Once again, Fuyumura comes to Sanda/Santa’s rescue, but this only breaks the initial deadlock between him and Namatame. For round two, Sanda/Santa decides to confront Namatame as his kid self. Why the change in tactic? Well, his logic is simple: if Santa can’t fight back against a child, then surely a kid can. We get this discussion between the main characters about how kids can be violent to each other, but when adults do it, it’s called abuse. I dunno, man. I don’t think you can say that when every other anime features schoolyard bullying in some form or fashion. Sounds to me like kids can be pretty abusive too.

Y’know, I honestly never expected Niko to like Sanda. They were arranged to be married by the state, so I guess I assumed she didn’t have a choice in the matter. Maybe she did, maybe she didn’t. It’s also possible she just fell for him overtime. But why? And when? It’s not like they’ve spent a lot of time onscreen together. Has she liked him from before the events of the story? Or is it because he’s a little more attractive now that he’s tapped into his Santa alter ego? Or maybe this is just something I’ll never understand, because I’m not a big proponent of arranged marriages to begin with. Ultimately, I suppose I underestimated Sanda. In fact, he likes the kiss so much that he goes back in for seconds. Hell, he practically tries to suck her face off. What better way to celebrate the “peak of youth” ceremony, huh?

As soon as the episode starts, we see the director giving Santa tough love by breaking one of his fingers, and telling him how he’ll die if he continues to hesitate against foes like Class 10’s Namatame. Basically, if he wants to grow up and become an adult, he’s going to have to be able to make tough decisions like… uh, punching and kicking women and children. Wait, I feel like we’ve taken a wrong turn somewhere. Look, the point is that he can’t hesitate in the midst of battle! Yeah, that’s right! Well, her advice makes perfect sense in a shounen battle anime, but what are we? Are we in a battle anime? Is it Santa’s destiny to save the world through direct combat? I sure hope not. Luckily, the next story beat allays my fears a little.

When we last left off, Santa was trapped in a room full of the infamous Class 10 students, i.e. naughty children who have all committed murder. A few of them might as well be serial killers. Unfortunately, this Santa — not our Santa who isn’t quite so debilitated by his transition to anime — must always grant a child’s wish regardless of their nice-or-naughty status, so our hero was about to lose both his thumbs to a little girl. Luckily, Fuyumura arrives just in the nick of time — get it, ’cause he’s St. Nick! — to spare us any yakuza-like dismemberment of digits. Fuyumura’s excuse for blowing up the door is that everyone needs to tie their shoe laces. Um, right. Why do we need an excuse in the first place? I mean, I guess it doesn’t hurt to have one, but does it even help? Maybe Class 10 won’t go after her now because they’re stupid enough to believe her excuse? Shrug, I’m just spitballing.

First things first, Amaya tries to distance himself from Sanda, and his reasoning makes perfect sense. Sanda is always hanging out with Amaya and Fuyumura, the two people who have crossed Oshibu. So like I’ve said before, anyone with a brain cell or two would come to suspect Sanda. The fact that Oshibu hasn’t gone after Sanda is a bit strange. Maybe the headmaster is just one of those “hot” guys with no brains. Well, Sanda/Santa isn’t going let Amaya ditch their friendship without a fight. I wouldn’t expect anything else from our anime protagonist. Still, I do have to wonder why he thinks he can’t “do this” without Amaya? What exactly has Amaya brought to the table in recent episodes? To be honest, not much. At least Fuyumura can make bombs. Anyway, this little detour with Amaya feels kinda pointless. Santa quickly convinces Amaya to take back his words, so we end up right back where we started. All we’ve accomplished is wasting a third of this week’s episode. I don’t get it.