It's December and December means Christmas! And Christmas means anime Christmas specials! 

To get every one ready for the festivities, we count down the twelve anime specials of Christmas.

1. Punchline

The end of the world is coming, and it’s going to happen right after Christmas!

The protagonist, Yuta, must travel back in time in order to prevent this fate. How many Christmas parties can one man endure?

2. Nichijou – Episode 22

In this very brief Helvetica Standard segment, Santa visits a young boy and offers him a delightful present… Delicious melon bread.

Unfortunately, the boy is less than impressed. A dramatic story in less than 3 minutes.

3. Azumanga – Episode 17

It’s almost Christmas, so the girls start getting ready… By talking about pandas, doing karaoke, watching the first snow and… dreaming about Chiyo’s cat dad being Santa?

4. Hetalia – Episode 31

The countries investigate how everyone celebrates Christmas, with some creepy results…

5. Lucky Star – Episode 11

In typical slice-of-life comedy anime fashion, the Lucky Star girls discuss assorted aspects of Christmas including whether Santa is real, the expiry date for the charm of Christmas Cake and, of course, wearing Christmas clothes.

It wouldn’t be Christmas in anime without a Santa dress!

6. K-On – Episode 07

The club hold a Christmas party at Yui’s house and exchange presents. Cute antics naturally ensue. Cue another Santa dress!

7. Persona 4: The Golden Animation – Episode 8

Yu invites all the girls to a party, but they think they’ve been asked on a date.

Things typically get messy, and emotions collide in a very… eventful Christmas Eve.

As a side note, Chie gets into the mood by watching martial arts movie featuring a kick boxing Santa.

8. Cardcaptor Sakura – Episode 35

When Sakura asks Yukito on a date to an amusement park on Christmas day, the romantic mood is burnt to a crisp (literally) when the Firey Card attacks.

The Firey Card may as well be called the Grinch Card after it burns up a Christmas wreath.

9. Yuru Yuri – Episode 7

In yet another slice-of-life comedy anime, we find a group of cute girls discussing Christmas, waiting for Santa, exchanging presents and pretending to be couples.

Will they find true love under the Christmas tree? Or maybe just a book they’ll never bother reading.

10. Sword Art Online – Episode 3

Spending your Christmas being wracked by guilt isn’t ideal, but that’s Kirito’s misfortune in this episode.

Reflecting on when he witnessed his friends getting killed in front of him, he tries to obtain an item that could revive them.

Unfortunately, the boss that possesses this item is Nicholas the Renegade… a monstrous Santa Claus.

11. Pet Girl of Sakurasou – Episode 14

Ahh, youth. What would a Christmas be without a bunch of young adults getting emotional and confessing their feelings to each other?

And while some characters spend a very merry Christmas with their loved one, others will find themselves out and alone in the cold.

12. The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya

In this movie, our protagonist Kyon finds himself in an alternate reality, where Haruhi is missing, everyone is a normal human and the SOS Brigade never existed.

But before this reality switching event, Haruhi was planning a Christmas party! Can Kyon return to his reality and… save Christmas?

Have a nice Christmas!

(source:madman)