My Deer Friend Nokotan

Episode 9

I'm getting this My Deer Friend Nokotan review a little later than usual. The U.S. showing of Kizumonogatari: Koyomi Vamp was tonight only, and ya boy was not about to miss that. The Monogatari comeback these past couple of months with Off & Monster Season has already been a delight for a degenerate fan of the franchise such as myself. And I missed the original Kizu's run in theaters over here, so the compilation film of films was an effective choice for a second chance at that experience. I'd go so far as to say it's an effective way to check out that story or even introduce yourself to the franchise, if you've ever been curious. Not that it's convenient anymore, given its aforementioned one-night-only nature. Still, Koyomi Vamp comes wholly recommended, critically.

Oh right, criticism, I'm supposed to be reviewing Nokotan here tonight! Well, it was no struggle against vampires, vampire hunters, and the desire to maintain one's own humanity, but Koshi sure was facing a crisis this week. The show's sliding timescale brought the Deer Club to spring, in time for the sports festival. Sure, Koshi tries to circumvent the usual comedy pratfalls, but she's apparently unfamiliar with the perils of tempting fate, and things inevitably go wrong for her anyway. It's very similar to Koyomi tempting fate by running out in the middle of the night to buy a porno mag and being confronted with his grisly choice to give himself over to save the vampire Kiss-Shot Acerola-Orion Heart-Under-Blade!

That's one neat trick Kizumonogatari plays as a prequel. It's easy to presume, coming in as audience members officially are meant to in Bakemonogatari, that this represents some just-occurrent uplifting move in Koyomi's character development. Perhaps it was a lesson he learned over spring break that motivated him to try to save people like Senjougahara? But Koyomi Vamp makes clear that, in spite of his many, many other foibles, Araragi has always been possessed of this self-sacrificing nature. This is instead a story about the blurring of his moral lines, teaching him that answers aren't always as simple as saving someone or resolving to die for them. Sometimes you've just got to accept living miserably as the lesser evil, not as atonement, but because dying is always going to represent someone taking the coward's way out.

Wait, no, the sports festival in Nokotan! I can understand how I keep getting confused—this episode of My Deer Friend features the school getting torn up by the festival, similar to all the chaos that goes down at the cram school in Kizumonogatari. Less deer in the latter, sure, but I put it to you that deer in Nokotan are unto supernatural creatures just like the various gods, monsters, and immortals that populate the Monogatari series. Is Shikanoko's regular turn as some dynamic deer deity not unlike Nadeko's role as a snake god in Monogatari Second Season? Comparisons between these franchises are thematically warranted I argue, which is why I'll use the next several paragraphs to detail how Anko's uncouth crush on her sister in Nokotan makes an effective contrast to the incestuous incitations irregularly glimpsed in Monogatari. Point the first—

Really, this was an alright episode of Nokotan. Koshi specifically trying to pre-empt any shenanigans is a bit that's only slightly less played out in shows of this nature than having said shenanigans occur in the first place. But the tenor of how her attempts failed resonated with me, as someone who's learned time and again never to tempt the irony gods. It also works because it reinforces the side of Koshi that does care, to some degree, about serving as a successful student council president (to say nothing of actually showing her in that role, which the series otherwise seems to forget about irregularly).

It's also a setup that lets a whole host of previous incidental characters come out of the woodwork to contribute to a variety of bits without overstaying their welcome. This was probably the most amused I'd ever been by Tanukikoji's whole deal! They even brought Tsucchi back, something I said I hoped would happen immediately after that unholy antler abomination's last and only appearance.

The pacing of Nokotan at this point actually feels aware enough of what it's doing for its more indulgent jokes to land. There's a brilliant bit partway through where the cheerleading competition section is represented as a montage of stills, except that only six images total are used across the whole segment, just with extra-long, slowed pan-overs. It goes on just the right amount of time, keeps you guessing just long enough for each scene change that the absurdity of it properly lands. Also, the tiny cheering Nokotan is pretty cute. There is a bit of more typical padding in the material by the end, but the episode wraps on a pretty good punchline that might represent something of a status quo shift for this show, if this show had a status quo. Still, the implication that everyone else in the story is simply too stupid to understand or be bothered by Koshi's barely concealed delinquent nature was a pretty great note to end on. It's not on the level of the personal catharsis Koyomi Araragi reaches by the end of his vampire weekend, but it's entertaining regardless.

Rating: Bambi II

My Deer Friend Nokotan is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Chris doesn't want to burn any decent deer puns in the footer here, lest he need to use them in the reviews over the coming weeks. If you're really craving any extra aside goofiness, why not check out his Twitter or his blog? I think I saw some jokes on there the other day.