# Sanda (manga)

Sanda (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Paru Itagaki. It was serialized in Akita Shoten's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Champion from July 2021 to July 2024, with its chapters collected in 16 tankōbon volumes. An anime television series adaptation produced by Science Saru is set to premiere in Q4 2025.
The story takes place in the future, where the birth rate in Japan has been rapidly declining. The main character, Kazushige Sanda, is found to be the descendant of Santa Claus by his classmate, Shiori Fuyumura. Together, they attempt to find Fuyumura's missing classmate, Ono Ichie.

## Synopsis
### Setting

The story is set in Japan in 2080. Affected by the declining birth rate, Japan has implemented a series of control policies for minors, including arranging marriage partners from infancy, not allowing children to sleep to slow down development, and needing to use the toilet separately from adults. Young people's social status is also higher than adults. Santa Claus has been sealed for a long time because of the curse, which makes the society think that Santa Claus has disappeared, and regard Christmas as an ancient custom or fictional legend.

### Plot

On December 25, when it was snowing, middle school student Kazushige Sanda's body seal was broken by his classmate Shiori Fuyumura, making him look like Santa Claus. Later, Sanda discovers that he can change back into his middle school form by eating jellybeans, or change into Santa form by wearing red. The reason why Fuyumura lifted the seal was that she hoped that Sanda would help find her missing classmate Ono Ichie, and also hoped that he would remind the society of Christmas.

## Characters
### Kazushige Sanda (三田 一重, Sanda Kazushige)

    Voiced by: Ayumu Murase

### Santa Claus (サンタ クロース, Santa Kurōsu)

    Voiced by: Hiroki Tōchi

## Production

Before the release of Sanda, Paru Itagaki published a one-shot chapter, titled White Beard and Boobs (白ヒゲとボイン, Shirohige to Boin), in Nihon Bungeisha's seinen manga magazine Weekly Manga Goraku on September 7, 2018. The one-shot was about Santa Claus and a sex worker. Itakagi talked to her editor at Weekly Manga Goraku about wanting to make another series reusing the Santa Claus character but targeting it towards younger readers. Her editor agreed on the condition that she would first make a one-volume manga for the publisher, which ended up being Drip Drip (ボタボタ, Bota Bota), whose collected volume was released in April 2021; Sanda started three months later in Akita Shoten's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Champion on July 21.

## Media
### Manga

Sanda, written and illustrated by Paru Itagaki, was serialized in Akita Shoten's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Champion from July 21, 2021, to July 11, 2024. Akita Shoten has collected its chapters into individual tankōbon volumes. 16 volumes were released from December 8, 2021, to October 8, 2024.
In February 2025, Titan Comics announced that it had licensed the series for English publication, with the first volume set to release on September 2, 2025.

#### Volumes

| No. | Release date | ISBN |
| 1 | December 8, 2021 | 978-4-253-28101-0 |
| 2 | February 8, 2022 | 978-4-253-28102-7 |
| 3 | May 6, 2022 | 978-4-253-28103-4 |
| 4 | July 7, 2022 | 978-4-253-28104-1 |
| 5 | September 8, 2022 | 978-4-253-28105-8 |
| 6 | December 8, 2022 | 978-4-253-28106-5 |
| 7 | February 8, 2023 | 978-4-253-28107-2 |
| 8 | April 7, 2023 | 978-4-253-28108-9 |
| 9 | July 6, 2023 | 978-4-253-28109-6 |
| 10 | September 7, 2023 | 978-4-253-28110-2 |
| 11 | November 8, 2023 | 978-4-253-28111-9 |
| 12 | January 5, 2024 | 978-4-253-28112-6 |
| 13 | April 8, 2024 | 978-4-253-28113-3 |
| 14 | June 7, 2024 | 978-4-253-28114-0 |
| 15 | August 7, 2024 | 978-4-253-28115-7 |
| 16 | October 8, 2024 | 978-4-253-28116-4 |

### Anime

In July 2024, it was announced that the manga would receive an anime television series adaptation produced by Science Saru. The series will be directed by Tomohisa Shimoyama, with Kimiko Ueno supervising and writing the series scripts, and Masamichi Ishiyama serving as character designer and chief animation director. The music will be composed by Tomoyuki Tanaka. The series is set to premiere in Q4 2025.