When it comes to festive winter tunes, I usually tend toward traditional carols and hymns (which I find rather odd, considering I’m not religious). But any self-respecting nerd has some anime and game songs in their holiday repertoire, right? Here are a few of my favorites:

Before I go any further, though, I’m going to be honest… there aren’t many good anime Christmas songs. In fact, I avoid most of them like the plague. There are, however, two Sailor Moon Christmas albums that really must be in every anime fan’s library. They’re simply that good! My personal favorite is the first track on the Sailor Moon Sailor Stars album, “Sailor Moon Christmas.” It’s both goofy and original, making it stand out in the endless sea of “Jingle Bells” covers.

Now Pokémon Christmas Bash is a classic CD in the so-bad-it’s-almost-good category. This song, with the uninspired title “The Christmas Song,” stands out for being the only English song on my list, but since it’s Pokémon-related, I think it counts. Any Christmas song featuring the English Team Rocket voice cast is an instant winner in my book, but “I’m Giving Santa a Pikachu This Christmas,” which is sung by Professor Oak, is also pretty priceless, so I’m going to have to insist you give that one a listen if you haven’t heard it already, as well.

I know there are a million and one “snow area” themes from various games, but when winter rolls around I always turn to “Buried in Snow,” the Great Glacier/Icicle Inn theme from Final Fantasy VII. It’s a melancholy tune that really captures the feeling of being out in a seemingly endless snowstorm. Now that I’m in steamy Australia where snow is but a dream, it’s a tune that really reminds me of winters in Vermont.

Now, I know less about THE IDOLM@STER than I do Hatsune Miku, but what I do know is that this Christmas song, “Merry,” is rather catchy! Unfortunately, it features a rather boring opening and doesn’t really get going until 0:40, but if you’re looking for a toe-tapping Christmas tune, this one’s pretty solid!

To wrap up my list of “holiday” tunes, here’s a song that doesn’t really have anything to do with the season aside from the fact that the anime it appears in, Mobile Suit Gundam Wing Endless Waltz, takes place around Christmas, and it has “white” in the title. Regardless, “White Reflection” is one seriously catchy tune, so I’ll dub it the Die Hard entry of this holiday music roundup.

I wish I could say I had tons more anime/game-related holiday music in my arsenal, but sadly the Sailor Moon Christmas albums are where I get most of my holiday anime cheer! If you have a favorite winter theme from a video game or Christmas-y anime song I’ve missed, be sure to share it in the comments!