Seishun Buta Yarou wa Santa Claus no Yume wo Minai

After surviving the entrance exams, Sakuta Azusagawa has finally enrolled in the same university as his girlfriend, Mai Sakurajima. He is gradually getting used to the unfamiliar environment as he attends student gatherings and makes new acquaintances. Everything seems to be going smoothly until Sakuta's friend and Sweet Bullet idol group member Uzuki Hirokawa begins acting out.

With fellow Sweet Bullet member Nodoka Toyohama pleading for his help, Sakuta realizes that he has stumbled upon another case of the inexplicable Puberty Syndrome—Uzuki is feeling pressured by the sudden surge of popularity and rumors of a potential solo career. While Sakuta searches for a solution, another occurrence of Puberty Syndrome gradually emerges from the shadows.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Sakurajima, Mai Main

Seto, Asami Japanese

Azusagawa, Sakuta Main

Ishikawa, Kaito Japanese

Miniskirt Santa Main

Ueda, Reina Japanese

Futaba, Rio Supporting

Tanezaki, Atsumi Japanese

Azusagawa, Kaede Supporting

Kubo, Yurika Japanese

Koga, Tomoe Supporting

Touyama, Nao Japanese

Makinohara, Shouko Supporting

Minase, Inori Japanese

Toyohama, Nodoka Supporting

Uchida, Maaya Japanese

Kunimi, Yuuma Supporting

Uchida, Yuuma Japanese

Kamisato, Saki Supporting

Akaneya, Himika Japanese

Nara, Shunsuke Producer

Kurokawa, Yuuichirou Producer

Tsuji, Toshikazu Producer

Masui, Souichi Director, Storyboard

Reviews

Dec 14, 2025

krokodil4iki

Recommended

For me, this season is not bad at all — it’s solid and emotional. But if I’m being completely honest, it’s definitely weaker than the first season and all the movies, even the spin-offs

That doesn’t mean it’s disappointing. The atmosphere is still there, the dialogue still hits sometimes, and the themes are familiar in a comforting way. But it doesn’t reach the same emotional peak or impact that the original story had. The first season felt sharper, more painful, more unforgettable. This one feels softer, safer, and less memorable overall

Still, I gave it a 9/10 — and yes, that’s mostly because I love Mai Sakurajima. ... She’s still my favorite ever, and every moment with her automatically makes the experience better.

I took 1 point off, honestly, just because… it didn’t hit me the same. Not because it’s bad, but because something is missing. I can’t fully explain it — it’s just that feeling. The magic is still there, but it’s not as strong as before.

In the end, even a weaker Seishun Buta Yarou is still something I enjoy deeply. I may criticize it, but I still love this series — and I probably always will.

Score: 9/10

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Dec 26, 2025

Angrenost

Mixed Feelings

There are plenty of delightful character interactions up until the last story arc and I'm grateful that the show allows the time to pass and the characters to mature. There's rather little tension though as Sakuta and Mai are already in an established relationship, while the show is mostly about the relationships around all cute the puberty syndrome -afflicted girls and Sakuta. Especially at the start of the season the puberty syndrome feels like a very loose and contrived thing, bringing a speck of fantasy onto something rather mundane. When there's no meaningful mystery or tension, the show relies on its character designs and visuals, ... which are fine. Though the general nonchalance and dryness erupting into a burst of emotional action represent the mood the show is known for, even it can get a bit tedious when the viewer's only thing to look for is a juicy bit of flirting against Sakuta's stonewalled demeanour.

The season promises an overaching mystery related to the Santa Claus girl, but in the end the payoff is not there and the parts of the story are very loosely related to the Santa Claus bit. This dampens the whole season as the parts of it lose some meaningfulness. You can watch the season for the enjoyable interactions with the cute quirky girls, but storytelling is notably weaker compared to the show's history.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Sep 27, 2025

Chuy_diazz

Not Recommended

Just when you think the story can't be more self-inserted, this second season comes along to prove it can.

A somewhat unnecessary second season, in my opinion. If the story had ended with the movies, no one would have complained. Why is that? Because in the second season, the girls experiencing puberty syndrome don't have a direct relationship with Sakuta. Everything in the protagonist's life after the last movie seems to be resolved. He has a girlfriend, his sister is doing well, and he managed to save the life of his first love. Up until then, there wasn't much more to explore about the character; he'd ... already had his closure; there was no reason to give him a second closure. For this reason, this second season had the opportunity to give secondary characters a spotlight and give them their own closure.
We have characters we met this season who have always magically been linked to Sakuta, and if they were girls, they always ended up falling in love with the protagonist. At some point, it seems like you're watching a teenage fantasy about having a girlfriend but being able to flirt with other girls without any problems. Sakuta's disloyalty is disguised with a weak excuse like "it's all for Mai's sake." Sakuta is a terrible boyfriend, who ditches dates to go on dates with other girls. He accepts confessions instead of rejecting them and makes his girlfriend waste money because he has to meet with a student at Christmas.

The introduction of the miniskirted Santa Claus is just a rehash of the first arc. An invisible girl that only Sakuta can see, so original. On top of that, they're screwing up what they presented in the first season because now puberty syndromes are no longer about quantum physics, but about an entity that distributes them. Since Rio Futaba's character no longer appears as often and she was in charge of the convoluted explanations of quantum physics, they had to fill that gap with a rather flimsy explanation. Puberty syndromes this season are incomprehensible because there's no visual representation on screen. The first syndrome seen this season is "being able to read the room." This isn't a supernatural power; it's a social skill that any adult should have; they call it empathy. Since it's just an idol drama, you don't feel anything at all because it all seems more like a whim than a real syndrome. In the end, they resort to the same trick: Mai is in mortal danger because they don't know how to move the story forward. The first death sentence works, the second loses its impact. On top of that, since Sakuta doesn't have a direct relationship with those affected by the syndrome, he ends up feeling more like a busybody than a savior.

An anime that, unlike its fandom, didn't grow up and remain stuck in a teenage fantasy. All so that teenagers of this generation could immerse themselves in a story where they could be the worst person and still be loved.

Reviewer’s Rating: 1

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