My Deer Friend Nokotan

We all have a secret or two that we conceal no matter what. It could be about the past, present, or even future, but this is something that cannot be revealed to the world. The revelation of this information could lead to devastating effects for you and possibly others. Thus, we may toil day in and day out to ensure the skeletons stay in the closet. Perhaps we will reveal these secrets to someone someday, under particular conditions, but until then, it’s a constant grind to ensure things stay on track.

“Shikanoko Nokonoko Koshitantan," also known as “My Deer Friend Nokotan," is a 12-episode TV anime series that aired from the 7th of July till the 22nd of September in Summer 2024. It was produced by Dentsu, Twin Engine, and REMOW Co., Ltd. and was brought to life by Studio Wit Studio. The central staff behind it includes Fujiyama Naokado, Matsumoto Hitoshi, Lu Xing Cheng, and Ootani Joe as producers. This series of 23-minute episodes featured the genre of comedy alongside the themes of gag humor and school. Targeted at the Shounen demographic, it received a rating of PG-13 for teenagers 13 years of age or older.

The anime is based on the manga series of the same name, which began publication on November 15, 2019, and is still ongoing. It was serialized on Shounen Magazine Edge and is the work of author and artist Oshioshio. It has been published in English via Seven Seas Entertainment since March 15, 2022.

The story focuses on protagonist Torako Koshi, who is the very epitome of perfection in her circumstances. She is a peerless beauty with top-notch grades to match, and her position as student council president ensures that her status and popularity at her school are unparalleled. But her schoolmates do not know that she harbors her deepest and darkest secret: that she was a delinquent during middle school! Knowing her standing would plummet if this information got out, she strives daily to conceal it to the best of her abilities. However, things can take an unfortunate turn for our MC when she has a fateful encounter with the weird and mysterious deer girl named Noko Shikanoko.

The latter’s constant and odd antics threaten to bring Torako's hidden shame to the very precipice of being exposed. But she had worked far too hard to build up and maintain her current reputation, so Torako had little choice but to go along with Shikanoko's whims and fancies. This includes and is not limited to going far enough to become the newly established Deer Club president! Sure that all her restless efforts will be rewarded if she can prevent this menacing Doe from accidentally blurting out damaging information about her hidden personal history, Torakyo is determined to prevent her greatest nightmare from becoming a reality! How successful will she be, though?

Before the anime was even released, we were all bombarded with good marketing and the next-level brain rot opening (in a good way). These set people’s expectations for the show pretty high, and we all expected a hilarious comedy to make our day. But unfortunately, the show itself does not live up to those expectations, the marketing, and the killer opening. The comedy felt entirely forced from the onset, and they were trying too diligently to make everything funny. While Episode 01 itself is pretty good, the rest of the episodes do not follow suit. As the tale continues, jokes become less and less funny, and work becomes repetitive. This is not high-level Japanese humor as seen in masterpieces like Gintama; this is just plain bad. It’s like the whole show was made to be the ideal meme material and nothing else, including breaking the fourth wall, referencing other anime, and making jokes fit for middle school at best. These are mostly fantasy or fictional jokes, which might have worked ages ago but not anymore. Their grip on comedy is terrible, and they rely on a single punchline for all 12 episodes straight; this is “Brain Rot,” the anime!

On the flip side, I will commend their clever easter eggs, deer eyecatchers, fourth wall breaks, and pop culture references, which occasionally drew some laughs from me. We got some timeless memes from this: characters who are downright ridiculous in everyday situations but are normal in chaotic situations, questionable cults, and the secondhand pain of watching Torako be the only sensible person stuck within a group of idiots. There is barely any story or plot to speak of, as the central theme there is sheer randomness, and they were hoping that would be funny somehow. The only reasoning or goal this tale has is DEERS and nothing else.

The entire character department is full of brain rot, and there’s no escaping it. After seeing each character on screen for the first time, within a matter of minutes, it becomes evident that they are all cutesy anime girls who eventually morph into annoying anthropomorphic characters, the worst part being that they are all sharing one cancerous brain cell. None of them have realized that one cell’s full potential. Moving on, every character is inconsistent when placed within a new scenario. The only consistent things here are Shikanoko being an autistic deer and Torako struggling to keep her impulses from going wild like a stampede. Everyone acts normal under the weirdest circumstances, while even the most extreme characters like Koshi Anko are tropey to a fault. The only two that stood out to me were Nekoyamada Neko and Bashame Meme, who relied solely on being cute. Even though the show is character-driven, these people are all over the place and downright generic, so it’s tough to enjoy this show consistently.

The art and animation department is just mid. It’s not bad; it just has the era’s generic anime look, and nothing stands out. It’s like they fueled all their visual prowess into making the opening sequence, which looked great, but that’s all. The animation is mainly clumsy, employing 2D CG consistently, and it doesn't look that great. There are a handful of moments where they use 3D CG, like when the deer pops out of the most random places, but the rendering is poor and only becomes an irritating distraction. The character designs are all cutesy and deer-inspired, but nothing revolutionary here.

The Sound and Music department is bulldozed by the opening "Shika-iro Days" by Shika-bu, which is performed by Shikanoko (Megumi Han), Torako (Saki Fujita), Anko (Rui Tanabe), and Bashame (Fuuka Izumi). It is a very endearing sequence, which is the best thing about this show. It became one of those songs you just can't get out of your head. The ending themes are "Shika-senbei no Uta" by Shikanoko and Torako and “Yasei no Shika" by Torako. It’s evident that the voice actors brought their A-game to this show, going far enough to cover the singing themselves as well. They are the second-best things about this anime, especially the performances by Rui Tanabe and Megumi Han, who make excellent deliveries. All the VAs are top-notch, which is why the characters hit home, either in a good way or bad. Most employ loud and shill voices, bringing the characters they were given to life in unignorable ways. I don’t even remember the OSTs enough to comment on them.

Overall, “My Deer Friend Nokotan” is not a show worth your precious time. It has a nonexistent plot, irritating characters, an unforgettable opening, and excellent VA performances. If you enjoy Gag Comedy shows and like seeing adorable but tropey anime girls doing the stupidest things known to men in a weird soup of randomness, give it a watch. If you have the time to spend on it and want to watch mostly brain-dead humor, this is not a wrong choice, but be prepared to see Deers every step of the way, and it would help if you managed to laugh at them all. But if you are looking for better and cleverer comedy, I would recommend shows like “Nijichou My Ordinary Life” or the true masterpiece of them all: Gintama. The only things I recommend almost everyone ought to check out are the show's opening sequence and meme compilations.