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EP. REVIEW: My Deer Friend Nokotan


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ab2143



Joined: 09 Jan 2021
Posts: 753
PostPosted: Tue Jul 16, 2024 2:01 pm Reply with quote
I think the reviews will be more entertaining than the show.

As a comedy fan, I've been a bit disappointed so far. I was hoping it would be as silly as Nichijou
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Farafra



Joined: 29 Jan 2021
Posts: 132
PostPosted: Tue Jul 16, 2024 2:13 pm Reply with quote
So did Amazon get the exclusive rights to the English dub? Because that would explain why it sounds so low quality.
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Glordit



Joined: 11 Sep 2020
Posts: 643
PostPosted: Tue Jul 16, 2024 3:13 pm Reply with quote
Farafra wrote:
So did Amazon get the exclusive rights to the English dub? Because that would explain why it sounds so low quality.


Probably through RENOW, they also did the Oi Tonbo dub, which also (according to a lot of people) had a substandard dub.

Additionally, CR finally fixed the subtitles for the first episode.
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Brack



Joined: 15 Oct 2005
Posts: 291
Location: UK
PostPosted: Thu Jul 18, 2024 2:58 am Reply with quote
What is it with ANN reviewers treating absurdist comedy anime as an excuse to turn their column into their open mic set? Is it an editorial stance or do they all reach it independently?
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tintor2



Joined: 11 Aug 2010
Posts: 2105
PostPosted: Sun Jul 21, 2024 12:58 pm Reply with quote
This is the Pop Team Epic nostalgia I've been searching for in anime and ANN reviews. Sorry though for the reviewers' health.

Quote:
What is it with ANN reviewers treating absurdist comedy anime as an excuse to turn their column into their open mic set? Is it an editorial stance or do they all reach it independently?

It's something common in the website when animes become too random like last year's Bleach or that time Pop Team Epic just had no idea what to do. Also, who could forget Exarm?
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bassgs435



Joined: 21 Mar 2015
Posts: 360
PostPosted: Sun Jul 21, 2024 1:55 pm Reply with quote
In terms of these kinda reviews, Fruit of Evolution is also worth mentioning
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Gan_HOPE326



Joined: 16 Aug 2015
Posts: 34
PostPosted: Mon Jul 22, 2024 12:44 pm Reply with quote
Brack wrote:
What is it with ANN reviewers treating absurdist comedy anime as an excuse to turn their column into their open mic set? Is it an editorial stance or do they all reach it independently?


I mean, what are they even supposed to say? Other shows can invite reflection or serious analysis and criticism. This one is openly silly and mostly just fine, and was carried to fame by ascending to meme status even before airing. It's not really that surprising that people joke around, there's just not a lot to review otherwise beyond "there were deer jokes, it made me chuckle a few times".
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Otohiko



Joined: 08 Jul 2024
Posts: 31
PostPosted: Mon Jul 22, 2024 1:25 pm Reply with quote
ab2143 wrote:
As a comedy fan, I've been a bit disappointed so far. I was hoping it would be as silly as Nichijou


Same. I think one thing that really hurts the comedy here is that it's trying a little TOO hard to keep a cohesive story going, which means it has to spend a lot of time between gags building those plot connections. It might seem like a weird complaint to have, since normally you'd WANT plot and development, but I feel like this would have worked better by just having sketches where you gradually get to know the story and characters through recurring themes, not by trying to keep a continuous plot going through all the absurdity. Nichijou does that brilliantly, and gets away with some truly weird and wacky sketches by keeping them rapid-fire, always knowing when to jump to the next segment and move on. Nokotan just dwells on things a bit too long, and the long set-ups aren't always worth the punchlines they're setting up for (or worse, kind of ruin the punchline by the time it arrives). There's some fun off-the-wall jokes here, but it feels like the show is taking itself more seriously than it should.
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WatcherZer



Joined: 29 Dec 2016
Posts: 301
PostPosted: Mon Jul 22, 2024 7:38 pm Reply with quote
Reviewer didn't even mention the great Total Recall gag.

https://youtu.be/-KFH--_cdiI?si=1JOz71O1fmGTvp7H&t=131
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Covnam



Joined: 31 May 2005
Posts: 3815
PostPosted: Mon Jul 22, 2024 9:30 pm Reply with quote
I think I'll give it another week or two, but as a comedy this is mostly missing the mark for me. There's a good joke here and there, but I'm also finding myself checking the time on the clock.
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Gina Szanboti



Joined: 03 Aug 2008
Posts: 11580
PostPosted: Tue Jul 23, 2024 1:53 am Reply with quote
I wonder if John Deere's "American Farmer" is a video game version of International Harvester's board game "Farm Management"? (the video game was published by Destineer. Hmm...)
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tintor2



Joined: 11 Aug 2010
Posts: 2105
PostPosted: Tue Jul 23, 2024 7:04 am Reply with quote
I guess this episode introduced already introduced all mentally insane protagonists. Honeslty, the bluehaired girl surpassed Yuri from Spy x Family by this much in terms of siscon. Still, at least we had one episode without a v!rg!n!t! comment. There was a preview where they used a real newsbroadcast alongside a deer cosplayer. Wonder if it will be used in episode 4 like the Spiderman 3 dance
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Gan_HOPE326



Joined: 16 Aug 2015
Posts: 34
PostPosted: Tue Jul 23, 2024 7:13 am Reply with quote
tintor2 wrote:
I guess this episode introduced already introduced all mentally insane protagonists. Honeslty, the bluehaired girl surpassed Yuri from Spy x Family by this much in terms of siscon. Still, at least we had one episode without a v!rg!n!t! comment. There was a preview where they used a real newsbroadcast alongside a deer cosplayer. Wonder if it will be used in episode 4 like the Spiderman 3 dance


But did she surpass Kyoichiro from Mission Yozakura Family?

(really, if I had a penny for every spy-themed anime centered around a family that features an aggressively jealous brother I'd have two pennies, which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice)
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Greed1914



Joined: 28 Oct 2007
Posts: 4609
PostPosted: Tue Jul 23, 2024 10:55 am Reply with quote
Farafra wrote:
So did Amazon get the exclusive rights to the English dub? Because that would explain why it sounds so low quality.


I don't know about the quality since I haven't seen it, but a vtuber was doing a watchalong of the English version, and I was confused how that was happening when it was sub-only on CR. I didn't know that it was on multiple services.
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TheReticent



Joined: 24 May 2024
Posts: 11
PostPosted: Tue Jul 23, 2024 2:09 pm Reply with quote
I agree the episode reviews will be more enjoyable than the show itself, which I don't seem to be alone in thinking it a bit of a letdown. When I heard it was a surreal comedy, I expected more Teekyu levels of absurdity. I made it 7 minutes into ep. 3 before bowing out.

The show is in an awkward spot where the characters aren't compelling enough for emotional investment, it's not visually interesting, the humor isn't particularly witty, and the pace is too slow to recover from a flat joke. It's just mediocre all around.

Though in the second episode I did laugh at Nokotan ascending to heaven while the tune 'Nearer, My God, to Thee' plays. How many people in Japan are actually going to know that song?
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