Komi Can't Communicate (Volume 1) - Totally Normal

Tadano’s main goal at his new school is to blend in. However, he finds himself sitting next to the school princess and that’s made him some enemies. She also suffers from crippling shyness making her unable to speak!

Komi Can’t Communicate (Volume 1) – Totally Normal

What happened?

Tadano’s first encounter with Komi was when he noticed someone next to him while putting his shoes in his locker. He turned and said good morning. She was beautiful, tall and elegant. However, she said nothing in return. After an awkwardly long stare, she hurried away leaving him feeling distraught. What had he done to upset her? To his horror, Tadano discovered that he was sitting next to her in class, something that caused the other students to revile him. So much for blending in.

Part way into his first day, as his class rushed to the gym, Tadano took an errant elbow to the head and passed out. He woke to the sound of someone meowing. It was Komi, sitting next to him talking to a little toy cat. He claimed he heard nothing and went to leave, but then something made him ask her if she had trouble talking to people. She did, and he was the first person to notice. Komi was able to write on the blackboard and when Tadano replied in kind, they had their first conversation. In it, he learnt that Komi had no friends and had always been this way. He swore there and then to help her make one hundred friends. But, it wasn’t going to be easy!

Komi Cant Communicate Volume 1 Tadanos first conversation with Komi

What did you think?

This was fantastic. It has incredibly short chapters but that seems to help rush you through the book. I can’t believe how quickly I got through it, especially considering it’s quite heavy with text. Usually, it’s the action manga that you breeze through because it’s lots of grand battles and fast-paced interactions. That is not the case with Komi Can’t Communicate, however, it is utterly compelling. I found Tadano to be likeable. He certainly has a noble cause and isn’t a bad person, so that’s easy.

Komi on the other hand is beautiful and standoffish. Of course, that’s largely because of her inability to talk to people, but that would definitely make her harder to get along with. That said, I loved her. I love the awkward moments where people misunderstand Komi and her intentions. It definitely reminded me of Hitomi from Hitomi-chan is Shy with Strangers, although she is a more intimidating character. There’s not a lot of story beyond Komi trying to make one hundred friends, but that’s not really a problem. It’s more focused on the characters and their reactions. My favourite was when Komi accidentally phoned Tadano.

I had always planned to catch up on the anime at some point, although after reading this, I may just move it up my to-watch list. This is a fun and sweet story with relatable and interesting characters.