After a smashing start, Komi Can’t Communicate Episode 2 is back to charm everyone again with its fantastic characters and charming presentation. Let’s see if it worked in this review!
Komi Can’t Communicate Episode 2 Overview
Komi Can’t Communicate, or Komi-san wa Komyushou desu in original Japanese, is a comedy and slice of life anime based on an extremely popular manga written by Tomohito Oda. It is being adapted into an anime by Studio OLM, a very well known anime studio known for bringing several well-known projects like Pokemon and Odd Taxi, among other things.
The anime is being directed by Ayumu Watanabe, a veteran director known for directing several critically and commercially successful anime such as Space Brothers and Doraemon. He is also being assisted in direction by Kazuki Kawagoe, another veteran director primarily known for directing Beyblade. You can check out our review for the first episode here!
– Komi Can’t Communicate Episode 2 Review does not contain spoilers –
Komi Can’t Communicate Episode 2 Review- Plot and Characters
“Osana Najimi” is a term used for childhood friends in Japanese, so you get no points for guessing what the show called its childhood friend character. That’s right, they are called Osana Najimi! Big surprise! If you were to create a character from scratch that was the antitheses of Komi, you still wouldn’t be able to reach how perfectly Osana opposes Komi. If this doesn’t make her a perfect candidate to start the quest for 100 friends, I don’t know who else it could be.
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Tadano and Komi’s interactions with Osana formed the core of this episode, which were hilarious. I wouldn’t say I like making a lot of comparisons, as I believe we should judge a show on its own merits and not how it compares with any other masterpiece or hot garbage that it resembles. However, I believe comparing styles and inspiration is totally fine as it gives us more insight into how something came to be.
I bring this up because the stylings and presentation of Komi Can’t Communicate Episode 2 reminded me a lot of Kyoto Animation’s sublime Nichijou. The multiple chapters per episode all relating to each other in some random way, alongside the exaggeration of small things that lead to a comic situation, was a formula used by Nichijou with a lot of success, and the torch has now been passed onto Komi Can’t Communicate.
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We also saw several other similar elements in Komi Can’t Communicate Episode 2, such as the playing around with existing tropes of high-school life, such as the delinquent and the stylish girl. The comedy style is noticeably different, however. Nichijou was based solely on turning the everyday life that we all experience into the journey of a lifetime through the musings of 4 teenage girls. Komi, however, is very special. The humour is based around the contrast in Komi’s appearance and personality and the situations that arise due to that.
Nichijou was underappreciated during its runtime and only got the love it truly deserved after it gained a cult following in the past few years. On the other hand, Komi holds the entire anime world in the palm of her hands right now. It will be interesting to see how it builds upon that legacy and promise, but Komi-san wa Komyushou desu Episode 2 was a promising start nonetheless. The episode was, for lack of a better word, sheer bonkers.
The three chapters of the episode were all great in their own way, serving as a great introduction to Osana and their weird yet lovable personality. Komi’s escapades at anime Starbucks, alongside her getting rid of the two delinquents, were hilarious. One can derive so much joy from Komi just performing uncharacteristic tasks such as jumping that the show can live off just that. I’m just glad we get so much more.
Komi Can’t Communicate Episode 2 Review- Art and Music
After flexing very hard in the premiere episode, the animation department slowed down considerably in Komi Can’t Communicate Episode 2. That is understandable, as the first episode was a work of art, to say the least, and continuing to put in the same amount of work is infeasible for a weekly series. What we got in this episode was still perfectly lovely, and the visual comedy was just as funny as the last episode.
We got to hear the opening and ending themes with their visuals this time around, and they were fantastic. The opening suits the show very well and is extremely catchy. The ending is typical slow anime fair and is also nice to the ears. The OSTs haven’t been very noticeable yet, but there are lots of episodes to go. Overall, great showing by Komi Can’t Communicate Episode 2 this week.
Verdict
Komi Can’t Communicate Episode 2 was hilarious, and it proved that the first episode was not a fluke. This show has the potential to be one of the best slice of life anime of our time.
