This is basically three mini episodes combined into one and none of them have much of a correlation with one another. I would call this the most sidetracked episode in My Deer Friend Nokotan so far but the jury is still out on whether or not this show has a plot.
The first segment has Koshitan finding what appears to be a love letter in her locker, before getting snuck up on by Nokotan. Koshitan wonders if her fighting skills are getting rusty if she can’t notice her deer friend’s presence though Nokotan argues that she’s also developed skills of her own. According her, she’s been on the run from the Hunters’ Association. Koshitan finds this outlandish but I don’t know. With how insane this show has been, I’m willing to believe that people really are hunting Nokotan down.
Koshitan moves right along by opening up the letter, which ends up being a note written by students from another school, who wants to challenge Koshitan to a fight. I’m noticing that this show really likes to poke fun at how single Koshitan is. Anyway, Koshitan agrees to fight the delinquent girls after school, with Nokotan tagging along for some reason. When Koshitan gets overwhelmed, Nokotan hands over one of her antlers to her. Not sure why Koshitan thinks it’s useless. I mean, it is an antler. I imagine it’d hurt. Koshitan throws the antler away, only for it explode, destroying the gymnasium and causing everyone to go blasting off like Team Rocket. It is an absurd as it sounds. This scene was shown in one of the PVs so it probably doesn’t catch me off guard as it should’ve. Even so, I laughed for a good minute when the scene happens in earnest.
After Koshitan and Nokotan recover via cartoon logic, the former decides to spy on the latter, hoping to find some dirt on her. The stakeout proves to be futile as all Koshitan witnesses is more insanity from Nokotan. The deer girl starts her day doing nothing at the park but eat some bananas stored in her antlers (I swear this is real). After that, Nokotan heads over to the Hino Zoo, where it’s revealed that she works (and maybe even lives) in the deer exhibit. I like how no questions Nokotan’s presence at all. Like, Nokotan does some pretty ridiculous stuff such as biting a lady’s hand for deer crackers (that she gave to her) and leading a parade of deer. And while everyone does react to all of that, no one questions the fact there’s a girl with deer antlers. That no one besides Koshitan bats an eye seems to be a recurring element in this show. I wonder if there actually is an explanation as to why. I’d argue it’d be funnier if there is one and everyone just doesn’t acknowledge it.
Eventually, Nokotan notices Koshitan and she invites her to enjoy some boba tea with her at the park (and to Koshitan’s astonishment, the tea is quite good). This is a surprisingly sincere scene. Like for once, these two actually come across as friends. I like that Koshitan enjoys Nokotan’s company enough that she completely forgets her objective. You do have a stray CGI deer ruining(?) the moment but that’s besides the point.
Following that failed stakeout, we get treated with another one. This time, Neko tries to spy on the Deer Club while Koshitan is away. Unsurprisingly, this search ultimately yields nothing for Neko. Noko quickly finds her and she immediately assumes the catlike girl wants to become a deer. Neko tries to decline but after Noko guilts her, she agrees to a trial membership. With that, I guess everyone in the student council is more or less a club member.
Nokotan proceeds to teach Neko the way of the deer. I’m kind of shocked to learn that Bashame has actually been committed to this training. When Nokotan has Bashame demonstrate how a deer should eat deer crackers, the latter immediately does it on command. And here I thought Bashame was just there to eat rice. Also funny is how quickly Anko leaves the clubroom. I would’ve loved to see Neko interact with her more but knowing Anko, it’s probably for the best that she leaves.
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