Komi Can't Communicate

Komi Can't Communicate (Japanese: 古見さんは、コミュ症です。, Hepburn: Komi-san wa, Komyushou desu.) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tomohito Oda. The manga was first published in Shogakukan's Weekly Shōnen Sunday as a one-shot chapter in September 2015, while the regular series started in May 2016.

Komi Can't Communicate
Cover of the first manga volume featuring Komi and Tadano
古見さんは、コミュ症です。
(Komi-san wa, Komyushou desu.)
Genre
Manga
Written byTomohito Oda
Published byShogakukan
English publisher
ImprintShōnen Sunday Comics
MagazineWeekly Shōnen Sunday
DemographicShōnen
Original runMay 18, 2016 – present
Volumes17

The series has been licensed for English-language release by Viz Media and the first volume was published in June 2019.

Plot

On her first day attending the elite Itan Private High School, the main setting of the story, Shouko Komi immediately receives an overwhelming surge in popularity due to the unprecedented, stoic beauty and refined elegance her classmates perceive her to possess. However, only Hitohito Tadano, an exceedingly average schoolboy assigned to the seat next to hers, is able to have the opportunity to discover that, behind her bishōjo appearance, Komi has serious issues in communicating with others. Tadano sets out to help Komi on her quest to find 100 friends.[4]

Characters
Shouko Komi (古見 硝子, Komi Shōko)
An absolute beauty to anyone, Shouko Komi in reality suffers from extreme social anxiety and communication problems, making her largely unable to talk to others. However, her attractiveness and stoic appearance (which in itself results from her anxiety) is perceived as refined class, making her highly popular while preventing people from actually getting to know her. Komi's first conversation with Tadano is over a blackboard, and she uses a notebook to convey her feelings through writing. Despite this, she is still capable of verbal conversation over a cell phone. Her dream is to overcome her communication problems and make 100 friends.[4]
Hitohito Tadano (只野 仁人, Tadano Hitohito)
Sitting next to Komi, Hitohito Tadano is, as implied in the manga, an "average" schoolboy in every possible way. Discovering Komi's communication problems by inadvertently becoming the last students remaining in the classroom, he befriends Komi and, over a blackboard, promises to help Komi to accomplish her dream of having 100 friends, with him being the first. As the manga progresses, Tadano gradually uncovers Komi's issues and gets to know more of her personality, while ultimately being in denial of his slowly-progressing romantic feelings for her. His name is a wordgame of "Tada no Hitohito" (ただの人人, lit. "Only a guy.").[4]
Najimi Osana (長名 なじみ, Osana Najimi)
A character with an ambiguous gender, Najimi Osana has been friends with Tadano since middle school. Long knowing them as a boy, it is to the latter's surprise that the former now dresses in a girls' uniform, albeit with a boy's tie, as they both advanced to the Itan High School. Najimi's gender is never confirmed, and they are frequently referred to with gendered pronouns, although it is implied that Najimi is genderless. Najimi regularly switches from saying they're a boy or a girl and laughing that anyone ever thought otherwise, though Tadano connects this more with what he describes as pathological dishonesty. In the manga's setting, they are the "ultimate" childhood friend, as everyone in the school has known them since childhood, due to their family's frequent moving during their childhood. Najimi is depicted as having immense capability in conversing and befriending others as a result of their childhood moving, but was hampered when introduced to Komi by Tadano, as their unsuccessful childhood attempt to befriend Komi left them with psychological trauma. Their name is a wordgame of "Osananajimi" (幼馴染, lit. "Childhood Friend").[4]

Publication

Komi Can't Communicate is written and illustrated by Tomohito Oda. The series was first published in Shogakukan's Weekly Shōnen Sunday as a one-shot chapter on September 16, 2015,[5][6] while the regular series started on May 18, 2016 in the same magazine.[7] Sixteen tankōbon volumes have been released as of February 2020. The first volume was published on September 16, 2016.[8]

In November 2018, during their panel at Anime NYC, Viz Media announced that they have licensed the manga.[9] The first English-language volume was released on June 11, 2019.[10]

The manga has been licensed in Taiwan by Chingwin Publishing Group in February 2018,[11] and Indonesia by Elex Media Komputindo in October 2019.[12]

Volume list
No.Japanese release dateJapanese ISBNEnglish release dateEnglish ISBN
01 September 16, 2016[13]ISBN 978-4-09-127343-7June 11, 2019[10]ISBN 978-1-9747-0712-6
02 December 16, 2016[14]ISBN 978-4-09-127426-7August 13, 2019[15]ISBN 978-1-9747-0713-3
03 March 17, 2017[16]ISBN 978-4-09-127509-7October 8, 2019[17]ISBN 978-1-9747-0714-0
04 June 16, 2017[18]ISBN 978-4-09-127575-2December 10, 2019[19]ISBN 978-1-9747-0715-7
05 July 18, 2017[20]ISBN 978-4-09-127664-3February 11, 2020[21]ISBN 978-1-9747-0716-4
06 October 18, 2017[22]ISBN 978-4-09-127856-2April 14, 2020[23]ISBN 978-1-9747-0717-1
07 December 18, 2017[24]ISBN 978-4-09-127885-2June 9, 2020[25]ISBN 978-1-9747-0718-8
08 March 16, 2018[26]ISBN 978-4-09-128091-6August 11, 2020[27]ISBN 978-1-9747-0719-5
09 June 18, 2018[28]ISBN 978-4-09-128254-5October 13, 2020[29]ISBN 978-1-9747-1740-8
10 September 18, 2018[30]ISBN 978-4-09-128390-0December 8, 2020[31]ISBN 978-1-9747-1741-5
11 December 18, 2018[32]ISBN 978-4-09-128590-4——
12 March 18, 2019[33]ISBN 978-4-09-128802-8——
13 June 18, 2019[34]ISBN 978-4-09-129166-0——
14 August 16, 2019[35]ISBN 978-4-09-129329-9——
15 November 18, 2019[36]ISBN 978-4-09-129441-8——
16 February 18, 2020[37]ISBN 978-4-09-129555-2——
17 May 18, 2020[38]ISBN 978-4-09-850072-7——

Reception

As of September 2018, the first ten tankōbon volumes had over 2 million copies in circulation.[39]

The series ranked first in a poll conducted by AnimeJapan of "Most Wanted Anime Adaptation".[40]

In a review of the first volume from Anime News Network, Rebecca Silverman called the series "a nice little story with humor and a distinct lack of cruelty that doesn't break any new barriers but is definitely fun to read." Faye Hopper considered that it is hard to tell if the humor of the series lies in Komi's "seemingly outlandish, absurd behavior" or if it is a "legitimate depiction of anxiety that we laugh at because we relate." Hopper also called the character of Najimi a "transphobic punchline", criticizing the jokes about their gender fluidity, calling them "extremely tasteless" and that they "undermines the book's message by making light of an already marginalized community." Nevertheless, Hopper stated that the series "succeeds in spite of a potentially noxious premise", pointing out that the other characters are "just as dysfunctional as the eponymous Komi, creating a solid base of compassion and doing a good job not casting her as a weird social outlier."[41]

References
  1. "VIZ MEDIA ANNOUNCES NEW PUBLISHING ACQUISITIONS AT ANIME NYC 2018". Viz Media. November 19, 2018. Retrieved December 8, 2018.
  2. サンデー発ラブコメ4作品の新刊フェア開催 「おまえら早く付き合っちゃえよ」CM&PV公開. Oricon (in Japanese). June 18, 2019. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
  3. "Komi Can't Communicate Vol. 1". ComiXology. Archived from the original on April 25, 2020. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
  4. Oda, Tomohito (2016). 古见さんは、コミュ症です。. 1. Shougakukan. ISBN 978-4091273437.
  5. 週刊少年サンデー：手始めに読み切り5作品　新人・若手の新連載は来月から - MANTANWEB（まんたんウェブ）. MANTANWEB（まんたんウェブ） (in Japanese). September 9, 2015. Retrieved September 28, 2018.
  6. サンデーにて新鋭の読み切り連弾企画、第1弾にはコミュ症の美少女が登場 - コミックナタリー. Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. September 16, 2015. Retrieved September 26, 2018.
  7. 「だがしかし」描き下ろしブロマイドがサンデーに！全サ、コミュ症の新連載も. Natalie (in Japanese). May 18, 2016. Retrieved November 16, 2018.
  8. 美少女なのにコミュ症？サンデー発、オダトモヒトが描く学園生活コメディ - コミックナタリー. Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. September 16, 2016. Retrieved September 26, 2018.
  9. Sherman, Jennifer (November 17, 2018). "Viz Media Licenses My Hero Academia: Smash!!, Komi Can't Communicate, Beastars Manga". Anime News Network. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  10. "Komi Can't Communicate, Vol. 1". Viz Media. Retrieved March 29, 2019.
  11. "【新書書單】青文出版社2018年2月預定出書表 - 青文出版-讀享娛樂‧領導流行". Chingwin Publishing Group (in Chinese). Retrieved September 28, 2018.
  12. Rafael Antonio Pineda (October 18, 2019). "Elex Media Licenses Tomohito Oda's Komi Can't Communicate Manga". Anime News Network. Retrieved October 18, 2019.
  13. 古見さんは、コミュ症です。　１ (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
  14. 古見さんは、コミュ症です。　２ (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
  15. "Komi Can't Communicate, Vol. 2". Viz Media. Retrieved May 2, 2019.
  16. 古見さんは、コミュ症です。　３ (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
  17. "Komi Can't Communicate, Vol. 3". Viz Media. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
  18. 古見さんは、コミュ症です。　４ (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
  19. "Komi Can't Communicate, Vol. 4". Viz Media. Retrieved September 8, 2019.
  20. 古見さんは、コミュ症です。　５ (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
  21. "Komi Can't Communicate, Vol. 5". Viz Media. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
  22. 古見さんは、コミュ症です。　６ (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
  23. "Komi Can't Communicate, Vol. 6". Viz Media. Retrieved January 11, 2020.
  24. 古見さんは、コミュ症です。　７ (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
  25. "Komi Can't Communicate, Vol. 7". Amazon. Retrieved February 13, 2020.
  26. 古見さんは、コミュ症です。　８ (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
  27. "Komi Can't Communicate, Vol. 8". Amazon. Retrieved February 13, 2020.
  28. 古見さんは、コミュ症です。　９ (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
  29. "Komi Can't Communicate, Vol. 9". Amazon. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
  30. 古見さんは、コミュ症です。　１０ (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
  31. "Komi Can't Communicate, Vol. 10". Amazon. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
  32. 古見さんは、コミュ症です。　１１ (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
  33. 古見さんは、コミュ症です。　１２ (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
  34. 古見さんは、コミュ症です。　１３ (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved June 10, 2019.
  35. 古見さんは、コミュ症です。　１４ (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
  36. 古見さんは、コミュ症です。　１５ (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved November 1, 2019.
  37. 古見さんは、コミュ症です。　１６ (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved January 24, 2020.
  38. 古見さんは、コミュ症です。　１７ (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved March 21, 2020.
  39. 古見さんは、コミュ症です。：「サンデー」の人気マンガが累計200万部突破　LINEスタンプの配信も. Mantan Web (in Japanese). September 12, 2018. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
  40. Loveridge, Lynzee (March 24, 2020). "180,000 Manga Readers Vote for Their Most Wanted Anime Adaptation". Anime News Network. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
  41. "Komi Can't Communicate - The Spring 2019 Manga Guide". Anime News Network. May 29, 2019. Retrieved November 28, 2019.
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