½ Caution: spoilers
Okay, this isn't really a Christmas special, per se, it's just a regular episode of the series Kappa Mikey. But I felt like giving it its own place here because I think it's pretty good, quite probably my favorite episode of the series. And it certainly has the feel of a Christmas special, or more like a few specials mashed together. And anyway, I have to assume it's not canonical to the series. I'll get to that later....
It starts, as does every episode, with a scene from the show-within-the-show, "LilyMu." The last show of the season, actually, which for the first time, goes off without a hitch. Though of course after the scene wraps Mikey causes some accidental trouble on the set, but whatever. At least the scene was finished, and the season was finished, and it's almost Christmas, so Guano doesn't even care about a little wreckage. Meanwhile, as everyone else plans for a Christmas party, Mikey goes to see Ozu to make unreasonable demands for a new contract, since his first one is now up. The others warn him that Ozu is especially grumpy around Christmas, but Mikey doesn't heed their warning. So, after listening with disinterest to Mikey's demands, Ozu tells him he's not a good actor, all he did was win a contest to get the role (which is, after all, the truth). But it upsets Mikey so much, he decides to leave Tokyo, and go back home to America.
Here is where the Christmas Carol parody starts. The Ghost of Japanese Christmas Past (who looks like a samurai panda) appears to Ozu, and takes him back in time to an earlier Christmas, where we see Ozu's wife (I think he called her Kiyoko) holding their baby son. Ozu and the Ghost watch the younger Ozu head off to the city, promising to return when he's made it big. And then he does return, I think like a year later (also on Christmas, of course), and his family have inexplicably disappeared. Okay, you'd think they'd keep in touch while he was away, but whatever. Just roll with it, okay? Anyway, Ozu was very sad, not knowing where they've gone, and so ever since then, Ozu has hated Christmas.
Meanwhile, Mikey meets Laurence, his guardian angel. Mikey wishes he'd never won the contest and come to Tokyo. So Laurence grants his wish, though Mikey doesn't believe him at first. See? Two holiday movie parodies for the price of one! Which is free either way! Mikey will get to see how things would be if he'd never come to Tokyo, a la It's a Wonderful Life. Some really fat guy who couldn't act won the contest instead of Mikey, and because of that, LilyMu was quickly cancelled. Guano couldn't get another job directing, so now he's a poor chimney sweep with a Cockney accent. Since no one ever said "Cut" when the show was cancelled, Gonard has stayed in character for a whole year, acting like a villain all over Tokyo. Lily married Yoshi (a guy who was on the crew of the show, I dunno what he did, just someone mentioned now and then, whatever), and got really fat, and... I dunno, had some kids maybe, but also street urchins follow her around. Listen, only a year has passed so it's weird how drastically everything has changed, just roll with it, okay? Meanwhile, Mitsuki lives in a crumbling mansion where she's gone crazy. It's a parody of a movie I've never seen, "Sunset Boulevard," I think.
Meanwhile, the Ghost of Japanese Christmas Past now hates Christmas because of how sad Ozu's story was, and he takes the Ghost of Japanese Christmas Present (who kinda reminds me of Snake from the Gangreen Gang on Powerpuff Girls) to the past to see what had happened. So now both ghosts hate Christmas and decide to help Ozu sabotage the Christmas party. Then the Ghost of Japanese Christmas future shows up and tells Ozu that it will be on Christmas that Ozu will find his long lost son. So now Ozu decides to love Christmas from now on.
After seeing what things would be like for his friends without him, he decides he wants to have won the contest, after all. So he gets his wish and heads to the party. Ozu gives him a new contract and apologizes for what he said before. And then there's a shock (happy) ending that I won't reveal, but... it's something that I don't think really happened. You know, canonically. I haven't seen much of anything of the series past this episode, though I hope to eventually. Not that there's a whole lot more to see, as yet. But still, I have to believe that what happened at the end of this episode hasn't been and won't be carried over to any future episodes. Unless I'm wrong. But whatever, even just taking it as a one-shot that's not canon, it was pretty cool and... well, shocking....
Anyway, leaving out alot of gags and stuff here, but I thought it was all pretty funny and whatnot, I mean as long as you're already familiar with the series....