First Impression: My Deer Friend Nokotan

Torako Koshi is living the dream. Once a middle school delinquent, she has worked hard to reform her image in high school and transform herself into a “perfect girl,” admired by all her classmates. And so far, so good, until, while heading to school, she comes across a girl hanging from the power lines…by her antlers. Yes, I said antlers. Bear with me, it only gets weirder from here. After helping her down, our horn-clad girl immediately picks up on the fact that Torako is a former delinquent, something she has not told anyone about since leaving her gang. Of course, this spooks Torako, and she takes off for school. However, this being anime, it’s soon discovered that our horned heroine, Noko Shikanoko (“Nokotan” for short) is a new transfer student and naturally has a seat right next to Torako! Nokotan is a strange girl, seemingly unaware that her constant references to Torako’s past (and her virginity) are prodigiously sore spots, and most of the school seems perfectly fine that their new classmate is…well…part deer. How will Torako deal with her newfound friend and handle her new assignment as president of the Deer Club? Cue the shenanigans!

Well, I’ll be dawggone—an anime that completely shattered my expectations and was actually good! I was starting to lose hope there, guys! After quite a few shows I’ve seen so far this season left me feeling unimpressed at best and offended at worst, I had little hope for this one. However, this series, at least if the first episode is to be believed, looks to be one of the best this year. Heck, it’s already one of the funniest! My Deer Friend Nokotan is just the right amount of crazy that I love in an anime. With the live-action shots, the shifts in animation, the fourth wall breaks, the references to other shows, and just the overall manic atmosphere, this show promises to never be boring and always make you laugh. The ONLY thing that I rolled my eyes at with this premiere episode was the constant references to Torako’s virginity and its use as a joke. Y’all already know how I feel about those jokes, so I won’t go Angry Black Man here, but still…come on guys, it’s 2024. Let the joke DIE already. But I digress. The OP, “Deer-Colored Days” by Megumi Han, Sakai Fujita, Rui Tanabe, and Fuka Izumi, is probably one of the best openings of the season. It’s catchy and upbeat, and the visuals are just as insane as the show that follows it. I’m sure there will be TikTok videos of people dancing to this song before the day is out. The ED, “The Deer Food Song” by Megumi Han and Saki Fujita, is just as surreal and awesome as the OP. I’m not going to spoil it for you—you’ll have to see it for yourself. Suffice it to say, it follows the theme of this anime prodigiously.

So where does that leave us with My Deer Friend Nokotan? This is an easy follow for me guys. A good way to get me to watch an anime is to make me laugh and this one did multiple times over. I can’t wait to see all the weird and wonderful shenanigans this anime will throw my way, and I can only imagine how much fun the English dub production crew will have adapting this unique and hilarious series! Heck, if episode one is any marker, this has the potential to be one of the best shows of the season.

My Deer Friend Nokotan is available for streaming (sub only) on Crunchyroll. The English dub is available for streaming on Amazon Prime.

Josh
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