I bit the bullet and finally watched the anime adaptation of "Komi-san wa, Komyushou desu." where I had high hopes that the visual style of the manga was carried over successfully. I was happy to be proven right.

I will split this review into two parts:

1. this coming first part (marked by Komi looking down) will be spoiler-free for those looking for my trash opinion without spoiling themselves of the actual content.
2. the second part (marked by Komi looking up at you) will have spoilers, and will go in better depth of why I've come to my conclusions.

As for the format of the reviews itself, I will first talk about the Story, flowing into a discussion about the Cast, touching on the Audio and Visuals, before summarizing everything up into a tight paragraph.

So, spoiler-free.
tl;dr: Story is heavily bound to source material, 60% of the cast is 100% the story, the audio/visuals carried this series.

Story: 3/10
The source material leaves a lot to be desired. Using the synopsis as our boundaries for this explanation, the plot centers around our male MC Tadano Hitohito, who expresses his desire to be less noticed by his peers as he enters high school for the first time. The juxtaposition to Tadano is our titular character Komi Shouko, who appears as a popular ice queen at first glance, but quickly find out that she is an extremely quiet, shy and awkward female MC who desires to make her first friend.

So it sounds pretty good, and the way it is handled in this adaptation is done to the best of the studio's ability to keep you engaged to the progression of the story as much as possible.

As much as possible.

It is not a problem of the adaptation itself, but of the source material. I can only say that OLM's Team Kojima have done their best to have fun with the visuals and gags presented to them. Any further thoughts will be in my spoiler review.

Cast: 6/10
Tied to the story, the main cast can be polarizing, depending on personal preference. However, for the most part I find 60% of the main cast to be the series' strengths, while the rest contribute to a hole of "I wish this was executed better" that seems to grow with each passing episode. However, that 60% of the main cast I've mentioned absolutely carries the majority of the time, with some exceptions given to other characters when they are given the green light to become the main spotlight of an episode.

Audio: 7.5/10
One of the two greatest strengths of the anime, the audio is done really well to enhance your viewing experience. From its ambience of the many areas they visit, or the aura of a character that's watching a situation evolve from afar, to the swelling of its OST; great care and attention was put towards making sure its audio did not suffer from negligence. Paired with great visuals, this serves to further compliment each other (and ultimately become one-half of the carrying force for what makes this series good).

Visual: 8.5/10
The second of the two greatest strengths of the anime, the visuals are amazing for a Romcom anime. The visual integrity of its manga source material is preserved, with its unique art style delivering the emotional auras of its characters to a tee. The studio was not afraid to have fun with how a situation develops in real-time, enhancing its impact to the fullest extent. Beyond this focus, there was not a point where I felt that the visual quality had dipped.

Overall: 6.25/10
Using my personal rating system, I put this at the "Compost" level. Its visuals and sounds absolutely carried the majority of this anime, no doubt about that. Some characters make the episodes tough to get through, and the source material's lack of quality and consistency bleeds through the anime's astounding visual quality.

So yeah, spoiler-free.

So, spoilers.

Story: 3/10
The source material leaves a lot to be desired. The juxtaposition between the two characters jump-start the plot, yet there's some very weird comedic stuff that completely affects the main story. My biggest gripe with this change to its consistency is its inability to stick to its own rules, making it feel unpredictable (in a bad way) for which comedic gag is just a comedic gag, or if that gag becomes a plot point that is played straight for a character's growth. I mention "in a bad way" because the last thing you want your readers/viewers to feel, is to not feel like your story has a consistent rule set.

Let us say, you (the reader) and I (the writer) told you that an apple fell from a tree and crumbled a love letter. That love letter belongs to the MC, of which they get made fun of for leaving their love letter in a weird place. This gag is played with, then the story continues as if that love letter incident wasn't that big of a deal.

Then, I told you that an apple fell from a similar tree and crumbled the MC's homework. MC gets made fun of for the same mistake, then moves on. However in the next panel, it directly affects the MC in such a way that they are unable to attend an important school trip. Usually at this point, you'd expect some sort of personal growth from the MC, prompting them to be more careful of their homework at the very least. If we apply the inconsistencies we've discussed earlier into this scenario, the MC would completely disregard that entire event and keep misplacing their homework (or personal items) with seemingly no consequences (or benefits) to them, or to anyone else.

Have I explained that well? I feel like I haven't, but it's a very weird concept to try and explain with just text so I will understand if you don't. Just think of 1+1 equaling not 2, but 1, even though all mathematical equations point to the 1+1 problem clearly equaling 2.

Another big hit-or-miss part of the source material is its comedy. The comedy that works come from the interactions between the main trio of Tadano Hitohito, Komi Shouko, and Osana Najimi. That's the comedy that works, most of the time. Most of the other comedic bits when branching outside of the main trio don't really work, and rely on whether or not you accept the character's quirks and personalities. Having seen numerous other SoL and Romcoms, the comedic gags here just... don't work. They fall flat, don't make sense comedically or plot-wise, or often times just... dumbfounding. Maybe even creepy on ~~some~~ most occasions.

I like the progression of Komi Shouko's communcation problem in this anime, at least.

Cast: 6/10
I love the trio of Tadano Hitohito, Komi Shouko, and Osana Najimi. They absolutely carry when they are on screen.

When it comes to the other two characters Agari Himiko and Yamai Ren, it gets really tough to get through the episodes. Especially Yamai Ren.
I understand that stereotypes are important to set expectations of what these characters are going to be. But when they're clearly unbearable/cringe?

There's many ways to approach a "cringe" character. They can become the driver for what ultimately makes them a better person, or perhaps act as plot device for a huge character arc for other characters to play off of. These 2 are just some I've thought of from the top of my head.

Somehow, they don't really become any more than just their stereotype, even though they were given plenty of chances to become something more. Their on-screen presence is immediately outshone by side characters such as Onemine Nene and Nakanaka Omoharu. As one-dimensional as these side characters can be, at the very least they exist to promote character growth for Tadano Hitohito or Komi Shouko. They were created with a purpose in mind, and they quickly fulfill their purpose, and then bow out of the spotlight as they go on about their own days. In constrast, Yamai Ren continues to show that she doesn't really grow outside her obsession despite being offered a chance to change, and Agari Himiko just becomes forgotten as the series progresses.

Plot needs more Onemine Nene for sure.

Audio: 7.5/10
To expand upon my spoiler-free counterpart, the studio is not afraid to experiment with the highest and the lowest volumes to play with viewer expectation, as well as to enhance the comedy set in the series. The sound quality is top-notch, and a great majority of the SFX used is unrecognizable to me, at least.

Visual: 8.5/10
To expand upon my spoiler-free counterpart, the studio really went all out with the visual style and motion of the anime. The quality usually never ceases to feel as if they intentionally cut the budget for one episode. Both comedic and serious styles of the anime have a near-level quality of shine to them, complimenting each other quite well.

Overall: 6.25/10
My spoiler-free counterpart does a pretty good job of summarizing my thoughts and feelings in this, but to add further context: I do not like how other characters are handled, nor how its comedy is handled outside of the trio. To be absolutely stern on my feelings. the studio carried this show from hell and back. Without its high quality and deep budget, this show would not have been as highly praised as others.

So yeah, the visual style and its integrity? Top notch. Audibles? Top notch.

But the rest? Could have been better. The plot had so much potential. Shame it wasn't consistent enough. Delete or replace a couple characters, and it becomes a way better anime. But hey, at least Komi Shouko is cute.