Komi-san wa, Comyushou desu.

Hitohito Tadano is an ordinary boy who heads into his first day of high school with a clear plan: to avoid trouble and do his best to blend in with others. Unfortunately, he fails right away when he takes the seat beside the school's madonna—Shouko Komi. His peers now recognize him as someone to eliminate for a chance to sit next to the most beautiful girl in class.

Gorgeous and graceful with long, dark hair, Komi is universally adored and immensely popular despite her mysterious persona. However, unbeknownst to everyone, she has crippling anxiety and a communication disorder which prevents her from wholeheartedly socializing with her classmates.

When left alone in the classroom, a chain of events forces Komi to interact with Tadano through writing on the blackboard, as if in a one-way conversation. Being the first person to realize she cannot communicate properly, Tadano picks up the chalk and begins to write as well. He eventually discovers that Komi's goal is to make one hundred friends during her time in high school. To this end, he decides to lend her a helping hand, thus also becoming her first-ever friend.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Komi, Shouko Main

Koga, Aoi Japanese

Tadano, Hitohito Main

Kajiwara, Gakuto Japanese

Osana, Najimi Supporting

Murakawa, Rie Japanese

Otori, Kaede Supporting

Moriyama, Yurika Japanese

Komi, Shousuke Supporting

Enoki, Junya Japanese

Onemine, Nene Supporting

Aoki, Ruriko Japanese

Nakanaka, Omoharu Supporting

Ookubo, Rumi Japanese

Komi, Shuuko Supporting

Inoue, Kikuko Japanese

Agari, Himiko Supporting

Fujii, Yukiyo Japanese

Tadano, Hitomi Supporting

Uchida, Maaya Japanese

Beniya, Yoshikazu Producer

Kojima, Hiroaki Producer

Kondou, Shuuhou Producer

Itou, Kaori Producer

Reviews

Dec 3, 2024

mszroms

Recommended

A light-hearted and fun slice-to-life show wherein we can watch Komi, a seemingly reserved protagonist with a warm personality go through an interpersonal journey with the goal of creating 100 friends in high school. It's a very cute anime to watch especially if you're looking for something to lighten your mood.

Animation (7/10) - Its on-par with the standards of a modern anime show; Nothing too special but its well-done nonetheless for what it is. There are glimpses of extra effort when it comes to detailing some scenes it wants to highlight especially on closeup and intimate ones but most of the times it doesn't deviate ... onto anything special nor unacceptable, so... Nice.

Storyline (7/10) - Its storyline pacing is on-par with its manga original apparently, and its very obvious as the show goes along; Its done in an episodic manner wherein it has a main continuity in terms of concept but a different focus and setting on each episodes it has. Which makes it really digestible especially for casual watchers.

Soundtrack (7/10) - Its library is very suitable for its slice-of-life thematic — Made for easy-listening and just has very soothing vibes. Good to like play along maybe in a hotel lounge o maybe just your living room, outside of the show's context. But on the storyline's contexts it syncs decently on helping to portray certain moods and narrations.

Overall - 7 out of 10

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Nov 13, 2024

daaphish

Mixed Feelings

*No spoilers*
This review is for the anime adaptation of Komi-san wa, Comyushou desu, also known as Komi Can’t Communicate.

Summary
Komi Can’t Communicate is about a girl named Komi who struggles to communicate due to her social anxiety, and a boy named Tadano who befriends her and supports her on an expedition to make 100 friends. The story covers themes of friendship, communication, and disabilities, though it does so by antithetical means. Unfortunately, the storytelling makes the plot and characters unrelatable, and the side characters detract from the themes. To avoid spoilers, I will simply state here that Komi does not overcome her anxiety the healthy way. ... Instead, she has classmates that are ludicrous. The side characters don’t push her the right way; instead, they stalk her, creep on her, sexualize her, and even abduct someone. The general concept was interesting at first, but the full story is not something I recommend. If you want a goofy, silly, and “fun” story, then give this one a try, but don’t expect it to tackle anything deep. For a much more meaningful story, I recommend A Silent Voice, and for an anime that actually tackles communication disorders and insecurities, I recommend Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop. Even Dorohedoro addresses themes of friendship and communication better than this show.

Story: 4/10
Komi Can’t Communicate is about a girl named Komi who struggles to communicate due to her social anxiety. She meets a boy named Tadano who initially befriends her and attempts to support her on an expedition to make 100 friends. The story covers themes of friendship, communication, and disabilities, though it does so in an adversative way. Unfortunately, the story is largely unrelatable, and the side characters detract from the themes. Episodes are just single skits that are loosely related and barely help Komi and Tadano work towards their goals in a meaningful way. Komi does not overcome her anxiety realistically, and she is a poor representation of someone with social anxiety after the first few episodes. Instead, classmates hand her a friendship, as an offer, in bizarre and grotesque ways. These classmates are unhinged characters who stalk her, creep on her, and even abduct someone. The initial episode emphasizes, with realism, Komi’s struggles with social anxiety in a high school setting. It is unclear why the rest of the story completely puts this aside for awkward and counterintuitive plots, weird sexualizing scenes at the water park, or bizarre abductions, but this is what happens after the first episode. Consequently, the show is impossible to take seriously. It feels like each episode is a goofy skit that tries to take on a serious topic: mental health and, specifically, social anxiety. Instead, it comes across as creepy and off-putting. Even the scenes that are supposed to be funny are irritating and unsettling. As a therapist, I was hoping it might be a helpful show for my teenage clients to watch and learn from; instead, it just makes a mockery of mental health, the school setting, and the viewer’s intelligence.

Characters: 4/10
Komi started as an interesting character, and her communication struggles are elucidated in the first episode. She also finds a friend and clear crush in Tadano. Aside from this, the characters are extremely ridiculous. Think of old PC games where you could randomize the appearance and stats on your character. Imagine an entire set of cast members like this. That’s what happens here. They are creepy, harmful, peculiar, and antithetical to the themes of the story. Why are they all in love with her? If this story were serious, Komi would struggle to communicate because of her anxiety and would be outcasted. That’s the reality of social anxiety and communication disorders. She would have to work hard to overcome her social anxiety, learn to put herself out there, learn to open up and be vulnerable, take risks, communicate assertively, set boundaries, etc. Instead, other characters worship her, creep on her, and are completely unrealistic. This is unappealing and completely ridiculous. The characters are negating of the initially asserted premise of the show. Komi and Todano are decent, but not profound. Everyone else is terrible. Overall, the characters are a huge weakness for this type of story.

Art: 6/10
The art is fitting for the characters and story. It’s nothing special, but it is sufficient.

Sound: 5/10
As with the art, the music is sufficient.

Enjoyment: 3/10
This was not for me. That’s not a guarantee that it won’t be for you. I would not recommend this if you’re someone looking for a serious show that tackles mental health and social anxiety. Unfortunately, that’s what the first episode tries to sell you. I was very wrong.

Total score: 4.4/10 (low-average)

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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Dec 5, 2024

MrSlamboni

Not Recommended

This is like a power fantasy but in a romance anime. Komi is beautiful, athletic, smart, perfect, etc. but she is shy and doesn't talk to others. Conveniently she has a crush on our very average main character. Isn't this a bit too self serving? They shoved the "perfection" trait on a girl and made her dependent on the MC and conveniently also in love with him. Why do people enjoy this? Do they try to insert themselves instead of the MC, fantasizing about having a perfect girl crush on them?

There isn't really a good story to be found here. Hell, there aren't good interactions ... to be found here because Komi being "shy" is her top-defining trait. I hate shy characters with a passion. They are always predictably boring. If you ask them if they wanna play videogames, they will act shy. If you ask them if they wanna eat lunch together, they will be shy. If their name gets called, you guessed it, they will act shy. A shy character does only one thing without fail, try to end any interaction because they are shy.

There isn't really an attempt to do anything here except "le Komi makes cute face" or "le Komi has cat ears and its cute". Before fantasizing about perfect girls being dependent on you and in love with you, fantasize about touching some grass please. This is boring.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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	Poll: Komi-san wa, Comyushou desu. Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) NextUniverse - Oct 6, 2021	364 replies	by Artromex »» Nov 5, 6:09 AM
	Poll: Komi-san wa, Comyushou desu. Episode 8 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) Stark700 - Nov 24, 2021	129 replies	by Sxxnghwaa_ »» Oct 30, 10:11 AM
	This show is an absolute disgrace at representing social anxiety ( 1 2 ) Fischer77 - Apr 26	68 replies	by J3_Omega »» Oct 25, 7:16 AM
	Poll: Komi-san wa, Comyushou desu. Episode 12 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ) Stark700 - Dec 22, 2021	222 replies	by flokigoat »» Sep 3, 1:16 PM
	Poll: Komi-san wa, Comyushou desu. Episode 10 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Dec 8, 2021	93 replies	by SolalAnime »» Jul 29, 6:19 AM