Who Is Oshioshio, Author of "My Deer Friend Nokotan"? Is She Active on X (Twitter)?

This article provides comprehensive information about Oshioshio, the author of the popular gag manga "My Deer Friend Nokotan," which is currently serialized on Kodansha’s web comic distribution service, Magazine Pocket.

It covers an overview of her career, her past works, and whether she has an X (formerly Twitter) account. If you discovered her through the "My Deer Friend Nokotan" anime and don’t know much about Oshioshio, be sure to read on!

About "My Deer Friend Nokotan"

Torako “Koshitan” Koshi, a high school girl hiding a wild delinquent past, has become known as a model honors student. The story begins when, on her way to school, she helps Noko “Nokotan” Shikanoko, an odd girl who has deer antlers growing from her head. From this day forward, Torako is forced to join the "Deer Club" which Nokotan, the new transfer student, has founded. She ends up being assigned as Nokotan’s caretaker and gets swept up in all sorts of animal-related mischief...!?

With this prologue, "My Deer Friend Nokotan" unfolds as a beautiful-girl gag manga characterized by its surreal humor. Originally published in "Shonen Magazine Edge" (Kodansha), it began serialization on the webcomic service "Magazine Pocket" after the magazine ceased publication. As of June 2025, seven collected volumes have been released. According to Oshioshio, her intention was to have it adapted into an anime from the very start—so much so that an anime offer came from the editorial department soon after the first volume was released, attracting industry attention.

With the anime starting its broadcast in July 2024, the show quickly became a huge hit, helped by the breakout popularity of its opening theme song "Shika-iro Days" on social media platforms like TikTok and YouTube. The song performed solidly in sales, ranking #2 on the Billboard JAPAN Download Songs weekly chart and #2 on the Oricon Digital Single (single track) weekly chart, earning widespread acclaim and attention.

Who Is Oshioshio, Author of "My Deer Friend Nokotan"? What's Her Gender?

What Is Oshioshio’s Gender?

Oshioshio is a female illustrator and manga artist originally from Kanagawa Prefecture. Her gender is confirmed: she has been called “Oshio Mama” by VTubers for whom she has designed characters and has appeared on streams where she revealed her voice.

What Did Oshioshio Study at University?

Her career up to her professional debut is detailed in several interviews, where she says, “Since I’ve always loved drawing, I entered an art university.” While there, she mainly studied design and photography, keeping drawing as a hobby. This was because she felt others at art school were more talented, making her doubt her own suitability for an art-related career.

Her alma mater is not specified, but in an interview related to the "My Deer Friend Nokotan" anime, she said, “The university I attended is over there (referring to Hino City, Tokyo),” indicating it’s likely one of the art universities in western Tokyo, such as Musashino Art University, Tama Art University, or Tokyo Zokei University.

What Was Her Path from Graduation to Professional Debut?

After graduating from art university, Oshioshio joined an advertising company but realized that office life didn’t suit her, so she left after about a year. She then decided, “Drawing is the only thing I’ve continued throughout my life, so I’ll give myself a one-year deadline to pursue it, and if I don’t make it, I’ll give up.” For that year, she dedicated herself to drawing, sharing her work on Twitter (now X) and pixiv, and producing doujinshi.

As a result, within a year she was contacted by a publisher and debuted as a manga artist. Interestingly, she originally aspired to be an illustrator and had almost no experience in manga, only having drawn a little for doujinshi.

So when the offer came, she was totally stunned—“it was like a deer in headlights,” she jokes (meaning she was extremely surprised)—but thought, “If I’m being offered work, I should give it a try.” Although she struggled at first, she discovered she enjoyed coming up with stories, which is why she continues as a manga artist, as she recounted in interviews.

Is Oshioshio Active on X (Twitter)?

As mentioned above, Oshioshio has been active on X (formerly Twitter) since before her professional debut. Recently, after the airing of the final episode of the "My Deer Friend Nokotan" anime, she posted a long tweet titled, "Upon Completion of the My Deer Friend Nokotan Anime Broadcast."

In addition, she frequently posts progress updates on the "My Deer Friend Nokotan" manga, retweets about merchandise, and sends birthday messages to anime voice actors. If you are interested, it’s worth checking out her account.

What Works Has Oshioshio Created?

Manga Works

Oshioshio’s scope of work is extensive. Her professional debut manga was "Kamisama to Quintet" (Houbunsha, 2 volumes), serialized in "Manga Time Kirara" from 2014-2016. Around the same time, she also serialized "Sakura Maimai" (3 volumes) in "Monthly Comic Alive" and "Comic Cune" (both by KADOKAWA) from 2014-2018, and since 2019, she has been working on "My Deer Friend Nokotan" for Kodansha.

Light Novels

She has provided illustrations for many light novels: in 2016, "Himesama, Sekai Horobukara Gohan Tabe Ikimasu yo!" (written by Noboru Okazaki, KADOKAWA, 2 volumes); in 2017, "Isekaidou no Mia: Omochikaeri wa Ajin Maid desu ka?" (written by Kouta Amana, Takarajimasha, 1 volume) and "Ore no Tachiichi wa Koko janai!" (written by Sei Utsuta, Shogakukan, 2 volumes); and since 2023, she has illustrated the covers and inserts for "Gokumon Nadeshiko Koko ni Ari" (written by Nanao Fushimi, Shogakukan, 4 volumes and counting).

VTuber Character Design

As previously mentioned, Oshioshio has also designed VTuber characters, designing Kanata Amane of Hololive since 2019 and Kirame Sorahoshi of Nijisanji since 2020.

She is famously known for resolutely refusing requests from these two VTubers to make their breasts larger. When another VTuber once tried to secretly draw larger-breasted parts for Kanata Amane on stream, Oshioshio jokingly threatened, “I’ll sue!”—which became a talking point among fans.

Conclusion

This has been a summary of information on Oshioshio, author of "My Deer Friend Nokotan." Although the anime broadcast has ended, the manga serialization is ongoing, so let's look forward to future developments of "My Deer Friend Nokotan" and eagerly anticipate whatever new works Oshioshio creates next!

(C) おしおしお・講談社／日野南高校シカ部

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