The first half of Komi-san, at least for as long as the manga is during this review, is great. Excellent SoL gag comedy with some good romance in the background between nicely written characters.
Unfortunately going into what is the 2nd half, denoted by gradual change in focus rather than anything else, the bottom falls out. A 2nd girl is introduced well over 100 chapters into the manga, and this new found love triangle gets more and more focus as times goes on, while the pacing maintains the slow meandering structure of the beginning. Where once a one off gag character being introduced was a welcome event, now it feels like a waste given that this emotional conflict between the characters in the main cast is ignored for it.

What was a SoL gag manga tried to become a rom-com and then tried to take that back by just ignoring the newfound romantic triangle and dropping bits of it off every dozen chapters. If the romance is wrapped up soon and things return to form then the manga will be a far better read once again. If not it will continue to feel like a waste of the reader's time.

Nowadays, people online like myself come out with confessions of social ineptitude and the anxiety that comes with it. I found myself relating to a lot of the main cast that comes up now and then, especially Komi-san and Tadano. Feelings of anxiety, anguish, nervousness around others, and especially dumb drawn-up conclusions about others are illustrated very well, if not perfectly, in this manga.

It may not teach people who read this how to cope, but it will at least help deal with own issues and give a realistic concept of what it's like to outsiders.

All in all, the humor is great, the cast is amazing, the art is especially cute, and every panel is an absolute joy. Please read this even when you aren't having a bad day.

SUMMARY of the first chapter : A girl that has issues communicating with others wants to make lots of friends, and the MC will help her (they also become friends).

The art is really good and Komi is super-cute! The MC didn't annoy me at all, I guess you can relate to him, so I find him likeable. The plot so far is nothing special so far, and the traits of the male lead I've see before somewhere else.. but it's just cute, and I want to see more.

I finally manage to read this after 2 skippings and my oh my, FINALLY (after years) a good Shogakukan title shows up!

At first, it is somewhat pretentious and more on the extreme side (absolute Goddess, absolute normies, absolute S&M, and so on). Gradually, characters develop (and still continues to develop as of my comment). And I see more layers than whichever surfaces that only meet the eyes.

The characters are quite unique too (as the exposition says Itan High School accepts students based on interviews a.k.a. personalities and in some way they are all kind of weirdos - refer the the "extreme" examples above). But who am I to judget? Because I enjoy these kids so freaking much! They are all good and well-intended kids who might be afraid to show who they are initially but learn to accept themselves and others through surrounding supports.

It is also a plus for me, for the manga is quite diverse (still all Japanese, but I appreciate how they don't include a fancied version of Westerner here and it feels organic) and inclusive with different characteristics, traits, displays, etc. It would be nice if our society is moving towards such open-minded space and time in the near future 🙂

And I learn heaps about many things, absolutely applicable in every-day life too both soft (empathy, listening, sharing, expressing oneself, being positive and supportive, etc.) and hard (planning, cooking, gardening, etc.) skills. Once in a while I think to myself: "This is gold!"

(Currently my) last (point), I don't think I'll get bored with the story (any time soon). The author knows how to focus to certain characters, certain storylines, and sometimes, in the mix throw in random shorts - that are all HILARIOUS! The gags are so on-point, I guarantee! So please, read on!

Hope you'll find this comment helpful and enjoy the manga as much as I am!


EDIT: The gags are (many times) off-the-chart! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

... Last updated on May 23rd, 2019, 3:23am

I actually dropped this once.....which is a huge freaking mistake hahahhahha, loved the art style

Maybe that's because I'm also socially inept, like Komi. The thing that makes this story work so well is Komi's combination of ineptness and wonderful beauty. I guess you can imagine what wierd situations that could produce. Also, the manga would be nothing without the unusual, expressive drawing of its creator, especially in showing Komi's nervousness and confusion.

Above all, the manga is really funny!

My go to manga whenever I had a bad day. The premise is simple and well-paced, the humor is good and to top it off there will always be a subtle reference of progression the main characters had along the story so make sure you pay attention on it.

The progression in the manga is shown quite well, most especially regarding various communication disorders that not only plagued the MC but some side characters as well, and most of the conflicts were concluded wonderfully with Komi actively pursuing to solve it.

However if we are speaking progression in terms of romance it was quite slow as romance is included as a subplot, so if we're going to compare Komi-san with series with similar genre in the market (such as kaguya or horimiya) komi-san is quite lacking on that department.

But slow doesn't mean bad, every time romance-themed chapters come up it is always heartwarming. So take a seat, make yourself comfortable and have a good treat!

... Last updated on December 24th, 2020, 9:48am

>Falheite (Known status:Chap104)
"Really cute, and im really enjoying reading it, i do think it misses a lot of times in the comedy department, but i just want to continue reading!"

I quickly fell for this series and expected to like it. It's charming, sure, but what really gets me about it is it's loose, light humor. Komi's adorable, the rest of the cast is great, it's just a real treat that's very much worth reading. Wrote a full review on it, linked below. Definitely check out the manga!

Full review:
https://terrenceswiff.wordpress.com/2017/02/24/komi-san-wa-komyushou-desu/

Well-written characters, good humor, and a romance element you'd think would be obvious but is actually developed rather subtly.

... Last updated on May 6th, 2019, 6:39pm