It's a nice romantic comedy with a dash of naughty thrown in for good measure.
"My Santa" is a 2-episode series, so this disc is all that there is. The first episode tells of Santa and Mai's first meeting and her struggles to brighten his spirits and make him love Christmas again. The second episode deals with the aftermath of the events from the first. It is the following Christmas, and Mai and Santa are faced with a crisis! New characters appear to cause much chaos and confusion. There is a preview for a fictional episode three that looks like it would be the best episode ever if they actually produced it, but that episode has not been animated. It's a shame. Giant mecha reindeer sound awesome.
All in all, "My Santa" is a harmless and cute story, even with the eye-roll-inducing bits of fan service. It plays out a lot like your average guy-gets-magical-girlfriend type of story that is so popular in anime, but the addition of the Christmas theme sets this series apart and gives it some much-needed heart.
Video:
"My Santa" comes in 16:9 anamorphic widescreen. The colors are sharp and bright, the darks are solid, however I did notice a lot of shimmering lines and some jagged edges, especially during fast movements and around character mouths. However, this is a minor distraction.
Audio:
FUNimation gives us a very basic set of audio tracks here. There is a 2.0 stereo English track and a 2.0 Japanese stereo track. These 2 episodes are short, but contain a lot of action and special effects sounds. Both audio tracks do the job nicely. I watched these episodes in the original Japanese mainly because Mai's voice is provided by Aya Hirano, one of the most popular voice actresses in Japan right now. Her high-energy performance as Mai is great. She does an especially good job at switching between cute-Mai and Santa-Mai. Each version of Mai has a very different sound. Great stuff.
Extras:
As this is a one-shot release, there are no bonus materials on this disc. This is somewhat disappointing, but not exactly surprising. There are several trailers for other FUNimation titles.
--Miscellaneous--
This DVD comes in a clear DVD case with a reversible cover. The reverse image is a cute shot of the female cast in their holiday costumes.
Film Value:
"My Santa" is a cheerful, fluffy, story that is worth a watch. It is not the greatest piece of animation ever made, but it is cute and entertaining. If you are having a Christmas-themed anime-watching party, this would be a great choice, given the scarcity of Christmas anime! The girls are cute, the comedy is funny, and the message is sincere.
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[release]22739[/release]