Shikanoko Nokonoko Koshitantan

Have you ever done drugs? Especially LSD? No? If you want to feel something similar, just watch this anime.

In 2017, Yorgos Lanthimos directed a movie called "The Killing of a Sacred Deer." Just like this anime, it has "deer" in its title.

So, what's the point of me bringing that up?

Well, despite the deer in its title, the movie barely shows any actual deer. This anime, on the other hand, makes sure to show you DEER EVERY. FCKING. MINUTE.
DEER, DEER, EVERYWHERE. DON’T YOU DEER FORGET THAT THIS ANIME IS ABOUT DEER.
IN THE OPENING: DEER
IN THE TITLE FRAME: DEER
... IN THE WALKWAY: DEER
IN THE CLASSROOM: DEER
IN THE RANDOM WAREHOUSE: DEER
And in the ending, YOU FCKING GUESS IT: DEER.

AND IT DOESN’T STOP WITH JUST DEER. YOU'VE GOT DEER BISCUITS, A DEER CLUB, A DEER GIRL HANGING ON AN ELECTRIC POLE, A GIRL THAT ENVIES A DEER, AND MORE DEAR SHENANIGANS. DEER GOD, IS THERE ANYTHING BUT DEER?

Surprisingly, there is. This anime actually has a story: a bizarre encounter of a seemingly high-profile and well-mannered student with a seemingly female high schooler with deer antlers. Then the story goes from there. We learn that she is a delinquent, a tsundere, and a virgin—a tsundere virgin. This tsundere virgin has a crazy sister who loves her too much. There are a few sprinkles of shoujo ai spices in here, but not much—too little even. Then this anime shows you that all of that is just a side plot because the main plot is and will always be DEER.
"This ain't about you girls; this is about DEER."

The animation is awesome. The character design is cute, charming, and pretty. Sometimes the animation looks like the budget jumped from "yeah, just some standard CGDCT animation" to "holy shit, how much does that cost?" Overall, very good animation—very fluid. Also, this anime has one of the best blood splatters I've ever seen so far this season, despite the fact that it's not really necessary. So, good animation, above average.
Then, there's the deer. They seem so out of place. They look like they don't even belong in this anime, but again, it's definitely made on purpose because they're trying to make the deer seems like a sentient natural forces spying on the MC's life like a watchful god.

The song is bopping. The ED song is very catchy, and adding a deer cracker-making video in the background just adds extra deer-iness to the show.

And the OP song is catchy, too catchy even. So catchy that it still plays even when I’ve already turned it off. Sometimes it appears in my dreams. Sometimes it haunts me in my nightmares. Sometimes it just digs its way into my head, making me sing it without my consent. Sometimes I bang my head to stop it, but the voices keep getting louder and louder. But overall, it's a very catchy and enjoyable song.

This show is the Deer-est deer anime that ever deer-ed, and giving it a 10 is merely a fraction of my thankfulness to the deer god for blessing me with this peak cinema.

People might say humor is subjective, but some things are really just not funny. After 3 episodes I can count on one hand how many times I laughed, smiled or even blew air out of my nose a little. Every joke feels forced and most of them have no punchline. The so called gag humor this anime is supposed to have are just desperate attempts to randomly catch you off guard but it just makes things weird instead of making you laugh. The only notable parts in terms of humor are pop cultural references, but they're not that frequent.

The show also likes to use Koshitan ... as a punching bag, constantly. In itself it's not a bad thing, it worked quite well in Bocchi the Rock, but it doesn't work here because this show overdoes it + the unseriousness of the environment makes it boring very quickly.

The best part of the show is the opening and the marketing, it sells you an idea that you get into some silly comedy. Instead you get into a weird, chaotic, uncanny universe that tries to be funny by throwing the most random "jokes" at you labeled as gag humor. It reminds me of the chatoic nature of MLG memes back in the day, but at least that's supposed to be a parody.

Watching one episode will help you decide if you wanna watch the whole thing or not because all episodes are similar and it won't get any better or worse.

Have you ever got the feeling that a show was only "just good", even though you've had unreasonably high expectations for it to be an all-time classic? Shikanokonokonokokoshitantan was the show for me, and the part that scares me is how my negativity may be a reflection of the existential reality that I'm getting older and am slowly losing interest in shows like these.

Let me explain. When I was younger, I've held Oota's shows (mostly from Doga Kobo, sometimes other studios) in high regard as some of the best examples of comedy: Yuru Yuri, Gabriel Dropout, Umaru, the first season of Minami-ke, hell even Uzamaid ... were all classics in my book, being exceptionally well directed comedies that are just the right amount of wacky while having memorable characters and scenarios. And there is Sabagebu which is arguably the greatest show of all time. So, after a lull in the 20s with a fairly mediocre Onipan, which I then chalked up to being a kid's show, him and his team are coming back with a new proper full length show in the form of a funny deer show. The OP came out and became a huge meme on YouTube, I don't know why, but that just hyped me up even further. I was ecstatic, finally I could relieve all those carefree days where I didn't have to worry much and could enjoy anime all day.

Then I watched the show. And then I finished it. I enjoyed it. I even thought it was fine, with a handful of exceptional, really funny moments. But that's the thing, maybe it's an age thing, but something felt missing from the show. Something that would have taken this show to all new heights and become an all time classic, but as it stands it's mostly just fine. Not that the show was lacking in wacky and unpredictable moments, it has that in spades. But honestly this time round I'm more attuned to the show's negatives than I am to simply accept the show on its own. The show's humor can honestly feel overly referential (haha the artstyle changed isn't that hilarious), or overly random but without an actual meaningful point being made. Then the more I thought, the more I am aware that the shows I mentioned earlier, back in the second paragraph... don't those shows have the same issues as well?

I can't go back and take an objective look at the shows I once enjoyed. If I were to rewatch those older shows, I will most likely ignore the same flaws I can't help but notice in Shikanoko. But the thing is, I'm afraid to even go back to those shows, and that terrifies me. There is a part of me that seemingly realizes that maybe my tastes have changed over the years, I've gotten older, and I have way more occupying my life than anime. And so, this brings me back to the show itself. Is it good? Yeah, I think it's fine. It's funny in a lot of places. But for all its worth, it just didn't fully click with me the way other similar shows have.

But crucially, is it all that different from the shows I have mentioned earlier? The sad truth to this is that, it really isn't. It's at its core, a wacky comedy that is very similar to shows like Yuru Yuri or Umaru, and the fact that I can't bring myself to enjoy this show as much as those shows shakes me to my very core.

OH MY DEER, this anime is just terrible. I can't stress enough how badly this anime does comedy and over relies on a single punchline repeated for 12 episodes straight. Where else would you find an anime that is called Brainrot other than Shikanoko? It is unfathomable how this anime managed to keep a fanbase after 3 episodes worth. I can't belie-

"And now, while my logical side is rambling, welcome to the intermission break, where we discuss the sheer deer of the deer anime."

Deer Mode: The deer opening is very endeering and by far the most deerlicious part of this anime. The cast brought out ... their A-game to elevate this opening up to an 11. It's also the single reason why my deer booty is watching the deer girl in the first place. Just as voice actress Megumi Han once said, "Don't think, just feel." To top it off, you're given front-row seats to some "Award-winning" ahh performances from Rui Tanabe and Megumi Han, particularly the former. She does the Yandere act so immaculately perfect, that you will be brought back to heaven from a single utter of her voice.

Deer Mode: I must stress further about the clever easter eggs the deer cast has managed to deliver, the deer eyecatchers, the 4th wall breaks, and pop culture as deeeee perfect reference for more laughs and giggles in the anime. In this catering of deer biscuits, we got your favorite memes appearing again in a deer anime, characters behaving normally in a chaotic situation, cults, Koshi Torako being the only sensible person in her group of crackheads. The deer card acts wildly. Maybe the true treasure were the deers along the way.

"Oops, looks like my logical side is getting louder. We'll be back shortly."

Logic Mode: The only good part about this anime is the easter eggs and pop references, anything else this anime has to offer is just complete garbage. The joke itself is so predictable that even a Scientologist can predict the next joke by a mile away, the delivery of the joke is so flat that any laugh you'll let out is just a blood-curdling one that makes you rethink about living life. It is just suffering to watch this anime and expect a single giggle from this anime. When you see Shikanoko open her head and you see the inside is empty, that's how much brain is given into these godforsaken jokes.

Logic Mode: I think the worst part about Shikanoko is that these characters are very inconsistent whenever you go into a new scenario. You can tell the jokes pretty much only focus on Shikanoko being an autistic deer for the entire anime and you have Koshitan watching her impulses going wild like a deer trampede. Any characters involved all act like nothing odd is happening and when you get to the extreme characters like Anko, she is just so tropey that it's exhausting. Nekoyamada and Bashame were acceptable at best because they were pretty adorable to watch. This is not a debate, you'll get some short giggles sure, but it is unlikely that you'll find yourself having a good time watching it from start to finish.

Deer Mode: But... the opening is fun!

Logic Mode: Well that's why you don't believe in the rumor "In every good anime lies a good opening.". I rest my case.

This anime is so bad that I actually put in the effort to retrieve my MAL account I haven't logged in to for years just to post this review. Shika puns, as abundant as they are, just aren't funny at all. It's like they listed out all the shika and other animal puns they can think of and only had 30 minutes to write a script for a 12-episode anime. Idk if it's a 12-ep anime, but I sure hope it is.

All the characters are brainrot characters, too. Within 3 minutes of screentime of each character, they all have managed to turn themselves from cute ... anime schoolgirls to irritating anthromorphs sharing one single cancerous brain cell, and they are all yet to use the brain aspect of the cell.

Half of the anime has been released, that is enough for anyone to conclude their thought. The anime did not live up to the hype.

It is important to address that the Shikanokokokokoshitatan have been doing a good job with the animation, the art, and other effects. The anime itself is not terrible, it is somewhat enjoyable. So, what went wrong? The humor. Before the anime was released, plenty of memes and pr of this anime had been spreading rapidly, to the point where there would be one Shikanoko post for every three posts on social media.

In contrast with the high expectations, however, the humor in ... the anime feels forced and childish, the kind of humor a 9 yo would laugh at. The anime doesn't feel like it is made for children whatsoever, there are sexual and incest jokes, not suitable for what feels like the target age. The studio likely wants to imitate the kind of humor in Bocchi the Rock and Nichijou, but overdone it and what was supposed to be humor is now just some cringy jokes. There are some laughable jokes, just that there are more times when it feels more awkward than funny.

Overall, Shikanoko is a fine but overhyped anime with a little bad taste in humor. It is hard to recommend this anime but it is not bad enough to avoid entirely either. Humor is subjective, give it a try and see if it will fit.

This is basically a show for the meme community to take clips from and make memes out of because this show can't stand on it's own.
Some of the moments are funny on their own but the events that surround it feel like mindless filler and you're just sitting there waiting for something funny to happen. The characters feel like vessels for a joke instead of actual people. If you took away Shikanoko's deer antlers not much would change.
So far the only "jokes" I can remember have been about deer crackers.

The art style is just default anime, it's nothing special at all. It's like they put ... all their effort into making the opening song animation which is decent however it is yet another vessel for meme creators to make memes out of.

Watch Nijichou My Ordinary Life instead.

I was, like so many others, bombarded with deer marketing stuff everywhere so I gave this a try.

3 episodes in now and I have a really hard time to continue this show.

The script (if one exists at all) is horrible. Just a bunch of "look, random deer stuff, laugh now" kind of jokes. The punshline of every joke is just "oh look, random deer stuff". It gets old very fast.

The only thing that got a smile (not a laugh) out of me was the outro with real life deer footage.

I will try to force myself to finish it, but it will be hard. Not even ... my beloved Utena Hiiragi (her voiceactress is in this) can make this fun for me. And thats saying something in my case.

Avoid this anime if you can. Its an unfunny waste of time and... Hey look, a deer! AHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHA

I honestly had such high hopes for this anime, from the clips I saw to even the intro. who wouldn't wanna watch a bunch of deer and a silly half-deer girl doing the most random shit? I was excited for this, which I had never been for some random comedy anime because it seemed right up my alley… but oh boy was I wrong.

Where do I even start? Some of the jokes they are trying to land aren't even funny, they are just plain creepy. The whole sister complex, the virginity jokes (about a high schooler might I add), and Koshi being the butt ... of the joke 90% of the time. If this anime was solely gag humor about Shikanoko and how she's a deer, which is the majority of the draw to the anime in the first place, this would've been peak. Because the few times that Shikanoko was the joke, I was lmao. But no, they had to poke fun at one character and give her a yandere sister?? Yikes

In the end, this is only good for the little clips and the opening song. Very unfortunate

It’s a solid good series, at the worst of times it can border from fine to annoying though. The series was really unique and had some great moments/jokes. Overall it was a fun watch thanks to the absurdity; I’d be content if it didn’t return for a second season, however if that happens I’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Only complaint I have about it is how everyone except Koshi accepts everything that happens with a smile. I get that’s part of the joke: Shikanoko does something absurd and everyone else accepts it as normal behavior while Koshi is flabbergasted; but it kinda feels overused by the ... end of the show. I did like the Treasurer’s brother and would have liked to see him more outside of the coffee shop scene, it was nice to have someone other than Koshi point out the absurdity.

Yes, I know, everyone will give this a 10/10 because it's the new meme around, but I'll give my real thoughts on it.

This show relies pretty much 100% on "random = funny" which just doesn't do it for me. It got me chuckling maybe a few times in the first and second episode but that's about it, the "randomness" aspect stops working very early, specially when it stops being random and its just expected.

I think the show could've been better if it had a structure simillar to Saiki, where each episode is 5 minutes long. Then you would consume it in small bursts ... instead of 20 minutes where jokes get old really fast.

All of this to say that JK THIS IS THE BEST SHOW EVER MADE THE CHARACTERS ARE SUPER DEEP AND RELATABLE AND THE PLOT IS MORE INTRICATE THAN A GEORGE MARTIN BOOK 10/10

PLEASE tell me I'm not the only one who hates this anime.

The anime has a catchy opening theme, and a title as well. But every single episode in this godforsaken anime is such a pain in the ass to watch. I've seen a lot of people enjoy the anime because it's silly and chaotic but this is just another LEVEL. This anime is just simply incomprehensible. And DO NOT even compare this to Azumanga Daioh! Please, Shikanoko and Azumanga don't even compare.
Anyway, the anime is BAD. It's BAD because-
1. There is barely ANY plot. Sure, it's a nichijou anime. But where is ... the REASON to keep watching? What's the goal? I find this anime a mish mash of 'funny' little jokes, without anything to remotely connect them to make it make sense. If that makes sense.
2. As a Japanese person, I know a lot about Japanese humor especially in the entertainment industry. Usually, it's a trope where someone does something stupid and someone else wraps up the joke with a Tsukkomi, which basically means 'punchline'. Shikanoko serves as the stupid, silly character and Nokotan "makes it funny" with a Tsukkomi. THE THING IS.. Nokotan's Tsukkomis are so LAME. And they actually rather make Shikanoko look 'cuter' than funnier. It's so LAME.
3. The majority of fans, as far as I know, are MEN. This anime is literally meticulously and carefully handicrafted for men, rather DEGENERATES. Shikanoko and Koshitan is portrayed to be CUTE. I don't know, it just gives me the worst ick because I could smell degeneracy fuming from a mile away.

I apologize for my not-so-imformative review. I just wanted to rant how overrated this anime is. I know I only watched a few, and I mean A FEW episodes. And THAT my friends, is for a reason.

This anime is evidently not for everyone. But for those people who enjoy a fun time and are simply just looking to have a blast you can stop reading and go watch this right now.

I won't deny that shikanoko nokonoko koshitantan gained its success from their super engaging brainrot marketing that pulled so many people to watch this anime. Even I was introduced to this by that super catchy opening theme song. But looking past that its actually a really good show.

Some people tend to overthink the purpose of watching an anime. I think too many people watch anime expecting some revolutionary story writing, incredible ... character development and state-of-the-art animation. But to me, while I do enjoy those things, sometimes watching anime is really just about having fun. That is what shikanoko nokonoko koshitantan is about. Just fun. It's a fun anime to watch. It's not supposed to show you an engaging story. It's not trying to be the most philosophical and emotional anime out there. It's not made to one-up all the best reviewed anime ever made. No. It's for people looking to have fun with dry humour, over-the-top characters and voice acting. And to me, sometimes, that's all it takes to make an excellent anime.

Oh, Shikanoko Nokonoko Koshitantan, how horrible you are.

Shikanoko Nokonoko Koshitantan is a rare gem in the anime industry- that is if I were to speak about it in terms of PR. It has one of the most impactful and exciting PR I have ever seen in my history of consuming anime, YET the show failed to deliver what it has deliberately shoved into its audience's faces. I, too, like many others, had my expectations set high from all the PR, expecting something similar to that of Konosuba, Bocchi the Rock, or The Disastrous Life of Saiki K, only to be let down.

Coming from Wit studio, ... the animation quality is NO WHERE near what the team is truly capable of; It's not bad, but the characters' design, foreground, and background don't have that impact that makes you go, "Wow, this is truly a product from WiT studio!.", and most of the time, the animation are just clumsy.

The jokes coming from the show are UNBEARABLE; not even a fourth-grader would laugh at them; all the jokes make you feel like it is forcefully forced down your throat; it is unhumourous, especially when humor is the main selling point of the entire series, the normalization of disgusting jokes like Koshi Torako being a virgin or incest is just awful, no punch line, nothing, just weird things being normalized in a poorly attempt trying to make the viewer laugh.

Now, there is quite a handful of gag-humor anime out there that don't give the viewer a clear flow of story development, but at least they HAD a story flow. After three episodes of Shikanoko Nokonoko Koshitantan, the plot is all over the place; where does Nokotan come from? Why does she know about Torako's past? What is their motivation? We know NOTHING about that; yes, I understand some anime will give clues for the viewer later in the series, but in the meantime, they at least tried to entertain the viewer; this series DOES NOT entertain its viewer whatsoever.

When we combined mediocre animation quality with shit-unfunny jokes and a poor plot, we got something similar to this; the only redeemable thing this series has is its PR material and the opening, nothing else. Please don't waste your time on this; make your limited lifespan worthwhile with Konosuba or Bocchi the Rock.

After the success of more recent comedy anime like Bocchi, where the staff put their all into adapting and even enhancing the original work, I was very excited to watch this show when watching the trailers. Expecting a bombastic comedy akin to Nichijou or Pop Team Epic, I figured this show would at least have enjoyable moments but could even be a classic comedy for years to come.

Flash forward 8 episodes, and I have nothing but disdain for this show. Somehow, it incorporates elements from nearly every good comedy (abundant narration like Love Is War, referential comedy like Pop Team Epic, rapid escalation of situations ... like Nichijou, etc.) but manages to mishandle every single element, while entirely lacking the other elements that made those anime appealing.

The characters are incredibly shallow, and are used for little more than the same small set of tropes they embody. Any joke involving Koshi Anko is almost guaranteed to involve her having an unhealthy obsession with her sister, with Neko it’s that she’s either short or roped into situations too easily, and the list goes on. The show entirely fails to subvert these tropes for comedy, but instead just rehashes them hoping that the 7th time they use the joke it’ll somehow have worked its magic.

The use of the narrator is also incredibly annoying, which is weird because other heavily-involved narrators like the ones in Love is War and Hunter x Hunter are some of my favorite parts of those respective shows. Why is Nokotan’s different? That would be because the narrator is rendered useless in mere seconds, as the show, instead of letting us just witness the events unfold or have the characters themselves describe the ongoing situation, has the narrator chime in AFTER the characters have said their due, often with nothing to add. The show will have a punchline, have Koshi-tan explain the punchline, then have the narrator reiterate the explained punchline, which wasn’t even that funny to begin with. It’s maddening, and turns what would be a fast-paced set of jokes into what feels like the longest set of episodes I’ve ever watched.

The soundtrack is completely uninspired. Shows like Nichijou and Azumanga Daioh have a decent sized OST with a set of short but enjoyable tracks that give their shows a really good sense of identity. Nokotan’s does not do this. Half the time, you will hear the same loop of an oboe playing two notes each at a slightly different pitch. The other times you’ll just hear a vocalist exclaiming “Shika” with no backing. Maybe if the “shika” songs were used sparsely there would be comedy, but they’re used nearly every episode, and for the same types of jokes every time. The result is a mind-numbing and grating experience for the listener that detracts from the comedy more than it adds.

The animation is nothing to write home about either, which is strange given that it’s done by Studio WIT. I was expecting comedic flourishes on par with CloverWork’s Bocchi the Rock! or Kyoto Animation’s Nichijou, but not only did we not get that, we got something lower quality than even Pop Team Epic which was made by a fairly unknown studio (not to say Pop Team Epic is low quality). Honestly, if you asked me “What studio do you think made this anime?”, WIT wouldn’t have even been in consideration. While I don’t think the animation is bad, I definitely expected better, and there’s generally very few moments where the animation or even visuals are remotely memorable. I think the CGI deer at least are funny as a point of contrast early on, but they quickly become a normal part of the show and lose their luster.

Ultimately, comedy is subjective, and if you enjoy this show, that’s fine. But in my subjective opinion, you’d have to have the absolute most braindead, awful sense of humor to find anything in this show even smile-worthy, let alone get a laugh out of you. I beg of you, just watch something else. Nichijou and Azumanga Daioh scratch that random comedy itch, Love is War covers student council/club life in a far more interesting way, and Too Many Losing Heroines is airing right now and has more interesting characters and jokes while also having an actual plot and themes. The only thing saving this anime from a 1 are Bashame, the OP, and the fact that the visuals aren’t particularly bad.

Good marketing for this anime but unfortunately not the adaptation.

The story is a mess, only 1 character stands out and the other characters are just like ordinary characters who don't have anything to remember or discuss further.

and as for the comedy? very messy, they just put in the absurdity without paying attention to where the funny/comedy lies. This is just an ordinary school anime with one deer added with absurd elements, there is only a little comedy that can be enjoyed in this anime. I can even say that there is nothing that can make you laugh or smile at the absurdity of ... this anime.

This fails the 3 eps test. Which is somewhat surprising as I usually really like goofy off the wall stuff. But there usually are some intriguing characters to get me engaged, and that is sorely missing with this title. Instead of being engaging, I found them all really irritating in one way or another. Poor character design, it's like the producers went straight to stupidity for stupidity's sake.

The artwork is mid, and the animation? The 2D CG is clumsy at best. And those 3D CG rendered deer popping up all over the place are poorly done. They're more distracting than anything else. The VAs ... are over the top, and lend much to the irritating nature of the characters. I am sure the director is at least partly to blame, for equating loud and shrill with comedic.

So while it started out OK, this doe stepped into the meadow, and took a slug quickly. If I was grading, it would get no more than 45/100, E; The first ep had some moments, and looked like they might carry through, or the grade would be even lower. This turned out to be as bland as a deer cracker in the long run. Bye bye, dearies.

ever since i saw their brain rot video before releasing the anime i was expecting some good funny show, then the show released an episode and i just knew this anime will be surely bad and yea its confirmed bad so don't watch unless you want to waste your time,

early episodes they sure was trying too much making a funny show, 1 episode is good enough for that but it keeps going every episodes at least it turn down a bit (JUST A TEENY TINY BIT OK) later, oh don't get misunderstand their jokes not funny all so most of their jokes don't click ... me and were talking about a guy who is me that has a good humor or can understand jokes like gintama has,

literally the show was for universal meme materials sht, has a 4th wall breaking and references from other animes, and their jokes only works for kids or beginner level anime watcher i guess??, if i describe this anime and put into words its like "bunch of adults who dont understand jokes or makes an anime for people so they can laugh but in reality it didn't work" sorry if i offended the creators themselves but thats how i really describe this anime,

im on episode 8 right now but their jokes still wont work for me and i realize now their jokes will actually works if this anime was released long time ago cause at that time this kind of "fantasy/fictional joke" was a thing in anime industry, NOW jokes will be funny if it was "reality jokes", i also notice this anime was created for promo video or documentary video?? maybe its just me but that how i see it

Felt like a 2010s anime aimed towards the youth. As an older watcher (nearing 30!), most of the humor felt pretty generic and regurgitated from the 'norm' of comedy anime. Virgin jokes, shock humor, over-the-top anger, lewd jokes, etc. If that's your thing, go and enjoy, no hate. For me, I've gone through waves of these types of content so they make me roll my eyes at this point.

It was a cute concept, and the first episode had me pretty interested, but I feel as if it dropped the ball pretty hard. The antlers-door shattering joke was great and kept me hook alongside the interesting ... characters, but at this point it felt like they repeated themselves multiple times and I'm only on episode 3.

Opening is a banger though

My Deer Friend Nokotan - Has AniManga gone too far trying to find a fit into cultural relevance, being too much of something that never ended being a good thing...or is it? Also, why are humans not deer?

Take a gander around the AniManga industry since the turn of the millennium, and a quarter-century later, anime has become quite the boom since post-COVID 2020s globally. But within its home region, Japan has always been headfirst at setting the anime Billboard trend of What's Hot to decide since its boom in the late 1970s and early 1980s to now, and the cultral effect is still felt today...with ... the overwashing of bad to mediocre Isekai/fantasy works, with some standing out amongst the pack to (objectively) good degree.

However, there is one genre that plays this game differently, and that is comedy, and for a very good reason. The "Comedy is Subjective" argument has been a mainstay, especially within the last 15 years or so for works that embrace comedy quite literally. Works like famed mangaka Hideaki Sorachi's juggernaut of the Gintama franchise, to Kenji Inoue's double-whammy works of the great Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu a.k.a Baka and Test series to the masterpiece that is Summer 2018's Grand Blue, as well as my subjected favourite of Rin Suzukawa's Asobi Asobase (from the same season), there are great reasons to why these shows could be part of the lists of Top 10 comedy anime of all time. And in this Summer season, more than anything, we have yet another contender for the exact same argument that couldn't have come at a better time: Shikanoko Nokonoko Koshitantan a.k.a My Deer Friend Nokotan, the AniManga industry's second coming(?) of KyoAni's Nichijou, but only manifested in brainrot to the point of absurdity and disbelief, made by the one and only Oshioshio a.k.a Oshio-mama, the mangaka best known for being the famed VTuber character designer for Hololive's Amane Kanata and Nijisanji's Sorahoshi Kirame. And loyal followers will say that this work is her revenge against Hololive for what they did to Kanata with the disservice that she got. 

Shika! Shika, Shika, Shika, Shika, Shi...ka!

It's actually interesting how Oshioshio came up with this rather surrealistic premise...or rather, INTENTIONALLY made. The story goes like this: "One day, by chance, I came up with the idea of a girl character whose antlers were stuck on a door. I thought this could be interesting, so I thought of a story and other characters, and the work “My Deer Friend Nokotan” was born. Nokotan was not just any creature with horns, but I wanted it to be familiar and new, so I decided on a deer. In Japan, there are tourist attractions where deer are famous, which everyone knows, so I thought it would be familiar."

And believe it or not, Wit Studio producer Naokado Fujiyama took that assignment to heart and basically elevated Oshioshio's gag manga, with the help of the one-and-only person who is right for this rather insane job: director Masahiko Oota, who's directorial duties have always been with Doga Kobo in the 2010s with shows like the Yuru Yuri series, Winter 2013's Kotoura-san, Winter 2017's Gabriel DropOut, and many more. However, it's his work adapting managaka SankakuHead's Himouto! Umaru-chan in the mid-2010s, that would capture Fujiyama and the producers enough to want to have the acclaimed brainrot director to collab on the now insanely viral anime that has made quite the waves all around the internet, digging at our already inept human society's IQ down the drain even further. Even Gigguk a.k.a Garnt, has the cheek to exclaim that "this (Masahiko Oota) is a director that had his brainrot training arc, he was like: I've given the world (Himouto) Umaru-chan, but I have not gone far enough...we need to go further, we need to go further!" This is the personification of a shitpost anime, and lose your brain cells now because this ride is finna be a wild Skibidi toilet located in Ohio, Gyatt.

To say that Shikanoko Nokonoko Koshitantan both set the trend and destroyed its record throughout the Summer 2024 season, is literally an understatement to the surreal degree. The TL;DR is this: the female MC, a former delinquent inspired by Tokyo Revengers's Mikey, turned goody-two shoes of her school being the student council president, meets a deer-human-hybrid, because she can be one hell of a mixed-gender odd ball of a Shika, being a girl but with antlers that only male deers will have. That coincidence meets both girls together in school to produce one heck of an insanity show where it's like the movie "Everything, Everywhere, All at Once," but you still won't know what shenanigans you're exactly in for. With a pristine walk filled with boss music that rivals Kimetsu no Yaiba a.k.a Demon Slayer's main villain antagonist Muzan Kibutsuji's Michael Jackson-inspired slow moonwalk, everybody accepts the deer-human-hybrid, Noko "Nokotan" Shikanoko for who she is, except that the student council president, Torako "Koshitan" Koshi, knows her shtick so well that she begins to question the sanity of her classmates and teacher who just goes with the flow and act like she's just a regular schoolgirl. To make matters worse, the mayhem doesn't stop there as Nokotan's antics force Koshitan to have second thoughts being forced to her will, even going as far as to create the eponymous Deer Club, adding in even more hysterical people who're just as crazy as they come...because no one's normal in their aforementioned Hinominami High School in Hino City.

That's Episode 1 in a nutshell, and it's unironically one of (if not) THE BEST premiere episodes of the season, telling us, the audience, that we are NOT ready for what's to come of the weird and batshit insanity that is Nokotan. Also, don't think too much about the show being a turn-off-your-brain delulu comedy series, because it is intentionally made that way, laden with deer crackers that can only be Fanum Tax-ed by Nokotan herself.

The VAs stocks arise stonks this season, thanks to famed stars like Saki Fujita for being famed Vocaloid Hatsune Miku, as well as Megumi Han, whom IMO, steals the spotlight for the Summer season in the female Seiyuu department, as not just the Bell Pepper child idol Kana Arima for Oshi no Ko's return for Season 2 with the much-anticipated Tokyo Blade arc, but also the titular weirdo of the hybrid deer. It's without a doubt that both VAs had a wild time of recording sessions just to showcase the limitless potential of Oshioshio's manga when it comes to pure, unhinged idiocy, so much so that as the series progresses, you don't start to question if the show was truly great or bad to begin with, but how far this acid trip of a gag manga will showcase anything AND everything that it so desires just to achieve what the staff team wanted out of the anime. Even it's side cast from Koshi's crazy yandere of a siscon through Anko, the rice-paddy fanatic of Meme Bashame (yes, her name is exactly just that, VA-ed by Fuuka Izumi as Mahou Shoujo ni Akogarete a.k.a Gushing Over Magical Girl's female MC Utena Hiiragi/Magia Baiser), and even the student council members (none of which they're typical), you can loathe them all you want, but they're excellent characters who do their role justice, even if it's just for the sacrifice of the comedy alone. And however you deem the anime eventually to be the masterpiece or the dumpster fire that it is, it achieves the one SOLE thing that it's supposed to do: be viral and meme the hell of what is already an incomprehensible source material work to extreme insanity. And it worked.

Seriously though, the single-handed best trait of the anime is in its marketing (please SERIOUSLY take notes, producers), and this is where the series finds its strength being ingrained towards cultural relevance, not just on a domestic, but on an unpredecent global reach. More than just the erratic PVs, which get weirder with every release, within just the month before its debut, the Shikanoko Nokonoko Koshitan opening jingle has become the talk of the town...and slowly becoming a viral riot hit all across social media, racking up millions in views and inspiring a whole host of influencers to take notes from the OP and make it their wholly own, from literate cosplays of Nokotan dancing to real-life deers, to MVs ranging from LittleVMills's Metalcore cover song, to the far ranges of Bollywood being a musical fusion fest that fits so perfectly, you could even make it your ringtone for your smartphone device. There's even an hour-long version of the jingle to test your mental capability of lasting just the repeated 5 second-long jingle for 60 minutes on end, so have fun with that.

All jokes aside though, the request from both anime and music production companies of Twin Engine and Lantis requesting music director Masamitsu Fujimori and composer Yuxiki Waga to concoct an out-of-this-world OP song that they ever mustered, and I have to say that Shikairo Days is the PERFECT brainrot of an OP song for the job. It has everything you ever needed to get to know the series in depth from the get go, from purely anime-only references like the all-female cast jumping together (which was a staple trait for moe shows back in the day, because everyone jumping together in the OP makes it a god-tier masterpiece), to clear-cut references like Dark Souls with the "You (Dead) Deer" reference, as well as Tokyo Ghoul with all the deer and the sky-land reflection. Even the title itself is a reference to Gurren Lagann's OP "Sorairo Days," and more by the stretch of imagination. You can't tell me that you've gone out and about the past 3 months, and NOT see a hint of the series' now signature brainrot of a jingle that completely took both the internet and social media to meme-level territory of hypnotic infamy levels. The ED, which is just a glorfied Nara Prefecture advertisement to see the creation of Shika-senbei a.k.a deer crackers, ehh...it's alright.

To make the icing on the cake even better, this is produced by one of the most GOAT-ed anime studios of all time at the helm. Wit Studio is in the midst of its comeback shedding its masterful past and trying to be different going forward, but IMO, Shikanoko Nokonoko Koshitantan is the studio's newest Shingeki no Kyojin a.k.a Attack on Titan face of the 2020s, that the uncanny resemblance down to its Japanese-equivalent first-letter initials (SnK) has people like Gigguk exclaiming, "Wit Studio, quit Attack on Titan, to work on this show (My Deer Friend Nokotan)...we've gone from one of the most iconic anime of all time, to yet another new iconic anime of all time...but, BUT, DEER". From the insanities of the 3DCG deer that just baffles both the mind and the laughter-inducing medicine the first few times that they appear on screen for no absolute reason other than to be (extra) comedy relief, to the no-surprise great animation that Wit Studio is known for (despite having Studio Massket for production assistance), these two things shouldn't have worked for something that is completely pedestrian to the average Joe. But you know what, Wit Studio and Nokotan's staff team under director Masahiko Oota defied the odds to give us Oshio-mama's series that, for all intents and purposes, is something worth remembering in 2024 alone.

At the end of it all, Shikanoko Nokonoko Koshitantan a.k.a My Deer Friend Nokotan may have been a show where not all the jokes landed, and some were on the verge of just being braindead and having nothing to offer to the point of being bland (which I totally understand and have been in those shoes within the weak episodes themselves), but this series is truly the pinnacle definition of "it's not for everyone", and the most important quote of all: Comedy IS Subjective.

Even if Nokotan gets all the love and hate one and all the same for 1001 reasons, I'd recommend you to at least try the 3-episode rule on this and see if it's your cup of tea. Either way, it's definitely a standout amongst the rather lukewarm Summer 2024 season, for better or for worse, for one thing and one thing only: being a perfectly curated PEAK brainrot of a WTF show.

Now, are you deer-ing enough to be willing to convert yourself to the cult of the deer? Come along for the ride...we're all en-Deer-ing for your arrival. Reject Humanity, Return to Deer...Shiiiiika!