#komi san wa communication shougai desu

[incorrectcommunication]

Komi Can Communicate

Today, I'm going to break style slightly. Instead of incorrectly quoting the characters, or reblogging stuff other people made for the fandom, I'm going to share my thoughts about Komi-san. (The series; I here refer to is as Komi-san for brevity. The character will simply be called Komi.)

Let's start with something straightforwardly good. Remember the chalkboard scene? Of course you do—it's the inciting incident for the entire series, the most iconic moment, and one of the few scenes where the anime adaptation rises above the level of "serviceable".

But why is it so good? Personally, I'd argue the main reason it stands out so much (in both manga and anime) is because of how it ties to the core hook of the series. Komi doesn't talk, so people assume she can't communicate at all...but Tadano finds a way to communicate with her.

In a vacuum, it's a sweet little moment that establishes the protagonists' characters and the story's themes. In a real-world context, it's meaningful. People like Komi really exist. According to what passes for my research, something like 0.6-0.9% of the population has some degree of nonspeaking autism.* The treatment for these people is not to drag them out of their shell until they learn to talk; it's to accommodate their communication needs.

Some communicate with tablets or other electronic devices, some use flashcards or sign language, and some use written language like Komi. And to its credit, Komi-san treats her written communication and gestures as valid ways to communicate. Sometimes it gets used in a joke, but mostly it's just how Komi talks. That's good!

I wish it had stayed that way.

Over time, Komi starts to talk. Like, with her vocal cords and tongue. I don't want to reread several dozen manga chapters to check, but I'm pretty sure the last time she uses her notebook was a bit before chapter 300, during the school-trip-to-NYC arc. She's not chatty by any means, but she doesn't have much difficulty talking.

This increased use of speech was meant to symbolize Komi coming out of her shell, becoming more confident and sociable. As she talks more, she becomes less passive, taking more agency in her story, begins to assert herself. While her written communication isn't de-legitimized, exactly, it's definitely devalued, treated as an inferior substitute for acting neurotypical.

To be clear: I only find this remarkable in the specific context of a series which starts with something like the chalkboard scene. Overcoming disability with the power of friendship or saying that they just needed to have confidence is kinda ableist, but the context makes it a lot less bad than that sounds. I don't want people to think I'm trying to "cancel" Komi-san or Tomohito Oda. I'm not mad, just...disappointed.

Some of this is personal; I have autism. Not as severe as many, to be clear; I can talk, just not as well as NT people. But it still felt personally meaningful to see a series which treated an ambiguously autistic character with such respect, which didn't devalue her for her communication disorder*, didn't see it as a problem that needed to be corrected. And it was deeply frustrating to see the series slowly undermine that empathy by treating it as a problem Komi had overcome.

I assume Tomohito Oda didn't intend that. I assume it was meant to be empowering, to show people with "communication disorders"* overcoming their limitations. He just failed. He correlated Komi losing her communication disorder with her becoming empowered, confident, happy. Whatever he was trying to say, he wound up implying that people like Komi should, or at least can, improve their lives by acting more like neurotypical people. By going through a character arc until they stop being disabled.

On one hand, it's possible for some people with autism or other "communication disorders"* to mitigate their "symptoms" and live a better life through it. On the other hand, that's not a realistic option. Lots of neurodivergent kids get traumatized by attempts to make them act "normal," and many of them internalize their "failure" to become "normal" as a character flaw.

Again, this is me hyperfixating on a relatively small flaw in a pretty good manga series. If this kind of plotline showed up in something like Sia's Music, it would probably be an improvement. But while it hurts to be reminded of how ableist that dumpster-fire is, it's a very acute type of pain; it doesn't stick around once I let it leave my mind.

Seeing a series like Komi-san come so close and still f*k up hurts in a deeper way. It's objectively nowhere near the same level; if I saw someone earnestly comparing Music and Komi-san on how they misrepresent autistic* people, I'd think they were crazy.

And yet, watching Komi grow and heal through things that can help real neurodivergent people—friends who understand and accept them, accommodations for their specific disorders, and generally not suffering from the abuse and attrition disabled people so often suffer IRL—only to have that growth and healing manifest as her disorder slowly fading away until it's at a normal shy-girl level...I don't know.

It hurts, and it sticks. It feels like a betrayal. It feels like evidence that we'll never be understood or accepted, if even the people trying to show empathy f*k up like this. I've been thinking about it since manga!Komi started talking regularly, more and more as her other methods of communication faded away, and I still don't know how to describe how all of this makes me feel.

Part of that cocktail of feelings is the sense that I shouldn't complain. There are so many series—from Japan, the West, and all of the rest—which handle neurodivergent characters so much worse. There are plenty which much more explicitly and intentionally frame "overcoming" a disability as something neurodivergent people should do. And yet, none of those stick in my mind the way this flaw in Komi-san does.

I didn't mean to ramble on this long. I thought I could describe a bit of how Komi's been acting in the manga, describe why it bugged me, and write a quick conclusion. That conclusion is now most of the post. Sorry about that—whatever my statements in the intro may lead you to believe, I'm not good at brevity.

Ugh, that's a terrible conclusion. Um...go read the manga, I guess? Go and decide what you think about the stuff I've been describing here, see if you can articulare your thoughts better. Bonus: You'll be able to understand who these Ase and Manbagi people are. I've been trying not to use unadapted characters in my quotes too much, but I haven't not been using them.

FOOTNOTE

*The Japanese word "komyushou" does not refer to any specific disorder. It's basically impossible for someone on the English-speaking internet to google details about how, exactly, the term is used, thanks to this one manga that floods your search results, but it's broader than just autism. That said, Komi fits an autism diagnosis pretty well, and even if she's not autistic, she's meant to represent some actual group of people with communication disorders.

Languages are important, but language barriers are frustrating. There's no English word which means quite the same thing as "komyushou," which is a problem for people who care about saying exactly what they mean to say, which is important both when discussing certain sensitive subjects and for certain autistic people. It's me, I'm certain autistic people, I hate being misunderstood.

[dailyfigures]

Komi Shouko ; Komi Can't Communicate ☆ Good Smile Company

[ydotome]

[ieatclocks]

ice cream

[candycornstudios]

Tengo una teoría que Komi = Pomni

I have a headcanon that Komi = pomni

[chuckuddin]

Komi

[gumicaps]

-character komi shouko

-anime komi-san wa, komyusho desu

[if you repost the publication or use it in editions give credits]

IG: gumicaps

[kozzdraw]

Komi cat

[pfpanimes]

⌕ komi shouko moodboard.

like or reblog if you save/use. 🤍

[animepopheart]

★ 【藤井英俊】 「 komi 」 ☆ ✔ republished w/permission ⊳ ⊳ follow me on twitter

[g-gattinhes]

⠀⠀⠀⠀⊹ ֹ ִ 𓇼 ֹ ָ֢ ֹ 🌨 ֹ ִ ຯ . .

⠀⠀⠀⠀⊹ ֹ ִ 𓇼 ֹ ָ֢ ֹ ⛄ ֹ ִ ຯ . .

[urfavisdisabled]

This is Shouko Komi from Komi can't communicate!

Komi has a communication disorder and is nonspeaking. She is also an AAC user, primarily using a notepad and pencil to communicate. While it is not canon, many people see her as having autism in addition to her communication disorder.

Negative stereotypes? While some take issue with the fact that her classmates see her as "above them" and treat her like a god-like figure, others love a positive representation of communication disorders and appreciate that she is not harassed/hated by her peers.

[dailyfigures]

Komi Shouko ; Komi Can't Communicate ☆ Good Smile Company

[ydotome]

He didn't like any of them. - Komi-san wa, Comyushou desu. S2 - Episode 4

[yancriilu]

also forgot abt this komi san can’t communicate piece from jan 2022 💀

[ieatclocks]

Komi and tadano cuddling. Art by me