Hey what's poppin' everyone. Marion here, I hope you've all been
Komi Can't Communicate, Volume 6 was a fairly quick read. It doesn't have as much of a long, continuous story thread like the sports or culture festivals, but it does settle into a comfortable rhythm. The Sunday classic, if you will. The broad strokes here are mainly the transition into Winter, and the introduction of Katai-kun. One of the things I appreciate a lot about Oda's work is how he can tell stories that don't express dialogue explicitly in different ways. As part of the introduction to Winter, Komi goes shopping for clothes with her father. As they are both quiet people, there are plenty of gags about them not being able to interact well with others, or how they can almost just sign in order to communicate between themselves. It's charming, because we get plenty of quiet moments, but even with Komi's cute (albeit sometimes limited) facial expressions, little details like blushing or body language help convey that this father-daughter relationship is very healthy and sweet. It helps cement the idea that Komi isn't necessarily worse or incomplete as a human being, for not being able to communicate with words. Her desire to be social and come out of her shell is a more personal thing, which helps spread a message that the most meaningful change comes through the self. It's an idea that I think has been sort of touched on lightly throughout, and hasn't really been formally addressed, but is very much there. Much more so when you take into account the way that Tadano supports Komi, making sure never to force her into situations, but give her the opportunity to engage in them herself. We've seen it before and again, this time most notably in Chapter 81, where he encourages Komi to invite Onemine to a cat cafe! Tadano may be jabbed by his peers for being "too" normal (whatever that means), but that kind of normal isn't quite as common as we'd expect in especially cliquey environments like school or work.
Katai, as a character whose quirk is essentially being Komi-but-male, is very endearing. There is some ripe social commentary to be broken down when it comes to how Komi and Katai are perceived so incredibly differently. For starters, if we completely ignore causes for why both these characters have trouble speaking, and look directly at the effects through their social interaction, we can see that Komi and Katai are seen as archetypes, specifically the Yamato Nadeshiko, and a Delinquent, respectively. A yamato nadeshiko is the quintessential Japanese beauty, who is perfect in every way and beloved by all. Even when Komi fails to get words out, people misunderstand and assume with the best of intentions. When Katai fails to speak, his nervousness comes off as aggression, and a conscious unwillingness to empathize or engage. I think it's because for men, there might be an expectation to be proactive, whereas women might be expected to be reactive. Part of the reason that Komi is so beloved by everyone in the class is the fact that she is conventionally attractive, but doesn't go out of her way to interact with people. She might possibly have opinions, ideas, or experiences that people wouldn't like or agree with, but the distance set by her inability to speak has made her a presence similar to an idol or pop star, where it's established as normal to idealize and not interact personally. It was a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy until Tadano showed up, because now matter how much grit she could muster, it was impossible to find anyone who would mutually step up to speak to her as an equal. For Katai,even though he is physically fit and probably attractive, he feels more willing to brush off others and settle for being socially distant because he can't respond normally. But without a proper explanation, this is where the miscommunication alienates him from having friends.High schoolers are not the smartest or emotionally mature folks out there. Surface level interactions are probably the peak that most people endure in their day-to-day. In a manga where the main male lead's name translates to "Ordinary Person-Person," it's expected that people are beholden to stereotypes or prejudices without even realizing. That's what makes Oda's narration and seeing everyone's inner thoughts such an entertaining experience. Komi and Katai both don't realize that the other is suffering from the same problem, and that's what makes us want to root for them and be friends. It's really sad and almost frustrating to see Katai's reputation self-destruct, but that's also what makes Tadano reaching out to him that much more satisfying.
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| And on that day, CHADano's harem grew +1 |
From Volume 6 into Volume 7, the story chugs along as Winter continues and we move to Christmas, Komi's birthday, and ushering in the New Year. I think my favorite chapter is 89. It's a brief, 11 page vignette where Komi is invited to build snowmen by Najimi and Tadano, presumably a day or several after her birthday celebration. It's rife with tender moments like Komi's mom providing some hot soup, Najimi gesturing that they want to build a snowman twice as big as they are, and Komi making a smaller snowman companion for the one that Tadano set by a sill of her house. The chapter is almost entirely void of words save for incidental things like SFX, punctuation, and little asides to help the characters emote. It was a very cute chapter that gave me heartburn.
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| We must protect this smile at all costs. |
Aside from that, I really enjoyed seeing Komi's family again, and her grandmother's playful side. There's really not much I could point out and say something other than "I liked this, it was good." Being able to see what everyone else did for New Year's was good, the gags with Najimi calling at the worst possible time were absolutely golden--especially getting Yamai salty that she's gonna miss out on hanging with Komi, and Nakanaka getting interrupted during a time-limited event in a mobile game that's definitely not FGO. The comedic timing was perfect, which is to be expected at this point considering how many chapters are composed almost like typical 4-koma manga. The highlights for the second half, however, were definitely the ice skating trip, where Komi and Katai got to bond a little more, and Tadano's cold. I find it pretty cute and funny how Komi still hasn't really gotten the memo, and her confusion over what looks like Katai flirting with Tadano. The aside that these three learned how to ice skate but Oda Tomohito himself still hasn't is also pretty cute. The final chapter, with Komi nursing Tadano, was the right amount of fluff to warm all our hearts after all the snow and cold environments from these two volumes. It's always endearing and satisfying to see this main pair grow closer and more comfortable together, and Komi's decision to hold Tadano's hand for a bit while he was sleeping can be taken as an outward display of affection (of course, that's what everyone immediately wants), but also an innocent desire to support someone who has--up to this point--been by her side to help support her wholeheartedly. Komi may not be the most proactive person, but her progress since volume 1 is palpable. Tadano shrugged off his mistake of dialing the wrong number, but Komi realized the context and decided to visit, make sure he's hydrated, well fed, and getting some proper rest. It's extremely easy to see a character like Komi and immediately infantilize her or treat her like an ideal, just like her classmates. But I think that seeing these decisive moments for her peppered alongside all of CHADano's hard social carries helps distinguish her as a character that can be a real person, actively trying to change their life through their efforts. Again, that's what makes us root for her. It may be a slow burn, but progress is progress, and that makes every little step that Komi takes worth celebrating as we follow her on this journey.
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| One day, this will be real. And it will be glorious. |
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