For those of us outside Japan, October 21st feels like an eternity away because that’s how long we have to wait to watch the anime adaptation of Komi Can’t Communicate! Fortunately, Netflix is taking pity on us poor souls who don’t live in Japan and can’t watch the first episode right away by uploading the full opening animation to YouTube!
Before we get into the usual background information about this title (because I think it’s safe to assume that many of us are familiar with this red-hot manga title by now, even if only in passing), let’s break down this opening animation because it is quite the fun watch. First off, that music you’re hearing? It’s called Cinderella by the band Cider Girl. Based on that 93-second clip, it’s a banger that is going to get caught in your head like an earworm for the next three months.
More than that though, I really enjoyed the style choices made for this animation. I particularly enjoyed the various uses of shading and dark colors whenever Komi is shown by herself in a classroom until the latter stages of the animation, when her world expands as more characters are introduced and brought into her world. My favorite bit, though, is the part where Komi is sitting alone in ankle-deep water until the male main character appears, like a bolt from the sky, to encourage her to take steps forward in her life.
Based on the manga of the same name, Komi Can’t Communicate is up to 22 volumes in Japan as of August 2021 with Viz Media handling the English releases (which are up to fifteen volumes as of next week). The story, created by Tomohito Oda, features a stoic high school beauty who is idolized by her classmates, but in reality, she’s painfully shy and doesn’t know how to talk to people or make friends.
The anime adaptation is being handled by studio OLM and premiered on Netflix in Japan on October 6th. As mentioned, it will premiere on Netflix outside of Japan on October 21st and run weekly until its conclusion.
Source: A.I.R. on Twitter
