It’s Just My Summer Uniform
Episode 5 of Komi Can’t Communicate begins on the first day of summer, which means summer uniforms all around. Komi’s summer uniform earns her even more attention from her classmates. There’s a fitness test at school and Makeru has turned it into the opportunity to compete against an oblivious Komi yet again. She loses every single round. Nevertheless, Komi impresses her during a sprint test and Makeru’s one-sided rivalry takes on an admiring quality. That afternoon, Najimi and Tadano visit Komi’s home. Upon arrival, they are greeted enthusiastically by Komi’s mother, who is excited that Komi has finally brought friends home. She introduces herself as an eternal 17-year-old at heart. Tadano and Najimi have no idea how to process this information and Komi is mortified. Komi shows Tadano and Najimi to her room. The three of them fall into complete silence until the awkward tension is broken by Komi’s mother delivering afternoon tea. Najimi decides to try and stir up trouble, pretending to need the bathroom so they can observe Tadano and Komi when left alone together in Komi’s room. Much to Najimi’s dismay, 15 minutes pass between Tadano and Komi in comfortable silence until Najimi can’t stand it any longer. Tadano and Najimi end up staying well into the evening, though Komi is still disappointed when they leave. She laments until receiving a message from Najimi with the secret photo they took to commemorate the afternoon. After school the next day, Komi wants to go to a ramen shop. Himiko overhears and displays the extreme confidence she gains when discussing food. She leads Komi, Najimi, and Tadano to her preferred ramen shop. While the excursion has some ups and downs, they make it a habit. During break time on another school day, Komi is approached by Nakanaka Omoharu, who addresses her as Princess Komilia and sprouts nonsensical tales about reincarnation and making a blood contract. Komi wants to know more about Omoharu’s fantastical claims and asks her to explain them. Having to do so makes Omoharu more than a little shy so she dodges the question by asking Komi to make a blood contract again. When Komi doesn’t say anything, she takes off with a wild imaginary excuse. Tadano guesses that the blood contract was Omoharu’s way of asking to be friends while Najimi laughs over Omoharu being a “chuunibyou” (a young teen who acts on their grandiose delusions), saying it reminds them of Tadano in middle school. We flash back to Tadano in his second year of middle school, and he parades around with an inflated sense of self-importance. He enlists Najimi to help him confess to the cutest girl in his class by writing LOVE in huge letters across the school’s oval. Najimi watches from the bushes as the girl proceeds to reject Tadano for being a chuunibyou. His self-esteem is completely crushed, and he decides right then and there to live a normal life, transforming into the Tadano we know today. In the present, it’s time for P.E. class. Everyone wants to be Komi’s partner while Omoharu is left all alone. She uses her delusions to fake indifference but secretly despairs until Komi offers to be her partner. Once they complete their partner stretches, Omoharu wants thank Komi. She can’t find the words to properly express herself, so she transitions back into chuunibyou mode. After school, Najimi steals Tadano’s umbrella, leaving behind a cheeky note. Komi shares her own with him and they walk home together. When they make a convenience store pit stop, Tadano asks if Komi saw Najimi’s note and waited for him. She blushes, not denying it.
The Episode Review
This episode was a welcome return to the more sincere tone we enjoyed in some of the earlier episodes. Omoharu is probably the best character we’ve been introduced to while growing Komi’s list of friends. As per the show’s formula, she’s as outlandish as the others, but when her mask slips we also get to see the vulnerability that she’s using her chuunibyou tendencies to protect. It was particularly heartbreaking when she curled into herself to hide those feelings during P.E., and this helped make her friendship with Komi feel like a mutual triumph. While we’re discussing chuunibyou tendencies, Tadano’s middle school flashback was truly a sight to behold. The outrageous young boy was a big departure from today’s Tadano, who lets anyone and everyone walk all over him, and the stark contrast makes his cringe phase great comedy fodder (sorry Tadano). Watching him be shunned so harshly by his classmates in the present is getting rather upsetting, so it would be wonderful if we see him reconcile his tamer side with some of that old confidence. Anyone eager for romance would have been happy with the rain scene, which was combined perfectly with the outro song. Their gestures – like Komi waiting for Tadano while pretending to have lost track of time at the library, and Tadano holding the umbrella so that Komi was fully sheltered even as his shoulder got wet – may have been small and quiet but they packed quite the warm and fuzzy punch. The episode wasn’t without flaws. Yamai and Himiko are still annoying, and the ramen segment was, honestly, boring. At least the good outweighed the bad this time.
