My Deer Friend Nokotan - Episode 2 Overview - Duels And Deer Heaven

Episode two of 'My Deer Friend Nokotan' just released. After being able to comfortably recommend the first episode and the series as a whole, here is an article that looks into how the second episode goes, as well as a short review of it.

Warning: the following content may contain spoilers so reader caution is advised.

Introduction Of A New Main Character And Potential Antagonist

The episode starts off with the main lead, Torako Koshi, finding the deer clubhouse in ruin. She had spent the morning working on fixing it up to make it look good, and is understandably very upset. At first she blames the true main character and deer girl, Shikanoko, but then it turns out that there is a third party involved in the wrecking of the clubhouse as kunai are thrown at the two bickering students.

This situation turns the anime away from the slice of life genre, and more towards the action genre, as the two attempt to avoid traps and bait out the assailant.

The antagonist, who was teased in the ending of the first episode, is eventually revealed to be Torako Koshi's younger, obsessive sister, Anko Koshi. She's a character you'd typically find in romance novels. A sibling of one of the protagonists who is overly attached and does whatever they can to sabotage the relationship. In 'My Deer Friend Nokotan' though, this obsessiveness is taken to a degree of the sister being a borderline sociopath.

It also only gets crazier from here.

The Privacy Quiz, And A Peek Into Deer Heaven

Eventually both Anko and Nokotan agree to fight in a fair duel, which turns out to be a quiz show on how well they both know Torako Koshi. While it's only the second episode and Nokotan knows Torako only for a few days, she seems to have almost omnipresent levels of knowledge about her. This, of course, freaks Torako out.

Frustrated by this, Anko attempts to again throw kunais to kill her, but instead catches Torako in the crossfire.

Nokotan jumps in, gets hit in the heart, and we see a small glimpse of deer heaven before she is promptly kicked back down to earth. She realises that it was the deer cracker in her breast pocket which saved her life, and Torako chimes in by saying a deer cracker should not be able to stop a metal blade.

Eventually, Anko and Nokotan set aside their differences when Anko sees that Nokotan is willing to put her life at risk for her friend. They shake hands, and the episode ends with a very exhausted and confused Torako.

Final Thoughts

While there may be some plot elements included in this episode, most episodes of 'My Deer Friend Nokotan' focus on creating parodies of existing tropes from other anime series. Episode two managed to parody action scenes, quiz shows, the obsessive sibling trope, and also had some fun gags along the way.

The episode shows good signs for the consistent humour that may be present in the rest of the series. But there's still no explanation for why Nokotan is a half human, half deer hybrid.