Here’s a Short list of 6 Shoujo classics whose manga or anime adaptations feature Christmas or New Year’s chapters or episodes.
1) Sailor Moon Short Stories, Vol. 2 The Lover Of Princess Kaguya
In The Lover Of Princess Kaguya, Usagi’s faithful cat, Luna, falls in love with a daydreaming scientist just in time for Christmas. He is sickly, so although he is a brilliant scientist, his condition does not allow him to go to Space. Usagi can grant Luna’s wish to be human momentarily with the power of the Holy Grail and Silver Crystal. The scientist thinks of Luna as Princess Kaguya from the popular Japanese folktale. This short story is the premise for the Sailor Moon S Movie Hearts In Ice.
2) Fruits Basket Chapter 11, Episode 8 Of 2019 Remake
In this heartfelt New Year-themed chapter of the manga, Yuki and Kyo defy Akito and the family by rushing home to be with Tohru. Earlier in the manga chapter/episode, Tohru swore she would be fine all alone for the holiday, but the boys realized how untrue that was. The trio is together just in time to see the year’s first sunrise. This episode is one of the instances where I love the anime’s embellishments to the story. The flashbacks each of the boys have of Tohru as they race home is not in the original manga chapter. This event was also covered in episode 9 of the original 2001 anime.
3) Hana Kimi, Chapter 62
In Chapter 62 of my favorite gender bender Hana Kimi, Ashiya is excited! It is the night of the Christmas Ball with the all girl’s school, and Ashiya finally has a chance to dress as a girl. She happily awaits her opportunity to dance with Sano when a rival sabotages her dress with grape juice! Fortunately, two of her female friends can make the dress even cuter on the fly, and Sana and Ashiya get their dance. Bonus, Sano’s birthday is the following day, and Ashiya gives him his gift early.
4) Gakuen Alice Chapter 48-50
In Gakuen Alice, throughout chapters 48-50, the children attend a Christmas Ball. Mikan is all excited over the fact that she got to dance with Ruka, and he even kissed her on the cheek. When she dances with Natsume, they argue as usual. When Mikan and Natsume fall, they have an awkward accidental kiss which Mikan denies ever happened. When Mikan climbs atop the Christmas tree to look for someone, she finds Natsume there, and they bicker again. This time, he kisses her for real, saying a kiss is nothing to get excited about. I always felt these chapters were so cute, humorous, and sweet.
5) Skip Beat! Chapter 120
In the long-running series Skip Beat! The protagonist Kyoko celebrates her birthday on Christmas day. She receives two very special gifts. One from Ren, a large and beautiful rose, and the other from Moko, her partner in the Love Me department.
Kyoko’s reaction to these gifts always takes the cake for me. She is beyond grateful.
6) Shugo Chara! Season 1 Episode 12/Season 2 Episode 64
When It comes to the Shugo Chara series, the anime had a huge (often bad) tendency to mix up the manga chapters and anime episodes by providing half-filler and half-canon-filled episodes. On the plus side, this led to two holiday-centric episodes of the anime. Episode 12 was titled “A Sad Christmas Eve where Ikuto and Amu meet by chance in the park after Amu goes Christmas shopping. Later, there is a big Christmas party at the school for the guardians. This party did not occur in the manga. Other events featured in the episode happened in chapter 8 of the manga.
Episode 64 covers a New Year’s visit to the local shrine with Amu and the rest of her friends. In a short story featured in the manga, Amu goes to the shrine alone to wish for luck in love. That is likely what inspired the shrine visit in this episode. When Amu finds Ikuto in her room later in the same episode, it correlates to chapter 27 of the manga. To give you an idea of the number of fillers in Shugo Chara! The manga had 48 chapters, followed by a 4-chapter sequel. The anime had over 100 episodes.
