Komi Can't Communicate

Alternate Titles

古見さんは、コミュ症です。
Komi-san wa Comyusho Desu.

Synopsis

Shoko Komi is the most beautiful girl at school. No one can take their eyes off her, but as much as they admire her, everyone has also come to think of her as an unattainable ice queen. Only one student, Hitohito Tadano, is brave enough to get to know her and discovers that she’s not unfriendly - just very bad at communicating. Now Tadano has made it his mission to help Komi overcome her communication difficulties and realize her dream of making 100 friends!

Background

Komi Can't Communicate began as a manga series written and illustrated by Tomohito Oda that has been serialized Shogakukan's Weekly Shonen Sunday since May 2016. As of August 2021, 22 collected tankobon volumes have been published under the Shonen Sunday Comics imprint. The manga has been licensed for English release in North America by Viz Media, and as of August 2021, 14 volumes have been published.

A live-action TV drama adaptation of the series premiered in Japan on Sep. 6, 2021 on NHK General TV. The show stars Takaku Masuda, Eliza Ikeda, and Ai Yoshikawa to name a few, and will run for eight episodes.

A TV anime adaptation was announced in May 2021. It is being produced by OLM and features Ayumu Watanabe as chief director and Kazuki Kawagoe as director, with Deko Akao handling series composition, Atsuko Nakajima handling character designs, and Yukari Hashimoto composing the music. Two ending theme songs for the anime have been announced: “Sympathy” by Kitri, which will air during episode 1, and "Hikareinochi” also by Kitri, which will air from episode 2 onward. The anime will premiere in Japan on Oct. 6, 2021 on TV Tokyo.

Characters

Shoko Komi (Voiced by: Aoi Koga)
A girl who is bad at communicating. Though she is a head-turning beauty, she has extreme social anxiety and whenever she tries talking to others, she gets nervous, freezes up, and overthinks everything. But the truth is she wants to talk to people. Her dream is to make 100 friends.

Hitohito Tadano (Voiced by: Gakuto Kajiwara)
An ordinary boy whose goal is to fly under the radar so that he can live his high school life without standing out or making waves. However, he seems to be skilled at understanding people’s feelings and becomes Shoko’s first friend after realizing her difficulties with communicating.

Najimi Osana (Voiced by: Rie Murakawa)
Hitohito’s childhood friend. Or rather, she is everyone’s childhood friend. She is so good at communicating that she can become friends with anyone in a matter of minutes, but she seems to have a hard time with Shoko. She usually wears a skirt and dresses in a feminine style, but she used to dress in a male uniform until junior high, so her gender is unknown.

Ren Yamai (Voiced by: Rina Hidaka)
A yandere who loves fashion and is the leader of a group of cool, stylish girls in her class. However, she actually loves Shoko, like way too much. Because of this, she has a rivalry with Hitohito, who is close friends with Shoko.

Omoharu Nakanaka (Voiced by: Rumi Okubo)
A chunibyo whose forbidden “Dragon Force” power reacts when she gets too close to Shoko. She calls Shoko “Princess Komilia” and thinks of their friendship as a Blood Oath.

Himiko Agari (Voiced by: Yukiyo Fujii)
A girl with social anxiety. Even just feeling like people are watching her makes it difficult for her to do anything well. She is also concerned about her “slightly chubby” figure and “short legs” and admires Shoko for being a beautiful girl with good style. Her absolute personal space is the bathroom.

Makeru Yadano (Voiced by: Ami Maeshima)
A competitive girl who sees Shoko as the best in the class and can’t help but want to beat her in some way. Because of this, she finds every opportunity to challenge her to physical tests of fitness. However, Shoko has absolutely no memory of this.

Shigeo Chiarai (Voiced by: Kenji Akabane)
A boy with brown hair and a friendly disposition. Because he is surrounded by other distinctive classmates, he has become somewhat of a mob character. He often hangs out with Taisei and Mono.

Taisei Sonoda (Voiced by: Yuga Sato)
He has slicked-back black hair and the communication skills to jump into any discussion. He hangs out with Shigeo and Mono.

Mono Shinobimono (Voiced by: Kensho Ono)
Although he wears his school uniform, he looks like a ninja due to his black hood, black mask, and black scarf. However, he doesn’t seem to be very stealthy and instead expresses his opinion when deciding on the class’ performance for the cultural festival. He often hangs out with Shigeo and Taisei.

Akako Onigashima (Voiced by: Sarah Emi Bridcutt)
A girl who can turn into a bit of a demon when she gets angry. She gets along well with Ren and the others, and often hangs out with them. She has a distinctive yaeba and a cheerful personality, and some of those around her say she is the number 1 person they wish they had as a childhood friend. However, when she gets in a bad mood, her anger can get out of control.

Shosuke Komi (Voiced by: Junya Enoki)
A boy who has no need to communicate. He is Shoko’s younger brother and is as good looking as she is. He does everything himself without communicating.

Hitomi Tadano (Voiced by: Maaya Uchida)
A polite and reliable girl who never fails to greet Shoko and her friends whenever they visit. She has an unflinching mentality and has many uncommon instincts and abilities, including even ventriloquism. She is also Hitohito’s younger sister.

Narrator (Voiced by: Noriko Hidaka)

Music

• Ending Theme Songs:
  ・“Sympathy” by Kitri (ep. 1)
  ・"Hikareinochi” by Kitri (ep. 2 onward)

• Anime Site (Japanese)
• Twitter (Japanese)

• Original Creator: Tomohito Oda
• Chief Director: Ayumu Watanabe
• Director: Kazuki Kawagoe
• Series Composition: Deko Akao
• Character Design: Atsuko Nakajima
• Art Director: Masaru Sato
• Color Design: Yuki Hayashi
• Director of Photography: Tomo Namiki
• Editing: Toshihiko Kojima
• Music: Yukari Hashimoto
• Sound Director: Jun Watanabe
• Sound Production: Half HP Studio
• Animation Producer: Hiroaki Kojima
• Animation Production: OLM