is a Japanese

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

series written and illustrated by Oshioshio. It began serialization on

Kodansha is a Japanese privately-held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha is the largest Japanese publishing company, and it produces the manga magazines ''Nakayoshi'', ''Afternoon'', ''Evening'', ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' an ...

's '' shōnen'' manga magazine ''Shōnen Magazine Edge'' in November 2019. After the magazine's disbandment in October 2023, it was transferred to the ''Magazine Pocket'' website in December the same year. An

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

television series adaptation produced by

Wit Studio (stylised as WIT STUDIO) is a Japanese animation studio founded on June 1, 2012, by producers at Production I.G as a subsidiary of IG Port. It is headquartered in Musashino, Tokyo, with Production I.G producer George Wada as president and Te ...

is set to premiere in July 2024.

Plot

Torako Koshi is a popular and beautiful high school girl who tries to keep up appearances as a prim and proper beauty. However, one day, she rescues a strange deer-girl hanging from some power lines on the way to school. The girl then soon transfers into her school, introduces herself as Shikanoko, and begins dragging Torako into her bizarre antics, threatening to expose her hidden past as a violent Yankee delinquent, all while Torako seems to be the only one who notices anything wrong with Noko.

Characters

; / : :A mysterious deer-girl hybrid who appeared before Torako one day, claiming she could "smell" her Yankee past, and refuses to leave her side after being rescued from some power lines. Similar to a deer, Noko has a love of deer crackers and antlers sprouting from her head, but hers are detachable, and can be anything from explosives, to food storage, to tentacle-like appendages, or even used as a lever to open the top of her head. Noko also starts the Deer Club at school, where club members are supposed to take care of deer like Noko. ; / : :A former Yankee (delinquent) student nicknamed the "Tiger of Hino" at her junior high school. Torako tries to put on the image of a dignified, ideal, Student Council President at her current highschool, but dealing with Noko drags her back into old habits as she tries to handle the new insanity of her daily life. She later (reluctantly) becomes the President of the school's Deer Club, started by Noko, where she and other deer friends meet after school. ; : :Torako's sister who is obsessed with her, to the point that Anko tries to kill Noko after accusing her of stealing Torako's attention. After fighting Noko to a draw in a Torako trivia competition, Anko reaches an understanding with her, and next semester she joins the Deer Club. ; : :A freshman student who claims she wants to become a deer after being given a deer cracker from Noko before school. She loves cooking rice, and has a dream of planting her own rice field. ; : :The cat-like Vice-President of the school's student council under Torako. She sees the Deer Club as her competition. ; : :Secretary of the Student Council, she tends to overthink and overreact to issues that affect her. ; : :Treasurer of the Student Council who seems quiet and aloof, secretly an otaku.

Media

Manga

Written and illustrated by Oshioshio, ''My Deer Friend Nokotan'' began serialization in

's '' shōnen'' manga magazine ''Shōnen Magazine Edge'' on November 15, 2019. After the final issue of the ''Shōnen Magazine Edge'' was published on October 17, 2023, the series was transferred to the ''Magazine Pocket'' website on December 20 the same year. The series' chapters have been collected in five ''

tankōbon is the Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or cultur ...

'' volumes as of May 2024. The series is licensed in English by

Seven Seas Entertainment Seven Seas Entertainment is an American publishing company located in Los Angeles, California. It was originally dedicated to the publication of original English-language manga, but now publishes licensed manga and light novels from Japan, as we ...

Volumes

Anime

television series adaptation was announced on March 13, 2024. The series is produced by

and directed by

Masahiko Ohta is a male Japanese animator, storyboard artist, and animation director. Biography He worked on "Bit the Cupid" and "Hare Tokidoki Buta” at Group TAC before leaving the company in 1998 to start his own business. He has worked in animation and ...

, with Takashi Aoshima writing and supervising scripts, Ayumu Tsujimura designing the characters, and Yasuhiro Misawa composing the music. The series is set to premiere on July 7, 2024, on

Tokyo MX JOMX-DTV, branded as Tokyo MX (officially stylized as TOKYO MX), is an independent television station in Tokyo, Japan, owned by the . It is the only television station that exclusively serves the city. It competes with Nippon TV, TV Asahi, NH ...

and BS NTV. The opening theme "Shikairo Days" is performed by

Megumi Han is a Japanese actress and voice actress employed by Atomic Monkey. She is the daughter of the voice actress Keiko Han. Career In 2008, after a general public call for the movie ''Sakura no Sono'', she made her debut as Satoshi Wada while studyin ...

Saki Fujita is a Japanese voice actress from Tokyo. She sang the ending theme to the anime '' Tokimeki Memorial Only Love'', "Kiseki no Kakera", (奇跡のかけら) along with Yuki Makishima and Yukako Yoshikawa as well as the opening songs for '' Workin ...

, Rui Tanabe, and Fūka Izumi as their respective characters in the Deer Club, while the ending theme "Shika-senbei no Uta" is performed by Han and Fujita as their respective characters. Remow licensed the series and announced worldwide streaming it on

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming and Renting, rental service of Amazon (c ...

, Anime Onegai and

Crunchyroll Crunchyroll is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Sony through a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex. The service primarily distributes films and tel ...

References

External links

* * * * {{Masahiko Ohta Anime and manga set in schools Anime series based on manga Comedy anime and manga Crunchyroll anime Deer and moose in popular culture Kemonomimi Kodansha manga Seven Seas Entertainment titles Shōnen manga Slice of life anime and manga Surreal comedy anime and manga Television series about deer and moose Tokyo MX original programming Wit Studio Yankī anime and manga