My Deer Friend Noko-Tan is one of the top anime of the summer. Based on the manga of the same name, the anime began airing in July 2024 and has been an unhinged viewing experience.
On the surface, Torako Koshi is your average overachieving model student. She’s kind, humble, and studious. At least, that’s what everyone believes. The truth is that Torako is a former delinquent, and she’s trying to make sure that part of her past stays in the past. Well at least that’s her plan, but Noko-tan comes in like a wrecking ball. Now Torako is playing the straight man in all of Noko-tan’s antics as she struggles to keep her perfect student image intact.
The Comedy
In a similar vein to shows such as Azumanga Daioh, Pop Team Epic, and Osomatsu-San, My Deer Friend Noko-tan thrives on chaos.
Right from the show’s opening, the vibes are all over the place. The opening features an upbeat song sung by the show’s main characters. The visuals in the opening reference Dark Souls, Tokyo Ghoul, and Fist of the North Star, preparing viewers for the absurdity to come.
In one gag, Noko-tan walks through a door, breaking parts of it with her antlers as Gregorian chants play. Torako can only watch in horror as pieces of the door and wall heavily injure her classmates who take these hits with huge smiles on their faces. They then act as if what they just experienced was normal much to Torako’s concern.
As a comedy show, it cannot always be one-note humor. The absurdity of the show is something I love. The other two main comedic points are puns and jokes made at Koshi-tan’s expense. The puns themselves are fine, but sometimes it’s a little too on the nose.
However, the jokes made at Koshi-tan’s expense can be off-putting at times. In one episode, there’s a trivia contest between Shikanoko and another character about Koshi-tan. The contest features invasive questions about Koshi-tan in front of her entire school. By the end of it, Koshi-tan’s ready to pass away knowing that the entire student body knows her most embarrassing secrets.
Despite this, I can’t bring myself to dislike the show because of its weaker notes. Shikanokos’s airheaded charm plus Koshi-tan’s straight-man dynamic won me over. I can’t wait to see what other unhinged situations she and Koshi-tan go through.
Deer Highlights
Deer are embedded into the show’s DNA. It doesn’t come as a surprise when the show highlights the Nara prefecture which is known for housing multiple emperor palaces, Shinto shrines, and its large deer population.
The ending credits feature a behind-the-scenes making of deer crackers in Nara and deer frolicking in the wild. The show highlights shrines and multiple locations all around Japan with our protagonists hanging out.
Why is it Popular?
Before the show aired, promotions featuring Koshi-tan dancing circled the internet. This sparked countless videos of people dancing to pop up online. Oddly enough, the viral dance is not the one the characters do in the opening credits.
If that wasn’t enough, the series also recreated the iconic Bully Maguire dance from SpiderMan 3 (2007), shooting the show up in popularity.
Besides the dancing, the show is celebrated mostly for its absurdist humor. Noko-tan’s unhinged antics keep people watching despite the weaker parts of the series. That, and also the fact that many fans have learned that Koshi-tan is voiced by Saki Fujita, the voice behind the legend herself: Hatsune Miku.
My Deer Friend Noko-tan is now streaming on Crunchyroll.
