10 Coziest Japanese Anime to Get You In the Christmas Spirit

It's time to put on your favorite reindeer sweater – Christmas and New Year's are just around the corner. And if you're not in the holiday spirit at all, these ten titles will help you find it.

1. Winter Sonata, 2009

The story starts when young Kang Joon-sang decides to move to a new city where he wants to study at a prestigious university. The boy’s father died many years ago and his relationship with his own mother is bad, so it comes as no surprise that Kang prefers to spend all his free time with books.

But everything in his life changes when he meets You-jin. However, soon the couple has to separate, tragically and for a long time. Will they be able to put everything back together again?

2. Santa Company, 2014

Santa's company is abuzz with pre-Christmas activity. A girl named Noel is participating in the Christmas preparations for the first time, and her duties are strictly scheduled. However, when she learns of a late letter with a wish that will not be granted, the intern decides to break the rules.

She encourages her young colleagues to help her deliver the gift to the address. The friends harness Rudolph III to the sleigh and set off, but on the way, Noel accidentally falls out of the sleigh and finds herself alone in a wild, snowy forest.

3. 5 Centimeters per Second, 2007

The boy Takaki met the girl Akari when he went to school in Tokyo. Because their families often moved to different cities, the two had to replace real communication with online chatting. With each move, the distance between them becomes greater and greater, and one day Takaki decides to go to the city where Akari lives before her next departure.

He calculated all the necessary transfers and gave the exact time of arrival, and the girl promised to wait for him at the station. However, on the day of departure, the weather suddenly worsens and a snowstorm begins. The trains run slowly and make long stops at the stations, so Takaki cannot make it in time.

4. Tokyo Godfathers, 2003

On Christmas Eve, three homeless people find an abandoned child in a garbage dump. Inside the crib is a key to a storage room containing a bag of items. Among them are business cards from a nightclub and a photograph of a married couple in front of skyscrapers. The homeless people are supposed to take the child to the police, but they do not want the girl to grow up in an orphanage. Hana, Gin and Miyuki decide to find the baby's parents.

Director Satoshi Kon managed to create only four full-length anime in his life: Tokyo Godfathers, Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress, and Paprika. All of them became true masterpieces of Japanese animation.

5. Itsudatte My Santa!, 2005

A guy named Santa hates Christmas because he has spent it alone since childhood. On top of that, he was born on December 24th and was forced to spend the holiday with a cake that was too big for the little lonely Santa. Now he has grown up and is used to pretending the holiday does not exist, but this year everything changes.

At the mall, Santa is approached by a girl who also calls herself Santa and promises to give her friend an unforgettable Christmas. He tries his best to get rid of the crazy girl, but she continues to gush with happiness and does not take a step back.

6. Tokyo Marble Chocolate, 2007

Chizuru is unlucky in love, as she always does something wrong: once she accidentally hit her boyfriend's mother, another boy ran away without explanation, and then she got drunk on a date. She has been dating Yuudai for a long time, but he remains distant and does not even try to confess his love, as if they were not a couple at all.

Fearing another failure, Chizuru decides to give him the best date of his life and then break up with him. But right from the start everything goes wrong: Yuudai arrives at the meeting with a big box, which starts a series of completely ridiculous accidents.

7. The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, 2010

High school student Kyon feels miserable in the winter, so he is not at all happy that his classmate Haruhi Suzumiya is planning a secret Christmas party. The girl has planned everything down to the last detail and has her friends busy with errands.

But the next day, Kyon suddenly discovers that not only has Haruhi failed to show up for class, but no one can remember her name. Fortunately, Kyon has extensive experience in solving unexplained phenomena, and he is not easily put off.

8. Kanon, 2006

As a child, Yuichi often stayed with his aunt in another city. However, something happened that forced Yuichi to stay away from his relatives for seven years, and he cannot remember exactly what happened. Finally, Yuichi returns and moves into his aunt's house.

Yuichi goes to school and meets several girls, all of whom seem vaguely familiar to him. As he communicates more and more with them, Yuichi gradually begins to remember the events of seven years ago, and all of this happens on the eve of Christmas.

9. Amagami SS, 2010

Modest and shy, Junichi does not want to celebrate the holiday alone. He doesn't like Christmas anyway: he has unpleasant memories of his first love. This year, however, Junichi easily starts relationships with six girls from school at once. He will have to choose only one girl and confess his feelings.

The series is presented in six arcs of four episodes each, showing what Junichi's life would be like if he started dating another girl.

10. Chocotto Sister, 2006

Haruma is the only child in his family. Once upon a time, during the Christmas holidays, his mother had a miscarriage – the unborn child was supposed to be Haruma's sister. That night, a little boy asked Santa to bring him sister.

Time passed, and the boy had already forgotten his wish. But Christmas miracles exist. Somehow a little sister just appears at his house. Haruma is at a loss because he doesn't know how to handle and raise little children.