Komi-san wa, Comyushou desu – 08

「お盆です / お祭りです / 夏休みも終わりです」 (Obon Desu / Omatsuri Desu / Natsuyasumi mo Owari Desu)
“It’s just Obon / It’s just a festival / It’s just the end of summer”

The best way I can describe this week’s episode of Komi-san wa, Comyushou desu is just pure wholesomeness. The visit to the family graves, Komi’s extra-long prayer, the wise old grandma bestowing her blessings, the cute festival moments with Tadano, and finally the heart-warming final get-together of summer, there were so many moments that just made me want to shed a tear of nostalgia and sentimental emotion. Let’s take a look at the events that transpired, big and small, in this week’s Komi-san.

Something more important than 100 friends

As far as making new friends go, that little mission seems to have halted in progress over the last few episodes. Nevertheless, I think we can all agree that Komi is finding something more important than hoarding a huge number of friends. After all, it’s the quality of friendships that counts most, right? Upon reflecting on all the good times spent with friends that summer break, Komi is brought to tears at the fact that she never felt like she wanted the summer to go on. I’m sure we’ve all felt it at some point in our lives, that moment when you feel so overwhelmed with emotion and love for your friends that you’ve come so far with, it’s absolutely heart-churning but in all the good ways!

Komi’s feelings for Tadano

Perhaps the biggest clue we’ve had about Komi liking Tadano as more than a friend was that shifty little moment when she wrote down “I like when it’s just us 2 as well” and frantically rubs it out before Tadano has a chance to read it. I mean, in a school of absolute wackos and extreme personalities, Tadano definitely has the most genuine care and compassion for Komi without making presumptions about her personality. Evidently, Komi also seems to make the most progression in her speech and putting words together around Tadano, compared to her interactions with the other characters anyway. Whether romantic or not, we can deduce Komi has a special feeling of comfort and ease around Tadano which helps her make progress overcoming her communication disorder.

A communication disorder? Or a way of life?

While Komi is striving to overcome her communication disorder, we can see from characters such as Komi’s father that this “disorder” seems to be more of a personality trait rather than a social problem. The question comes down to this: where do we draw the line between introverted behavior and communication disorders? Well, from what I can tell, Komi’s condition is more of a disorder because it is preventing her from doing or saying the things that she wants to in life. On the other hand, Komi’s father seems quite content in how he lives, and he manages to get everything done that he needs to with few words. Thus, my take on this is that Komi’s father has more of an introverted personality as opposed to a disorder, and does not communicate verbally by choice rather than due to the inability to do so.

What are your thoughts on the different personality types of the Komi family? Let me know in the comments below!