Komi Can't Communicate

Episode 3

The last episode of Komi Can't Communicate established the current narrative structure of the show moving forward: each episode would be divided into sections that have their own little skit or self-contained story. I didn't really bring this up in the review for episode two because the focus was more or less kept on the same person with the same general theme. It just felt a lot easier to judge the episode as a whole piece rather than as disparate parts. However, not only did this episode have a few distinctly different skits, but this is also the first episode so far that I feel like varied the most in quality.

One of the skits I enjoyed the least wasn't just because it revolved around a word game that I knew very little about where the characters were very loose on the rules themselves in order to manipulate a specific outcome. Rather, it's because the personalities and intentions of some of these characters felt incongruous with the show's more wholesome elements. I'm admittedly a little unsure of how I'm supposed to feel regarding Najimi; while I do think Komi needs a friend that will actively push her outside of her comfort zone in order to move forward (they even call it tough love), it still feels like they're being pushed just a little bit too far at times. Between the word game and the whole council president skit, I wasn't always sure if they were trying to help Komi or if they were just trolling. I hope this doesn't become a habit, because the more I find out about this class and how they view the main duo, the more I begin to question if Komi should even be trying to make friends with them at all. The impression I'm getting is that they're not very good people, and even when they are presented as relatable, the show seems to take this hard right turn with them.

This brings us to the beginning of the episode, which properly introduces a new cast member, Himiko, and I enjoyed..most of her skit. Last week, we saw what happens when you match an extreme introvert with an extreme extrovert, but what about having two distinctly different introverts trying to communicate with each other? While the humor was kind of one-note, I do think the show is at its best when it uses these exaggerated personalities for the sake of communicating something that a lot of everyday people go through. However, I was not expecting this character to be a masochist that gets turned on by Komi's silence, and because nothing prior to that shift in tone was established before, some of it comes off as unnecessarily random to the point where...yeah I'm still processing that even as I write this. Thankfully, the episode was mostly salvaged by the skits that revolved around Komi getting a cell phone and learning more about it. I like the fact that despite Tadano acting as her first immediate point of contact with everybody, it's established that he can still be pretty dense to certain things, and every interaction between them was adorable. Those parts sort of fit into place without feeling forced or over the top, and I hope that more episodes highlight those strengths of the series instead of leaning into such a surprisingly mean-spirited side.

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Komi Can't Communicate is currently streaming on Netflix.