12 Days of Christmas Anime, Day 6: Toradora’s “Holy Night” Is Anime’s Christmas Carol
I’m a Christmas music nut. I listen to holiday songs throughout the year and once Thanksgiving hits (I wait until then so I don’t wear myself and others around me out), it’s pretty much Christmas songs all the way through to the 25th. My favorites tend to be those that are carols or otherwise worshipful, like Silent Night or It Came Upon a Midnight Clear. While the world celebrates Christmas as being about family, peace, goodwill, and presents, these songs remind me that those blessings are often byproducts of the holiday’s true meaning, and more the result or glimmer of the Hope that came to bring us salvation that first Christmas Day.
Here at Beneath the Tangles, our little contribution to the Christmas season is this series of 12 Days of Christmas Anime posts. I won’t lie—it can sometimes be a challenge finding Jesus in episodes of anime that tend to focus on parties and romance (though a few series unexpectedly get it right). And Christmas songs in anime? Well, when old-time carols are used properly, they can indeed convey great meaning. But what of newer Christmas songs and, even more specifically, anime original ones?
Toradora, one of my favorite anime and a series that really helped convert me from normie into otaku through the depth of its story and the realism of its characters, actually features such an original Christmas song. It’s not a carol and it’s not in any way about Christ, but this romantic song is a fun addition to a series that balances laughs with heartache.The Toradora Christmas episode is really three episodes long. The main episode in that run (which we’ve focused on already on Day 3!) begins to push the story toward its conclusion by focusing on hurt feelings, mixed signals, and sad Christmas Eves. Amid the pain, Taiga and Ami give an unexpected performance at the class Christmas bash, featuring a song that I can only presume the two wrote themselves!
@mirroredmasquerader and I have just started watching Toradora! and we've grown up with Inuyasha, she just made this. We are so ready for the post anime depression!
There's ...... a LOT to cover. So I went with my Personal Faves, while still sticking to some basic rules: NO harems/reverse harems, not just "background" romance (there needs to be a focus of some kind on the relationship), and NO magic/sci-fi/supernatural/surrealism of any kind.
To be fair, I had to cut a LOT of "low-key" fantasy series:
Fruits Basket
Clannad
Kanon
ef: a tale of memories
Orange
Violet Evergarden
Snow White with the Red Hair
ALL magical girl series
I just wanted to include as much variety as I could, considering the limited amount of slots. Happy voting! ❤
Honorable Mentions that I considered placing in the poll, but ultimately decided to cut:
Your Lie in April (this one hurt to cut 😭 but romance plays a different sort of .... role in this series)
Say "I Love You"
Blue Spring Ride
Special A
The Pet Girl of Sakurasou
My Little Monster
Princess Jellyfish (this one also hurt to cut, but unless you read the manga, the romance seems mostly one-sided)
12 Days of Christmas Anime, Day 3: Toradora, Clannad, and My Love Story on the Anilujah Podcast!
For today’s post, we’ll actually be throwing it to another blog (and podcast…and videocast). I joined our friends, Josh and Rebecca of Anilujah, recently to talk Christmas anime! We chatted about Christmas episodes of Toradora, My Love Story, and Clannad, as well as other holiday stuff. I encourage you to watch the episode below!