REVIEW: ‘Komi Can’t Communicate,’ Episode 23

Komi Can’t Communicate Episode 23 is a Japanese Netflix Original anime directed by Ayumu Watanabe and animated by Studio OLM. This slice-of-life comedy anime is an adaptation of the popular manga series created by Tomohito Oda. The voice acting cast for Komi Can’t Communicate consists of Aoi Koga (Love is War) as Shouko Komi, Gakuto Kajiwara (Fire Force) as Hitohito Tadano, and Rie Murakawa (Re: Zero) as Najimi Osana.

In Komi Can’t Communicate Episode 23, Komi’s friend/occasional stalker Ran Yamai notices that Shoko’s tights have torn and rushes to her aid with a spare pair. However, Yamai seems to have a darker ulterior motive for coming to help Komi. Meanwhile, Komi tries her best not to be embarrassed following the Valentine’s Day aftermath with Tadano in the previous episode. Unfortunately, she can’t seem to stop replaying the chocolate exchange in her head over and over again. Komi also helps and manages to befriend two more classmates. A girl with a demon-like anger problem and another girl whose helpful nature gets taken advantage of by other students.

I was not too impressed with certain parts of the episode when it comes to storytelling. However, I appreciated that Episode 23 carries over the events from the previous episode. In this episode, we see how the aftermath of giving Tadano his Valentine’s Day chocolates. However, the storyline ends abruptly with Komi running away in embarrassment, never revisited for the rest of the episode. Completing so suddenly made the skit feel unresolved and did not feel like it added much to the episode.

Thankfully this issue doesn’t continue for the rest of the episode, and other skits come full circle with resolution. For example, when Komi and Tadano disagree over something minor, tensions form between them. This incident is the first time Komi and Tadano disagree, let alone have any conflict. Although it was subtle, it was interesting to see how they would resolve the issue as friends. Additionally, I appreciated this moment because as Komi and Tadano’s friendship continues, they are bound to have conflict or disagree as any friends would. However, the most important part was seeing how they resolved their issues.

Unfortunately, this episode does feature a segment about Yamai, Komi’s yandere-like classmate obsessed with her. As I have mentioned before, I am not a fan of this character, and the jokes surrounding her often fall flat. For example, in this episode, Yamai notices Komi has a rip in her stockings. At first, Yamai tries to record a video of the rip for pleasure, but then she stops and becomes conflicted. She wants to protect Komi from being embarrassed and other people seeing the tear, so she comes to her aid even.

Moments like these occasionally make me think Yamai’s character shows signs of growth and that there is hope for her not to be a creepy obsessive stalker to Komi. Well, that is not the case in this episode because just when you think Yamai is changing for the better, things take a hard left into her acting even creepier. So fair warning to anyone that might find Yamai’s behavior uncomfortable.

Lastly, the saving grace of this episode for me was Komi helping two new characters, Onigashima and Amami. These interactions were excellent examples of Komi’s growth in communicating and interacting with people. Both Amami and Onigashima have their specific communications. For instance, Onigashima is a sweet, energetic girl but struggles with keeping her anger in check when she becomes annoyed. Meanwhile, Amami struggles with asking for help and saying no whenever someone asks her for something.

Komi steps in to help Onigashima and Amami on her own. I felt this was a sign of Komi becoming more aware and observant of other people’s problems and being motivated to intervene when she sees she can help others—considering Komi used to fret over doing something as simple as greeting some with a wave hello. Both instances with these characters show that Komi has grown more confident in approaching and helping others.

Overall, Komi Can’t Communicate Episode 23  is a decent watch with some laughable and relatable moments, but it also felt like it left some things unresolved. Unfortunately, the jokes and moments with the friend/stalker Ren Yamai remain a sore spot for this episode. The bright spot of this episode is Komi’s interactions with new characters, Amami and Onigashima. Lastly, Episode 23 also introduces a new layer to Komi and Tadano’s relationship as it explores how they react to conflict and disagreements between one another.

Komi Can’t Communicate streams exclusively on Netflix.