For the better half of the year 2021, I had been looking for something with a concise plot packed within one episode, but still in need of an anime season to execute, as HorribleMiya, Bottom-tier Character Tomozaki, and partly Non Non Biyori Nonstop let me quite down. Then I stumbled upon OLM, the studio behind Berserk and the legendary franchise Pókemon, and Odd Taxi of Spring 2021 has become one of my favourite. With such impulse coming into Fall, the anime producer continued to offer another modern classic, namely ‘Komi-san wa, Komyushou desu’, or Komi-san in abbreviation. Sincerely, OLM.
I believe school is more an imitation of society, as people could obtain academic knowledge through self-studying or tutoring, so there is no other reason to force children going to that place. That is to say, we were, are, and will be there to form connections, relationships, bonds, which I find quite important for any individual. The easiest way to do so is via verbal communication, or talking and chatting with others, which is the most common method to know and learn about your partner(s). However, there exists such complex called ‘Komyushou’, a communication disorder that makes people very anxious, to the point of being unable to verbally interact with others. Imagine the frustration you would get, when you have a voice but couldn’t express yourself, which always reminds me of the scene Colin Firth had to say it furiously out loud in The King’s Speech, ‘I have a voice.’, and that’s just his incapability of coherently finishing a speech. Komi was in a much worse situation, her lifetime had been void of such common thing, with the cause as such. Reading each word she wrote on that black board, I came to realise communication is not simply a product of evolution, but also the most human desire to transmit thoughts, feelings to the receiving end. Being unable to do so is quite painful, unhealthy, depressing, it makes people only want to run away from the pain they get. Luckily, there was someone at that place, willing to patiently listen, to understand her situation, to lend a helpful hand, to tear down the barrier preventing her from experiencing the joy of befriending, and not the very least important, to be the first in her life. Such moments are very rare in the span of a lifetime, so there were very few reasons to stop my heart from getting moved. Friendship is indeed beautiful, it’s always darkest before the dawn, and overcoming hardship together only polishes more of a genuine relationship. Standing before such appealing portrayal of humanity, I could only wonder if there would be anything surpass this masterful Official Video Animation, as they had to air it twice, in order to flesh out the awesomeness, and if I were ever able to obtain something genuine as such…
As the compensation for the missing plot of the remaining 11, Komi-san was heavily character-driven. We had a cute, all-rounded catgirl who couldn’t express herself as the protagonist, which has given us the will to protecc, as all her moves were loved and welcome, instead of being a sore in the eyes like Wata… someone’s waifu.
Then came a bunch of troubled kids, who were incapable of speaking their minds at will, without being archtypes like yandere, masochistic, ninja, background character, chuunibyou, childhood friend, trap, rival… Even more of them are yet on screen, as the goal is to set the count up to 100, thus there is a hopeful and eerie future awaiting the audiences, to witness their growth out of those shallow cocoons. Last but not least, the staff would never be complete without a plain normie in trouble with his own existence, which was quite ordinary, yet indeed irreplaceable for the story to proceed.
Though Slice-of-Life usually doesn’t have much of knowledgeable information, it would instead be an absurd observation of Komi-san, however. We were portrayed how Japaneses would spend their time with friends, on occasions like weekends, summer, Christmas, New Year, Valentine, Reversed Valentine, Golden Week, exams, Lunar New Year, Independent Day of United States of America, Her Majesty’s Birthday, French Revolution, Technology Evolution 6.9, Olympic Tokyo,… In addition, OLM also paid attention to the tiniest details of their production, such as references of April is Your Lie, Saiki K, Detective Conan, Naruto, Sasuke, Itachi, Bleach, OnePiece, Megaman, RPG, Oregairu, Monogatari, NisiOisin, Senryuu Shouko, One Week Friends, Classroom of The Elite, Studio Shaft, Studio Ghibli, Gainax, Hayao Miyazaki, Hideaki Anno, ‘Anime was a mistake’, Netflix, Nozama Prime,… and that was only the first episode. Also, in contrast to the spent time amounting to 4 hours, after having finished the adaptation, even the newest bie into anime would become a veteran weeb with vast knowing of entertainment industry, an expert in Japanese culture, traditions, customs, and pass the N1 certificate exam of Japanese at ease, enabling them to watch raw anime on daily basis, not to mention a folder full of memes at the end of the day. Putting the pros and cons onto the scale, there is no other word could describe this situation more precisely than those of Mark Ruffalo himself:
When it comes to enjoyment, I have got mixed receptions from many sources. On one side, critics have laughed their ass off at a seasonal super-, mega-, ultra-overhyped, the style-over-substance stuff, the style-to-fake substance thing, a trainwreck and the sum of all its wagons,… On the other hand, the drama, the cute, cozy stuff and the happy moments would serve those ready to take them for what they are, hence the fans have praised of its symbolism, parody, awakening of protecc instinct, message of world’s peace, god-tier artistry,… Hey, surprisingly, there is, at the very least, something aligned, as they have been all in agreement with OLM’s high production value. Everyone has got some pieces of the cake, therefore, it is my honour to put Komi-san on the A-side, as Odd Taxi has never been canon to begin with, and no longer hesitant to celebrate this anime with a 10/10, just like how it had taken my 10/10 remaining heart beats. Masterpiece!!!
'If you'll be my bodyduard...
I can call you Komi...
If you'll be my bodyguard...
I can call you Komi...'
Merry X-Mas, and a Happy New Year.