Komi Can’t Communicate, Vol. 30

The journey to 100 friends begins with a single conversation.

Socially anxious high school student Shoko Komi’s greatest dream is to make some friends, but everyone at school mistakes her crippling social anxiety for cool reserve. Luckily she meets Tadano, a timid wallflower who decides to step out of his comfort zone in order to help her achieve her goal of making 100 friends.

Kawai isn’t used to defeat, but by the end of the study camp it’s clear that Komi has her beat in the one subject that really matters--Tadano’s affections! While Komi is happy that Tadano’s heart wasn’t actually up for grabs, her victory turns bittersweet when she sees how lost Kawai seems now that their battle is over. Can Komi turn a failed love rival into a true friend?

Tomohito Oda won the grand prize for World Worst One in the 70th Shogakukan New Comic Artist Awards in 2012. Oda’s series Digicon, about a tough high school girl who finds herself in control of an alien with plans for world domination, ran from 2014 to 2015. In 2015, Komi Can’t Communicate debuted as a one-shot in Weekly Shonen Sunday and was picked up as a full series by the same magazine in 2016.