My Deer Friend Nokotan

Japanese humor is a completely mysterious thing, you either end up simply fascinated or you end up wondering what the hell is going on, this anime is somewhere between the two.

Above all, the series does not bring anything new to the formula that we all know, it is always an anime girl combined with some cute animal that can be used for marketing products and as the image of the program, in this case a deer.

The opening is more of the same, people love it because it is incredibly catchy, it is one of those songs that will play in your head until the day you die and you will find videos of Asians dancing to that rhythm for all eternity, there is no escape.

Watch it if it catches your attention and you're bored, but don't expect anything new or fresh, it's ridiculousness at its finest.

I finished seeing My Deer Friend yesterday night. My first impression of this show was the poorly-rendered, realistic CGI deers and the umaru-chan like weird little deer girl from 2 months ago that just came off as obnoxious to me.

But then I heard it's opening song "Shikanoko noko noko Koshitan-tan" in an anime schoolgirls dancing video which was EXTREMELY catchy. So when I saw the opening itself I was compelled to see the show.

At first the grandiose bizarre Japanese anime comedy like of the 2000s was very endearing, kind of funny, and the girls were hot especially Koshitan ( look out for a certain dance in episode 3 😆) with HILARIOUS English voice acting, but as the show went on, it gleefully dove into generic "cringey" japanese school comedy that requires a viewer's familiarization with japanese culture and anime tropes heavily in general to even remotely understand what the joke is, much like Gintama except it doesn't have any of the wit of that show, which is quite ironic since its animated by WIT Studio which was another huge reason to watch it.

At times it even had a feeling of Attack on Titan: Junior High from it's poster design, style and the setting since WIT Studio is also responsible for that extremely high quality school comedy spoof of Attack on Titan.

The characters are cooky and the English voice acting is extremely funny at times especially for straight-woman Koshitan and rice-obsessed Bashume but the other characters are just caricatures of the generic anime schoolgirl tropes. It ends pretty funny but any sense of seriousness or drama it builds is promptly killed the next episode, which was really disappointing and left a bad aftertaste despite some really funny dialogue.

Leaves me to say, brainless gags are not all that make a good comedy anime. 4:57pm.

A deer once asked "What is peak?". Another wise deer responded simply "This." When individuals strive to reach higher levels of achievement, we often ask ourselves the question of identity. "Who do I want to be?" It is hard for us humans to gauge our progress unless we compare ourselves to other constants of this world. This show truly emphasizes these questions and reveals that it is in fact the concept of Deer that we humans strive to accomplish in life. While we may be unaware of this secret desire, through community (our own symbolic deer club) we can achieve transcendence beyond our traditional ways of life. From the first "Shika" to the last "nun", this show reminds us of our humanity and the fragility of our ideas of progress in life. "Shikanokonokonokokoshitantan"?

The answer to this statement is: "Yes"

Many have praised this comedy slice-of-life series for exploring profound emotional themes, as any good slice-of-life should. However, after 12 episodes, I struggle to find that "profound emotional exploration." The characters lack depth and personality, and there's no meaningful emotional connection between them. They remain little more than acquaintances, with minimal interaction throughout the show.

Some have compared it to Nichijou, but I don't see the resemblance. Nichijou crafts absurd and hilarious scenarios through hyperbolization, starting with situations that make sense. In contrast, Shikanoko Noko Noko Noko Koshi Tan Tan is just random nonsense stacked on more random nonsense. While it is funny at times, it lacks the structure that makes a slice-of-life series truly engaging.

The humor does manage to make me chuckle here and there, but it quickly becomes repetitive and loses its charm. Beyond its comedic moments, it doesn't have much else to offer.

It really makes me feel like the author made a deal with the devil to make it popular or something because I really do not see why every one likes it so much. (And this is coming from an all time slice-of-life lover)

When I watched the first episode, this is way too funny but it inspired from any slice-of-life anime like Nichijou, Azumanga Daioh, etc.

The main protagonist is Nokotan, she's just a silly-looking girl with deer antlers but she has a weird humour towards Toshiko that she calls her "delinquent" and she's formerly a Yankee, and she decided to hid her identity as a "honourable school student".

I really love this anime very much because it has a comedic twist but...no Deers harm in that anime!

The opening song is way too addicting, even the verse " Shikanoko Nokonoko Koshitantan" is repeating and dancing. Although, that song is also too brainrot when it comes to watch this one, and for the ending song, a real-life footage set in Japan is to promote Nara Prefecture, which is a home of wild Deers and how Deer crackers are made.

I give this rating a Deer/10.