The Miracle of Christmas

The Miracle of Christmas (クリスマスの奇跡 Kurisumasu no Kiseki) is the 16th episode of the Japanese tokusatsu superhero TV series Kamen Rider Wizard, which originally aired on December 23, 2012.

Synopsis
After the last episode, where Koyomi had given Haruto a blue Magic Stone she had found in a cave to grant him access to his Water Dragon form. Koyomi takes him to where she found the blue Magic Stone, Haruto feels an evil presence watching them from afar before they return to the city and finds Rinko in a Santa outfit as part of a mandatory police program. Alerted to a Phantom attack and coming to the aid of blond-haired man chased by Ghouls, Haruto transforms into Kamen Rider Wizard to take out the grunts.

Despite being informed about his situation at Omokagedo, the blonde-hair man named Tatsuro ignores their warnings and leaves while claiming that he has something to do by Christmas Eve. Haruto keeps watching Tatsuro close as he engages in several part-time jobs before stopping to rest as he watches over an orphanage. Haruto questions him about Tatsuro about his connection with the orphanage, but he refrains from answering and leaves. The owner recognizes Tatsuro as he leaves and reveals to Haruto that he was one of the orphans raised there, but he fled after involving himself in trouble some years ago.

As Haruto hears about the mysterious gifts left at the orphanage in previous Christmases and realizes that they were Tatsuro's doing, he goes after him, just to find him with several gifts he bought with all the money he got. Realizing that it was the gifts that he brings to the children that bring him hope, Phoenix appears before them and destroys the gifts, driving Tatsuro in despair as he fights Haruto. In the end, Haruto defeats Phoenix once more by combining Kamen Rider Wizard Water Dragon's Blizzard magic with a Slash Strike which freezes him before being shattered into pieces. After Haruto dives into Tatsuro's Underworld to defeat his inner Phantom Hekatonkheir, he meets a Santa Claus inside there and receives a present from him.

Back to the outside world, after a reborn Phoenix takes his leave, Haruto finds that the present is the Merry Christmas Ring and uses it to restore the destroyed gifts before the item fades away. As Tatsuro is caught delivering the presents to the orphanage by the owner, the two reconcile as Haruto wonders if the one who gave him the ring was the real Santa Claus himself.

Trivia

 * The fact that Santa could enter the Underworld of another person implies that in the Kamen Rider universe, Santa Claus is a Gate. What his Phantom is that grants him such magic is unknown. But since he can use magic, St. Nick overcame his despair and prevented his Phantom from breaking out. His hope to overcome this despair is obvious: making all the children of the world happy.
 * The standard two-parter formula of the show was not used for this episode. This was mostly due to the broadcast taking a break during the New Year and the fact Christmas would be long over when they resumed airing.