If you’re an anime fan who has watched some recent shows, you have almost certainly heard of Shikanoko Nokonoko Koshitantan or My Deer Friend Nokotan. Thanks to the opening song and dance going viral on several online platforms, the show was popular. I would even say it reached mainstream anime status. But in my experience, despite the large volume of people who heard about the show, relatively few of them finished the series. Fewer still came away with an impressed attitude at the end. Was Nokotan even a good anime? Grab a deer cracker, and let’s review.
Contents
Story
Score: 5/10
Torako Koshi was once a delinquent girl gangster. In highschool, she decided to redo her image and became an admirable, popular girl. Wishing to protect her secret, Koshi is shocked when a transfer student – a girl with deer horns – knows the truth right away. The transfer student is known as Nokotan, and she defies all logic as crazy, impossible things happen all around her. Nobody questions it. The teachers and Nokotan force Koshi to start a club for “deer care.” In this club, Koshi and Nokotan spend their after-school days, eventually adding more friends to the mix.
That’s the only story to speak of in Nokotan. Although it’s a bit weak, this story had the potential to be funny, cute, and entertaining. I still found much of it funny, but that’s because I like absurd and goofy comedy. The general opinion online is that Nokotan was bad at humor and could only manage brainrot. I don’t disagree that there’s a huge amount of “brainrot” in this anime. That was why I watched it. Many viewers, however, wanted well-crafted, classy, or witty comedy. To them, Nokotan wasn’t very funny.
Note: Though I did find of most of the series humorous, there were a few things that annoyed me. I’ll discuss those in the personal enjoyment section.
As I mentioned, the central story had potential but ended up weak. The first episode was especially strong, but the show quickly devolved. I can think of several different ways in which it could have been better and more interesting. For one thing, they could have made a serious plot point out of Nokotan’s supernatural abilities and the way no one questions her. The idea of Nokotan being a reality-bending god could have been further explored. I think some divine lore could have been hilarious if done right.
In addition to school hijinks, there could have been a better through-plot involving a long-term goal. For example, restoring Nokotan to her rightful place as the God of Deer. Even if there was no over-arching plot like that, the show should have done what it could to make the story more original and exciting. As things are, the anime is full of school comedy anime tropes. Sadly, the story was nothing more than average.
Visuals
Score: 6/10
Wit Studio animated Shikanoko Nokonoko Koshitantan. This studio has a reputation for producing high quality visuals, but that doesn’t mean every single anime by Wit will look amazing. Nokotan doesn’t look bad by any stretch of the imagination, but it also doesn’t really look good. It’s fairly average in terms of visuals. Occasionally, there are creative uses of different art-styles or animations to make things funnier, and that’s a plus. (I love when Nokotan becomes a buff JoJo-esque character.) However, overall, the visuals definitely could have been better.
Now we have to talk about the CGI deer. Frankly, they look terrible and out of place. The deer appear fairly realistic, but are also animated with an absurdly low frame-rate, dead-looking eyes, and other issues. They don’t blend in at all. Now, this may have been the intent of the animators. Maybe it’s supposed to look bizarre and dreamlike because that’s funnier, I guess. If the 3D visuals are crappy on purpose, then kudos to the art team, but I still think the deer look too off-putting at times.
The character designs are something I enjoyed about Nokotan. They are memorable and leave an impression. Protagonist Nokotan has a design that’s simple yet iconic: a slightly tomboyish brunette girl with deer horns wearing a white-and-blue sailor uniform. My personal favorite design was that of Meme Bashame, the girl obsessed with rice. She has a beige, dusty-looking uniform, messy greenish hair, and sleepy brown eyes. Bashame looks like a gardening spirit or something. Anyway, most of the character designs were cute and easy to remember.
Audio
Score: 8/10
Nokotan has two strong redeeming qualities: 1) the absurd humor and 2) the audio category. That includes music, songs, and voice-acting. (And sound effects – but I’m not good at analyzing that aspect.) The instrumental music was unfortunately easily forgettable, but the opening song “Shika-iro Days” is a certified banger and will most likely get stuck in your head.
This opening song is actually much more popular than the anime itself. It’s catchy, cute, upbeat, and sung by the main voice actress cast (the voices of Anko, Bashame, Nokotan, and Koshi). The ED (“Shika-senbei no Uta”) was also performed by the voice actresses. It’s a fun song, but not as catchy as the opening.
All the voice acting was great. Megumi Han did an amazing job with the character of Nokotan. She brings so much energy to her roles. Han is most known for her roles in A Silent Voice and Oshi no Ko, but I know her best as the voice of Gon from Hunter x Hunter (2011). Saki Fujita played Torako Koshi. She has the tsundere anime girl voice down to an art. Fujita is most famous for playing Ymir in Attack on Titan. For one final example, I was also impressed with the performance of Yurika Kubou, who played Nekoyamada. As you can see, nothing was lacking in the voice-acting.
Characters
Score: 6/10
Nokotan herself is a great character. Cheerful, curious, and weird, she does whatever she wants and drags others along with her. She’s a weird, loud, hyperactive girl who probably wouldn’t be popular in reality, but everyone goes along with her for some reason in this anime. Nokotan is fun to be around and always looking for adventure. With her antlers, short hair, and sailor uniform, Nokotan has become iconic as a symbol of surreal anime comedy. This is one area in which the character writing was good.
The writers tried to make Torako Koshi interesting but only had moderate success. She is the over-achiever type and a bit of a tsundere, so I think she’s amusing, but some say she’s unoriginal or boring. The other characters and their repetitive comedic gags were very hit-or-miss. They include the incestuous yandere sister (Anko), the cute and catlike student council member (Nekoyama), and the hippy farm girl who’s almost certainly a stoner (Bashame). Personally, I didn’t like the creepy sister at all – though I occasionally like the yandere character type, I didn’t sign up for the incest.
Koshi and the supporting cast were largely disappointing. They had no real character development. Even Nokotan herself had none. In addition to having weird, hit-or-miss concepts, the characters are just stagnant. I was also keenly disappointed in the character writing for not making more use of the romance potential of this anime. Many fans would have loved to see more commitment to the idea of Nokotan and Koshi being girlfriends. Nokotan could have been a fun brainrot anime with yuri on the side. Alas.
Personal Enjoyment
Score: 7/10
My enjoyment was fairly high for Nokotan because, as I mentioned in the story section, I enjoy surreal comedy and brainrot. There were numerous moments that made me laugh. One example was when Nokotan pulled a guitar out of her head and proceeded to play a terrible song. I loved Nokotan as a character and I was fond of Bashame and Koshi. The voice-acting was highly enjoyable and the intro song is funny as hell. However, despite my score for this category being fairly positive, there was one source of significant discomfort for me in this anime.
The biggest problem was the “comedic” sexualization of underage teenager Torako Koshi. It happens blatantly in the second episode, but it’s also frequent throughout the show. It’s not that the character is visually sexualized. She’s never nude. But, for example, everyone is very concerned with Koshi’s dating life, virginity status, and undergarments. Is it realistic for horny highschoolers to be this way toward a popular girl? Perhaps. But 1) the teachers were participating too, and 2) the show made it seem more like we, the audience, should also love and obsess over the prize that is Koshi. I didn’t like that at all.
As I mentioned in the character section, I wish this anime had been a soft yuri where the romantic chemistry between the girls was utilized. It would have been better for the character development and the story as a whole. I also wanted a better, stronger over-arching plot. But despite some complaints, I still enjoyed Nokotan quite a bit. I look back fondly on this summer anime.
Overall Score
Score: 6.4 out of 10 Deer Crackers
According to my personal rating system, My Deer Friend Nokotan is in the 6s category, which is “fine” but not “good.” Unless you love brainrot and absurd humor, this anime is not worth your time – at least not in its entirety. Honestly, I think anyone with a sense of humor should watch the first episode – it’s only 24 minutes long and genuinely funny. Oh, and if you like singing or dancing to Japanese songs with cute female vocals, you should definitely check out the opening song, “Shika-iro Days.”
In honor of Nokotan and her legacy, I leave you with a serious question: Do you have what it takes to become a deer?
~Thanks for Reading~
Written by 7Mononoke at Anime Rants
Anime Rants 
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