I want to call the first act of Episode 3 “filler. It certainly doesn’t have anything to do with the rest of the episode. Calling it “filler” however would imply that there’s a plot in this show and that’s currently up for debate.
In the first act, Koshitan finds a deer in the clubhouse. Her assumption is that the deer is Nokotan in disguise. After a few attempts to shoo the deer away, Nokotan appears and it’s revealed that the deer is just an ordinary one that escaped from Hino Zoo. The ingenious part of this act is that messes with your expectations for the show. Like by Occam’s razor, you should assume that the deer is an ordinary one but because this show has proven itself to be insane, you are somewhat inclined to think Koshitan might onto something. The fact that the show actually takes the less ridiculous route is surprising and it’s a better punchline than if Nokotan really was in disguise.
A highlight to this act is Koshitan’s last ditch effort to move the deer out of the clubhouse, where she performs a song she wrote about herself in her diary. That’s pretty surprising. I mean first off, Koshitan is willing to do this after Anko and Nokotan revealed so much about her last episode. And second, there’s somehow something Nokotan doesn’t know about Koshitan. The stylistic shot of Koshitan performing in front of the blank-faced deer and with an imaginary audience in the background is actually a familiar image to me. Before the show aired, it was part of the “Shikanoko nokonoko Koshitantan” meme that went viral. Honestly, it’s weird to not hear the chant over and over again in the actual scene. In fact, there’s no music playing at all, apart from Koshitan’s singing. I kind of like, though. Not adding any background music sells how embarrassing this all is for Koshitan and how much the deer doesn’t care about her performance. Also, as a Spider-Man 3 fan, I fully approve of Koshitan doing the Bully Maguire dance. Maybe the real reason for the lack of music is so that people can make memes with “People Get Up and Drive Your Funky Soul” by James Brown edited into the scene.
After Koshitan puts some dirt in the deer’s eye, about 10 minutes into the episode, the real plot finally kicks in. After Koshitan delivers a speech to kick off a new school year and welcome in the new students, she and Nokotan encounter a sleepy girl in front of the clubhouse named Meme Bashame (Fūka Izumi). Bashame explains that she was getting hungry before the opening ceremony and Nokotan “saved” her by handing over a deer cracker (which I imagine took a lot of willpower from Nokotan). Touched by this act of kindness, Bashame decides to join the Deer Club so that she can become a deer just like Nokotan. This makes absolutely no sense but I think the show knows that because in the end, all Bashame does in the club is eat rice. I guess in a vague sense, lazily eating food all day is deer-like. It could also just be a stretch, however.
Oh, and Anko is now part of the club as well. That seemed like a given after the second episode. It’s not like she was going to a different school than her big sister.
For the last third of the episode, Koshitan is appalled that the other club members are lazing around in the clubhouse. She attempts to hold the meeting with everyone, in order to establish goals for the club. Nokotan wants to bathe in deer crackers. Bashame wants to plant a rice field (which will apparently happen in Episode 10, according to the narrator). Anko just wants to be with her big sister, as if she isn’t already doing that. I love that Koshitan shoots down all of these ideas but ironically enough, all she has in mind is simply making the clubhouse look cuter, which Nokotan points out has nothing to do with the Deer Club. In the end, Koshitan is strongarmed into taking care of Nokotan again, as well as Bashame and Anko.
Curiously, there’s a group of three girls spying on the Deer Club while all of this is going on. While the dialogue is brief, it’s implied that these three aren’t fond of the Deer Club. I’m sure if this show really needs villains but I can also see it being a vain fight trying to oppose Nokotan so maybe these three will be a fun addition to the cast.
Watch My Deer Friend Nokotan on Amazon and Crunchyroll
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