Bashame Enrolls
Episode 3 of My Deer Friend Nokotan begins with Koshi arriving at the Deer Club. There, Koshi discovers a deer inside and wonders what’s going on. The deer starts eating the club’s deer crackers and this angers Koshi. Koshi asks Nokotan if she brought this deer to the club, but Nokotan isn’t present. Koshi wonders if the deer is Nokotan in disguise.
She demands Nokotan to revert to her human form. The deer doesn’t budge so Koshi tries removing the potential deer costume but the deer kicks Koshi out of the clubroom. Koshi returns to the club later with drinks. Koshi still believes Nokotan is the deer and tries using her drink to entice Nokotan to remove this outfit. The deer ignores Koshi and starts eating Manjiro, a houseplant she raised.
Koshi yells at the deer and the deer starts making weird noises to intimidate her. Koshi places a water bottle in front of the deer. The narrator says Nokotan fears bottles filled with water so Koshi thinks this will convince Nokotan to reveal herself. The deer doesn’t show any fear so Koshi takes out her embarrassing notebook.
Still thinking it’s Nokotan, Koshi says she’ll let Nokotan see what she wrote inside it if Nokotan returns to her original form. This catches the deer’s interest. Koshi performs the song and dance number that comes with it. After that, the real Nokotan appears behind Koshi, making Koshi realize she’s been dealing with a normal deer this whole time.
Nokotan chats with the deer and tells Koshi it fled the Hino Zoo. She believes their club’s deer crackers encouraged the deer to visit their club. Nokotan picks up Koshi’s embarrassing notebook, reads it, and asks Koshi to perform the rest of her song. Eventually, the random deer departs. Some time passes. The narrator says Koshi has entered her third year of school.
Then, we see Koshi and Nokotan return to their club. There, they spot a girl named Bashame. Bashame tells Koshi she wants to become Nokotan’s apprentice, much to Koshi’s disappointment. We enter a flashback that explains why Bashame admires Nokotan.
Before the entrance ceremony, Bashame was lying on the ground. She desperately wanted something to eat. Nokotan notices Bashame and hands her a deer cracker. Bashame asks Nokotan to tell Bashame her name but Nokotan refuses. While eating the deer cracker at the school’s entrance ceremony, Bashame says she wanted to be like Nokotan. Nokotan asks Bashame if she’s willing to become a deer. Bashame says she does.
Nokotan explains what Bashame needs to do to accomplish her goal. Then, we cut away to Anko. Anko says she graduated from middle school. Also, Anko is excited that she and Koshi attend the same school now. Moreover, Anko confirms she joined the Deer Club to be closer to Koshi. Anko arrives at the Deer Club and spots Bashame and Koshi in an erotic situation.
Matters get intense between the trio as we cut away to Nokotan smiling on the rooftop. The narrator congratulates Nokotan for acquiring two new Deer Club members. Later, we see Koshi going for a stroll and reflecting on the Deer Club’s progress. Koshi returns to the club and notices everyone’s doing lazy things. She holds a Deer Club meeting.
Koshi warns Bashame, Anko, and Nokotan people will perceive them as a lazy club if they don’t change. She asks Nokotan to share her goals. Nokotan doesn’t have incredible goals to share, so Koshi asks Bashame to discuss her goals. Bashame says she’d like to create a rice field and Koshi doesn’t like that idea.
As for Anko, she wants to be eerily close to Koshi. This frightens Koshi. Koshi says she wants to make the Deer Club cuter. Nokotan argues her goals are the least relevant. Nokotan tells Koshi they should focus on Nokotan and Bashame’s goals since they’re deer-related. Additionally, Nokotan reminds Koshi the Deer Club’s agenda is to take care of deer, particularly Nokotan. Nokotan tells Koshi if matters don’t improve, she will leave the club.
Next, Nokotan shows Koshi her brush and convinces Koshi to brush her. Bashame and Anko observe Koshi brushing Nokotan. Bashame demands Koshi brush her next since it may help her achieve her deer goals. Irritated, Anko tells Koshi she wants to become a deer.
Anko argues she deserves to be brushed more than Nokotan and Bashame. As more humorous chatter ensues, a trio of girls observes Koshi and the others from a window.
The episode closes with this unnamed group observing Anko, Nokotan, and the others’ hilarious actions.
The Episode Review
After releasing two unhinged chapters of My Deer Friend Nokotan, Wit Studios opted for a more tame route with this third episode. That’s not to say the content presented in this one wasn’t bonkers like the others. However, the third chapter’s material felt more tame in comparison to what the previous episodes included.
Yet, episode 3 was still a joy to watch. From Koshi’s slight nod to Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man 3 dance to Bashame’s deer goals, fans will enjoy most of the amusing references and gags in this one.
At the same time, there are some things in this episode that’ll make fans worry about the show’s future. For instance, Anko’s sister-complex may not resonate well with everyone. Many can see her character’s schtick getting old swiftly. The same argument can be made for Bashame’s deer goals and dialogue. Hopefully, Wit Studios and Oshioshio (the series’s creator) will prove critics wrong in future releases.
Additionally, this episode alludes to our Deer Club members developing a rivalry with another club at the school. Depending on how Wit Studios and Oshioshio handle this concept, this could spark great or poor results.
All in all, this was an enjoyable chapter of My Deer Friend Nokotan. It’s not as fantastic as the first and second episodes, but this one has some satisfying moments.
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