Sanda is, in a pair of words, exceptionally interesting. It plays across an extremely wide tonal range very effectively (just as Beastars does, and perhaps even more so). Itagaki Paru (the English Teacher, ROFL) trades in some very deep and interesting ideas here. It took a while to fully close the circuit for me but once it did, it pretty much had me hooked. This is one of the surprises of the season but it really shouldn’t have been, given the pedigree of the author. In effect, it’s this season’s Dekin no Mogura.
From my angle, there are two themes that stand out here. One, the way 14 year-olds (more or less) are perched on the precarious ledge between child and adult, and how baffling and terrifying and exhilarating that is. And second, the way society fetishizes childhood and does both itself and its children a disservice in the process. Both get plenty of run every episode, though it’s the former that’s most central to this ep. All this would be tough enough on Sanda even without the added complication of having a mythical figure occupying his body and psyche.
Sanda has feelings for both Fuyumura and Nico, clearly. Fuyumura saves his ass – and thumbs – with her grand entrance to Class 2-10, there’s no disputing that. This makes her look incredibly cool in his eyes but what’s more, she says “that’s what friends do” – which makes it pretty clear that her utilitarian interest in Sanda-kun has evolved into something more. But Sanda also recognizes that as in addition to a horny 14 year-old he’s also a fully-grown man, there are major moral (and legal) problems with his being attracted to her.
Fuyumura is not exactly pushing that issue hard at this point. But Nico is another matter. Sanda is already inclined to want to grant a child’s wish to strengthen his heart after being unable to grant Namatame’s, but he’s really asking for it by asking Nico what her’s is. Because what she wants is a kiss on the lips. Sanda would normally be amenable – if terrified – about that, but he recognizes the complicating issues he’s dealing with. When their foreplay causes a nosebleed that drips on his shirt he’s got even bigger and more immediate problems though. His solution is awkward but effective enough in the moment, and he begs off with a stomachache and flees.
Yagyuuda is a pretty funny guy. He tells Sanda that if Santa falls for a child he dies instantly (which seems like a fail-safe of sorts). Yagyuuda of course is supposed to bring Santa back alive, but he’s obviously invested in Sanda as a person too. When Sanda says he’s-a kiss Nico anyway because “that’s how 14 year-old boys are”, Yagyuuda can’t deny that he’s right. He even intervenes to bring a halt to the latest of a string of interruptions, this time from a teacher, by telling her the English teacher “Itagaki-sensei” (played by Itagaki-sensei, naturally) asked to speak with her. Nico bails and winds up kissing Sanda on the cheek, and this at least isn’t enough to kill him so for now, that crisis is averted.
Oono-san’s crisis, however, is just beginning. Her sleep-induced puberty seems to have kicked in at warp speed, and that makes Fuyumura acutely aware that Oono is very far away from her, now. And she intended to make that literally true, telling Fuyumura she plans to leave the school soon. We know she’s having some sort of weird physical reaction – maybe that was just accelerated puberty, or maybe not. But given that she looks like an adult now and seems likely to be at the upcoming “Peak of Youth” ceremony, the threats to her physical well-being are even more immediate.
The mere idea of this ceremony – celebrating when kids turn 15 as that’s when they’re “at the peak of their youth and beauty” – epitomizes the snowglobe effect at the heart of major theme #2. But Ooshibu is sending Namatame into that event with the imperative of killing Santa and an arsenal designed to make it happen. Namatame is truly a psychopath – she’s happy to take this assignment and overperform it to the tune of killing any adult she sees. Starting with Ooshibu of course, though he’s just about as unkillable as Santa at this point. Namatame seems to be what happens when you take an already unhinged child and stick them in the middle of utterly deranged social contract of Sanda.
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