This was such a fun volume! The characters were hilarious and Komi was absolutely adorable!

I'm interested to see where they'll go from here and how she'll overcome her fear of talking to others in the future.
On top of the art style being amazing, I also thought the manga contained some really important messages for the reader to consider--and so I highly recommend everyone to pick this up!

Will definitely be back for future volumes! ✨
Rating: 4.5/5 ⭐

4 Stars (I received an e-arc from net galley in exchange for an honest review)

As someone who is an introvert and takes a while to warm up to people, I can relate to both Tadano and Komi. Tadano like everyone is in awe of Komi, who appears to a chic cool girl that doesn't talk to anyone. In reality she has crippling anxiety to the point that she can't even talk to anyone, at the same time she desperately wants to make friends. She and Tadano end up connecting by her writing out her thoughts on the classroom blackboard, and come to the conclusion that she wants to try and make 100 friends. Tadano even recruits another classmate to advise Komi on her journey and slowly learns how to interpret Komi's body language/physical cues. I loved this introduction to the series and I am looking forward to reading the other volumes in the series.

Super cute story that addresses selective mutism and social anxiety but in a not too serious way that people will be able to relate to without being pitied

I can’t open the download but was looking forward to reading this manga. Truly hope that I get a chance to read this because it truly looks very interesting and based on the description it is right up my alley.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and VIZ Media LLC in exchange for my honest review.

Komi Can't Communicate by Tomohito Oda
Publisher: VIZ Media
Ages: Teen
Release Date: 11 June 2019

Shoko Komi wants friends. It's her dream. And it should be an easy dream for the princess of the school. The problem: the Komi that everyone sees as being super cool and collected is actually a bundle of nerves. She has a crippling social anxiety that prevents her from talking to others.

Tadano is great at blending into the background, but then he happens to be left in classroom with Komi and discovers the secret of her coolness. After discovering her awkwardness he sets out to help her reach her dream-to make 100 friends.

This book is as charming and odd as it sounds. You won't regret reading this one. If you are looking to add some graphic novels and manga to your library's teen collection, this is a great place to start.

Like many popular manga stories, Komi Can’t Communicate takes place in a high school setting but it stands out by doing something not commonly seen – its story explores social awkwardness and fitting in.

The first main character is Hitohito Tadano, an awkward, timid boy whose high school goal is to blend in and avoid attention. Tadano has somehow made it into the elite prep school Itan Private High.

His awkward experiences in middle school have led him to believe that fitting in and not standing out are the secrets to happiness.

And the other primary character is our titular protagonist, Shoko Komi, the iconic beauty of their elite school. On the first day of school, Tadano tries to say hi to Komi, but she comes off as cold and distant. He doesn’t immediately realize she has a communication disorder.

The term “communication disorder” describes a cluster of symptoms that cause people to experience difficulty interacting with others. Those suffering from this disorder may appear unfriendly. But the truth is… that while they may appear standoffish… they actually want to have relationships.

Creator Tomohito Oda does a great job of illustrating the expressions of discomfort for Komi that convey her true feelings to the reader and matches the story’s situation with surrounding characters.

Komi quickly shows that she is most comfortable writing on the chalkboard to communicate, such as for class introductions or her first conversation with Tadano.

A quick round of applause for the person who had to provide translations for the English adaptation by altering the artwork with the white text on the black inked chalkboards to feature English words written instead.

And almost immediately, a completely different side of Komi is shown – one that is eager to make friends just as much as Tadano. And upon learning this, Tadano makes his declaration:

“My goal is to cure her communication disorder and help her make 99 more friends.”

Throughout the first volume (which is what I read), Tadano successfully helps Komi make two more friends – his childhood friend, popular Nijima Osana who is friends with practically everyone, and Himiko Agari, a girl who struggles with her interpersonal relationships.

As soon as I had picked up this volume of Komi Can’t Communicate, I couldn’t stop until I had finished the book. Simply put, this was a story I hadn’t encountered in fiction before, yet it had felt very familiar to me based on my personal life. I found each of these characters extremely relatable and I’m sure anyone would too, just be reminiscing upon personal high school experiences. These characters touch upon anxiety, social awkwardness, inability to speak at times, having to overcome fears of public speaking, all within a high school story.

As the first volume wraps up, not only does Komi make new friends, but the plotlines include elections for class representatives, playing games with classmates, and getting her first flip phone. She never owned a phone before simply because she had no use for one, but now that she’s making friends, she’d like to be able to stay in touch even when they’re at school.

There are currently 17 volumes of Komi Can’t Communicate out in Japan, with the first 10 released in English so far. If that isn’t enough to convince you to give this successful series a try, then I don’t know what will. But I’ll do my best to highlight its traits:

Story: I can’t say this enough: the story is fresh, original, and keeps your attention.

Art: Writer and artist Tomohito Oda has a great range in his artistic talents, he’s able to create a wide range of expressions that capture the intricacies of high school life.

Characters: The characters can be slight exaggerations at times, but are individuals who are consistent in their personalities, making them easy to like.

Bonus: Word on the street is that this series is full of meme-able moments, so if you want to stay up to date with the online anime community, this series is worth your time.

Komi is a shy high school student with social anxiety so bad that she cannot communicate with her peers at all.

What comes next is a charming story about how one classmate decides he wants to help Komi make friends and begin to overcome her social anxiety.

The story is charming, and the characters are all likeable if not particularly complex, and you find yourself really rooting for Komi to make some steps towards being able to communicate with her peers.

A feel good story about a serious issue that a lot of people may be able to identify with, if not to the same extremes, which is what adds to the charm of Komi's character.

I really enjoyed this and would recommend checking this out!

This was a good one, but there was one thing that rubbed me the wrong way. At the beginning one of the characters said something that just bothered me a bit, but I don’t want to get into it for spoilers (?) but it’s something that may not be too much of an issue for other people. And the book isn’t really like the way I expected. That makes no sense. Oops.

ʀᴀᴛɪɴɢ

Writing: 3/5
Story: 3/5
Characters: 4/5
Personal Thoughts: 3/5
Artwork: 4/5
Overall: 3.4/5 (3 stars)

This is kind of adorable, especially since you never see characters in manga that have any sort of disabilities or mental health issues. Komi has severe social anxiety. So severe in fact, that she can't actually talk to people, not even her own family, but she desperately wants friends. Tadano, her classmate, is shockingly average, but he is also the only person who realizes that Komi simply can't speak to people, so he becomes her first and only friend, and vows to help her realize her dream of having 100 friends.

This was really cute and I liked it a lot!! Though the only two characters I really liked were Komi and Tadano. The rest were either really mean to Tadano or pervy. I also can't really tell what the deal is with Osana and if the author was trying to make a joke out of trans people or not. But I plan on reading the next volume so I guess I'll find out eventually.

Tadano meets Komi when he starts attending an elite prep school. Komi is the most adored girl in school, but she can’t talk to others. Tadano makes an effort to try to communicate with Komi, and he learns that she wants to make friends. Her goal is to make 100 friends. Tadano helps introduce her to people and encourages her as she makes new friends.

This story had a unique school dynamic, with Komi being very popular but also socially awkward. Everyone at school adored her and thought she was the prettiest girl, yet they didn’t realize she couldn’t communicate with them. They all thought she was just too cool to talk to them, which elevated her status even higher. This was a unique way of showing how someone’s appearance may give off one feeling, yet inside they feel very uncomfortable.

This was a great manga graphic novel. I’m excited to read the rest of the series.

Thank you VIZ Media for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This manga really surprised me as I didn't really know where it was going to go. I really appreciate the fact that more mangas are coming out which feature real life issues such as anxiety. In this manga we primarily follow Tadano as he attempts to help Komi make friends after discovering she is unable to speak to people. When she tries to speak to someone else she freezes and is unable to communicate.

Tadano doesn't always handle things the right way, but it's obvious he's trying to do his best in helping Komi, even though he's a bit of an introvert himself. It's also been set up that their school contains a number of people who perhaps don't quite fit in at other schools, so I could see this series tackling more issues than just Kimo's issue with communication and anxiety.

So I wasn't sure what I was getting into when I first got this galley. I know I've heard the title quite a few times and finally gotten ahold of this and I pretty much devoured it! I will admit I may have busted out laughing a few times here and there because watching Komi try to communicate was down right funny. Her anxiety got her crippled when it comes to talking to other and it was entertaining seeing what did come out of her mouth or how others reactions were towards her. Definitely would recommend you readers to check this book out it! Now I'm on a mission to find out whats next.

"I'll be your first friend and help you make 99 more."

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-copy of this manga in exchange for an honest review!

I'm such an awkward person in real life. I really identified with Komi in this manga, because I really like the idea of talking with other people and have things to say myself, I just can't always get that across coherently.

We meet our girl Komi through our main character, Hitohito Tadano, on his first day at a private academy where he's eager to make a new impression at a new school. He ends up having a locker next to Komi, and also sits next to her in class, and finds her elegant, aloof, and hard to talk to. Turns out, she's actually none of those things (except elegant I suppose), and literally can't talk to people out loud. There's a heartwarming image early on after Tadano catches onto what's really wrong with Komi of the two of them having a chalkboard conversation side by side that really stuck with me after finishing the manga. Komi wants to make more friends (100, specifically), and Tadano declares himself her first friend and pledges to help her make more. Several other characters are also introduced in this first volume, each with their own particular quirk or social issue, some more convincing than others.

The story is super sweet and super lighthearted so far, which while not necessarily realistic in a severe shyness sense, does create a lot of "aww" moments throughout the manga. I enjoyed my time with this first volume, and likely will pick up the second just to see where things go from here.

2.5, rounded up. Komi was sweet and fairly likeable, though I wish she would have been more developed, and there were some heartwarming scenes between her and love interest Tadano. The plot was pretty minimal, as one might expect from a one-note gag, and there were some questionable gender stereotypes at play, but overall it was sort of an interesting analysis on social anxiety.

I really enjoyed seeing how Komi started. I had read book 5, which was the only one my library had, but was unable to find the rest.

The title 'Komi Can't Communicate' basically describes Komi. Except that she really wants to get to know people. She has a crippling social anxiety whenever she has to talk to people. She's actually really sweet and tries to be a good friend. Her goal is to make 100 friends. Her first friend was Tadano. Tadano is my favorite character besides Komi. He's sweet and tries to get along with everyone (even though they hate him for sitting next to Komi, the prettiest girl in the class).

Many thanks to VIZ Media through NetGalley for the ARC!

I can't rate this manga yet, as I was unable to finish reading it. I was given a free copy from Netgalley for my honest opinion, and the digital copy was so bad I couldn't continue. I could barely read the dialogue, and much of the details were lost due to image resizing or what-have-you. From what I was able to read, the characters didn't much grab my attention, so I'm not sure I'll seek out the physical copy.

A fun, engaging story combined with a wonderful art style! A cute slice-of-life manga that touches on real issues and also the importance of elevating your friends.

2.5 stars

I finished the whole volume, but I didn't enjoy myself as much as I was hoping to.
This volume follows Tadano as he tries to help Komi make friends. Komi finds it very hard to communicate verbally with others, but as she is pretty, people at school feel that she should be better than them or above them.
I did not like that Komi's issues were played for laughs. (Not my laughs, but you can tell that's what the manga was trying to do.) There is also a character named Najimi who dresses like a girl, but Tadano thought they were a boy in middle school. This is another element that is supposed to be humorous, but I did not enjoy that it seemed like they were making fun of LGBTQ people.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing the E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was really happy when I found out that I was accepted to read this book. It's been on my radar for a while and I wanted to know what the book was like. From reading the summary, I thought that it would be a bit like A Silent Voice, Vol. 1 or ひだまりが聴こえる, and I feel like it is but the shonen version. A Silent Voice is shojo and I Hear The Sunspot is yuri. All the books focus on one of the main characters being unable to communicate and having someone else get to know them and help be their voice. I loved the anime of A Silent Voice, I need to read the manga asap, and I loved I Hear The Sunspot, and I was hoping I would like Komi Can't Communicate and I did! I'm so happy that this manga managed to live up to my expectations. Especially when the other mangas had the same(ish) main storyline. So if you are a fan of those mangas then I would recommend Komi Can't Communicate.

In terms of the plot of the manga, there is a clear goal once Tadano and Komi become friends. That goal is to get Komi to have 100 friends and you start to see Komi work towards that goal even though she hardly talks. One of the most interesting thing about this manga is the fact that everyone loved Komi even though she doesn't talk. She is seen as incredibly beautiful, and when students and teachers talk to her, her aloof appearance make people revere her more. In addition of Komi being incredibly shy, she has to get passed that perception that everyone has of her in order to make friends.

In regards to the characters, Komi is the star of the book. Tadano acts more of a guide to Komi on how to make friends. Whilst the story is told more from his point of view, the focus is on Komi. Komi is definitely my favourite character, but we don't know a lot about her or the other characters introduced in this volume.

My favourite thing about this manga was the humour. The humour was definitely more mature than what I was expecting, but that is what I liked most about this manga. I can see why this manga is targeted towards boys from the humour. Also from the artwork of Komi.

The only negative aspect I want to mention about this book is the representation. I tagged this manga as LGBT+ as there is trans representation in this book but I do worry about how that is represented in the book. I think the representation shown is problematic but I am not a good judge as I'm not a trans person.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. I would recommend this book to people who I know would appreciate it but not necessarily everyone. I would recommend more mature teenagers pick this book up as well.