Beastars Creator’s Wild New Anime Shares New Look & Release Date

Beastars creator Paru Itagaki has a whole new anime coming our way later this year, and a release date and worldwide streaming home has been announced with a cool new trailer. Beastars fans are currently waiting to see how that series will be coming to an end with the final episodes of its anime airing sometime next year, but there’s still going to be plenty to enjoy from the creator this year. Just in time for the holiday season, Sanda is a new TV anime series where a young boy gets the ability to transform into an action packed version of Santa Claus.

Sanda takes place in a future version of Japan where Christmas has become pretty much a myth thanks to the fact that there are fewer children born than ever before. But soon its main character gets a cursed power that transforms him into the legendary Santa Claus, and fans will get to see it in action produced by the same studio behind hits like DAN DA DAN, Scott Pilgrim Takes Off and much more. You can check out Sanda’s new trailer below ahead of its worldwide debut on October 4th.

Sanda U.S. Release Date and Streaming Home Announced

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Sanda has officially announced that it will be streaming worldwide on October 4th exclusively with Prime Video. The new anime will feature Tomohisa Shimoyama directing for Science SARU with Kimiko Ueno writing the scripts. Masamichi Ishiyama will be providing the character designs (along with serving as chief animation director), and FPM’s Tomoyuki Tanaka will be composing the music for the anime. This newest trailer for the anime also confirms that the opening theme is titled “Childlike Adults” as performed by yama, and the ending theme is titled “Diary,” as performed by Soushi Sakiyama.

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Sanda will star the likes of Ayumu Murase as Kazushige Sanda, Hiroki Tochi as Santa Claus, Umeka Shoji as Shiori Fuyumura, Anna Nagase as Ichie Ono, Yuki Shin as Hitoshi Amaya, Misato Matsuoka as Nico Kazao, Toshihiko Seki as Hifumi Oshibu, and Hiroaki Hirata as Saburo Yagiuda. It’s yet to be announced as of this time whether or not the anime will be getting an English dub release, but there’s a good chance considering that has been the pattern for Prime Video’s exclusive anime releases thus far. But it’s usually not revealed until the episode itself releases and fans can explore a possible dub release for themselves.

What Is Sanda About?

If you wanted to get a better feel for Sanda as the anime gears up for its release, Titan Books has announced they have licensed the series for an official English language release and are planning to hit shelves with the manga soon. They begin to tease Paru Itagaki’s original manga as such, “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 their youth, and traditional holidays, like Christmas, are a mere legend of the past.”

Their synopsis continues with, “Volume 1 of SANDA 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. As they delve deeper into the mystery, the duo faces external threats and internal challenges—questions about loyalty, courage, and the power of belief. Along the way, they confront the true meaning of friendship, trust, and the possibility of magic in a world that has all but forgotten it.”