My friend the deer NokotanThe premiere of proved to be a dizzying but promising affair. Its second episode followed the first with what can only be an amuse-bouche of tasty teases for the rest of the series: absurd shojo madness, abundant in Schadenfreude, with a soft center. Neither, however, did much to lay the foundation for a real story throughout the season. In that light, a lot is at stake My friend the deer NokotanThe third episode of the series, “Bashame, the New Student,” is fun in its own right, but the jury is still out on whether it contains enough material to support the story as a whole.

If nothing else, My friend the deer has made it clear that it has no interest in wasting the audience’s time by pretending that this is a normal anime. Unfortunately, whether the folks at WIT Studio intend to conform to the standards or not, episode 3 will nonetheless be rated by anime fans against the three-episode rule. Fortunately for My friend the deer Nokotan, Episode 3 places much needed emphasis and exploration on Torako’s psyche, mostly played against a stoic CGI deer. It helps the episode pass the test with colors that aren’t quite flashy, but still vibrant.

After two crazy episodes, my deer friend Nokotan finally offers some respite

Episode 3 Proves There’s a Method Behind Anime Madness

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Anyone immersed in My friend the deer Nokotan The work has undoubtedly enjoyed the first act of “Bashame, the New Student.” After its relatively relentless, borderline carefree journey through (or beyond) the plot, characters, and other basic narrative anchors, the choice of the third episode literally Staying still, even for a moment, was a refreshing change of pace. Episode 3 opens with what is, in essence, a miniature bottle episode shared between Torako and one of the anime’s photorealistic, foul-mouthed, and loyal deer. Torako arrives at the Deer Club headquarters to find her honored animal raiding the interior for deer cookies, and assumes it’s a shapeshifted Nokotan after a little investigation. That said, it’s obviously just a deer.

Their confrontation is telling. Torako’s manic pendulum swinging between caring for Not-kotan and feeling embarrassed by him gives insight into her conflicted feelings toward her titular new deer friend. More importantly, her recognition of the CGI deer’s presence—both retroactively in episodes past and present, in her club headquarters— This further undermines the already fragile fourth wall that separates the show from its audience.

Tortoise:
Having a deer in the deer club should be normal, but…

[A flashback sequence ensues, revisiting the various deer appearances in episodes one and two.]

Tortoise:
Actually, I guess he was just hanging around. How come I’ve never seen this deer before?

Each episode seems to walk a tightrope between outright absurdity and evidence of total creative control. Just when it seems like My friend the deer NokotanAs the crazy train rolls past its intended station, it affirms its audience with perfectly timed thanks like this one. Since its release, the anime has garnered mixed reviews, with critics noting that its comedic side is often awkward or inauthentic. Some see the humor as forced, while others believe it is simply not funny.

But when Torako sings pop idol songs from his delinquent past to the mistaken-identity deer, this kind of criticism starts to sound like an anti-fantasy program. When Torako’s dance mimics Tobey Maguire’s famous Bully Maguire dance Spider-Man 3It’s hard to feel like the show isn’t in the hands of creators who at least know exactly what they’re proposing – even if it’s something extremely stupid.

My Friend the Deer Nokotan Takes Things One Episode at a Time

Episode 3 rebalances the inequalities of the previous ones with the introduction of Meme Bashame

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When Episode 2, “Deer Meets Darkness Girl,” introduced Torako’s archetypically obsessive sister Anko, concerns about a lingering imbalance emerged. My friend the deer Nokotan If the series couldn’t commit to more than one episode where only its main character was strangely in love with Torako, how could it keep its already ridiculous premise from jumping the shark? With the addition of Anko, would the anime’s conflict turn into some sort of love triangle that would overshadow the original sitcom’s premise? The answer was what might be called anime’s tendency to extinguish its narrative fires as they appear. Anko was introduced after the audience’s understanding of Torako proved weak in the first effort, and In episode 3, the cast receives a green-haired addition in Meme Bashame.

This newcomer has an extreme fondness for Nokotan, which helps keep the scale of the story at a constant level. The way the anime constantly adds new original characters keeps the mood dynamic with each new episode of the week. In the case of episode 3, Bashame’s introduction not only balanced the narrative by matching Anko’s fervor, but it also injected another jolt of energy into the series. Bashame is a different flavor than what is called My friend the deer Nokotan offered on her menu so far. She speaks in broken sentences in the third person, and her affection for Nokotan is far more noble than Anko’s incestuous feelings for Torako.

Now that everyone is officially a member of the Deer Club and settled into a relaxed routine, Torako—already worn down by Bashame’s preference for her friend Deer—challenges the club to set goals and actually be productive. Torako’s reaction to her new situation is telling, implying that the change of life she’s made as a star student after leaving delinquency behind isn’t just a facade. She takes academia seriously and cannot afford to be responsible for its failure.

My Deer Friend Nokotan Episode 3 is over before it even starts

Just when things are going well, the good begins

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While Episode 3’s relatively relaxed and isolated opening act was well-received, its extended length comes at the expense of the rest of the story..Although he deserved the spotlight of the episode, Bashame gets screwed here. The episode ends just as he seems to have finished placing his pieces on the chessboard to begin. The gang is receptive to Torako’s challenge to legitimize their club’s efforts; they even go so far as to strategize their approach, but that’s about it. My friend the deer Nokotan, Episode 3 gets.

Considering that the first ten minutes of the story are completely detached from what follows, even if it still feels necessary, it’s hard not to regret that the unrelated stories weren’t given separate episodes. A full episode exploring in more depth who Torako really was when she was separated from everyone else and another dedicated to Bashame’s arrival at the Deer Club would have been better than combining the two subplots into one. By grouping what appears to be the third and fourth episodes into one, My friend the deer Nokotan Episode 3 may have fallen short in the eyes of those who follow the three-episode rule.

That said, there wasn’t much of a deterrent in “Bashame, the New Student.” While its ending felt abrupt, it did seem to set up a new opposing force for Torako, Nokotan, and company in the form of nosy (and perhaps jealous?) classmates who are more than likely to be another thorn in the heroes’ side, or whatever they are. If an arbitrary audience-organized review isn’t enough to dissuade one from watching and enjoying a 20-minute light comedy like Episode 3, There will be many more things that will make people – just like the characters in the series – inexplicably return to Nokotan.

My Deer Friend Nokotan is now streaming on Crunchyroll.

My Friend the Deer Nokotan — Episode 3 “Bashame, the New Student”

Koshi Torako has fooled everyone. Her classmates see her as a perfect honor student, unaware of her past as a secret delinquent. But her quaint new school life is turned upside down when she runs into Shikanoko Noko, a girl with deer antlers! Chaos seems to follow this strange, doe-eyed girl.Override

Release date

July 7, 2024

Creator(s)

Oshioshio

Casting

Megumi Han, Saki Fujita, Rui Tanabe, Fuka Izumi, Yurika Kubo, Rio Tsuchiya, Chinatsu Akasaki, Kôsuke Toriumi

Seasons

1

Benefits

• Slows the pace down a notch with its bottled mini-episode opening.
• Bashame balances Anko’s obsession well.

The inconvenients

• Disjointed narratives clumsily cut the episode into two.