Komi Can't Communicate Anime Adaptation Announced!

After a lot of hope and speculation from fans, the popular romcom manga series, Komi-san wa Komyushou desu (Komi Can’t Communicate) is finally getting its own anime adaptation, set to debut in October of this year on TV Tokyo.

Premise

If you haven’t given it a read, I’ll give you a quick rundown of the plot. Komi Can’t Communicate centers around two protagonists: the drop-dead gorgeous Shouko Komi and the perfectly ordinary Tadano Hitohito. If the latter’s description sounds a little insulting to his character, rest assured: “tadanohito” (ただの人）quite literally means “ordinary guy” in Japanese. However, the plot is much more than the “unremarkable guy somehow gets the yamato nadeshiko” type of tale. Komi possesses crippling social anxiety that makes it very difficult for her to verbally communicate with her peers. Tadano, in spite of being rather ordinary, is gifted with a very keen sense of observation, and he’s able to deduce that Komi isn’t the aloof vixen that the other students think she is. By utilizing the classroom’s blackboard to communicate, they become acquainted, and Tadano pledges to help Komi make 100 friends.

Komi Can't Communicate chalk — Komi gives a striking gaze as she prepares to write on the chalkboard

Komi Can't Communicate Chalk 2 — Komi gives a…well, a bizarre glance at the beleaguered Tadano

Introductions aside, Komi Can’t Communicate has become a popular manga series both within Japan and abroad in the West. The story introduces a roster of colorful, relatable characters with their own quirks, imperfections, and anxieties, all becoming gravitationally bound to the orbit of the two central characters, Komi and Tadano.

Komi Can't Communicate Najimi — Demure and cute or devilish prankster…? Osana Najimi is Tadano’s close acquaintance!

Casting Call

The studio working on Komi Can’t Communicate is OLM Inc. Ayumu Watanabe will be acting as chief director, with Kazuki Kawagoe directing the anime at OLM. Deko Akao is in charge of series composition, while Atsuko Nakajima is handling the character design.

The casting lineup for the anime is looking pretty solid. Aoi Koga, the same talent that voiced Shinomiya Kaguya from Kaguya-sama: Love is War, will be voicing Komi. Kaguya and Komi are both entirely different personas, so I’m stoked to hear how Koga-san handles the role. It’ll be a bit different, to be sure; Komi seldom has any spoken dialogue throughout the manga, after all.

Kaguya-sama: Love is War is another great romcom, if you need a recommendation while we wait until October rolls around. Season 1 is currently available on Crunchyroll.

Over in the men’s corner, Gakuto Kajiwara will be the voice of Tadano. Kajiwara-san is the talent behind quite an extensive list of roles over the years, including Asta from Black Clover and Shinra Kusakabe from Fire Force. Looks like he’ll be swapping out Shinra’s fiery personality for a much more subdued disposition while voicing Tadano, but if the anime trailer is any indication, Kajiwara-san has his new role locked down!

The 3rd character and the deuteragonist of Komi Can’t Communicate, Osana Najimi (pictured a few strokes above with the lavender hair), will be voiced by Rie Murakawa. Najimi is a bit of a nutty, high-energy character, sometimes acting as a wingman to either Tadano or Komi, while at other times acting as an agent of chaos for the crew. Najimi’s gender is intentionally left indeterminate, but the humor arising from that facet never feels malicious or ill-conceived. In contrast to Komi, Najimi is an excellent communicator and is able to befriend almost anyone within minutes of meeting them. In a similar vein to how Tadano’s namesake means “everyday guy,” “Osana Najimi” (幼なじみ) means “childhood friend” in Japanese.

Najimi’s seiyuu, Rie Murakawa, is an accomplished voice actress, singer, and radio host. From releasing her first album RiEMUSiC on January 11th, 2017 (hey, that’s my birthday!) to voicing Ram from the immensely popular Re:Zero anime series, she’s done quite a bit! She’ll surely bring a lot of life into the spunky Najimi.

Check out the promotional trailer below. The animation quality not only looks fantastic, but it also stays true to Oda Tomohito’s original art style. Komi looks absolutely gorgeous!