What’s up Nerds!
This has been on my anime watch list for forever! I finally got a chance to watch the first 3 episodes so let me give y’all the reaction. For those wondering why I’m writing my reaction after just episode 3, I do this because 3 episodes should be enough to figure out if I want to continue watching it. There are some exceptions to that rule (like my fav Black Clover) but let’s get into the reaction/review.
Quick Synopsis
Tadano is a freshman in high school who’s one goal is to remain inconspicuous. He doesn’t want to stand out, he wants to just blend in with his class. Well, all of that changes when he tries to say good morning to the prettiest girl he’s ever seen named, Komi. Komi doesn’t return his good morning but runs away. As they have class together Tadano realizes that Komi has a hard time communicating. Although once she communicates with him, he realizes he wants to become her friend and help her with her goal of making 100 friends at school.
Episode 1
It starts out like a romance anime with cherry blossoms falling everywhere and the camera is in a like rosy tint. We are then introduced to a little black cat who is watching Komi make her way to school. In the background we can see other students in awe of her, letting us know that she is popular. Next we meet Tadano who’s mission is to just fit in and not bring attention to himself. He tries saying good morning to the pretty girl he assumes is in his class, but she rushes away. He reads her name on her locker and wonders why she ran away like she did. Unfortunately Tadano will not be blending in, because he’s sitting right next to Komi, and all the eyes are on him. Though it is not in a good way. Tadano unexpectedly finds himself alone with Komi and he hears her speaking very softly. She tries to run away but Tadano asks her if she has trouble communicating with others. She stops and begins writing on the chalkboard all of her pent up feelings about how she got to not communicating with others. She thinks she’s wasted Tadano’s time and apologizes, but Tadano encourages her to continue writing. As they chat (through writing on the chalkboard) Komi says she wants to make 100 friends. Tadano says he’ll help her in her quest to find 99 more friends stating he’ll be her first 1.
Episode 2
Tadano wants to start helping Komi right away but he is basically shunned from everyone else in the class because he has the opportunity to sit next to Komi. So he results to his backup plan of asking his childhood friend Osana(Najimi) to help because of their popularity. *Note: I’m going to use they because they are ambiguous with the gender for this character* They turn Komi down and tell Tadano that they were ignored by Komi way back in grade 2. Tadano seriously implores Osana to talk to Komi, reluctantly they agree. Tadano suggests walking home together. The walk home was awkward but Komi has an opportunity to save Osana from an unwanted suitor. Najimi agrees to be Komi’s friend and insists on Tadano calling them Najimi. Najimi tries to help Komi get over her fear of speaking by requiring her to buy a really complicated drink from their world’s Starbucks. Komi tries to order it but it doesn’t work so she just takes what the barista makes for her. Tadano and Najimi apologize for making her go through the experience.
Episode 3
Because Najimi has so many friends, they decided to do a list of all the friends with similar personalities to Komi. The first person on the list is Agari. Ironically, Agari is very shy and has a hard time speaking in front of people. This makes Komi feel a kinship with her and leads her to go and try to talk to her. Unfortunately, it just appears that Komi is staring at Agari which makes her super nervous. Although she’s nervous she realizes that Komi makes her do difficult things which is encouraging. Najimi explains Komi’s intentions and Agari readily disagrees with being her friend saying she’s not worthy. So she instead says she’ll be willing to be Komi’s dog. Komi and Tadano become class God and president. Komi get’s a phone and wants to put Tadano as her first contact and Komi gets a chance to play a game with her classmates.
Overall Thoughts
I think Komi is too cute. I love seeing her little reactions when she gets flustered or excited. I like seeing how the writers and artists decided on how a character who cannot speak will communicate. It’s a nice addition to see all of Komi’s little mannerisms as she’s making new friends. Tadano is your typical male lead in these type of anime. I would have liked it a little more if Komi was the main character. Komi is really similar to Sawako in Kimi ni Todoke (From Me to You), so I was hoping it would be more from her perspective. But the show is still entertaining. I will say there are quite a bit of suggestive jokes, more than I was expecting in the first 3 episodes. If you like that kind of humor I’m sure the show will be fine, but just a warning if you’re not into that. Another entertaining observation is that their school is full of how to say, weirdos. There’s a dude that looks like he should be in Naurto, and I definitely saw a girl with armor on so maybe that was an Erza Scarlett reference? And I’m not quite sure why Tadano has this like flower on his head? I can’t tell if it’s a flower or if it’s suppose to be part of his hair like a cowlick or something.
I will say I am interested in seeing how she makes more friends but it is giving strong From Me to You vibes with will be a little hard to shake. So would I continue the series? I would say maybe. I’m not not invested but this probably wouldn’t be the first one I’d gravitate to if I’m trying to watch anime. This is a great choice for those nights you don’t want to watch the intense Shōnen anime. This is definitely a more cozy vibe, but if I had to choose I’m watching Kimi ni Todoke first. So for the three episodes I’ve seen so far I’d give Komi Can’t Communicate a 3 Nerd Light Stars out of 5.
That’s my review! Let me know if you guys have watched Komi Can’t Communicate in the comments! Keep Nerding Out and see you tomorrow!
