RJ Writing Ink

Christmas can be just as big a holiday in Japan as it is in other parts of the world, but not for the reasons you would think. There are not that many Christians in Japan, so they don’t celebrate for the religious aspects. It’s celebrated more for the romantic aspect, decorating trees, and eating KFC. That is, in fact, a thing in Japan, thanks to a promotional campaign KFC did in the 1970s. 

After reading D&A Anime Blog’s post about anime Christmas Specials, I decided I wanted to do more myself. So I went online and found a Christmas episode for an anime I’ve been meaning to watch, Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid.

Here’s the synopsis first. This office worker named Kobayashi rescues this dragon from another dimension named Tohru, causing Tohru to fall in love with her. She (Tohru) then reveals she can turn into a human and starts living with Kobayashi as her maid. Then she gets joined by Tohru’s friend, Kanna, who is probably the winner for cutest anime character in 2017. It’s a cute slice-of-life anime, and the dub by Funimation is fairly good. If you like anime that are more laid-back and not as heavy on the action, I’d recommend it. Now onto the episode!

When one of Tohru’s friends from the town mall injures himself practicing for their annual Christmas Eve show at the local retirement home, she volunteers to put it on. So she gathers her friends, which include other dragons living on Earth, a young mage named Shouta, and Kanna’s classmate Saikawa who has a massive crush on her (as you can see in the above video at 1:50).

After trying to think up a bunch of ideas, they settle on a play of The Little Matchgirl. They try getting Shouta to dress as the matchgirl, but he’s too embarrassed. So they settle for Kanna, who is already cute enough (again as seen in the video)

We also get this cute little subplot during this whole thing. When Kanna gets worried they won’t be visited by Santa because they don’t have a chimney, Tohru…installs one for their apartment, right into Kanna’s room. That makes it hard for Kobayashi to give her her present without being caught. The struggle of every adult, I guess.

So Christmas Eve comes, and the play is performed, but it’s not the same as the story. The group ended taking some creative liberties with the story. The next thing I know, Shouta shows up as an old man selling straw hats (have to find out what story that’s from) and they turn into Magical Girls fighting alongside the 47 Ronin. That is literally what happens!

Fortunately, the elders love it, which is the whole point of the thing, so the play is a huge success. They then all head back to Kobayashi’s house for a Christmas Party, and the episode ends with Kobayashi and Tohru going for a ride in the night sky for Christmas. Well, the whole “Santa” thing happens after that, but that’s not the point. 

Overall, this was a nice Christmas episode. Like I said, Christmas isn’t as big a deal in Japan as it is to America, so there are not many anime Christmas specials. I loved this one, though, hilarity and all. Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid is a fun little slice of life.

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I think that by now, you guys will have noticed a trend behind my choices: several have been from Nickelodeon. That’s what I mainly watched in the first half of my childhood. I didn’t discover Cartoon Network until after I was ten, and I didn’t get into Disney Channel until a year or so later. So, I have a fondness for Nicktoons. That’s not what I’m here to write about. I’m writing about Holidays Specials I’ve watched every day, and I picked an old Nickelodeon one, Holly Jolly Jimmy from The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius.

Jimmy Doesn’t Believe in Santa

The premise behind the special is simple: it’s Christmastime in the town of Retroville, and everyone is getting into the spirit of the Holiday. Everyone, that is, except for Jimmy Neutron. As a boy of science, Jimmy refuses to believe in the idea of Santa Claus, as most of his abilities defy science. When he openly says so in class, it makes his best friend Carl run out crying.

The trope of “the kid who doesn’t believe in Santa” is not a new concept, but I can’t remember where I first saw it. Plenty of kids will go through a point in their childhood when they doubt in the existence of Santa. Almost every special that deals with this trope end up reaffirming the belief in some way. Personally, I don’t care if Santa is real or not. Historically, he was, but that’s a whole other ball game.

At any rate, Jimmy and his friends, Carl and Sheen, go to the North Pole to prove whether Santa is real or not. Despite all evidence saying so, Jimmy refuses to admit the truth out of pride. Then his DNA tracker accidentally “breaks Santa”.

So, now we have a “saving Christmas” story as well. The three decide to deliver all the presents, but fail and end up being rescued by Santa himself, finally affirming Jimmy’s belief in him. Then, in typical Santa fashion, he manages to save Christmas and deliver the boys and all the presents back home.

Simple Premise

Like I said, the ideas in this episode are not new, and while much of the special stands out as particularly memorable. Still, I did like Jimmy Neutron as a kid, and it was fun to see the main character grapple with an idea that went against everything he stands for and ends up accepting it.  I liked it enough, and it was a good reminder of one of my favorite memories: the Merry Nickmas theme Nickelodeon did in the early 2000s. 

Well, that’s about it for tonight. Gotta blast!

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Yesterday, my friends at D&A Anime Blog posted the following: 5 Anime Christmas Specials That Will Get You In The Holiday Spirit! Good post, but it forgot one big anime Christmas Special. When I brought it up, they said the following:

I knew there was one we had missed!

Seeing as how I was planning on doing it already, I got you guys covered. Here’s the one they miss: Fairies’ Christmas from the anime Fairy Tail.

I am a big fan of Fairy Tail, and in my experience, people have two opinions on it: they either like it or hate its guts. Funimation managed to get a lot of talented voice actors to play roles on the show, many of whom fans may recognize for their roles in other anime.

It’s more than the casting, though: it’s the series sense of humor. Fairy Tail can go from being serious to incredibly silly in just a few scenes. It may cram the “power of friendship” down your throat at times, but it has its fair share of moments that are genuinely heart-warming. 

Alright, I am done defending myself. I like the show, and if anyone has a problem with that, I don’t care. On to the special!

Fairies’ Christmas

Wait. I should mention that to mention that this special is going to be a bit… PG-13 and up. If you know Fairy Tail, then you know why.

It’s Christmastime in the city of Magnolia, and everyone is in the process of getting ready for the holidays. The first half of the OVA is of the guild helping set up Christmas Decorations, but that’s not really important. The real fun starts at Lucy’s apartment when Erza invites herself and a bunch of others over for a Christmas Party. Everything is going fine… until the girls start drinking alcohol. No, I don’t know what the age limit is in their world, but it’s probably 18. There’s a bigger concern.

Never give Erza Scarlet alcohol of any kind. She’s scary enough as it is, but when she’s drunk, RUN. Pretty soon all the girls are drunk, though.

It gets worse. Hiro Mashima, Fairy Tail’s creator, likes teasing fans with shipping couples, so most of the girls (minus Wendy, because she’s a kid) start flirting with their respective ships. Then Erza gets jealous and forces everyone to play The Guild Master Game: they draw sticks, and whoever gets the one with the crown on gets to make everyone else do whatever they say.

Drunken Antics

It sounds fun and innocent, but it quickly gets out of control and Erza’s the only one having fun, since she’s still drunk. They finally end her reign of terror, and I’m not going to say what happens because I don’t want to spoil how. All you need to know is that she leaves the party, still drunk, and then runs into her childhood friend/possible boyfriend (stop teasing us, Mashima.), Jellal

This is where those heartwarming moments come into play. Erza quickly realizes the state she’s in and gets embarrassed. Jellal figures out what was going, and Erza admits that she got out of control because she was jealous of her friends. Jellal just offers her his coat and helps walk her to her home amidst the snow. 

It’s the kind of tender moment that I’ve come to expect from Fairy Tail, and it’s one of the reasons why I fell in love with the series in the first place. For an anime fan, I normally don’t find a lot of anime Christmas Specials because Christmas is not as big in Japan. People there celebrate it, but less for the religious aspect and more for spending time with loved ones. With that in mind, this was a really nice Christmas Special. I liked it, and I know that there are others out there who liked it. Speaking of which, if you want to watch it for yourself, here’s the OVA;

Other Anime Christmas Material

If you want to read D&A Anime Blog’s post, click here. And since tonight was the series finale for Hellsing Ultimate Abridged, here’s a quick Christmas Special they did:

See you tomorrow guys!

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Growing up, A Charlie Brown Christmas had always been a staple of Christmastime, as it was with many kids in America. This special, alongside It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, is what introduced me to the Peanuts. I actually went through a phase in my childhood where I read, watched, and played anything related to the Peanuts. But I think I like their Christmas Specials the most out of all of them. There are, in fact, more than one, like Charlie Brown’s Christmas Tales.

I actually missed most of this year’s broadcast of A Charlie Brown Christmas, but I was able to watch the follow up, Charlie Brown’s Christmas Tales. It’s not as classic as the first Peanuts Christmas Special, being released in 2002, but it’s still a fun little special to watch. 

There is no overarching plot to the special: it’s just the kids and animals preparing for Christmas. But I think this actually works to its advantage. It hearkens back to the comic strip from which Peanuts was born. It’s Peanuts at its simplest, but also it’s most entertaining.

Peanuts Are the Best

I will always like Peanuts, and I hope that they manage to stick around for a long, long time. This is a brief blog, but that is because I don’t think I can say anything that hasn’t already been said about the Peanuts. I like Charlie Brown, and no matter how many times I may see his specials, I will always want to watch them once more when the holidays come around. They are timeless classics and staples of the American Holiday Season.

I hope that Charlie Brown and his friends stay popular well into the future, as they help to tie generations of people together through a common interest. And if The Peanuts Movie proved anything, its that the gang still has some stories left to spare. Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown!

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Now I know what you’re thinking: this is not a Christmas Special, it’s DragonBall Z. Normally, that would be correct, but this is DragonBall Z Abridged, a popular, fan-based parody done by a group of fans in Texas. Known as Team Four Star, they do a hilarious re-dub of the original DBZ, keeping the story intact. The characters and even some of the events, though, are greatly changed. Goku’s even dumber, Krillin has his own “own’d counter”, and Vegeta’s ego is bigger than ever. Oh, and Nappa comes back as a ghost.

DBZ Abridged Is Awesome

Fans love DBZ Abridged, and even the cast of the official dub like the show. They even managed to sneak themselves onto the Abridged series in guest roles. The cast has even been invited to provide voices for official DBZ games, plus this.

But then they couldn’t air it, because of legal reasons. And some companies don’t understand the concept of “fan-based” parody.

So, they retooled the movie The Tree of Might into a Christmas Special. Here, you can watch it for yourself, and then come back afterwards. One more thing: they have these captions called “English “Canada”” which are way funnier than normal captions. Turn them on:

I really liked how they made Shenron incredibly frustrated with the Z-Warriors. Not only with the fact that they’re the only ones who usually summon him, and the ridiculous wish. And that song: “Yamcha The Scar-Faced Bandit” is so hilarious. A running gag is that they always make fun of Yamcha for how weak he is. He doesn’t deserve it, though. At any rate, here’s part two:

A Team Four Star Christmas

That wasn’t a traditional Christmas Special, but I like it because I think it shows just how creative people can be with abridged series. All it takes is the use of old clips and new voice acting and Team Four Star was able to make this fun re-imagining of a DBZ film. 

The jokes were pretty spot-on, too. Remember Icarus, that little dragon that is sometimes Gohan’s pet? Team Four Star hates him apparently, as they keep killing him in the films he’s in. Same with Maron. 

This was made early in the series’ run, and in hindsight, it shows how imaginative TeamFourStar is able to get with such a beloved anime. Now, they have connections to FUNimation, Screwattack, and RoosterTeeth, among others things. They even got Kyle Herbert to play Santa. How awesome is that?

Yeah, this wasn’t a regular Christmas special, but I liked it nonetheless. TeamFourStar, I hope you guys keep making amazing stories! Merry Christmas, everyone!

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