Komi Can’t Communicate, Vol. 1 by Tomohito Oda
Series Name: Komi Can’t Communicate
Genres: Comedy, Slice of Life
Intended Age Group: Teen
Publisher: Viz/Shonen Sunday
Edition: Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-9747-0712-6
Rating: 3.5/5
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Description from the Book
Socially anxious high school student Shoko Komi’s greatest dream is to make some friends, but everyone at school mistakes her crippling social anxiety for cool reserve. With the whole student body keeping its distance and Komi unable to utter a single word, friendship might be forever beyond her reach.
Timid Tadano is a total wallflower, and that’s just the way he likes it. But that changes when he finds himself alone in a classroom on the first day of high school with the legendary Komi. He quickly realizes she isn’t aloof – she’s just super awkward. Now he’s made it his mission to help her on her quest to make 100 friends!
Personal & Info
I’m socially awkward so I’m super excited to try this series. I’ve only tried one other series where a character was awkward, and it was an anime. It has a manga, but I haven’t been able to try that version of it, yet. The series I’m talking about is called Watamote, or No Matter How I look at It, It’s You Guys’ Fault I’m Not Popular. I highly recommend it if you like socially awkward or otaku characters.
The chapters in this manga are super short. There are nineteen chapters, plus one bonus chapter. They don’t all have cover art, either, which makes sense, because that would be a lot of extra art pages.
The art itself is nice. Komi is often drawn with huge eyes, and there’s just something about the style of the anatomy for the characters that I like.
Characters
Shoko Komi is the socially awkward main character. She literally can’t talk to anyone verbally.
Hitohito Tadano is the main character who first discovers Komi’s problem. He wants to help her make one hundred friends.
Najimi Osana is a very social character. They are described as gender unknown and pathologically dishonest.
Himiko Agari is in Komi’s class. She is a nervous person. People looking at her is her biggest problem.
Story & Thoughts
This is adorable. Upon hearing the premise, I didn’t realize it means she can’t speak to anyone at all. Komi can only talk to people by writing, and in some instances, miming.
The story is funny, but also heartwarming. The chalkboard conversation with Tadano is so touching. It’s so wholesome how Tadano and Najimi are trying to help Komi.
As a socially anxious person myself, I find parts of the story highly relatable. Komi’s condition is more extreme than mine, but I understand how she feels. I’ve had similar experiences, and I think it’s great manga and other media are starting to include characters like Komi.
This is a comedy, but to me, it’s only funny enough to get a smile. I think I only giggled once, but I can’t remember where. Personally, it’s not the comedy of it that I enjoy. I like how heartwarming and relatable it is. Even if characters are portrayed to the extreme, it’s still relatable. Komi and Agari are both relatable to me, minus the dog thing, because that’s a little odd.