Sanda (2025) s01e03 Episode Script

Santa Claus, huh?
I went and became an adult
We're two sides of the same coin,
with you still a kid
I went and blurted out the words
I'll never be able to take them back
There's nothing righteous
about unrequited feelings,
so let things stay as is
In the gaps between the seasons
that whiz by,
I was crying,
and I bet I always will
You don't believe, do you?
In despair? Being moved?
Unable to take it anymore, the night
that had turned white now turns black
Nothing's going to change
ever again? I just don't know!
I've been clinging to this moment
no matter what,
and I pray that today
my wish will come true
DON'T STOP
I won't forget the adultish heart
I stole from you ever again
Because neither the me that grew up
nor you will ever change
It's okay
Because I still haven't forgotten
the adultish heart I stole
Because even though I've changed,
I'm still me
Regrets, hopes and prayers,
Children, me,
I don't understand any of it
You can believe in wishes coming true,
but who I am will never end
EPISODE 3:
CHARRED FRUIT TASTES ALL THE SWEETER
Izawa, you've got something in your hair.
I touched a girl's hair!
Sorry, sorry!
No, thanks for doing it.
Um, right
You're sweet, Sanda.
There it is again.
Lately, stuff around me keeps
Stuff keeps falling?
That's a new one.
Are you sure
it's not just you being jumpy?
Also, should we be discussing this
in the open like this?
It's noisy since it's break time.
We're fine as long as we don't shout.
It's a Santa power, I know it!
Hi, Abe, it's been a while!
How are you?
I-I'm fine. Bye!
S-Sorry about that. But I can sense it.
Day by day, the Santa powers
inside me are growing.
You two kids believe in Santa.
Just from that, it's like my body is
Be that as it may,
what use does Santa have for an ability
to knock stuff to the ground?
That's just it. I have no idea.
Maybe your body is so small
that the power is leaking out of it.
Small? Excuse me?
You aren't much bigger than me, Amaya!
I'm 161 centimeters! How about you?
I'm 170 centimeters tall.
Hey, maybe it's triggered by lying!
I'm actually 168!
I'm 182 centimeters.
If you're gonna fudge a number,
go big or don't bother!
Anyway, we need to clean up
this flower vase.
What's up with that, though?
I've never heard anything
about Santa hating lies or whatever.
And I've done a ton of reading
on Christmas practices.
Santa Claus
doesn't give presents to naughty children.
He would need some kind of ability
to tell the good kids from the bad.
If something fell over when he
is in the presence of a naughty child
they'd be startled awake by the noise,
and he'd leave then and there
to avoid being seen by them.
You're a descendant of Santa Claus, right?
Maybe the definition of "naughty child"
has become even more specific
and now means "liar."
Lies are an outward manifestation
of someone's wicked nature.
What do you think? How's my theory?
This is amazing, Sanda.
If you have the ability to detect lies as
a Santa power, that would be super useful.
Theory rejected!
Why is it rejected?
Because if that's true, then earlier
my pencil case falling to the floor
from Izawa's reaction
after I touched her hair means that
You're sweet, Sanda.
This weirdo touched my hair
without asking!
SANDA'S MENTAL IMAGE
That line about there being something
in it was a lie, I know it!
Don't tell such bald-faced lies
just because you want to touch the hair
of Lady Izawa, Cutest Girl in Class!
MIKU IZAWA
CUTEST GIRL IN CLASS
Wouldn't that mean
FULL-ON BOY MIDDLE SCHOOLER MODE
that Izawa
is actually grossed out by me?
ENGAGE
Just because I've turned into Santa
doesn't mean I've suddenly lost
all interest in girls!
I never wanted to be a human lie detector!
Hey, try lying to Sanda about something.
What? Don't put me on the spot like that.
Let's see
Don't! Don't do it!
Just drop the whole thing!
Forget it! It's just my imagination!
What's gotten into you?
Sanda, this is a golden opportunity!
We might be able to ID someone
who knows where Ono is!
S-Sorry!
Why, hello there, Fuyumura and Amaya.
I've been looking for you.
You're Sanda as I recall?
The wound on his face is gone.
I'm terribly sorry, might I borrow
your friends for a while?
In particular
there is a matter I would like to discuss
with Fuyumura in an unofficial capacity.
Sanda
There's something that
I've kept secret from you this whole time.
What? Wh-What is it?
I like you.
Ever since the day I first saw you.
Always.
Let's get out of here!
That settles it! This new power of yours
lets you detect lies!
And that one was such a whopper that
it destroyed the fluorescent lights, huh?
How big a hopeless loser am I?
We can use this! To learn where Ono is!
Let's hold a class meeting later
and try it out!
We might find Ono!
Ah well, no matter.
As long as we're on school grounds,
there is no shortage of opportunities
to see students.
EMERGENCY CLASS MEETING
It's been one month and one week
since Ono disappeared.
We'd like to open up the topic again
and question the class.
If someone has any information, no matter
how trivial, that might lead us to her
raise your hand.
Uh, isn't it kinda late for this?
We students are on the suspect list now?
Yeah, I guess that would
be the natural reaction.
Of course not, we just
Ono was kind of a weirdo, remember?
There weren't that many people
who talked to her much.
He's right. I guess
I didn't know her very well, either.
I bet she would've been super cute
without those glasses.
That's all you ever think about!
-She never set foot outside, remember?
-Should we all look for her together?
-No way, I'm too scared!
-I gotta pee so bad.
-Isn't Ono dead, though?
-She was weird.
-That's what the teachers said.
-Personally, I liked Ono.
Ono is dead.
JAPANESE FOR TENSHI
Who said that just now?
The books
They fell!
Come on, fess up.
Who said that?
Who said Ono is dead just now?
Sanda!
Sanda passed out! His eyes
are rolled back in his head!
Sanda!
Everybody's fussing over me.
Is that how you guys really feel?
You'd better watch out,
I'm descended from Santa Claus.
If you lie, something will fall over
and I'll know right away.
I'm a human lie detector.
This power sucks so bad!
You must've passed out
from paranoia overload.
Are you okay?
Don't you dare be nice to me!
That's just another lie, isn't it!
Do you have any idea for someone
to say something nice to you,
but then you wait to see
if something falls over?
You sound like a fragile 14-year-old.
Because I am a fragile 14-year-old!
Every clatter, every thud
They're the sounds of my heart breaking!
I can't take it!
They say that humans
tell 200 lies every day.
I'm gonna show you just how trivial
the lies that you're so afraid of are
in comparison to the rest.
Ono is dead.
I don't give a damn what happened to Ono.
She's just some girl
who went missing over a month ago.
Everybody knows she's long dead.
Even if she was abducted,
there's nothing we can do to save her.
Let's just forget about her.
Even if someone in our class is a suspect,
I
don't give a rat's ass!
Let's forget all about her
and get on with our lives!
Wow, your hands are like ice, Fuyumura!
If the next words from you are "But your
heart is warm," I'm gonna get mad.
Listen, I like you a lot.
Let's all act like she's dead!
Let's all agree
to erase her from our memory!
Cut it out, Fuyumura!
Sanda
I promise you this.
I'll never lie to you
unless I'm prepared to take it this far!
So, if you're Santa Claus
unless it's a lie that also hurts
the person who's telling it
you need to ignore every last one of them!
This is how
This is how I'm supposed to balance
my student life with being Santa Claus?
My heart can't take it!
-Hang on.
-Huh?
This hurts real bad.
Th-The doctor! Go see the school doctor!
The blood from your fist
turned me into Santa!
The doctor was sweating bullets.
Try to keep the crazy outbursts
to a minimum, okay?
It took four hours to patch me up.
DAIKOKU WELFARE ACADEMY
TRAUMA-FREE CURRICULUM
It's way past nightfall. Let's clean up
that glass and go back to our rooms.
Fuyumura
Do you think someone in our class had
something to do with Ono's disappearance?
At the very least
there's someone who thinks
that Ono is alive.
That's something we learned today.
You two are gonna keep helping me
to find out who.
When we find her, let's throw a party!
What?
O-Ono?
Is it really you?
Ono!
I'm going after her!
I'll be faster as Santa!
I have to catch her now while I can!
Fuyumura! Aren't you going after her?
What happened to you, Ono?
CHILDREN ARE TREASURES
In the end
we searched the school grounds for a while
after that, but we couldn't find her.
Drinks are on me.
After a weird night like tonight,
something warm and sweet
is called for.
It's almost like the three of us
are afraid to say the name "Ono."
Fuyumura in particular hasn't said a word.
Come on, say something.
Maybe what just happened hasn't sunk in.
Or maybe she's mad at me
for not being able to catch her?
Or is she in shock over finally finding
the friend she's been looking for,
only to have her run away?
Sanda, it's not going in your mouth!
What are you doing, Amaya?
You're the one with the drinking problem!
Don't spill any on me, too!
Man, this sucks!
Oh! Just count your blessings
that it wasn't tomato juice.
If your shirt had turned red,
you'd have turned back into Sand-pa.
S-Sand-pa?
Sanda and Sand-pa!
It's to tell you apart.
To hell with that!
Fuyumura, do you have a hanky
or something on you? I made a mess
You two are such goofs.
Hang on a second.
That was Ono that I saw back there, right?
That really was her, wasn't it?
I can hardly believe it.
Oh, right.
Ono was alive.
That was no ghost.
Why Ono ran away
What happened to her
Fuyumura's so happy over seeing Ono
that she doesn't care about anything else.
Why did she run, though?
Yeah, I'm curious about that, too.
She's still the same old oddball.
Hearing
a girl laughing can put me on edge.
Because it sometimes sounds
like they're crying.
So, I just sat there next to her
and listened closely.
What? A school funeral for Ono?
Right now?
Yeah. Apparently,
her family didn't hold one,
so the school is holding one for her.
All students are supposed to come
to the gym after school in formal dress.
Straight from Headmaster Oshibu.
Two days after we ran into Ono?
That can't be a coincidence.
They said everybody.
You'd better be there.
Sure, we'll be there.
This smells funny.
What's he planning?
All right, the ceremony will begin soon!
You children in the school band
are certainly dressed to the nines!
We have red suits
made for occasions like this.
Do you know
why people wear red to the funerals of
minors in the Tenshi era and not black?
No, sir. I just know that children and
adults both wore black a long time ago.
Because when a child dies, they should
be sent off in a festive manner.
In our ultra-declining birth rate
ultra-aging society,
when a valuable soul
is called to Heaven while still young,
although it may be painful
it can also be
a very precious thing indeed.
So, at a school funeral,
there is music and there is feasting.
Let us give her a send-off in grand style!
For her benefit, as well!
I'll go check on Fuyumura!
Thanks!
GYMNASIUM
I'm on recon.
I bet the adults will say or do something
that will give themselves away.
Why is it so decked out?
It's like a celebration or something.
I never noticed it
until after my Santa genes kicked in.
There is something very, very wrong
with this school.
In any case, I'm not gonna be attending.
If I put on my red mourning clothes,
my secret will be out then and there.
Sanda
What's that you're doing there?
Crap!
I'm gonna crash this funeral.
Literally.
Even if you have a knack for making bombs,
you won't be charged with anything
if you're a minor.
I love that I was born in this era.
Things might have gone badly.
Hey, lady!
Bombs are strictly forbidden!
How many of those do you have anyway?
You're gonna hurt
a lot of innocent student bystanders!
They're about to hold a funeral
for a student who's actually alive.
I have to stop it.
I can see your point.
I have asked you all to come here today
for a specific purpose.
It's because this is the perfect chance
for the St. Nick Pursuit Unit
to finally capture
our target, Santa Claus.
Dried holly leaves.
It would appear
that all of you are official members.
As far as the students know, you are
workers keeping an eye on the funeral.
That man suddenly appeared
after Ichie Ono's death.
So frequently
that it cannot be coincidence.
He is clearly involved
with her death somehow.
He will appear at today's funeral,
of that you can be certain.
Exercise all due caution
while looking for him.
Yes, sir!
SABURO YAGIUDA (51)
FORMER RED LEADER
Sure.
Mr. Yagiuda. I'm given to understand
that you are their greatest weapon.
Why are you standing in back?
I don't like it
when someone's standing behind me.
If Santa appearing was really this simple,
our job wouldn't be so hard. Besides
the whole "greatest weapon" thing
is just because I hurt Santa Claus pretty
badly when he turned up 20 years ago.
I've spent years hunting him,
and now I'm in my 50s.
I've got one foot in the door
of joining the ranks of the elderly
that this country is drowning in
and treats like garbage.
Being back in a school like this reminds
me of when I felt invincible as a kid.
Oops, better be careful.
I got sentimental there for a second.
I guess I'll kill some time with a smoke.
By the way, Sanda
you're staring.
You've got a bone to pick with me?
What? Why would you think that?
Students still get up to youthful antics
behind the gym?
Cut it out.
If you're not trying to start a fight,
it's rude to stare at someone.
What kind of moral compass is that?
Excuse me for making you
feel uncomfortable.
I'm getting some bittersweet vibes here.
Does he have a thing for the
dark-haired girl? Hang in there, kiddo.
I think
I want to remember.
How you sounded that night.
The way you laughed.
Compared to everything else
I saw that night
you laughing
was the biggest miracle by far.
Anyway, sorry.
Hearing me say that probably makes it
even harder for you to laugh.
Wow, the pair on this kid!
You fell for a girl who's a tough nut
to crack, huh? That's rough!
But
when the Santa Claus curse was broken,
I made up my mind.
Hang on, is he just gonna plow ahead
and profess his love for her?
Go for it, kiddo!
I get the feeling that a lot of hard times
are waiting for us.
But even so
But even so
Fuyumura, I'm gonna make you smile again.
I think that's why
I was born as Santa's descendant.
Sanda
So
to do that, I'll do
whatever you need me to do.
So, please.
Sanda
There's something I need to tell you, too.
I
S-Sanda!
That was so awesome!
As the years go by, I'm more and more
a sucker for this teen romance stuff!
Still
I heard what I heard.
I'm gonna hold back my tears
as I capture Santa.
I swear
having a job to do can be such a bitch.
When I'm feeling antsy,
full of muddled emotions,
I sometimes just stand there,
or sometimes I shout
at the top of my lungs
When I'm feeling indecisive,
full of emotions that ebb and flow,
the diary I grumble and complain to
is tucked away in a closed drawer
How's it gonna turn out?
Not knowing, I just cry
I bet that's how it is, right?
Out of desperation, a lie
Really, how's it gonna turn out?
I wish I could stay in my dreams
I wish I could stay,
could stay, could stay
When I'm feeling antsy,
full of muddled emotions,
I sometimes just stand there,
or sometimes I shout
at the top of my lungs
It's ironic that it's only once
you've grown up
that you realize
you can't stay a kid forever
There are even times
that I get depressed
thinking about these days
I find myself in,
but once they've passed me by,
will I look back and miss them?
How's it gonna turn out every day
I'm shouting every day