My Deer Friend Nokotan

After the magazine's discontinuation in October 2023, it was transferred to Kodansha's Magazine Pocket manga website in December the same year. An anime television series adaptation produced by Wit Studio aired from July to September 2024.

Torako Koshi, a second-year at Hino Minami High School, maintains a perfect student image to hide her delinquent past. Her life turns chaotic when she meets Noko Shikanoko, a transfer student who is actually a sika deer / human hybrid form. Reluctantly, Torako becomes Noko's guide to human life and leads the newly-formed Deer Club. Nicknamed "Koshi-tan" by Noko, Torako struggles to balance her model student façade with the club's bizarre and psychotic activities. This unlikely friendship challenges Torako's carefully constructed identity and cripples her sanity, which often leads to comical situations as she navigates school life with a deer-girl in tow.

Noko Shikanoko (鹿乃子 のこ, Shikanoko Noko) / Nokotan (のこたん) Voiced by: Megumi Han (Japanese); Trina Deuhart (English) The title character of the series, a deer-girl hybrid and transfer student who starts the school's Deer Club. She possesses unusual abilities, such as being able to remove her antlers and use them in various ways. She seems to have the power to influence others around her (except for Torako), as they do not appear to be bothered by her antics. Either way, even though Noko's abilities and life clearly go beyond normal human ones or even violate the laws of reality, it seems that almost no one except Koshi is worried about it. In the final episode of the anime, it is revealed that she came from an organization called the Deer Hole. Torako Koshi (虎視 虎子, Koshi Torako) / Koshitan (こしたん) Voiced by: Saki Fujita (Japanese); Roo Ryder (English) The main protagonist of the series, Torako is the school's Student Council President at her high school and a former mafia delinquent, although she only tried to act tough most of the time. She tries to put on the image of a dignified, ideal honor student. She later becomes the president of the school's Deer Club, started by Noko, where she and her other friends meet after school. Noko's antics prove to be a serious annoyance to Torako on most occasions, almost to the point of driving her insane. Anko Koshi (虎視 餡子, Koshi Anko) / Koshian (こしあん) Voiced by: Rui Tanabe (Japanese); Sarah Ruth Thomas (English) Torako's psychotic younger sister, who is obsessed with her. Torako is often terrified of Anko, but forces herself to pretend as though Anko's behavior does not affect her. Although it is rarely emphasized deeply, some scenes involving her suggest that she has an open incestuous attraction to her sister. Meme Bashame (馬車芽 めめ, Bashame Meme) / Bashame (ばしゃめ) Voiced by: Fūka Izumi (Japanese); Bay Doxey (English) A freshman who claims she wants to become a deer after being given deer crackers from Noko before the opening ceremony of school. Bashame is obsessed with rice and is always seen eating some or planting rice fields. She also wants to become a deer, like Nokotan. She has illeism, referring to herself as "Bashame".

Neko Nekoyamada (猫山田 根子, Nekoyamada Neko) / Nekochan (ねこちゃん) Voiced by: Yurika Kubo (Japanese); Meagan Johnson (English) The Vice-President of the school's Student Council. She sees Torako as her arch rival, and attempts to abolish the Deer Club and depose Torako from the Student Council but is never successful. She is very short and frequently carries a step stool. Kinu Tanukikōji (狸小路 絹, Tanukikōji Kinu) / Tanuki (たぬき) Voiced by: Rio Tsuchiya (Japanese); Nickolette Kong (English) The neurotic secretary of the Student Council, who tends to overthink and overreact to issues that affect her. Chiharu Tsubameya (燕谷 千春, Tsubameya Chiharu) / Tsubame (つばめ) Voiced by: Chinatsu Akasaki (Japanese); Abby Pasion (English) The treasurer of the Student Council who seems quiet and aloof, but is secretly a big fan of Nokotan and all things deer.

Kyun-chan (キュンちゃん) A Hokkaido tourism mascot from the Deer Hole. He comes to Hino Minami High School to challenge Noko, but loses to Torako. Chikamaru-kun and Hana-chan (ちかまる君とはなちゃん) Two Deer Hole mascots from Ojika, Nagasaki. They come to Hino Minami High School to challenge Noko, but loses to Neko. Sento-kun (せんとくん) The Deer Hole's strongest mascot. He is from Nara City. He is the last mascot to challenge Noko and although he wins, both he and Noko are deemed winners. John Miura (三浦ジョン, Miura John) A researcher who works for the Deer Hole and serves as the host of the final match between Noko and Sento-kun.

Narrator Voiced by: Kōsuke Toriumi (Japanese); Donald Guzzi (English) An unseen narrator who often breaks the fourth wall. Tsunoda (角田) Voiced by: Shinya Takahashi (Japanese); Josh Portillo (English) A deer from the Hino Zoo who sometimes appears in the Deer Club's room. Yoshiharu Tsubameya (燕谷 善治, Tsubameya Yoshiharu) Voiced by: Takuya Eguchi (Japanese); Josh Portillo (English) Chiharu's big brother and the owner and sole barista of the Swallow Cafe. He goes to great extents to try and satisfy his customers. Ukai (鵜飼) Voiced by: Kikuko Inoue Torako and Noko's homeroom teacher, as well as the consultant teacher of the Deer Club. She is very supportive of Noko's antics, much to Torako's frustration and annoyance. Mitsu Inukai (犬養ミツ, Inukai Mitsu) Voiced by: Kikuko Inoue (Japanese); Shakyra Dunn (English) An elderly shrine maiden who hides a demonic side. She is also supportive of Noko. Tsucchi (つっちー) A creature that resembles a ball wrapped in flexible antlers, and acts like a domesticated pet to Neko. It was given its name by Chiharu, and is the pet of the Deer Club. Sōichirō Kumatori Voiced by: Jiro Saito An old-fashioned hunter who comes to the school to hunt down Noko, but leaves following a phone call from his wife and is arrested for illegally carrying a gun. He escapes arrest, but finds himself face to face with one of the Murdeerers from the Deer Hole.

Written and illustrated by Oshioshio, My Deer Friend Nokotan began serialization in Kodansha's shōnen manga magazine Shōnen Magazine Edge on November 15, 2019. After the final issue of the Shōnen Magazine Edge was published on October 17, 2023, the series was transferred to the Magazine Pocket website on December 20 the same year. The series' chapters have been collected in eight tankōbon volumes as of January 2026. The series is licensed in English by Seven Seas Entertainment.

An anime television series adaptation was announced in March 2024. It is produced by Wit Studio and directed by Masahiko Ohta, with Takashi Aoshima writing and supervising scripts, Ayumu Tsujimura designing the characters, and Yasuhiro Misawa composing the music. The series aired from July 7 to September 22, 2024, on Tokyo MX and BS Nittele. The opening theme is "Shikairo Days" (シカ色デイズ; lit. 'Deer-Colored Days') performed by Megumi Han, Saki Fujita, Rui Tanabe, and Fūka Izumi as their respective characters in the Deer Club, while the ending theme is "Shika-senbei no Uta" (シカせんべいのうた; lit. 'The Deer Cracker Song') performed by Han and Fujita as their respective characters. Remow licensed the series and announced worldwide streaming on Amazon Prime Video, Anime Onegai, ADN, Crunchyroll, and Tubi.

Although the work was relatively little known outside of Japan before the anime adaptation, after the show's premiere, first the anime and then the manga went viral and acquired a memetic reputation. In particular, the anime's title trended on TikTok and won several "buzzword" awards due to its rhythmic repetition in the show's opening theme. While the original story initially had some potential of this as a gag comedy, the staff of the anime adaptation admitted to being shocked by the speed of development and the scale of its popularity.