Komi Can't Communicate Season 2

Episode 21

I got to say, after the absolute dumpster fire that was Shield Hero Season 2, this episode of Komi Can't Communicate felt like the perfect palate cleanser. In fact I would even go so far as to say that this is probably my favorite episode of season two which is impressive because it's built on the foundation of two characters that we barely knew up until this point. Sasaki and Katou gave the impression that they were more on the average side compared to all the other wacky and extraordinary students in their class. They even made a joke about that and that's part of the reason why it's intimidating to be near Komi in their group. But I like the initiative that these two took in making the best out of their field trip. There was genuine chemistry between the three of them and their personalities seemed like a good match for Komi who likes to follow other people's leads. Seeing them just go out and have fun was far from boring and the antics they got into played into the show's sense of comedy perfectly.

Honestly that would've been enough for me but what tipped the show over was it 's drama and relatability. Sasaki and Katou to me come across as characters that constantly downplay themselves because their goals don't seem to match everybody else's. Wanting to compete as a shogi player I can see being a little unorthodox for a highschooler but a professional yo-yo champion is a whole other thing. I do think the moment in the middle of the episode where the two got into a bit of a fight over the schedule seemed a bit forced but it wrapped up relatively quickly and served as a good way to show just how invested in the trip the Komi was with all the pictures she took. It was also really nice that those pictures were used as a replacement for the ending as she showed them to Tadano.

Speaking of Tadano, it's funny that he's probably one of the luckiest people in the show right now and yet he's probably the one the most in the dark about that. The highlight of the episode was the girls managing to get Komi to realize that she in fact has a crush on Tadano which is progress that I did not think was going to happen in this episode at all. But now that we have that, I wonder if it will affect her behavior moving forward since she spent the majority of the season trying to make sense of all of these weird feelings. I wonder if these two girls will play an active role as wingwoman for Komi since, as far as I know, they're the only ones that definitively know that Komi has a crush on Tadano. You can argue it's already implied because they spend so much time together which was brought up here but this is the first time that it's actively talked about to the audience. I think this is good because the end of this episode showed Komi definitely needs forward planning people like these two to help her along in her journey of romantic discovery. Also come on, the scene of her sleeping on his shoulder was just cute!

Rating:

Komi Can't Communicate Season 2 is currently streaming on Netflix.