By Axel Lagunas
Many people see having friends as something normal and don’t have to try too hard to create many of them. But for others this may result in a difficult task and may struggle to have few if any friends.
Komi Can’t Communicate, a series released by Netflix this past October has gotten the attention of many anime fans by its simple yet interesting plot. The Netflix series is based on the original manga “Komi Can’t Communicate” which was written by Tomohito Oda who recently released the 24th volume of the manga this past January.
The series centers around the main characters Komi Shouko, Tadano Hitohito, and Najimi Osana who are second and third year students at Itan Private High School. Komi has extreme social anxiety disorder which causes her to face irrational anxiety with daily interactions limiting her speech. Throughout the anime we see Tadano and Najimi helping Komi communicate with people and ultimately reaching her goal of making 100 friends.
I can’t even say ‘Hi’ to people, even though it seems so simple for others”
– Shoko Komi
The 12 episode series starts out with Tadano taking us to his school where he explains that all he wants to do for the school year is to not be noticed by anyone and generally be under the radar. However this plan is ultimately cut short.Tadano sees Komi who is considered the prettiest girl in the entire school and due to her not speaking is taken as a serious person. Tadano soon realizes however that Komi does not necessarily want to talk to anyone but is too afraid and scared to do so. He is able to communicate with Komi via chalkboard, which is when Komi reveals her dream is to have 100 friends. Tadano sees this and offers Komi to be her first friend and to help her make other 99 friends.
“I’ll be your first friend and help you make the rest.”
– Hitohito Tadano
Tadano is not popular himself, so he talks to Najimi who is a social butterfly and asks for their assistance to help Komi find new friends. Together the trio make their way through school life and events helping Komi find friends and helping her fight through her social anxiety. She does this by writing on a notebook and showing it to the people she intends on saying it to.
Throughout their adventures in school they meet Ren Yamai, Himiko Agari and many other students. After school ends Tadano sees how successful Komi has become at making friends as they hang out during summer vacation. After a few episodes school is back in session and Tadano and Komi are able to expand their friend group with after and on school activities. We can see throughout the anime the joy that is brought to Komi as she becomes slowly more comfortable talking with people and making new friends.
“I have my problems, but I have many friends and am happy.”
– Ren Yamai
Throughout the anime, the topic of social anxiety is the main focus. As described by viewers the anime does a good job at portraying what social anxiety is and how it can affect the life of a person and in this case a teenager. With humor and friendship Tomohito Oda passes on the message that social anxiety is not something that is made up and that may be overlooked by many people by being considered shy or serious but may in fact greatly affect the life of a person struggling with the disorder.
In every episode of the anime we hear the narrator state “When a person has extreme social anxiety, they struggle to communicate with others. Bear in mind, they only struggle to form connections. It doesn’t mean that they don’t want to.”
This short but repetitive message is in my opinion one of the best quotes in the entire anime. As a viewer hearing this quote after one of the funny scenes of the anime is just a helpful reminder to be social with people and in general to not judge a book by its cover.
With Tadano and Komi as the main characters we see a great duo with Tadano wanting to be undercover and have a quiet school year and Komi who is quiet but wants to have a fun year and make friends.
Komi’s joyful attitude motivates Tadano to be out and about in school in search of friends for Komi. With the addition of Najimi the social butterfly this allows everyone to be able to learn from each other and form a great friendship between them and other friends’ groups.
“What if I can’t become friends with them? What if they ignore me? Or think I’m weird?”
– Shoko Komi
In my opinion I believe Komi Can’t Communicate is a nice anime that can be enjoyed not only by teenagers but also by adults and children. It goes through everyday activities and interactions and has something for everyone. It is also a very helpful example as we get to see in perspective the mind and actions of a person with social anxiety and we see the challenges that they face in everyday activities that we may consider not difficult such as asking a question. In all it is a great watch for anyone who enjoys the Romantic comedy Slice of life. And with this I’ll tune out with this last quote.
“Just because a person has problems communicating doesn’t mean that person doesn’t want to communicate with others.”
– Tomohito Oda
