Oh man, here we go with Volume 6 of Komi Can’t Communicate, the single most interesting volume to me because it was the one that was seemingly out of print or something FOREVER. It is the reason my initial read through of this series got held up. It took me months to find this one anywhere, even online. When I walked into Barnes & Noble and finally saw it sitting there, I was stunned. A ton of volumes had passed by the time this one came back out.

So what is the big deal here, I wonder? Let’s get into it and find out!

The volume starts off in the wake of Volume five’s weird “culture” festival, and Najimi invites the class out to sing karaoke as a celebration for how well they did (even though she cost them first place). Are these weird little karaoke booth rooms a real thing in Japan? I mean, I guess they are less weird than culture festivals that involve dressing up like a maid. But I’ve seen these things in so many pieces of pop culture set in Japan. Why would you want to karaoke in a booth with just a few of your friends? Isn’t the point to embarrass yourself before strangers? Don’t rent a booth; sing at a bar, cowards!

Komi, of course, can not sing in front of everyone, whether in a bar or booth, but she does pick a song and go up there… but she fails. She sits back down, ashamed. Tadano is up next, and everyone ignores him entirely… except for Komi.

The story shifts to a cold November morning, with Komi realizing she doesn’t have any winter clothes she fits in or likes. It turns out her dad needs to go clothes shopping, too, but neither can address that point until her mom tells them to go shopping together. I love the idea that without Mrs. Komi, nothing would get done in their household.

Komi’s dad gets a photoshoot of new outfits, and hey! That’s progress, Tomato Oda! Good for you. Tadano walks in while Komi is helping dad pick out outfits, noting he and his sister are shopping for a gift for their parents. On cue, Komi’s dad comes out of the dressing room in a weird mafioso get-up Komi picked for him, so Tadano thinks he is a Godfather of sorts.

Also, Komi’s dad pays for things on a credit card like he’s in fucking You-Gu-Oh!

Going back to school, we get an extended sequence of Tadano overhearing the other boys in the class talk about what it would be like to date each of the girls in the class, and this is helpful just because it helps me remember all of the girls we have met so far.

It also reminds me there is a small group of boys who are in the background a lot, but I’m not sure we have ever learned their names before now. One of them dresses like a Naruto character, and I imagine he will end up with Nakanaka at some point? It just makes sense. Anyway the names of them are Chiarai, Shinobino, and Sonata, and I will forget all of that by page 4 of this chapter.

-Dating Najimi apparently involves going to a fair, riding rides, and having her cutely swipe a bite of your ice cream cone.

-Dating Agari is just about… Ugh. It’s just about her wearing a dress that accentuates her chest.

-Dating Yamai would apparently see her barely tolerating you, insulting you, and pretending not too appreciate getting earrings as an anniversary gift.

(She’s also clearly gay, so I’m not sure how they left out she wouldn’t want to date any of them, but oh well)

-A date with Nakanaka has her helping you out at video games and just hanging out together. And at the end, the boys score this fantasy highest of all of them. Because we all just want someone to game with, you know?

-The Naruto guy imagines dating Inaka, the country bumpkin character. They apparently live somewhere rural in this fantasy date, and picks the harvest? This character is so strange.

-Going out with Makeru (Yadano? And now I’m confused as to which name we are calling her) would see her challenge you to a race home and being excited to win.

-The boys all then try imagine dating Komi, but none of them can really picture what going out with her would be like. Tadano lets his mind wander, though… After a nice meal together, he would start washing the dishes until she would jump in to help him, causing their shoulders to bump. This shocks Tadano into a shriek, which startles the other boys.

There is another segment here, but I’ll get to that in a bit because we eventually come back to the boys and their fantasies. So let’s finish those up!

-Onemine is up next. A date with her involves a picnic, and her picking a piece of rice off of the boy’s cheek. Okay?

-A date (?) with Otori sees one of the boys coming home from work, nothing he messed up and might get fired, and then Otori comforting him.

-Finally, the boys have figured out a date with Komi: She appears as a ninja to save the boys from getting arrested for plotting a revolution. Sure. That’s a thing teenage boys would consider, I suppose.

Next we meet Katai, a boy student, but YET ANOTHER “shy, has a hard time talking to others” character, and CHRIST, book. What is with this? How special is Komi when half of the class has a communication disorder? Anyway, Katai is again pretty similar to Komi: he has this presence that intimidates everyone, but really he just wants to make friends. He just comes across as a vicious ne-er-do-well, though.

Katai, just trying to make eye contact, unintentionally engages in a stare down with a petrified Komi before Tadano, again able to figure out someone’s weakness with communicating, finally talks to him and offers to show him around the school. This leads to Katai thinking Komi is a Communication Master who set this up.

People in this book have weird ass misinterpretations of Komi, man.

Later, Katai works up the nerve to ask Tadano to eat lunch together. Well… he KIND OF works up the nerve, but Tadano figures it out nonetheless.

Katai, having no idea how to have lunch with a friend and bond, feeds Tadano a piece of his meal and then gets up and sits next to Tadano and puts his arm around him. A spying Komi is terrified Katai is about to do god-knows-what to Tadano, but luckily, Tadano again figures everything out and lets Katai knows its’s okay to not try so hard.

He then introduces Komi, and before he can let each of them know the other has a big presence but is just shy, Najimi pulls him away, thinking it’s funnier if they don’t get that bit of info.

There is a chapter where everyone gathers at Nakanaka’s house to study (well, Najimi goes just to take a nap in Najanaka’s bed), and Nakanaka and Yamai get into another fight over who is closer to Komi. This is all silly insults and crap, but one of the insults sees Yamai blast Nakanaka for living at home.

Um… aren’t these all high school kids? Where do YOU live, Yamai? Out on the mean streets of Japan? What does she even mean there?!

Komi says they are equally important friends, but the two decide to compete at video games, anyway, waking up Najimi, who beats them both and declares herself Komi’s best friend.

Komi then wants to visit a cat cafe. Tadano gets her to go with Onemine and Otori so she can practice being with other people and not just him and Najimi. It turns out, Komi’s presence even frightens cats, and she can’t even socialize well with them.

The “boss cat” of the cafe, Chocolat, is impressed by Komi and kind of pities her from afar. So in the end, despite normally hating people, she goes up and cuddles Komi.

Volume six then rounds out with a few short chapters. First, Tadano helps Komi pass a test when she loses her pencil mid-exam but is too shy to ask the teacher for help. Then, Komi goes out for some roasted potatoes. She finds Tadano on the way home, and he thinks himself out of asking her to hang out during winter break (it would be too much like a date). She grabs him to offer him a potato, though, giving him the bravery to ask. And with that, Winter Break is starting.

So… why was this volume so hard to find? I have no idea. I guess the world almost did not want me to have the introduction of Katai? Who knows? But I ended finding it and here we are!

Until next time… take care!