The editorial team at "Magazine Pocket" (Magapoke), which serializes the original manga "My Deer Friend Nokotan," announced that the first volume would be made available for free until the 14th in response to the overwhelming reaction to the TV anime that started airing on the 3rd. They noted that the series is "becoming a social phenomenon."

The opening theme "Shika Iro Days" is a character song sung by the Shika Club members Noko Shikanoko (CV: Megumi Han), Torako Koshi (CV: Saki Fujita), Anzu Koshi (CV: Rui Tanabe), and Mememe Bashame (CV: Fuka Izumi). On TikTok, the intro repeating "Shikanoko no kono ko ko ko shitan tan" went viral with a video of Torako Koshi (Koshtan) dancing, reaching 10 million views and over 800,000 likes, making it a trending new song.

The opening video released this time features the four members of the Shika Club dancing cutely to the phrase "Shikanoko no kono ko ko ko shitan tan". It has a chaotic feel with real deer appearing at various points, while still evoking the pop style of Heisei-era anime. The ending video, unveiled ahead of the ABEMA pre-release, features the ending theme "Shika Senbei Song". The live-action footage in the background of the marching Nokotan and friends was filmed at an actual deer senbei factory in Nara Prefecture. The video provides an educational look at the production process of deer senbei, deepening the viewers' understanding of deer.

The series follows Torako Koshi, a high school girl attending Tokyo Metropolitan Hinominami High School. One day on her way to school, she feels something cold hit her face. Looking up, she sees a girl with a runny nose and antlers stuck in a power line, unable to move. After rescuing the clumsy girl with strange 'antlers', Noko Shikanoko, Torako Koshi's life, which she has carefully maintained as an honor student (on the surface), begins to unravel... This is a girl-meets-deer(?) story about a former delinquent girl meeting a deer(?).

In response to this, George Morikawa, the author of "Hajime no Ippo," expressed his amazement on X (formerly Twitter), saying, "I was stunned after watching the first episode of 'My Deer Friend Nokotan.' I was in shock even while watching it. What is this? Who is it for? I was so surprised I looked it up and found it's serialized in Magapoke. So, a colleague's work… How should I handle the second episode?" He also revealed his newfound obsession by posting an illustration of Ippo turned into a deer.

Source : ORICON NEWS