Warning: Contains spoilers for the Komi Can't Communicate anime and manga.
The Netflix anime Komi Can’t Communicate strives to be a comedic romp with every episode, but at the same time, it makes itself a series that invokes a great deal of tender sadness. When it comes to drama and comedy, it’s easy enough for a story to get so wrapped up in one of them that attempts at the other end up falling flat. Komi Can’t Communicate doesn’t have such a problem, though, as it greatly succeeds at keeping both extremes in check.
The Netflix anime revolves around the titular Shoko Komi and the primary POV character Hitohito Tadano. Tadano, who is trying to just be a normal kid in high school after spending his younger years living as a total weirdo, finds himself drawn to Komi, a cool, stoic girl who has taken the entire school by storm without saying a single word. However, while most people are captivated by Komi’s looks, Tadano — while also feeling a bit mesmerized by her — is more focused on what no one else has taken notice of: Komi’s stoicism is actually her being too afraid to talk to people. What follows is a beautifully-animated scene where Komi goes over her problems and Tadano comforts her via writing on a chalkboard, all of it interspersed with jokes playing on their mutual awkwardness and ending with establishing Komi Can't Communicate's goal of Tadano helping Komi make one hundred friends and overcome her communication disorder.
All of that sets up the animated comedy as a series that tries to tackle social anxiety while still having a fun time. The show garners laughs from Komi’s anxiety coming out in various situations, but it never forgets that it’s an issue for her to overcome, and the story does show the gradual process of her doing just that. Throughout both the Komi Can't Communicate anime and the manga, her struggles are used to both make the audience laugh and cry, but whether she’s failing to order a cup of coffee or trying her best to open up about her anxiety, the goal of the series — to highlight the comedy in these situations without ever suggesting Komi's problems aren't real - is always kept in mind.
That being said, Komi isn’t the only one with issues that need to be overcome, as this otherwise could have been become a major problem in the anime. As mentioned before, Tadano is constantly anxious about living like a normal person after spending his middle school years acting entirely otherwise, and his attempts as course correction veered so far that he’s left feeling that he can’t take the initiative to get what he wants. There’s also - from the series' original manga - Himiko Agari and Makoto Katou, who struggle with their own forms of overpowering shyness; Omoharu Nakanaka, who pushes people away with how she acts like a cliché anime character; Kiyoko Isagi having such a severe case of mysophobia that she can’t make even the slightest contact with anyone; and Rei Natsukido, who can’t bring herself to get close to people because she can’t maintain lasting friendship on account of her family constantly moving around. Other members of the anime cast have similar battles with their own mental state, and they’re all explored with a seriousness weightiness that’s balanced out by everyone in the Komi Can't Communicate having their own personal quirks.
Komi Can’t Communicate is a story with a lot of heart, and it gets that across by also trying - and largely succeeding - to be funny at the same time. The moments where it tries to win people over with something sad resonate all the better with the knowledge that they’ll be followed by something funny, and the moments where it tries to win people over with something funny resonate all the better with the knowledge that they’re meant to serve as a reprieve for a heart-wrenching moment. That formula was executed greatly with just its first two episodes, so the rest of the series should be able to take it even further.
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