History YMMV / KomiCantCommunicate

** Wakai in Chapter 443. [[spoiler: While it's a bit insensitive from Mangabi to let Wakai in the dark for months during a stressful period despite already deciding she's gonna turn him down. The fact that Wakai decides to respond to this by confessing ''again'', but this time, publicly in front of a whole crowd that includes his close friends doesn't endear him much to viewers, given he's essentially peer pressuring her into accepting his confession after she already told him she needed time to think about it.]]

** Wakai is either a welcome addition and a perfectly good possible partner for Mangabi, who is also a likeable guy in his own right, or a boring [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute carbon copy of Tadano]] that only exists to [[ThrowTheDogABone throw Mangabi a bone]] and shares no chemistry with her otherwise.

** [[{{Meganekko}} Himiko Agari]] is another example of this, along with being the main source of {{fanservice}}.

** [[{{Meganekko}} Himiko Agari]] is another example of this, along with being the main source of fanservice.

* AmericansHateTingle: Yamai isn't exactly ''the'' most popular character among the Japanese fandom but she was still well-liked enough to be ranked 15th in the popularity poll in a cast of over 100 characters, meanhwile the English-speaking fandom is ''not'' fond of Yamai at all because of her [[PsychoLesbian extreme]], perverted {{Yandere}} tendencies towards Komi, seeing them more as annoying rather than amusing. The fact her first major appearance is being EasilyForgiven after kidnapping and threatening Tadano, how she remains unnecessarily hostile to him, and initially being the most recurring character after Najimi, don't help. Fortunately, her appearances eventually became less and less frequent as of Chapter 130's classroom shift.

* AmericansHateTingle: The English-speaking fandom is ''not'' fond of Yamai at all because of her [[PsychoLesbian extreme]], perverted {{Yandere}} tendencies towards Komi, seeing them more as annoying rather than amusing. The fact her first major appearance is being EasilyForgiven after kidnapping and threatening Tadano, how she remains unnecessarily hostile to him, and initially being the most recurring character after Najimi, don't help. Fortunately, her appearances eventually became less and less frequent as of Chapter 130's classroom shift.

* TakeThatScrappy: In Chapter 270, Yamai hosts and wins a Numabros tournament, that was rigged by her, with the winner receiving a slap by Komi, befitting Yamai's masochism. Though she did receive a soft one from Komi, she also receives another PAINFUL one from Najimi. Considering how much Yamai is hated by the fanbase (at least [[AmericansHateTingle in the Anglosphere]]) and [[KarmaHoudini how often she gets away]] with her perverted tendencies, one can actually hear the cheering of fans when Najimi decides to give her just deserts.

** There is a certain sector of the fandom that believes that they should have abandoned the initial premise of "getting 100 friends", since this has caused a big problem of "quality versus quantity", to the point that many of the supposed friends are just extras, with whom Komi can hardly interact, so they think that Komi, instead of increasing her numbers, should focus on the friends she already has, plus there is the fact that Komi seems to be able to accept any type of person (including psychopaths). ), in order to increase her numbers.

* FandomRivalry: With ''Manga/NoMatterHowILookAtItItsYouGuysFaultImNotPopular'', both are mangas about a ShrinkingViolet trying to gain friends. One is a lighthearted SliceOfLife with RomanticComedy elements focused on a larger cast, the other is a brutal CringeComedy focused on [[DeconstructedCharacterArchetype the more embarrassing consequences of living like that]]. Given the different approach both works take, fans of the two series tend to debate which approach is better. With ''Watamote'' fans finding ''Komi-san'' too unrealistic and ''Komi-san'' fans finding ''Watamote'' too cruel. It doesn't help that ''Komi-san'' is a mainstream hit and one of the more popular animes of TheNewTwenties while ''Watamote'' is a modestly popular CultClassic.

* CrossoverShip: Despite the FandomRivalry (or perhaps, [[FoeYayShipping precisely because of it]]) there's a decent amount of fanart shipping either Komi-san or Tadano with [[Manga/NoMatterHowILookAtItItsYouGuysFaultImNotPopular Tomoko Kuroki]]. With Komi, thanks to both being very different kinds of {{Shrinking Violet}}s and with Tadano, given he will help her make friends quicker. Althought, is commonly agreed that Tomoko [[FireForgedFriends would hate Komi at first before becoming friendlier with her]]

* CatharsisFactor: Any time Komi chooses Tadano over Yamai can be rather satisfying, as the latter often can't do anything to get back at him because she's aware that it'll get on Komi's bad side. This is especially

** Tadano. He's viewed as the most ordinary of his classmates in either year - even being told he's 'so normal' by everyone in Class 1-1 when justifying getting Komi one big present between them - but he absolutely has his cute moments when it comes to Komi; chief among them is his reaction to Onemine's photo of Komi from the cat cafe, where he essentially ''planks'' on the floor realising he should have gone with the girls, but wanted to give Komi space to interact with Kaede and Onemine.
* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation:
** Najimi. Are they simply a [[{{Jerkass}} self-centered prick who only really thinks of themselves]], or are they [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold purposely giving Komi difficult tasks to try and improve her terrible social skills and gradually make her more comfortable in social situations]]?

** Najimi's actions throughout the series arguably reveals him... her... them to be JerkWithAHeartOfGold, forcing friends and classmates into situations they might not initially agree to, but almost always end up better them in the end, from organizing a Christmas Party in a single day so Komi could have a birthday party, rallying their expanded friend group beyond everyone Komi knew to scour the city for an 8 year old who ran away, or organizing a Mixer for Komi and other girls who have trouble communicating for one reason or another, to name a few. It's only when Najimi's gambling addiction and their desire to make money to feed into that addiction does Najimi ever do anything that isn't good for their friends.
* AmericansHateTingle: The English-speaking fandom is not fond of Yamai because of her extreme, perverted {{Yandere}} tendencies. The fact that she's seen as little more than a PsychoLesbian stereotype has even led to allegations of homophobia.

** Manbagi Rumiko. Manbagi gets introduced into the story over 100 chapters in and her introduction slowly leads to a tone shift of focusing on the emerging love triangle between Komi, Tadano and herself. In many ways Manbagi is the BreakoutCharacter of the series, being warmly received by fans, effectively becoming the third main character of the series and her "pairing" with Tadano being fairly popular. On the other end, you'll find detractors who feel that Manbagi is the SpotlightStealingSquad whose introduction caused the series to be bogged down too much by the romance partly due to the preconception that [[RomanticRunnerUp her romantic subplot is doomed to not succeed]].

** Almost everybody in the fandom wanted Komi & Tadano to be together, but now the problem comes from Komi's quest of making new friends - whether it should continue, or just stop in order to develop the pre-existing relationship with the cast & have more Komi & Tadano moments.

* CatharsisFactor: Any time Komi chooses Tadano over Yamai can be rather satisfying as the latter often can't do anything to get back at him because she's aware that it'll get on Komi's bad side.

* NeverLiveItDown: Yamai's introduction having her kidnapping and threatening to kill Tadano, [[{{Yandere}} all so that she can have Komi to herself]] left a bad taste in a lot of readers' mouths. (It did not help that, unlike later exploits of hers which at least can seem comedic, this one was played mostly straight and for drama.) While she's never stooped to this level of insanity again, the fact that she continued to be hostile towards Tadano and [[MemeticMolester creepy towards Komi]] didn't win her any fans either. It was only much later in the series that she started growing beyond her yandere-shtick, but by that point [[TheScrappy it was too little, too late.]] Further, many chapters make it pretty clear that she hasn't actually changed much, with other characters being what is moderating her behavior more than Yamai herself.

* TheScrappy: Yamai, at least [[AmericansHateTingle in the English-speaking fandom]]. Not only is she the most unnecessarily hostile to Tadano, people also find her yandere character and perverted thoughts towards Komi annoying rather than amusing. That her first major appearance is being EasilyForgiven after kidnapping and threatening Tadano, and initially being the most recurring character after Najimi, don't help. However, her appearances eventually became less and less frequent as of Chapter 130's classroom shift.

* TakeThatScrappy: In Chapter 270, Yamai hosts and wins a Numabros tournament, that was rigged by her, with the winner receiving a slap by Komi, befitting Yamai's masochism. Though she did receive a soft one from Komi, she also receives another PAINFUL one from Najime. Considering how much Yamai is hated by the fanbase (at least [[AmericansHateTingle in the Anglosphere]]) and [[KarmaHoudini how often she gets away]] with her perverted tendencies, one can actually hear the cheering of fans when Najime decides to give her just deserts.

** Onemine and Otori. For starters, they know each other very well and are on FirstNameBasis with each other. At the end of the first culture festival, they can be seen dancing together. There are also many times they can be seen holding hands and are even thought to be a couple in one chapter though Onemine has to show her schoolmates [[OffscreenTeleportation what would happen]] if she let go of Otori.

* NeverLiveItDown: Yamai's introduction having her kidnapping and threatening to kill Tadano, [[{{Yandere}} all so that she can have Komi to herself]] left a bad taste in a lot of readers' mouths. (It did not help that, unlike later exploits of hers which at least can seem comedic, this one was played completely straight and for drama.) While she's never stooped to this level of insanity again, the fact that she continued to be hostile towards Tadano and [[MemeticMolester creepy towards Komi]] didn't win her any fans either. It was only much later in the series that she started growing beyond her yandere-shtick, but by that point [[TheScrappy it was too little, too late.]]

* NeverLiveItDown: Yamai's introduction having her kidnapping and threatening to kill Tadano, [[{{Yandere}} all so that she can have Komi to herself]] left a bad taste in a lot of readers' mouths. (It did not help that, unlike later exploits of hers which at least can seem comedic, this one was played completely straight and for drama.) While she's never stooped to this level of insanity again, the fact that she continued to be hostile towards Tadano and [[MemeticMolester creepy towards Komi]] didn't win her any fans either. It was only much later in the series that she started growing beyond her yandere-shitck, but by that point [[TheScrappy it was too little, too late.]]

*** "Chadano", referring to the [[https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/chad-thundercock Chad meme]]. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxfSnlD-nl0 This video]] explains the absolute alpha male ''Chadano'' is for his kindness, his apathy towards Komi's extreme popularity in favor of genuinely befriending her and ultimately his defiance of RomCom standbys of being ObliviousToLove by declaring his love for Koumi in no uncertain terms.

** Kawai was divisive since day one. While some fans find her character arc frustrating as she instigates a love triangle right off the heels of Year 2's Komi/Tadano/Manbagi triangle and is obsessed with Tadano, a handful of fans find her a much more threatening love rival for Komi and appreciate that she's one of the very few people who [[SomebodyDoesntLoveRaymond isn't charmed or won over by Komi's personality]] on the spot.

** The latter is supported by them apologizing for sending Komi to the coffee shop with so complicated an order. It's then undercut by them doing the same thing ''again'' when giving Komi a similarly complicated sandwich order for Sabowey.

*** "Chadano", referring to the [[https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/chad-thundercock Chad meme]]. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxfSnlD-nl0 This video]] explains the absolute alpha male ''Chadano'' is.

** Some fans of the 2010s light novel series ''LightNovel/ThePetGirlOfSakurasou'' were attracted to this series due to the similarities between its plots, both of them being about a NiceGuy befriending a beautiful girl with zero social skills and improving her life thanks to a quirky secondary cast (and due to the hope that ''Komi'' will have a more satisfying ending than ''Sakurasou'').

* TakeThatScrappy: In Chapter 270, Yamai hosts and wins a Numabros tournament, that was rigged by her, with the winner receiving a slap by Komi, befitting Yamai's masochism. Though she did received a soft one from Komi, she also receives another, PAINFUL, one from Najime. Considering how much Yamai is hated by the fanbase (at least [[AmericansHateTingle in the Anglosphere]]) and [[KarmaHoudini how often she gets away]] with her perverted tendencies, one can actually hear the cheering of fans when Najime decides to give her just deserts.

** Chapter 130 resets the slate, with the start of the second school year. Almost all the previously established female characters, with the exception of [[AmbiguousGender Najimi(?)]], are [[OutOfFocus no longer in Komi's class]]. This caused a split over whether this is sticking to heart of the original premise and those who wanted there to keep the established ensemble.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Kishi Himeko, the knight girl in Yamai's group, rarely got a mention as the manga progressed. Subverted as of [[ADayInTheLimelight Chapters 342 and 343.]]
* ToughActToFollow:
** To be fair, it would take a lot for somebody to be as memorable as Najimi, but the reception of Agari Himiko was so lackluster that despite being one of Komi's first friends, Yamai quickly replaced her spot in Komi's group and her scenes got gradually lessened. Ironically, [[TheScrappy Yamai was even less well-received.]]
** Subverted with Naruse, who is the second male character introduced after Katai, who initially had a less than stellar reception due to his quirk of being a narcissist and seemed to be introduced just to group with Tadano & Katai in their field trip. Then, his ButtMonkey antics, his HiddenDepths and [[spoiler: his romance plot with Ase]] ended up making him likable to the readers.
* UnpopularPopularCharacter: Downplayed. Tadano Hitohito gets the ChewToy treatment in-universe, being [[TheFriendNobodyLikes resented by his classmates]] for befriending Komi so easily despite being a RidiculouslyAverageGuy. Despite this he doesn't have trouble getting along with classmates when they're not vying for her attention and he is accepted as her TranslatorBuddy. The reaction in the fandom has been the reverse, to the point where it's characters who are more outwardly antagonistic towards him, such as Yamai, who get viewed as TheScrappy.

** All three main parties (Tadano, Manbagi, and Komi) for their 2nd year Valentine's Day. [[spoiler:Tadano initially accepting Manbagi's confession, then reassessing his feelings and rejecting her before catching up to Komi, came off less as him being appreciative of both girls but clearly choosing one and more like he would be fine with anybody, as his low self esteem played a part in his initial reaction. Manbagi's confession attempts ultimately acquiescing to Komi, including this one, made some readers unsympathetic to her final heartbreak scene, while Komi being unaware of most of these developments while forgoing giving Tadano chocolate in class all school day made some readers think her insensitive to both her best friend and her crush's feelings.]]

** Subverted with Naruse, who is the second male character introduced after Katai, who initially had a less than stellar reception due to his quirk of being a narcissist and seemed to be introduced just to group with Tadano & Katai in their field trip. Then, his ButtMonkey antics and his surprising kindness ended up making him likable to the readers.

** Kawai was divisive since day one. While some fans find her character arc frustrating as she instigates a love triangle right off the heels of Year 2's Komi/Tadano/Manbagi triangle and is obsessed with Tadano, a handful of fans find much more threatening love rival for Komi and appreciate that she's one of the very few people who [[SomebodyDoesntLoveRaymond isn't charmed or won over by Komi's personality]].

* DiagnosedByTheAudience: Komi is explicitly stated to have a "communication disorder" that makes it difficult for her to interact with her peers -- however, the disorder is never specified beyond this description, since in Japan the term "communication disorder" can refer to anything from simply having NoSocialSkills to a more serious disorder. Despite this, a considerable number of fans interpret her as being autistic and/or having social anxiety disorder thanks to her preference for nonverbal communication, her difficulties with following the mood of conversations, and her tendency to experience borderline panic attacks when faced with certain types of social interaction.