Episode 5 – My Deer Friend Nokotan

You all find it interesting, don’t you? You’re enjoying watching the silly deer act, blissfully unaware of the world-shaking chaos you’re causing. But as for me, I am very careful. I could see the storm coming. My deer friend Nokotan is an omen, a knight (a deer-man?), that the series itself is heading for a cataclysm.

You can see it in so-called “unexplained” events, such as the ghost of a deer in Nara Park. These crazy consultants tell us it’s “inexplicable” when the truth is staring us in the face, big, stupid. How could these deer have thought of gathering in such a group if not for the antics seen in this week’s episode? My deer friend Nokotan? This has a bad impact on the behavior of these normally normal beasts. It drives them to do these weird stunts, like some deer-targeting equivalent ass.

Now it seems that I am not stupid. I know these parties happened long before the show aired My deer friend Nokotan. Apparently, The Deer of Nara had seen the manga version earlier.

Yes, you probably still think it’s all fun and games. There are tons of deer in the park, no big deal, right? It’s benign—a quirky, fun little thing. Wake up, these animals are fooling you into lulling you into a false sense of security. This was just a rehearsal, a training for other, more violent antics that the creatures would soon begin to imitate directly Nogudan. Fighting back against a perfectly legal deer hunter? Blow up the school? Get a part-time job? This is all on the agenda, along with the overthrow of humanity itself as the dominant species on Earth.

In our destruction and ignorance, perhaps we have earned it. Maybe the deer should rule. But I still wouldn’t go into that night gently.

But an interesting episode! when Nogudan is doing longer bits, as is its wont, it performs better yes joke. Both Nokotan’s vision of hiding from hunters and Koshi’s battle with criminals featured some surprisingly lavish, impressive animation in this episode, and the effort made them all the more interesting. Likewise, include more thing Like all the narration leading up to the reveal of the love letter, the pace is fast. It’s better to pad a bit with lots of little jokes rather than drag out one joke for as long as possible.

There’s a point to consistency, too. Of course, we all know that the point is that Shikako is too pure to have any dark secrets for people like Koshi and Nekoyamada to unearth, but them Not knowing this, the pursuit of Deer Child reveals more about her while rattling would-be stalkers. The whole scene in the zoo was uneven, but I appreciated Nokotan’s blunt, unexplained quip that it was “work.” Her job is just “deer”.

The episode also includes a shot of Neko Yamada at the end, which shows something interesting: how the show works without Koshi. For me, Koshi is the best part of the series, but a comedy like this can’t work with a single straight man. They needed someone even less cool to play the Joker. Nekoyamada’s inexperience with everyone’s business makes her a fresh foil to the mad palace “Deer Club” – even if I’m still not 100% sure what Bashame’s deal is supposed to be. She does… like rice.

Rating: Million Dollars!

My deer friend Nokotan Currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Chris doesn’t want to burn any decent deer puns in the footer in case he needs to use them in reviews in the coming weeks. If you’re really craving any extra silliness, why not check out his Twitter Or his blog? I think I saw some jokes there that day.