Reviews

"Always My Santa!" is an odd duck of an Anime if there ever was one, thats for sure. Starting with the story then. In some respects, its a standard romance and is handled well by Akamatsu-sensei, as usual. There are some odd elements to the story as well though, the magic and Santa Claus and how that all works together. In that respect, it feels like the audience is only witnessing a small piece of a larger story. That being said, however, it doesn't complete mar the experience, one just feels as though these are just two episodes of a larger series - and they are not. Further enhancing this sensation is the shear speed at which the plot seems to move - seems like the whole mess is on fast-forward. Overall, it feels like these two OVA episodes are a condensation of a long manga or somesuch. There are some comedic touches at play here, typical for Akamatsu-sensei, and mostly the comedy works well, for what there is. However, the primary showcase here is the romance drama - and there is it. Because of the show's frantic pacing, or perhaps despite it, there is a great deal of monologue-ing going on. While this does heighten the tensity of the drama, I do feel that it detracts from the feature in way. That is, long sequences of a character chattering to herself are not exactly exciting. I can't help but think that if the OVA was a little longer, the characters could gab to themselves less and the feature whould be enlivened somehow. The magic and transformation sequences, while the source of comedy and nudity, seem a little out of place at times. In the large part, this OVA shades on the more dramatic and serious side so the magic and, especially, the transformation sequence seem to not really match the whole (admitted entertainment value notwithstanding). The art is standard Akamatsu fare here, and looks good for all that - clean and nice. The characters look good, if not familiar in some respects. I think the art style here is closer to Negima than Love Hina, if I may say so. The music is an interesting element in this OVA, as well. Nice, if slightly bland, pop tunes and light instrumental themes that work well but don't quite function in the OVA itself. One gets the impression that the soundtrack whould be nice to own and listen to in isolation from the OVA, but it doesn't quite work in the animation. It always seems like the music is being talked over or otherwise not meshing properly. So while the music itself is pretty good, putting it in the OVA how it was is a small misstep. The characters are very standard, in large part - nothing too unusual or unexpected, actually. This is both good and bad. As an admitted fan of Akamatsu-sensei, the character designs are enjoyable to me, others may find them to be a retread though (as they are to some extent). Thankfully, no characters stand out as particularly irritating. This is an enjoyable OVA in spite of its flaws. Its unfortunate that there isn't more of it.