Newtype exclusive interview: My Deer Friend Nokotan Megumi Han as Noko Shikanoko × Saki Fujita as Torako Koshi

Follow Your Heart, Not Your Horns!

My Deer Friend Nokotan charges into chaos!

The much-talked-about comedic anime My Deer Friend Nokotan first blew up a storm when its opening theme loop video dropped prior to the show's broadcast, and continues to be a topic even now well into its run. This “Girl Meets Deer” story begins with the fateful encounter of two (?) high school girls (?), a mysterious girl with deer antlers, Noko Shikanoko (or “Nokotan”), and a former-delinquent-turned-honor-student Torako Koshi (or “Koshitan”), and things only escalate as more silly friends join the bunch. Among them are two new students and new members of the school's Deer Club: Anko, Koshitan's yandere little sister whose love for her big sister knows no bounds, and Meme Bashame, a hopeful deer-in-the-making who looks up to Nokotan. However, the cute-but-sinister hands of the members of the student council (of which Koshitan is the president) are about to reach out to the Deer Club…!

We sat with voice actors Megumi Han (in the role of Nokotan) and Saki Fujita (in the role of Koshitan) to discuss this slapstick bishojo comedy with its in-your-face jokes and oddly realistic deer. Along with many laughs, the two spoke passionately about their thoughts and feelings toward the project so near and deer to their hearts.

We'd be nowhere without Koshitan "playing straight man" in comedy

──What were your initial impressions of this work?

Fujita: When I read the original manga, I was laughing hysterically from beginning to end. The character designs and art style are so cute, but every moment is pure chaos. Watching poor Koshitan having to play the “straight man” (or tsukkomi) in all these ridiculous situations, I couldn't help laughing and feeling bad for her at the same time.

Han: The first thing I thought was “this is crazy.” But I also felt like it truly starts and ends with Koshitan. She's speaking the whole time, either through dialogue or internal monologue. She's really the glue that holds it all together.

Fujita: But we wouldn't be anywhere without Nokotan, either. It's a “Girl Meets Deer” story, after all. But you're right that Koshitan is always speaking. Especially in the beginning when there were still only a few characters, she reacts to every single thing that happens. During recording, I thought I was going to pop a blood vessel. The human body isn't built to react to joke after joke after joke like that for thirty-plus minutes (laughs).

──Fujita, do you often play the “straight man” even in your daily life?

Fujita: I do. When someone says something funny or ridiculous I feel a sense of duty to pick up on it. And I think my reactions have always been pretty exaggerated, too. If someone reacts at 100, then my reaction is 200. I think that habit came in handy with my acting this time.

Han: Saki (Fujita) was born with a “Koshitan” constitution (laughs). But outside of her acting I don't think her reactions are overly exaggerated. When I'm with her, I can feel the depth of her love and her receptiveness to everything.

──Would you say Koshitan's “straight man” role was somewhat relieved as the story progressed?

Fujita: That's right. After Neko Nekoyamada appeared in the story, she began to shoulder a small portion of the tsukkomi work for me. A lot of the load was taken off after that, to the point that I actually started to feel like, “I don't have as much to do…”

Han: Even if her role as “straight man” lessened, Koshitan still has a lot of lines, though (laughs). But I feel like now there are more moments where she's just like a normal high school girl.

Fujita: Yasunori Ebina, the sound director actually did say “Koshitan has started to look like a normal high school girl.” That made me a little sad. I want Koshitan to give it her all even when she's in a pitiful position and continue to play the “straight man” character.

──Fujita, how would you describe Koshitan's character?

Fujita: I think she is a regular high school girl. She used to be a delinquent, but now she works hard to be an honor student, class representative, and student body president. She's a multifaceted character. But she has a lot of common sense and is incredibly human. I wanted to be sure to express both sides of her character in my performance.

──Did you have a particular method to your tsukkomi?

Fujita: I did. I felt that if I didn't have a proper sense of range in my reactions, then my performance would be one-dimensional and fall flat, so I tried to get creative according to the situation.

──Tell us your impressions of Nokotan.

Han: Nokotan… Well, she's a deer. I think that if a deer were to be interested in humans and become able to freely converse with them, then it would probably be just like her. At the same time I feel like she is a character who can't exist by herself. It's encountering and interacting with others that makes her become interesting. So I tried not to do too much to prep for the role beforehand and focused more on going with the atmosphere in the recording studio. During the recording I did my best to keep my antennae up and carefully pick up the vibes when delivering my lines.

Fujita: I also think of Nokotan as a deer. It's because she's a deer that she can be so free. When I see her I think, “ah, another peaceful day in the world...”

──Nokotan is surrounded by people who love her.

Han: She sure is. Hehe (laughs).

Fujita: It's strange. Koshitan is working so hard and the only one who loves her is her crazy little sister Anko.

Han: But, hey, the love she receives from Anko is actually so great that it evens out, right? They're both receiving the same amount of love in total.

Fujita: You have a point. Wow, I changed my mind so fast… I guess I'm easily swayed just like Koshitan… (laughs).

──What were your impressions when you got to view the animation?

Fujita: When we were recording, they had pretty much finished animating the first three episodes, so visually there were no surprises… but the sound design definitely surprised me. I especially laughed at all the sound effects that used the word for deer, “shika.”

Han: Whenever I heard “shika” it made the animation appear sacred somehow. What an amazing power. Also compared to the version of the animation we saw during recording, the CGI deer had such realistic fur. I was so surprised when I saw it on air.

──Were there any scenes during recording that you especially had to give your all?

Han: All of them. With an anime like this, you always have to be on your toes. Even in the calmer scenes I had to give my performance my all. I was always on the ready, making sure to keep conscious of Nokotan's character. I went head-on into the recording without relaxing for even a moment.

Fujita: I had a particularly tough time with the scene in episode 3 where Koshitan sings her original song. I had received four pages of script ahead of time with the lyrics and they had also prepared the footage in advance. But the melody they left totally up to me. I had to watch back the footage more times than I ever have in my career to make sure my singing matched up with the animation.

──What was your focal point when recording the song?

Fujita: I wanted the song to make people cringe when they watched it. Everyone has a cringy song they wrote themselves when they were in middle school, right? I wanted to recreate that. When I saw the finished product I was so embarrassed and felt secondhand embarrassment for Koshitan too, so I have to say I did a pretty good job.

──Last but not least, what is the best way to enjoy this anime in your opinion?

Han: Don't think, just follow your heart.

Fujita: The more fun you have with it, the better. I think it's definitely more fun if you immerse yourself in its world rather than try to resist it. I hope viewers enjoy seeing the characters' laughter, even if spears are falling or shards of glass are piercing them.

Han: Also, it's the kind of “go with the flow” type of show that you can start watching from any episode. So it's not too late to start watching even now. My Deer Friend Nokotan happily welcomes any and all kinds of people (laughs).

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