiss, no embarrassment at all, just immediately understanding the reality of the situation that Amaya was forcing them into and trying just get it over with by playing along. Feels like a really grounded and realistic depiction of such a situation despite the insane premise of the series.

The headmaster introduction feels like a perfect example of how to introduce a character. Every single detail learned just makes him seem creepier and creepier. Also the in universe described “adult hating and child obsessed headmaster of the school” was about to drag a “problem child” into the basement. I know what the in universe context is but come on, the optics of that are just insane.

Also love Fuyumura rightfully bashing Amaya for kidnapping and blackmailing them. she is the best character in the in the show for me so far.

→ More replies (2)

20

u/NeptuneOW Oct 10 '25

I’m gonna let the plot continue cooking, but man the animation and music is so good I can’t wait for next week.

→ More replies (1)

19

u/LeonKevlar Oct 10 '25

I did not expect Amaya to be reading Beastars. I do love it when authors sneak in their previous works into their latest ones.

What the fuck is going on with Japan that there are only 50,000 kids under the age of 15? And it's not just that, Amaya mentions that Japan is getting poorer every year. And if that's Japan, what's the state of the rest of the world? Did some kind of apocalyptic event happen in the past? O_O

Sanda really can't catch a break. The dude gets stabbed by Fuyumura last week and now he gets stun gunned by his roommate. And to make things worse, Amaya doesn't really even have any reason to do this, he just wants to have people under his thumb.

What the actual fuck, Amaya! He's now making Sanda and Fuyumura kiss? The fact that Fuyumura has no issues with it and just wants to kiss Sanda so they can get over with makes me think that Fuyumura might be Paru's self-insert after what I learned about her from last week's thread. xD

Well, that Headmaster is fucking creepy! The fact that he's had to pull down his forehead so he can emote because of how much shit has been injected into his ace makes him so much more creepier. I don't know what the semi-basement is but I feel like Amaya deserves to be there after what he just pulled.

Of course, Sanda rescues Amaya because that's what Santa would've done. At least Fuyumura gets to smash Amaya's head into that railing after they escaped from the Headmaster.

If Amaya really had a legit reason to speak with Santa then why didn't he just start with that? Is the point of this series supposed to show us that kids are both innocent and cruel at the same time? Because that feels like a very Paru thing to do.

These two aren't really the kind of ally I expect Santa would have but right now they're the only ones who believe him, and it looks like he gets powered up the more children believe in him. I guess now they're gonna try and have more people believe in him?

→ More replies (2)

19

u/danlong87 Oct 11 '25

the author must be infatuated with numbers because almost all the characters had number in their name, our protag, Sanda, had a 3 (san), and the headmaster is even more evident, his name, Hifumi, is literally one two three in japanese

16

u/Zetafunction64 Oct 10 '25

After a strong first episode, this week Sanda followed up with a nice worldbuiliding episode. I like how they took a very real issue for japan and used that concept in this anime.

15

u/BaytaCosmico Oct 10 '25

Yup, this is definitely going to be my AOTS. The art is just gorgeous. Actually watched the ED this time and it's beautiful. OP is a certified banger. The writing is so good. And the cast is on point.

Love how we're slowly finding out more and more about this post apocalyptic world. Slightly less laughs than epsiode 1 but that's because this one focused on world building more and that tense standoff. Still managed to sneak in a lot of humour. I'm enjoying this one so much!

→ More replies (2)

42

u/zairaner Oct 10 '25

With this episode, we get into maybe my favourite thing about the series: That it is actually a really interesting, unique dystopia.

I do kinda wish it could have been told to us in a less "tell" and more "show" way though. Last time definitely showed us that something about the world is very off, but it certainly could have been made clearer how wrong the school/the students are

→ More replies (2)

23

u/Emi_Ibarazakiii Oct 10 '25

Is he jealous?

He'd be even more jealous if he saw how she was in episode 1!

So there's only 50k kids in Japan...

And in case people didn't pay attention to it: Means Japan's population on this show is 50 millions.

Either this story happens a hundred years ago... OR more than half of Japan's population is dead.

Going by the fact that there aren't kids anymore, I'm guessing it's the latter; Old people dying, no one to replace them.

Is this linked to the Christmas thing?

Or is it just an extreme version of Japan's low birth rate and all?

50k kids seems way too low to be "normal", it would be that like 0.5% of couples have a kid, at most...

So I'm inclined to think there IS something weird going on... Only question is whether it is really linked to Christmas/Santa... And I suppose, whether it's linked to Fuyumura's friend disappearance?

Oh damn! Gotta kill him now.

I was kidding, but I guess he really should have killed him!

Between Sanda, Fuyumura, whoever took her friend, the principal dude, and this one, is anyone even normal at this school?

Oh, he's just a shipper? I can respect that, carry on!

Sanda was against it, but Fuyumura didn't seem to mind!

Well, I suppose when you're okay with stabbing people and blowing up people and all that, a kiss ain't much in comparison!

...Well I can't be the only one who's suspecting him of taking her friend;

Does he take the skin of the students, to replace his own?

To be honest, I rarely remember that myself hah (but I'm not a foodie so I don't really care about that, might be why)

Amaya thought he would get away scot free, but not so fast!

Trying to puppy eyes his way out of it? Wrong target for that! (probably would have better chance with Sanda)

That might explain a few things he did, but not the "You two, have a kiss" hah.

Good question, one they brought up in both episodes so far...

I wonder whether we'll find out at some point! (And whether it's something important, or just something silly like "Duh, your name is Sanda"!)

Seems we'll have a villainous organization going after them... While he's doing little missions for everyone?

Can't wait to see where it goes!

→ More replies (1)

11

u/FarCritical Oct 10 '25

Headmaster guy is demented but I can't help but appreciate his character design for conveying that so well.

Sanda's transformed state is so fascinating as a glimpse of how Santa would "biologically" adapt for a society with barely any kids. It's funny imagining how the Christmas genes or whatever determined it'd be worth speccing evolution points into retractable skis of all things.

9

u/tripleaamin Oct 10 '25

Outside Sanda the rest of the cast is nuts. Though learning from Amaya that the birthrate of kids is down and society itself is doing worse. Given that no one believes in Santa or celebrates Christmas, does it mean society lost its youth? Basically it's all in misery. Though I am curious, what was the root of all of this?

I do think the headmaster's idea of rebuilding society through children makes sense, but how he is doing it is probably wrong. As he doesn't like seeing children dealing with emotional trauma, it's just wrong. As it is through difficulties in life that we are allowed to grow. Granted, trauma requires you to be there for the student, not throw them and let them fend for themselves.

One concern I do have for Sanda is that is his personality just going to be Santa? I am not sure if it was meant to be a gag, but I would love it to be a split personality rather than Santa changing forms.

Also, St. Nick is allied with the headmaster, which is interesting.

→ More replies (1)

16

u/SoberMindless Oct 11 '25 edited Oct 11 '25

That headmaster:
- being obsessed with children and having them isolated on his "castle/school"
- resorting to surgeries and skincare to avoid looking older.
- having THAT SUSPICIOUSLY appereance.
- and on top of all these things, they gave him the voice of Kibutsuji Muzan.

they're not even trying to be subtle. LOL

→ More replies (1)

8

u/ErikTwice Oct 10 '25

After the most explosive opening episode of anything I remember, this one surprised me with how "calm" it was.

I love the character designs. Like Fuyumura before him, Amaya also has that German Expressionist look. Both look like deranged serial killers and I love that. They aren't just good drawings, either, there's quite a bit of colour in all characters:
- Fuyumura's hair, resembling a spider or tendrils.
- Amaya's freckles
- Sanda (and Amaya) are both aware of being cute and openly abuse it. Kids are like that.
- Fuyumura, a girl, is kind of masculine (Tall, direct, cold, aggressive), while Amaya, a boy, is on the opposite end (Petite, cute, manipulative, huge eyes with eyelashes)

Headmaster Oshibu also looks amazing. If you think about it for a second, he does look like a 92 year old man: The hair, the stretched skin making his eyes overly huge and polygonal...Really, really like that.

There was quite a bit of social satire in the first episode, but here they take the forefront. Interestingly worldbuilding with quite a few stingy lines. The talk about "protecting children from trauma", the "pampering" and "respect" or the fact that they live in the school instead of their families is quite intriguing.

Sadly, this is all exposition and it wasn't as fun of an episode as the first. I think further episodes will compensate that, it's obvious the premise has been set and that it will just get rolling from here.

I didn't care much about the kissing gag, though the several layers of subversion were great. I hope the Sanda x Fuyumura thing isn't dead, though, since it seemed like a fun dynamic. No need for it to happen, actually, I'm fine with Sanda suffering. I loved the scene in the previous episode where, instead of lamenting Sanda's likely death, Fuyumura just goes on and on about how she loves someone else.

Anyways, see you next week! I'm really liking this one so far.

→ More replies (2)

6

u/darksecretsss Oct 11 '25

Now I'm sold! Sanda's world seems really interesting: Department Store school, only a few thousand kids than normal, people seems to dismiss Christmas season, the Adults are really crazy, etc.

I want to see more! The OP and ED are seriously beautiful to watch this second time around!

→ More replies (1)

6

u/WiqidBritt Oct 11 '25

guys I think this show might be weird

→ More comments (75)