LogFAQs > #968673613

85. Komi Cant Communicate
https://myanimelist.net/anime/48926/Komi-san_wa_Comyushou_desu
Fall 2021 (12 episodes), Spring 2022 (12 episodes)
My Score: 7/10, MAL Score: 7.99/10 S1, 8.14/10 S2
Best Character: Komi Shouko

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHlx3rx5Bew

Premise: Tadano Hitohito hoped to get along with everyone in his new class, but sitting beside the quiet beauty Komi Shouko makes everyone jealous of him instead. Once he realizes Komi is actually painfully shy, however, Tadano resolves to help her make friends.

The Good: Komi Can't Communicate is a slice-of-life comedy about a shy girl, a relatively normal guy, and a class full of eccentric characters. I liked Komi a lot. She has two modes with distinct art styles. One is what most people see, a cool and beautiful girl. The other is how she feels inside, her eyes wide with constant terror. Komi may seem self-assured, the type who doesn't talk to other people because she knows she's better than them, but in reality she has crippling social anxiety that makes it impossible to speak. She desires friendship but is too scared to interact with anyone. She's an interesting character, and her frequent shy moments are really cute. Her relationship with Tadano is sweet, too. I enjoyed watching her slowly make friends, though I only liked a few of the side characters. I preferred the ones who had their own quirks unrelated to Komi. Most of them came in the superior second season, like the narcissistic Naruse or the two girls Komi partnered with on the school trip. As for the bad ones, well, see below.

The Bad: The Komi/Tadano relationship in KCC is amazing. Sadly, the anime mostly focuses on Komi befriending her classmates, and a lot of them suck. Yamai is a perverted yandere who doesn't fit the tone of the show. Nothing about her or her interactions with anyone is funny, it's just her lusting after Komi over and over. Agari wants to be Komi's dog and get bossed around. A lot of the guys just want to admire Komi from a respectful distance, which means they bully Tadano for getting too close to her. Basically, I disliked any of the jokes or situations where they treat Komi as a god (and I mean that literally. They voted her Class God because Class President wasn't good enough). I related with Komi's shyness a lot and her attempts to open up to people. I just preferred the characters who didn't put her on such a high pedastal. They were also way too mean to Tadano most of the time.

Overall: Komi Can't Commumicate is what I consider the second-most realistic anime about social anxiety. I couldn't relate to the adoration Komi received, and maybe that's why I mostly disliked those parts. There are still plenty of great moments where she's being cute and shy, however. Her growing relationship with Tadano was always sweet, and the second season introduced better side characters than the first one had. It was tough to decide which to rank higher between this and Hitoribocchi, another anime about a shy girl trying to befriend her class. In the end, I decided Komi has more depth as a character, as I'll cover below.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/6/2/4/AAcDcBAADxXQ.png

CHARACTER: Komi Shouko (Komi Cant Communicate)
https://myanimelist.net/character/141790/Shouko_Komi
Voiced by: Koga Aoi
TOP 100 RANK: 73rd

SPOILERS FOR KOMI CANT COMMUNICATE

VIDEO LINK (from end of first episode): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIF_m0QLo70

The scene I linked to above is easily the best moment in the entire anime. The subtitles in that video aren't great and miss a lot of the written text (not that the official Netflix subs are that much better) but it still gets across the emotion of that moment. Komi finally gets to talk to someone. Overcoming her social anxiety by writing things down, her and Tadano fill up a whole blackboard just... talking. By the end she has her first friend, and he'll help her accomplish her dream of having a hundred others. That was the scene where I fell in love with Komi and her relationship with Tadano. It was when I wondered if this anime would rise into my favorites by becoming something truly special. And it didn't, sadly. The second season helped raise it a bit, but a middling 7/10 is a fair assessment of the anime as a whole. There are just too many crappy side characters. Thankfully, though, none of the mediocre parts were Komi's fault.

Komi herself was always cute and relatable. Being literally unable to speak is unrealistic, but her constant terror is something I understood. Growing up, I also had a few people who thought I was haughty and ignoring them because I thought I was better. In reality, much like Komi, I was usually just scared. It's also scary when someone resolves to get closer despite that, as Tadano does for Komi. Their relationship struck me as really genuine. Even after they become friends, Komi remains shy and wary around him. It's a constant struggle from both of them just to maintain what they already have, and moving further is harder still. They keep at it, though. Bit by bit, with a lot of nice little moments along the way, they're slowly growing closer. I really enjoyed the Valentines Day/White Day interactions between them in the second season. They both play their gifts off as friendship chocolate or just returning the favor, but it's easy to tell how much they're falling for each other. I'm rooting for those two dorks and hope there's a third season someday where they finally get together.

Beyond her relationship with Tadano, I also like how cute Komi is. The frequent moments where she has that wide-eyed eager-yet-terrified look really help make her endearing. I also like how earnestly she wants to make friends, even if a lot of them are lame. The two girls she partners with on the class trip in the second season were my favorites despite being minor overall. They don't put Komi on a pedestal. They just want to do their best to show her a good time, and they go a bit too far in the process. In the end, they realize what I wish more characters did. Despite her crippling shyness, Komi is a nice girl, and it's best just to treat her normally. It was cute watching the three of them talk about boys, which is what finally gets Komi to realize her feelings for Tadano. KCC really shines at times like that when she gets to be just a regular girl, albeit one who speaks through written notes.