Sanda

Itagaki (Beastars) delivers a gleeful and outlandish fantasy in which Christmas spirit translates into fighting power. In a near-future Japan where low birthrates have made children a precious resource and climate change means the younger generation has never seen snow, cherub-faced Sanda seems like an ordinary teenager. But his classmate Shiori, a feral-looking girl with a violent streak, susses out his secret: Sanda is descended from Santa Claus, and under the right circumstances he transforms into an elderly but muscle-bound Saint Nick. Shiori believes the legendary guardian of children can help her find her missing friend Ono, but first she and Sanda must learn the extent of his powers, which range from flame-retardant skin ("I guess that's a chimney thing") to sleigh runners that pop out of his feet. Itaragi is fully aware of the absurdity of her premise and pushes it to ever greater extremes, dropping in bizarre details along the way (the kids' boarding school is located in an abandoned department store, and their principal stays artificially young by "injecting near-fatal doses of hyaluronic acid and collagen"). The characters' lanky figures and intense, deeply shadowed eyes give the book a gothic Nightmare Before Christmas vibe. Readers who love shonen action manga but tire of predictable formulas will be thrilled to find this in their stockings. (Sept.)