Ikebukuro Christmas Concerto Episode 1 Part 1

Things start with Claude narrating about himself. His mother and everyone else around him had always expected to best out of him. In fact, his mother has apparently told him that he’s her dream and that the happiness she wishes for is also his happiness.

That was the sort of thing she’d tell him at night instead of singing a lullaby or something, and Claude goes so far as to compare it to a curse. Still, he no longer feels like he’s been forced into things and has taken advantage of it at some point. He has no objections about being raised in hopes of being the best.

There is a part of him that wonders what would become of him if he could be Santa. Then we get the chapter title card. This chapter is called Enter the Race! Tokyo Great Santa Marathon. Also it says we’re at the starting line at the Ikebukuro Sports Arena.

Camera tunes back in at the arena as narration tells us it’s the night of Dec. 24, Christmas Eve. Clear night skies, and fireworks off in the distance. And here, the prep for the Santa Sendoff Ceremony is moving along.

Some randos are amazed at the decorations that are put up, and some of the tree decorations have been made by Krampus and Yule at least. Chouji is there working as part of some kitchen squad to help cook for the holiday event.

Some of the other racers are checking on their sleigh and stuff, and the race itself will start at midnight. Yule is off in his own little world in his excitement, so the wolf tells him to pay attention.

Everyone around is in the middle of getting their things ready, and Tanngrisnir comes over to talk to you. He talks about the weather and segues into the Santa suit you’re wearing, saying it looks good on you. You can either be shy and ask if he thinks so, say you can’t calm down, or ask if you can keep it.

Going with B, Tanngrisnir says all the newbies in the Santa department say that, but they get used to it in time. He’s getting excited himself about the race starting, then asks how you’ve been doing the past few days. You can either tell him you’ve been great, been doing the same as usual maybe, or say you haven’t had an appetite and don’t feel well.

Going with B, Tanngrisnir says it’s important to be your usual self and offers you some stew again to relax. Anyways he says he saw Melusine and Pollux earlier and mentions they told you hi, and then says it’s about time to for everyone to get together. He says everyone’s reliable and seems down on himself for a sec before saying he needs to be a model as a teacher.

It’s time to go, so he suggests you both get going. Maria happens to be over there handing out warm drinks, along with some stew from a volunteer. You talk to her and maybe ask for some stew if you want. She greets you and gives you some tea she’s made herself.

Tanngrisnir talks to Maria and offers her stew too. She’s taken aback by this but accepts the offer. Tanngrisnir decides to ask for some tea too, which he finds he likes and asks Maria for her name. She introduces herself and compliments the stew.

Tanngrisnir introduces himself after and asks if Maria was put into the race. Maria says she’s not but she’s there to help. For some reason Tanngrisnir thinks Maria would be good at taking the reins at a sleigh, which is why he asked. Anyways Maria asks you where the gang is because she baked some snacks for everyone.

Flashback! Shirou says he can’t come with and lays it on really thick about how he regrets he can’t spend time with you on Christmas. Like he’ll cry blood tears he’s so upset. He runs off and an Evil runs off with him, crying.

Kengo awkwardly but far less dramatically parrots Shirou’s excuses, as does Ryouta. Ryouta heard about Chouji being there so he’s disappointed he’s missing out on his food. Kengo promises to make it up to you and the two of them leave.

Moritaka also claims to be busy, then thinks about how much worse of a spot this puts on whoever’s next. Touji says he has shrine work to help with and it’s busy because it’s almost New Years. He almost gets away smoothly with it until he repeatedly insists it’s only because of shrine work and asks if you doubt him. You tell him he seems like he’s mad at you, which prompts him to deny it in surprise. Moritaka can’t think of anything else to say so he apologizes and runs.

Flashback ends and Maria goes “uhh” at hearing this. You tell her that you suspect they’re up to something, and Tanngrisnir is surprised at how bad they are at lying. That reminds him of Thor though, who he says responded to anyone doubting his terribly done lies by punching them.

Some other racer comes by to ask for a drink, so Maria excuses herself and wishes you guys luck. Yule comes by later to talk to you guys. You either greet him, ask him to take it easy in the race, or say he looks cool in the Santa suit. Going with A, he asks how you are and hopes the race will go well.

Yule talks about how Black Ded has said everything is an experience, but he still worries. Since he’s so excited he decides to ask Tanngrisnir for a bite of his stew, which he’s happy to give. Tanngrisnir also tells Yule he’s been cultivating his power and to not use more than his usual amount of it. Also despite them being in different sections, he’s cheering for him.

Yule thanks him, then his nose starts running. Tanngrisnir tells him to be careful he doesn’t get sick. Claude comes over to talk to you. You can either greet him, be shocked he’s in a Santa getup, or say it looks good on him.

Claude turns to Tanngrisnir in any case and says he has good luck. Tanngrisnir is confused and thinks luck isn’t relevant in a sports arena. Claude says it’s because he’s on your team, and he sees you as someone worth watching.

Claude also says there’s someone else here (Yule) who looks like they’ll be one of the best in the Santa School soon. Since Claude was using a Japanese expression that would literally mean white tail, Yule misunderstands him and asks you if his tail is white. Tanngrisnir has to explain the meaning to him.

After being embarrassed about the mixup, Yule says his grades aren’t that good. Claude thinks he’s being modest and tells him to be proud of himself. He also says he thinks that about Yule based on what he’s seen of his real abilities. Then he points out someone as an example, apparently Garm who’s running so fast he’s kicking up dust and dragging Krampus along. Krampus is fruitlessly trying to get him to stop.

You can either be shocked by what Garm is doing, tell him to stop, or say there’s a rampaging reindeer dog sled. Garm notices you’re there and starts bee lining for you. Claude takes this all in stride and suggests Yule step back a bit. Yule is more concerned about your sake.

Tanngrisnir manages to grab the sleigh as it comes by and redirect it to where the other sleighs are, causing a huge crash. Garm takes no notice and is happy to see you, and Krampus is somehow okay as he pulls himself out of the pile of crashed sleighs. You can either thank Garm for coming to greet you, ask Krampus if he’s alright, or comment on the huge disaster that happened.

Going with B, Krampus says he’s okay and says it’s thanks to how sturdy he is. Yule asks if he’s okay and says he sounds tearful. Krampus quickly denies that he’s crying and says he just screamed too much. He then goes on to say that while it’s nice he’s Santa, he says the reindeer are a bit much. It’s great if he can handle it, but the steering needs work.

Anyways Claude says that’s the sort of power you can see from the strong, then talks to Garm and says he’s plenty motivated. Garm is excited and says he’ll run a lot so Claude tells him to show off Ikebukuro’s power.

Krampus says he’s already shown that and it’s his ability to listen that’s the issue. The word Krampus uses also means bone though, which Garm picks up on and starts looking for it, dragging Krampus with him again.

Tanngrisnir expresses concern for Krampus since he saw him cry as he was pulled. Yule says Krampus would be fine if he jumped off the school roof, but he’s worried too.

Anyways some time later all the racers start getting together to check on things. Andvari speaks on the mic as he’s part of the management for the race, and he says he’ll do the live broadcasting for it. He’ll pass the mic on to the head of the management who will start the race after a few words. Then he calls Ded up.

White Ded comes up and introduces himself. He starts talking about how the Santa and Ikebukuro schools are collaborating for this event when Black Ded decides to hijack the proceedings and make his speech.

Black Ded talks about the principles on being a Santa, then says that determination should come before that. He thinks the people around there might be a bit too low tempo, but tells them to get it done right and hard when the time comes.

Black Ded explains having the race and inviting the other schools to compete is to get that idea into them. And as Christmas is the season for Santas, he tells them to be ready to keep the top spot for themselves and threatens anyone who can’t get the will up to do so. He signs off and wishes everyone a merry Christmas and says he’ll see them in hell.

White Ded switches back in and sighs over what happened, then tells everyone to be careful. He ends his speech there and walks off, and Yule comments on how enthusiastic Black Ded is. Krampus says that when he heard about the proposal from Claude, he wanted to make it a success.

Tanngrisnir thinks the speech is enlightening, even though Ded didn’t really say much. You can either say Yule and Krampus have it rough, suggest that Tanngrisnir is a musclebrain, or generally comment on how remarkable the Santa School is.

Going with A, Yule says they need to work hard since both Deds are saying what they say for the students’ sake. Krampus says that while Ded talks about fighting, he’s not actually talking about hurting people.

Tanngrisnir talks again about how impressive Ded is and says Thor was like that too. He was a huge mess but he had a way of being biting with his words. Now Tanngrisnir is getting pumped up.

Andvari takes the mic again to talk about the race rules. The race will start there at the Bukuro Academy Sports Arena. The race is then set up to go to Yoyogi, Daikanyama, Roppongi, and Shinjuku. The winners will be whoever goes through all the check points and gets the “star” in the sky above Ikebukuro.

Andvari then moves to talk about the prize and makes an aside that he feels more people would have joined up if he could talk about it earlier. But anyways, the grand prize is “anything at all” from Ded.

Andvari also says that anyone who breaks the rules will have coal thrown at them. Anyways, since there seems to be a big audience and the money to go with it he’s expecting a good show.

You wonder what to get if you happen to win, and Tanngrisnir asks what you’d pick. You don’t really have time to answer as everyone starts gathering at the start line. Also in the middle of the course, a bunch of white bags have been piled up.

You either ask what the bags are or say you’ve seen them before. Andvari says those are what you need to get during the course of the race: the white Santa’s present sack. They’re being used in place of batons, and if you don’t pick them up you’re disqualified. You also lose if you lose a team mate or get hurt, so be careful.

Some time later as people wait for things to start, Tanngrisnir says he’s getting excited. He tells you to be Santa and get in the sleigh while he be the Yule Goat. You can ask about either of those roles. Going with the Yule goat thing, Tanngrisnir says he has experience so he thinks it’s appropriate. Then he realizes you’re asking what it is, so he explains it’s a goat that pulls a Christmas sleigh.

He also explains that Yule is end of the year festivities, making it one variation of Christmas. So Yule Goat was what he was called back in his home world. Fanfare starts playing so Tanngrisnir hurries you in. Maria tells you guys to be careful.

Andvari does the countdown. When the race starts, Tanngrisnir is about to start running when something blows up. Andvari seems to switch to commentator mode and says everyone started off at once, but once the thing started something exploded and he doesn’t know what. He tries to get Ded to explain, but doesn’t see him when he turns to look.

Black Ded has shown up again laughing and says you shouldn’t get careless. He’s gonna see who’s suited to get the present sacks and does so by firing his guns. You cough through the smoke and ask if Tanngrisnir is okay.

He’s in some pain, so you ask in shock if he’s been shot in the leg and already out of the race. Tanngrisnir gets up and says Ded is just making warning shots and that there aren’t any problems. Well, aside from his leg acting up from an old leg bone issue.

In this case Tanngrisnir sees only one other way to move forward. You see where he’s going with this and are gobsmacked he’d go there, and Tanngrisnir confirms the plan is to have you pull the sled. You can either be polite about accepting it, be more informal and gung ho about it, or ask if you can actually do that.

Going with C, Tanngrisnir says he was trying to do what Thor did but says it’s actually kind of hard. He thinks on it some more and goes back to the idea of switching places after realizing something about the race. He jumps into the sleigh using only his arms and puts you out. He says he understands what’s happening and will explain later, but the short version is that you should be able to pull the sleigh.

He tells you to try and gives you some instructions. You can either agree, ask if he’s serious, or say you aren’t confident in this. In any case you do it, and it turns out the sleigh doesn’t seem to weigh much at all somehow, more like light baggage.

Tanngrisnir says that’s what it is, then urges you to run. You do, and you feel like you’re running faster than usual, accelerating like you have wings. Before long you overtake the people who have ran ahead of you earlier. You express either surprise or pleasure at this. Tanngrisnir says he’ll explain later, but here’s where the race starts for you guys. First stop, the bags. The episode half ends there as you run for them.