ADVANCED REVIEW: ‘Komi Can’t Communicate,’ Volume 7

Komi Can’t Communicate Volume 7 is a romantic comedy, drama manga written and illustrated by mangaka Tomohito Oda. The English publication is licensed and released by VIZ Media. The series follows Shoko Komi, a young high school girl that everyone considered to be a “cool beauty” because of her elegant looks, quiet demeanor, and lack of close friends.

However, that can’t be farther from the truth.  Komi desperately wants friends but she is held back by her communication disorder. When her classmate Hitohito Tadano learns about her disorder, Komi confesses that her goal is to make 100 friends during high school. Given her disorder, making 100 friends seems nearly impossible. Nevertheless, Tadano becomes her first friend and agrees to help her navigate social situations, introducing her to an ever-expanding group of classmates.

Komi Can’t Communicate Volume 7 consists of chapters 86 through 99. In this volume, Najimi invites everyone to a Christmas Eve party at Komi’s house. The surprise announcement of the party sends Komi into a fit of worry about having her first time spending Christmas Eve with her new friends. Meanwhile, all of her friends go into a frenzy of last-minute gift shopping before the party. When everyone arrives, they show up with good cheer and a special surprise for Komi too.

In this volume, it is winter break for Komi and her friends. So most of the settings for the chapters in this volume take place outside of the high school which is usually the backdrop for the series. I like that in this volume we got to see the main characters interact and approach social situations in different settings outside of school life.

For example, the Christmas Eve party at Komi’s house. Since Komi’s communication disorder has prevented her from hosting parties in the past, this was the first time she had her classmates in her home. I think it showed how far Komi has come with socializing with others. While she still feels a bit anxious about hosting a party in her home, she seems relatively comfortable and able to enjoy herself with everyone around.

As usual, the art is beautiful and I continue to be impressed with Tomohito’s art skills. Not only can they draw beautiful illustrations, I especially love it when they illustrate Komi’s trendy and fashionable outfits.  They also do a great job of capturing and conveying feelings non-verbally with their illustrations as well by drawing certain expressions or aura’s around characters.

A good example of this is when Komi and her brother, Shousuke, go Christmas shopping.  Due to Komi’s communication disorder and anxiousness over picking out a Christmas gift for the party, she drags her brother along to help her. Shosuke does not talk much either, but not because of a communication disorder like his sister. Instead, he just chooses not to speak to others, but will when it’s needed. 

It is obvious that Shousuke was less than thrilled to be dragged out of the house to go shopping with his sister. In fact, for most of the trip, he seems annoyed and rushes Komi to decide on a gift. However, towards the end of their trip when he helps Komi find a gift she is satisfied with, he is pleased to see that his sister is happy. And while he doesn’t verbally voice his annoyance or happiness, it can be seen through Oda’s illustrations of Shosuke’s expressions.

Lastly, I continue to enjoy the heart of the story, making genuine connections and building relationships with others. The main premise of this manga is about Komi’s dream of making 100 friends and while she is popular and well-liked by everyone, you would think it would be easy for her to make tons of friends. However, for Komi, she wants to make genuine connections with other people and build relationships with them.

A good example of this is when Komi and her family go on a Shrine visit as a part of their New Year’s Day tradition. While at the shrine Komi winds up volunteering as a shrine maiden for the day. While volunteering she bumps into Inaka, one of her classmates from school. Inaka, who is from the countryside, tries to hide that fact because she is ashamed of it and doesn’t want people to see her as a “simple country girl.”

Due to Inaka being from the countryside, she wants to be a “city girl” and thinks of Komi as the perfect example of one. So initially Inaka is worried that Komi will mock her and tell everyone at school about her being from the country and call her a “bumpkin”. However, to her surprise, Komi doesn’t care about her country accent and shows that she genuinely wants to get to know her more. This is a great example of how Komi doesn’t care about popularity and cares more about growing genuine friendships with others.

Overall, Komi Can’t Communicate Volume 7 is a great manga with a wholesome story about friendship and making connections, whether they be with family or friends. This volume was an enjoyable read and the art is simply beautiful.

Komi Can’t Communicate Volume 7 is available June 9th. To find out where to by, check out Viz.com.

IMAGES: COMI-SAN WA, COMYUSHO DESU. © 2016 Tomohito ODA/SHOGAKUKAN