They’re the chaos gremlin my younger self would have loved to see

Last year, my boyfriend and I made it our goal to watch as many TV shows featuring trans characters as possible.

I truly can’t recommend doing this enough. Forget the good, the bad, and the ugly: this was the good, the rad, and the lovely. From Sort Of to Skip And Loafer, I can safely say that everything we watched was worth it, with some truly wonderful characters of many different genders. One surprising inclusion was Komi Can’t Communicate, a show I’d heard great things about. But, somehow, I was unaware of a character who’d go on to become an all-time favourite.

Komi Can’t Communicate’s main hook is… well, it’s right there in the title. New girl at school, Shoko Komi (Amber Lee Connors/Aoi Koga), is immediately the apple of everyone’s eye. It seems like everyone is cartoonishly obsessed with her, to sometimes frightening extents. However, as the opening montages frequently remind us, she experiences social phobia and struggles to talk to people at school. After making her first friend, Hitohito Tadano (Kyle McCarley/Gakuto Kajiwara), Komi shares her dream – to make 100 friends. Thankfully, Tadano knows just the right person for the job: local compulsive liar and everyone’s childhood pal, Najimi Osana (Skyler Davenport/Rie Murakawa).

Najimi has a lot of interesting traits going for them. Their social skills are incredible. They’re ridiculously smart and ace their tests, despite never studying. They’re the most popular person in the show (except possibly Komi herself). They can order a non-fat milk pistachio deep mocha dipped cream frappuccino with chocolate drizzle and lots of whipped cream without skipping a beat.

And, they’re also nonbinary. Unavoidably so, too.

(They also totally have ADHD, but that’s speculation I’ll save for another article.)

In one of the first scenes we see them, we get what, in my opinion, is one of the most beautiful lines of dialogue ever uttered: “Ya boy’s a girl!”. And with that, they were immediately my favourite character.

I don’t know who the first canonically nonbinary character I ever saw was. After many years of consuming queer media, and many more again getting lost in headcanons, it’s hard to keep track. What I do know, however, is that seeing Najimi warmed my heart.

It’s not just that they’re nonbinary, of course, although that alone would have still been wonderful. It’s that they’re such a beloved character, who is respected, celebrated, and cherished, not in spite of their gender, but partially because of it. They get to be funny, clever, messy, silly – everything their binary friends get to be. And that’s precisely why they’re one of the best nonbinary characters.

Despite things being a bit better these days, I’ve been around long enough to see some truly atrocious nonbinary representation. After years of seeing people like me represented as caricatures or worse, it’s such a delight to see Najimi thrive as the three-dimensional person that they are – despite their objectively 2D appearance.

Reflecting on Komi Can’t Communicate now, I’m left with a question: if a character like Najimi can have such an emotional impact on me now, as an adult, how would it have felt to see them as a teenager?

I think it could have been just what my fragile self needed.

In some ways, as a teenager, I was very anxious and shy, just like Komi. However, in the moments where I could be around loving friends, I was more like Najimi – bubbly, hyperactive, and goofy. Given half a chance, I’d have done a lot more of the silly shit they do, too. For that reason, I just know that Najimi would have resonated so strongly with younger me. They’d have been an inspiration, showing that it’s totally okay to be the way I am, that I could be unapologetically myself, and be no less loved for it.

Don’t get me wrong, I was lucky enough to have some truly incredible friends back in those days. But, I was also exposed to enough bullying to leave me with a potent brew of self-hatred. While representation wouldn’t have fixed everything, seeing a character that I could relate to be free to be themselves and be showered in adoration as a result would have certainly helped. I’m sure many of you reading this know how great it is seeing queer people on screen, after all.

Perhaps the best thing I can do to nurture that inner child is to be more like Najimi. After all, ya boy’s a girl.

Is there going to be a season three of Komi Can’t Communicate?

The short answer is, at the time of writing, nobody knows.

Since Season 2 of Komi Can’t Communicate finished airing in June 2022, there’s been no further word on whether a Season 3 is coming. Later that year, it was announced that some retakes were made for both seasons, but in terms of new content, it’s anyone’s guess, I’m afraid.

Has the Komi Can’t Communicate manga finished?

On March 18th, 2025, the 37th – and final – volume was published. So unfortunately, Komi’s adventures have finished for good. I shalln’t spoil any details here, but while there’s certainly scope for future storylines, things are wrapped up super satisfyingly.

However, if you’re a fan of the show, the good news is that there are plenty of stories that aren’t yet adapted. After all, the Komi Can’t Communicate manga has been running since all the way back in 2015.

That’s a decade’s worth of adventures. So, if you dive into the comics, there’ll be lots of new escapades to explore involving Komi, Tadano, Najimi, and the rest of the gang.

Where can I watch Komi Can’t Communicate?

At the time of writing, you can stream Komi Can’t Communicate on Netflix in most regions, including the United Kingdom and the United States.

Who’s in Komi Can’t Communicate?

If you’ve seen any mainstream anime in recent years, then you’re bound to hear some familiar voices while watching Komi Can’t Communicate.

Find out some of the big hitters who appear in the English and Japanese dubs below:

Character Name	English Voice Actor	Japanese Voice Actor
Shoko Komi	Amber Lee Connors	Aoi Koga
Hitohito Tadano	Kyle McCarley	Gakuto Kajiwara
Najimi Osana	Skyler Davenport	Rie Murakawa
Ren Yamai	Cristina Valenzuela	Rina Hidaka
Himiko Agari	Sarah Williams	Yukiyo Fujii
Makeru Yadano	Kira Buckland	Ami Maeshima
Omoharu Nakanaka	Cherami Leigh	Rumi Okubo
Nokoko Inaka	Suzie Yeung	Megumi Han
Nene Onemine	Casey Mongillo	Ruriko Aoki
Kaede Otori	Cherami Leigh	Yurika Moriyama
Makoto Katai	Jacob Hopkins	Shinichiro Kamio
Shisuto Naruse	Ryan Colt Levy	Katsuyuki Miura
Chushaku Kometani	Howard Wang	Shotaro Uzawa
Chika Netsuno	Suzie Yeung	Megumi Han
Shuko Komi	Dorothy Fahn	Kikuko Inoue
Masayoshi Komi	Xander Mobus	Mitsuaki Hoshino
Shosuke Komi	Jack Dillon	Junya Enoki
Hitomi Tadano	Suzie Yeung	Maaya Uchida
Ayami Sasaki	Stephanie Sheh	Minami Takahashi
Mikuni Kato	Dorothy Fahn	Fumiko Uchimura

Watch the Komi Can’t Communicate trailer here

If you’ve not seen Komi Can’t Communicate, then you’re in for a treat. Check out the official trailer above.

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AC is the Head of Written Content at QSO Media. Read more of their articles here.

Black Trans Mutual Aid is a grassroots organisation based in New York crowdfunding for Black trans and gender non-conforming people. Find out more about them and donate here.

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