Komi Can't Communicate, Vol. 4 by Tomohito Oda

They’re clearly growing closer and opening up to each other. Look out for the bonding moments between Tadano and Komi. Komi’s group worried him but she was an unexpected bonding agent. I loved how they were divided into groups and Tadano weighed in on them all. He’s pretty funny and is a perfect foil to Tadano’s biggest fan, Tadano’s other roommate on the trip. In this volume Komi and company go on a class trip and this time she actually goes!įirst we meet a new character, a narcissist who Tadano is forced to get up close and personal with. And Komi Can’t Communicate vol 8 really supplied all the moments we wanted with Tadano while also leaving us wanting more. I can’t believe it’s already been 8 volumes of Komi Can’t Communicate! It’s such a fun series, getting to see Komi come out of her shell, experience new things and best of all, grow closer to Tadano. Now he'll become her first friend in her quest to make 100 friends. ever! When she reaches out to him on the first day of class he quickly realizes it's awkwardness holding her back. Only timid Tadano seems to notice that she doesn't talk. Komi is super popular despite her aloof reputation. you know, a class trip, okay! Pretty standard class trip fun, but not that memorable to me. Oh, yeah, the volume focuses on the class trip to Kyoto, which is. Then there's new and not yet interesting characters, including Naruse the Narcissist, who has another communication problem, that he talks and doesn't listen! He wants to make friends, too, and is as anxious as Komi to do so, and almost as much challenged in figuring out how to do so. He has in the past expressed his social anxiety in anti-social, thuggish behavior, apparently. Then there's Katai, also a funny kind of tough guy who seems to scare everyone, but he also has social anxiety and no one seems to know this. In contrast, Najimi is a kind of manic catalyst for Komi's social life, but she also seems to 'like' Komi and can't tell her. It's beginning to feel like something I associate with the autistic spectrum not necessarily, of course. Why she doesn't seem to be making any progress with communication with those she is becoming better friends with is a mystery. The joke is that Komi can't speak to anyone yet she is seen as the prettiest girl in the school, and is revered as a kind of aloof Queen. How do you communicate if you don't use your words?

The over all point seems to be social anxiety as a cultural phenomenon, generally played for laughs, but it is nevertheless a very real social problem.

It's a world where Komi, a girl with a communication disorder, is the central character she has a goal, supported by her shy crush, Tadano, to make 100 friends (15 is the current count, so this is going to be a long one). A kind of slow and pretty uninteresting volume compared to others, but the world being built here is nevertheless over all very worthwhile reading.

Komi Can't Communicate, Vol. 4 by Tomohito Oda