Warning: Contains spoilers for My Deer Friend Nokotan episode #1.It was already known that Crunchyroll’s new hit comedy anime My Deer Friend Nokotan was going to be an utterly bizarre series well before its debut. In addition to the generally surrealist nature of its story, Wit Studio always tried to market it in increasingly odd ways including, but not limited to, a live-action news parody and a one-hour loop of the theme song that went viral.

Wit Studio’s My Deer Friend Nokotan did not attempt to hide its surrealist and absurdist nature in the lead-up to its premiere, and the actual show is somehow even weirder. The series recently made its official debut in the summer 2024 anime lineup, and just going off of episode #1, My Deer Friend Nokotan’s writing, animation, and direction make it out to be utterly absurd to a degree that the promotional material couldn’t begin to capture.

It’s more than living up to the hype, and it’s poised to become one of the best anime of the season because of it.

My Deer Friend Nokotan Is One Of The Weirdest Anime In Years

Anime series by Wit Studio; Based on the manga by Oshioshio

The absurdity of My Deer Friend Nokotan featured in its promotional material is on full display in the anime, but it somehow takes things even further. My Deer Friend Nokotan’s dialogue, for example, is always filled with incredible comedy from the characters, whether it’s through references, people saying completely nonsensical things that force Torako to be the straight man, or breaking the fourth wall to the point that the narrator becomes a character. It gives the show a lot more than just being absurd for the sake of absurdity, and it’s already working out incredibly well for it.

The animation and direction also do wonders for selling the comedy. The direction for My Deer Friend Nokotan always works to emphasize the comedy with its music and clever camerawork. The scene of Nokotan entering Torako’s classroom with ominous chanting and highly-detailed destruction is a particular standout, and the fluidity of the animation courtesy of Wit Studio adds even more to that quality. Overall, My Deer Friend Nokotan is doing everything it can to bring out the full potential of its absurdity, and that makes it even better to watch than what the trailers suggested.

Will My Deer Friend Nokotan Be Summer 2024’s Breakout Anime?

My Deer Friend Nokotan’s writing and direction have done a great job of taking its absurdist nature even further than what the trailers implied, and that begs the question of whether it will be the breakout hit of the summer. The series was already popular before it debuted thanks to its viral marketing, so My Deer Friend Nokotan is already drawing more attention than other new anime of the season. This unfortunately includes the controversy about the use of AI for the translation of the series. That being said, there’s a chance that My Deer Friend Nokotan might not maintain its current level of popularity.

Not only are pure comedies hard to sell in any medium, but the summer 2024 anime season is filled with more traditionally mainstream shows like Oshi no Ko, Tower of God, and Suicide Squad Isekai, and because of that, My Deer Friend Nokotan could easily fall to the wayside. With how wonderfully bizarre My Deer Friend Nokotan is, though, that hopefully won’t be the case and it will stand out among the biggest hits of the season on Crunchyroll and beyond.

My Deer Friend Nokotan releases new episodes Sundays on Crunchyroll.