Netflix is now releasing the season 2 of Komi Can’t Communicate, one of those slice of life anime that is just perfect to watch when you want something chill, light, soft and charming. The first season became a sensation and now with season 2 starting you just need to watch the 12 episodes of season one to catch up.
Komi Can’t Communicate can appear a bit silly or dumb from the outside, but it is far from it. It is a story about being able to be yourself with others. A story about opening the doors of your mind and your life to those you care about, and being able to improve yourself one step at the time and become the best version of you. Komi Can’t Communicate is better than any self-help book you can buy out there.
Komi Can’t Communicate is a manga written and illustrated by Tomohito Oda and the anime is produced by OLM (Oriental Light, and Magic). The anime stars the voice of Aoi Koga as Komi herself, and Gakuto Kajiwara as our other main protagonist Tadano. The series tells the story of Komi, the most beautiful girl at school, perfect in every way and the object of desire of every other student, male or female in the school. However, Komi has a problem, she is so shy that she is unable to talk and communicate with others. Tadano, a new student at school, makes it his mission to help Komi have 100 friends. It is easier said than done, though.
Season one of Komi Can’t Communicate made it one of the best new shows that year. Audiences from around the world were charmed by Komi and her earnest need to have friends, but also her inability to make them. Some people are born with the ability to communicate with others from the get go. It is quite amazing. Nevertheless, some others find communication to be a drag or even something that they are unable to do.
Communication is one of the key factors in the development of our minds and our lives. You can even say that communication is the line through which we live and express things. Communication doesn’t have to be verbal. It can be a word on a sheet of paper or emojis on a text, but without any of these means of communication, there can be only loneliness and isolation.
The show really knows how to depict isolation as something that needs to be avoided. We can spend long periods of time by ourselves, sure, but like the saying goes, No man is an island, and without experiencing and sharing things with others, our lives will only be half full.
This second season goes beyond season one into the psychic of Komi and Tadano, as their relationship becomes closer and more meaningful to each other them, even reaching some really cute romantic potential. Both characters grow exponentially, and it is really nice to see them helping each other inside and outside school. They are becoming a part in each other’s lives and for those wanting to see a romance outside what we are used to seeing, then this is your romance fix.
The show also goes very deep into Komi’s relationship with the rest of the supporting characters. Season one started presenting new characters and gave them an introduction to Komi’s life. Now that they are already considered friends, the relationships need to evolve and become stronger or weaker, depending on the case. It is really heartwarming and also quite funny to see each new situation that is presented to the audience.
The humor is point just like in the first season, and the characters really find their stride at being strange and quirky. Even the new characters, like for example, a tough looking kid that has a very deep voice and feels sad because everybody is scared of him, manage to be charming and hilarious.
Some humor can be somewhat repetitive, especially from a couple of characters that only see Komi as a potential romantic or sexual partner. The jokes are funny, that is for sure, but seeing the same behavior over and over again becomes quite tedious. Thankfully, those characters come and go just as fast as the segments in each episode.
Komi Can’t Communicate continues to have the same strange structure as in season one. The manga being a comedy is often very short and instead of being completely serialized, each chapter is basically a bunch of tiny stories pieced together. In the anime, each episode consists of a couple or up to five stories presented together as an anime episode, and the result is fast and loose storytelling that fits this type of story perfectly.
The animation and the overall presentation of the show continue to be one of the high points in the series. OLM has really managed to create something beautiful here. The comedy bits are enhanced tenfold thanks to amazing editing and great animation that can jump between different styles of animation in just a second, in order to give the joke the necessary style and tone. OLM are really outdoing themselves with the production.
Komi Can’t Communicate, season 2 continues delivering more of what we wanted. The character’s development is slow, but it is there. It is wonderful to see all these characters going through their teenage years and becoming some amazing people in the process. You really can’t rush life or improvement of any sort, patience is a must. So for those wanting to just spend the necessary time with these characters, then this second season is a must to watch.