Komi Can't Communicate

Episode 6

This week's episode takes a break from the show's main plot of introducing new friends for Komi to meet and instead focuses on the friends that she has already made thus far. All of these characters have shown us their gimmicks, for better and for worse, but how do they interact altogether? The result ended up being probably my second favorite episode of the series thus far. While I still think some character traits are straight-up unnecessary at best and problematic at worst, I can't deny that they were used well within this episode, and you really do get a sense that this is a group of friends going out enjoying each other (or in Yamai's case tolerate?). The laughs were surprisingly frequent and didn't rely on any mean-spirited humor. Even when the humor was born out of Komi's nervousness, that gets balanced out with her own degree of self-awareness and effort. If anything, I really appreciate the fact that this episode showcases that Komi isn't the only socially-awkward character in the show.

Whether it's Tadano overanalyzing everything as much as Komi does or Najimi straight-up admitting that they are still not good at talking to Komi without some kind of translator, the comedic bits in this episode are really nice. It's probably the first episode in a while where it felt like these characters were more like everyday people instead of random exaggerated caricatures. There are still exaggerated, one-off gags, but they were only there for the sake of the comedy and not as some prevailing theme or plotline. Meanwhile, the more grounded social interactions and moments of accurate portrayals of social anxiety really help elevate the material into what I thought it was going to be back in episode one. The part where Komi is lying in bed overanalyzing everything she has done throughout the day hit incredibly close to home for me. Tadano being one of the few people who seems to really understand what Komi is about really makes their blossoming romance feel cute, I think, and even some of the stuff outside of school (like with the hairdresser assistant) was very wholesome. Things were very touch-and-go for the first handful of episodes but I really hope this is the show hitting its stride in showcasing that Komi isn't the only one who has trouble communicating.

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Komi Can't Communicate is currently streaming on Netflix.