After almost ten years, Komi’s story reached its conclusion, clocking out at 500 chapters. I will say that at the time the anime adaptation was pretty well made, which in turn had given me the curiosity to binge read the manga; now, after about a year and a half since, I returned to finish reading it and share some thoughts.
TLDR: it’s overall a solid series, having some fun and likable moments – maybe the pacing falls a little short in some cases (if I have to be nit-picky) and possibly five hundred chapters is a little excessive (admittedly some of them are only three or four pages long), but it delivers a nice and wholesome narration.
For those who don’t know the series, it’s the story of a girl, Komi, who has problems communicating; we aren’t talking about your run-of-the-mill shyness here, but rather a take on the paralyzing effects of not being able to have social interactions. Although the subject matter is serious, the author has a more light-hearted way of portraying it and throughout the manga, slowly and steadily, Komi eventually works on her issues and her confidence and finds solutions to her communicative impediments. The reason why I say that the series takes a more laid-back approach, justified by the comical aspects as well, is because of the extent to which Komi is considered beautiful: her moments of silence which would otherwise be perceived as awkward, have the opposite effect. Everyone sees her as flawless, perfect in everything she does, and the series plays on this trope. This functions well in the series but obviously would not be the same in reality.
Within the series the ‘will they/won’t they’ trope is also present. Tadano, the first person she meets, is the most average person in the entire manga, yet he is the one who patiently understands where Komi is coming from, becomes her friend, and helps her overcoming her issues. The romantic aspect is slow, not only considering that it takes three years of high school to develop; they hold hands after 320 chapters, hug on chapter 374 and eventually share a kiss after a bit over 400 chapters total. Regardless, although this might be perceived as excruciatingly slow, I would argue that the evolution of the relation and the pacing fits with the overall narrative.
What I want to emphasize are the authentic moments the series portrays: raging from comic-relieve scenes (faces and big-eyed caricatures are more expressive than one might think) to characters and their doubts (both existential as well as regarding interpersonal relationships). Between the minute details, such as the classic lines that depict embarrassment, to more complex elements such as the use of speech bubbles, Komi-san can’t communicate manages to deliver a complex and taught out narrative. While some of the characters are purposefully caricaturized, others feel as real people and the relationship that is constructed between them always succeeds in feeling honest (a strange and seemingly vague way to put it, but if you read the manga then you will understand).
I will add that the particular usage of panels employed here, in most other manga would be considered lacklustre at best. On the other hand, in Komi-san can’t communicate fits perfectly with the portrayed theme. For instance, an entire chapter is made up by same exact composition: for ten-ish pages, with no change in perspective, you can only see students talking about whatever. These monotonous static pages, combined with the triviality of what is being said, actually portrays the normal every-day school life in a simplistic yet effective way. Another great example of this technique is how the author portrayed at a certain point the beauty of happiness, a simple yet wholesome moment of appreciating the rain. In the manga industry, which is at times so chaotic and dependent on cliff-hangers and ratings, Komi takes three pages to dedicate to this simple and tranquil moment; not many others would do that.
My final remark regards how much it is possible to do without even the need of using words in a manga. I have always claimed that if a picture is worth a thousand words, then just as well a word could express a thousand pictures. It works both ways, and that is why I love manga. In the case of Komi however, I will make an exception and leave it a simple ‘silence is golden’ because of how in that laconic dimension the series truly finds its equilibrium.