Back in 1998 the creator of Negima and Love Hina, Ken Akamatsu, made a single OVA known as Itsudatte My Santa!. For another seven years the manga sat waiting for some further attention and in 2005 TNK produced two episodes for an OVA release. In December 2007 FUNimation released My Santa! on DVD here in the States and thankfully it lost nothing in translation.

If you're a fan of Akamatsu's work then you'll instantly recognize this OVA as one of his thanks to the character designs. Upon further inspection you'll also notice that the method of storytelling is much the same with a lot of familiar jokes and fan service elements that encompass a great majority of his projects. That's not necessarily a bad thing and it can offer a great introduction to his series but if you're coming from Love Hina you'll undoubtedly feel a sense of déjà vu with much of what's going on here.

Thankfully the story is fairly original even if it's not very engrossing. Basically there is a boy whose name is Santa and the kid also happened to be born on Christmas Eve. Put yourself in his shoes and I'm sure you'd grow up hating Christmas as well. I mean, it would be like your parents naming you Pumpkin on Halloween or Valentine on Valentine's Day. At any rate Santa soon finds himself in the midst of a harem comedy as girls continue to surround him at every turn.

Things for Santa are just about to go from bad to worse. Well, that is considering he hates Christmas and all. You see, a girl from the Santa Claus Academy (SCA) is coming to town and Santa's life will never be the same.

Mai is said student from SCA and let's just say that her magic abilities leave something to be desired in the Christmas world. She has limited abilities to be sure but even so she's charged with the mission of cheering Santa up during the Christmas season. In good Akamatsu form Mai eventually falls in love with Santa and through those feelings finds her Christmas magic. Joining the student are her best friend Sharry, sister MaiMai, and teacher Noel.

The first episode of this OVA deals entirely with the Christmas season and Mai's original mission. The girls come into play and muck up Santa's life (for the better of course) in an effort to restore his Christmas spirit. If you're familiar with most any Holiday story of the like then this one won't hold many surprises. It's essentially a story telling of a Scrooge-like character that has his love of Christmas restored thanks to a magical being.

While the first episode follows the manga fairly closely the second inclusion here is simply another tacked on adventure with the characters. This animation is entirely original but it's unfortunately not as good as the first. The Christmas tone is much more subdued and goofiness runs the gamut with a rehashed harem atmosphere that grows kind of tiresome after a while. Still, it all alludes to the potential of what My Santa! could have been like as a full series and once again it's very Love Hina-like in tone.

If you absolutely love Akamatsu's previous works then My Santa! is an easy recommendation. It feels like more of the same but it's entertaining and lighthearted enough to work in the grand scheme of things. Don't expect the content to be wholly original and you won't be disappointed. Santa and Mai are a fun pair with the Christmas backdrop to help put you in that Holiday mood. Many shows have some kind of Christmas episode but it's nice to see a traditional special for the holiday.

My Santa! is presented on DVD with its original 1.78:1 anamorphic image thanks to FUNimation's transfer. The production by TNK holds through for the most part though I have to say that the level of quality is nowhere near the release of Akamatsu's other series. The designs are unmistakably Akamatsu but the amount of detail put into everything is inherently lacking along with fluid animation. There is some grain in the video though it seems to be part of the original master. Along the same lines is some gradient blocking that pops up now and again. Overall My Santa! is decent looking but it won't blow you away.

The audio for My Santa! comes in the two usual forms: English and Japanese 2.0 stereo. The dubbing quality for both is good though I felt that the Japanese outclassed the English track in emotional range and joke delivery. Technically speaking both tracks felt kind of weak considering there wasn't much in the way of activity on the soundstage. Add to that the fact that the sound remained relatively flat on the front channels you have an underwhelming sensation. The presentation is acceptable all around but it's not as good as it could have been.

No extras have been included on this release.

My Santa! was a fun two episode OVA by Akamatsu and it proved to be endearing enough of a Christmas special to be added to my holiday rotation. There are no surprises here though and don't expect all of the humor to be successful. Still, if you're a fan of his work then you'll undoubtedly be drawn to this release and it's easily recommended if you fit that description. That being said there may be some difficulty when it comes to actually finding this DVD. It was mistakenly labeled PG instead of MA and FUNimation recalled it. I'm not sure if a new copy has been released to stores yet or not but if you do happen to come across it it's a cute enough show to take for a spin.

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