Manga Review: Komi Can’t Communicate Vol. 1 by Tomohito Oda
Hitohito Tadano is an average boy on his first day of high school. After a truly horrific experience when he tried to stand out from the crowd in middle school, he’s turned timid, wanting to blend in and fit in so as to have the easiest social experience. He’s unaware that Itan Private High School didn’t let him in because of his grades, but instead the promise the admissions staff saw in him. Promise for what, you ask? That would be telling!
At the school lockers, he meets a very pretty girl who will be in the same home room as him. Tadano greets her, but she just stares at him and walks away. Kind of an ego crusher. It soon turns out that she doesn’t talk much at all. During the class introductions, instead of saying her name, she writes it on the chalkboard: Shoko Komi. Her looks make her the class princess, but her silence and aloofness make her unapproachable. Tadano sits next to Komi due to the seating arrangement, and gets foul looks from his classmates for this.
During a break, Tadano gets knocked out by students rushing to talk to Komi (but not get talked back to.) When he comes to, he hears a soft voice and sees Komi “meow” at a stuffed toy. It finally clicks for Tadano that Komi’s not being unfriendly, she simply finds it nearly impossible to talk to other people. After some fits and starts, the blackboard is used to communicate between them, and Komi opens up to someone outside her family for the first time in years.
Komi would really like to make some friends, and Tadano agrees to be the first and help her find others. Which would be fine, except that most of the class hates Tadano’s guts. He finally resorts to the one person in class who knows him from before, Najimi Osana. Osana’s very sociable, and good at making friends, but kind of an ass, so Tadano didn’t want to deal with them.
Osana’s initially down on the idea of being friends with Komi. They knew Komi back in elementary school, and Komi’s blank wall bounced off any attempt at sociability. But circumstances conspire to make Osana see past that wall…even if they are still a bit uncomfortable looking directly at Komi.
Thus begins an adventure in friendship!
This romantic comedy shounen manga has an interesting premise, and an assortment of wacky characters. It’s popular, and has spawned an anime adaptation.
Good: Most of the characters are fun to watch, the author is good at facial expressions, and there’s usually a light touch to the humor. While Komi’s lack of verbal communication is often played for laughs, it’s the reactions of those around her that are usually the joke. Some of the punny names are amusing. (Hitohito Tadano roughly translates to “just some dude” and “Osana Najimi” means “childhood friend.”
Both Komi and Tadano grow and learn as the series continues, Komi learning how to connect with people and overcoming her fears, while Tadano learns that “average” doesn’t mean “mediocre” and slowly demonstrates that to others.
Osana is an interesting character in their own right, being genderfluid so that no one around them is absolutely sure which box to put them in. (It’s never revealed in the manga what their biological sex is.) The teasing does get annoying from time to time.
Less good: Some of the characters have quirks that are uncomfortable. While Himiko Agari’s “stage fright” that makes her nervous and clumsy whenever people are looking at her is a bit endearing, her “I want to be your dog” thing once she makes friends with Komi is off-putting. And then there’s Yamai’s stalker behavior combined with her “top girl” status that is downright creepy.
The volume ends with Komi and Tadano joining in a game with their classmates–too bad it’s one that requires talking!
Content note: Tadano is subject to some bullying, and some of Osana’s tricks are kind of mean.
Recommended to romantic comedy fans.
And here’s the show opening!
