Komori-san, could you give us a caption?
Komori-san, could you give us a page quote?
Shuri Komori is a normal middle school girl... Well, not quite. She's actually imbued with incredible competency, and when asked for honest help she just can't refuse. Even if it requires ridiculous levels of strength or willpower!
But aside from that, she's just a normal Japanese middle school girl, who hangs with her two friends, Megumi Nishitori and Masako Negishi. She gets her homework copied, helps them in studying, and all other normal middle school girl stuff.
Komori-san Can't Decline! (小森さんは断れない!, Komori-san wa Kotowarenai!) is a yonkoma manga created by Cool-Kyou Shinsha, which began serialization in Manga Time Original in 2012. It received an anime adaptation in October 2015.
Not to be confused with Komi Can't Communicate.
Komori-san, could you help us with the Trope examples?
- The Ace: Komori can do pretty much anything (except beat tough video games), provided that someone asks her to do it.
- A-Cup Angst: Megumi and Masako often feel intimidated by Komori's chest. It's far more common in the anime than the manga.
- Adapted Out: Komori's younger sister Ami, Masako's older sister, and Yamanaka never appear in the anime. Miki's cameo was also replaced with Komori wearing his outfit. Justified in Yamanaka's case since the series only adapted scenes from before he was introduced.
- A Day in the Limelight:
- Chapters 24-26 are a flashback to how Masako became friends with Shuri and Megumi.
- Chapter 31 features an unnamed extra talking with Shuri about their time together on the track team.
- Age Lift: Komori started off as 14 in the manga, but is stated to be 15 in the anime.
- Anachronic Order: The anime takes scenes from the manga at random, although this isn't really a problem due to it being a Slice of Life.
- Anger Born of Worry: In Chapter 63 Megumi learns that Yamanaka-kun (who's been out of contact since failing his junior high final exams) has been spotted hanging out with delinquents, causing her to have this reaction. After Shuri encounters Yamanaka-kun and assures Megumi he's alright, she calms down due to being satisfied that he's okay.
- Art Evolution: The manga started out with a fairly cutesy and heavily Super-Deformed art style, but evolved over time into something that is much more closer to the artist's more recent works.
- Beach Episode: Episode 8/Chapter 6.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: Part of the reason Shuri fell for Ootani is because he's helped her out a few times, like the time her sandal snapped in Chapter 19, or the time he consoled her after she missed her entrance exam because she caught a cold while helping people.
- Big Sister Bully: Masako's elder sister loves to torment her in a Faux Affably Evil way, even going into a literal Big Sister Is Watching during their hiking trip.
- Birds of a Feather: Part of the reason Ootani understands Shuri in a way Megumi and Masako can't. He wants to be relied on, but because of his short height he's looked down on (literally) and so understands Shuri's desire to help people and frustration when she can't. This starts as far back as Chapter 16, when Shuri and Ootani first meet. Ootani admits that he wants to be relied on because he wants to be a reliable man, and compares his own selfishness with how Shuri genuinely seems to just enjoy helping people. Shuri in turn tells him that part of the reason she enjoys it so much is being able to spend time with other people... the way she and Ootani are right now.
- Boob-Based Gag: Chapter 65 revolves around Shuri having to get new clothes because her breasts have grown again, to the point that attempting to zip up a jacket results in the zipper shooting off.
- The Cameo: It seems like all of Cool-kyou Shinja's works happen in the same universe.
- Hajime from I Can't Understand What My Husband Is Saying can be seen on the train in chapter 9 (he's mostly covered over by the text). In the same chapter, a woman resembling Hiromi from RaButa is shown working at a clothing store. Also, the key-chain that Masako got was Frau Rabbit, from the one-shot of the same name.
- Miki also appears in an Imagine Spot during chapter 12. Apparently, he lives nearby Komori's house. In the anime, they changed it to have Komori wearing his outfit.
- According to the newspaper Komori's mother was reading in chapter 27, Haru from Ojojojo recently got married (presumably to Tsurezure). And speaking of Tsurezure, he won the mascot contest that Komori entered in the same chapter. It also places this series about 3-4 years after Ojojojo, since his age is listed as 20.
- A girl that looks like Karrot from Frau Rabbit asks Komori for a picture while she's dressed as the eponymous character in chapter 42.
- Character Tics: Yamanaka has a habit of closing his left eye.
- Childhood Friends: Shuri and Megumi have been friends ever since the latter was a transfer student back in fifth grade.
- Covert Pervert: Shuri, surprisingly. Specifically when it comes to Ootani, as she's more than willing to go along with him if only he were to initiate something. That said, there are sometimes gags that she has to restrain herself from simply dragging him off to have her way with him.
- Crash-Into Hello: How Shuri first meets Ootani in Chapter 16. She was carrying a box and ran right into him, since thanks to his height he was completely hidden from view. Then it happens again at the end of the chapter. As soon as it happens, Shuri instinctively knows she walked into him again.
- Creator Cameo: Someone is shown dressed like Cool-kyou Shinja's Author Avatar in chapter 42.
- Cuteness Proximity: Ootani sometimes triggers this response in Shuri, much to his embarrassment and occasional outrage.
- Dude Looks Like a Lady: Yamanaka-kun is often mistaken as a girl. He's the 'girl' Shuri saw Ootani walking with.
- Early-Bird Cameo: Ootani appears in the background several times before being formally introduced in episode 6. This only applies to the anime.
- Everyone Can See It: When in Chapter 23 Shuri admits to Megumi and Masako that there's a boy she's interested in, both of them reply, "We know." Upon seeing her embarrased reaction, they ask if she was even trying to hide it.
- As early as Chapter 19 (3 chapters after Ootani's introduction), Megumi and Masako notice that Shuri is spending quite some time with Ootani.
- Once she goes into high school and takes a part-time job at the florist run by Ootani's family, it's pretty much accepted that the reason she took it is because she wants to spend time with Ootani (since he goes to a different high school now).
- This is actually what triggers Ootani and Shuri becoming a couple. During a trip numerous people mistake them as dating but Ootani constantly denies it and unknowingly annoys Shuri. They finally get into a huge argument that ends with them getting all their issues out and Ootani properly asking Shuri to be his girlfriend.
- The Faceless: Megumi's father is only ever shown as a hand.
- Fanservice: They made Shuri bustier and more jiggly, with more scenes focusing on her boobs for the anime.
- First-Name Basis: Shuri, Masako and Megumi address each other by their first names. Shuri eventually asks Ootani to call her by her first name as well, though he only does it when it's just the two of them. He won't even call her Shuri in front of his mother.
- Flower Motifs:
- Comes up in Chapter 17 when Shuri plans to buy a carnation for Mother's Day. It's also the chapter when she learns where Ootani lives (as she happened to come upon his family's florist shop during her search). He tries to trick her into buying a yellow carnation, but is foiled because earlier in the chapter Megumi told her a yellow carnation symbolises contempt. Ootani notes that the shop still has a lot of yellow carnations.
- Shuri puts effort into learning about flowers when she takes a part-time job at the Ootani Florist shop. On her first day of work in Chapter 58, Ootani is sufficiently impressed enough by her knowledge to give her an azalea (representing patience and honesty). She then starts naming other flowers in the store, leading him to protest they can't afford to give away more flowers.
- Gag Echo: Combined with Hypocritical Humor in Chapter 22/Episode 7. When Ootani stares at Shuri in the pool while jogging, she calls him a pervert (which the rest of the boys repeat). Their positions are reversed at the end of the chapter/episode, with Megumi and Masako teasingly calling her a pervert.
- Gamer Chick:
- Shuri's younger sister is always playing video games. She even skips out on going to a festival so she can stay home and play. Their mother is also one, considering she bought a game which neither Shuri nor her sister could beat, and she beat it without breaking a sweat.
- Megumi also falls under this, to the point that one of her recurring vices is always trying to play video games (when she's not being an anime and manga Otaku). Even despite failing grades in everything but English.
- Genre Savvy: A number of characters to a degree. It reaches the point that the trio try to plan trips and events around avoiding the likelihood of someone needing Shuri's help. It never seems to work, and eventually they plan around that too.
- Here We Go Again!: Shuri, Megumi, and Masako's reaction when, on the first day of high school, Shuri winds up helping people.
- Heroic BSoD: Shuri saw Ootani-kun walking with another girl. Cue catatonia.Megumi: Hey, Shuri, you okay?
Komori Yeah...
Megumi: Well then let me borrow your homework!
Komori Yeah...
(Both of them standing out in the hallway)
Megumi: You didn't do your homework!
Komori Yeah... - I Have You Now, My Pretty: Understated and played for laughs in one of the gags at the end of one of the volumes. Ootani shows off his bicep, and Shuri shows off hers. Ootani is so impressed he exclaims that she'd be able to do whatever she wanted and no one could stop her. Cue Shuri pointedly staring at Ootani and smiling creepily, while Ootani immediately has an Oh, Crap! reaction.
- Intimidation Demonstration: In Chapter 63, Shuri and co learn that Yamanaka-kun, who has been out of contact with Megumi for some time, was spotted hanging out with a couple of delinquents. When Shuri encounters them, she asks the two delinquents to go home because she wants to speak to Yamanaka-kun. The delinquents are about to refuse when Shuri crushes a rock to powder in one hand, then coldly tells them to "disappear." They Know When to Fold 'Em and flee (but out of genuine concern for Yamanaka-kun's safety watch from a safe distance).
- Ironic Name: The first syllable of Shuri Komori and Kurou Ootani's family names mean "small" and "large" respectively, an irony that they point out when talking to each other for the first time. They jokingly refer to each other as Oomori and Kotani.
- It Runs in the Family: It's subtly implied that Shuri's mother isn't that different in helping others, and knows when to wait for someone to ask even - she just knows how to utilize Shuri's "ability" to ease her own stress in the process, and knows how to reject someone asking if she genuinely doesn't feel like doing it (unlike her daughter).
- Just Friends: Megumi insists that this is the relationship between herself and Yamanaka-kun.
- In Chapter 63, Shuri and Ootani are discussing Megumi and Yamanaka-kun's relationship, and Ootani mentions that it'd normally be unlikely for a man and a woman to be close and just be "friends". He then admits that such things do happen but Shuri gently warns him that there's no way she'll let him say she and he are "just friends".
- Lap Pillow: Ootani falls asleep on Shuri's lap during the movie date that he and Shuri were set up on.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: At first Shuri just seems to be pretty strong from years of helping people. Then it seems like she has Super-Strength. Then it seems like just being asked to help with something gives her a Determinator status that enables to her to do it against all logic to a level even other characters consider almost supernatural.
Considering that this takes place in the same world as Cool-kyou's other works, this isn't really so implausible.- One of the character introduction pages notes that helping people so much has given Shuri "many powers".
- Mistaken for Gay: Ootani comes to the conclusion that Yamanaka has a crush on him when the latter invites him to see a romantic movie (Yamanaka was secretly trying to set him up with Komori).
- Ms. Fanservice: Huge breasts? Check. Breasts bouncing in the anime? Check. Characters reflecting on her figure, to the point that her character design stands out next to her two more ordinary friends? Komori has it hard, especially when Ootani has to deal with the problem that his face comes to about Komori's chest.
- My Eyes Are Up Here: And unfortunately for Ootani, so are Shuri's breasts.
- No Name Given: Most of the supporting characters (including Shuri's mother and younger sister, Masako's older sister, and Megumi's father) go unnamed. Masako's older brother is at least addressed as Negishi-sensei, as he's also Shuri and co's homeroom teacher.
- In volume 7, Shuri's mother is revealed to be named Ayame, while her little sister is Ami.
- Potty Emergency: Shuri lets a few girls with this go in front of her to the one remaining stall... and Shuri is afflicted with this afterward.
- Production Foreshadowing: The main cast of Ooyasan wa Shishunki! appear in the crowd when the fireworks are going off in episode 8. Their anime started the following season, which returns the favor in its seventh episode, when Shuri and co. appear in the crowd of students having soup.
- Promotion to Opening Titles: Ootani got added to the opening/ending in episode seven following his formal introduction in episode six.
- Punny Name: Megumi's suggested name for a cat that resembled Komori was "Shuridinger".
- Really Gets Around: Masako mentioned during New Year's that her sister changes boyfriends on a whim.
- Related in the Adaptation: Possibly. When Masako is ill along with Megumi and Ootani, in the manga her older brother (Shuri and the others' homeroom teacher) initially just asks her to deliver notes to Megumi and Ootani while saying he'll simply bring Masako's notes home to her himself. However, he then changes his mind and asks Shuri to bring notes to Masako as well, figuring that she'd be glad to see Shuri visit. In the anime version, he simply asks her to bring the notes to Masako as well as Megumi and Ootani, omitting the bit where he initially plans to bring the notes home to Masako.
- Relationship Upgrade: Shuri and Ootani get closer as time goes on, and both of them lampshade this when they talk about how close they've become in only a few short months. By the time they're in high school, several characters including Megumi, Masako, Shuri's little sister and Ootani's mother pretty much accept they're boyfriend and girlfriend, though the two in question don't consider each other such.
- Shuri notes that Ootani "isn't my boyfriend... yet."
- Ootani finally asks her out in Chapter 67.
- Rescue Romance: Played with. While their class is cleaning the pool, Shuri slips and Ootani catches her. She realises how close his face is and gains a Luminescent Blush.
- Sherlock Scan: Shuri's mother performs one when she deduces Shuri's lost her phone.
- Shipper on Deck: Double Subverted. Megumi and Masako don't like Ootani, but they still try to hook him up with Komori since he never asks her for help.
- As time goes on, they do get along with him, partly because in his own way he understands Shuri even better than they do (for example, he knows when to offer her help and when to wait for her to ask) and partly because he makes her so happy.
- Ship Tease: As the series goes on, it becomes increasingly obvious that Shuri has a thing for Ootani. Later chapters also hint at Megumi/Yamanaka.
- Ootani realises that he has feelings for Shuri too, but he also gets way more embarrassed and self-conscious about it. The ship fully sails in Chapter 67 when Shuri and Ootani formally become a couple.
- Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: Masako often puts Ootani down, but neither Shuri nor Ootani himself mind too much. Even Masako seems to mostly do it out of habit rather than any genuine hatred of Ootani. She's pretty happy to say dress Ootani up as a girl as part of a punishment game, and when Shuri loses her phone in Chapter 64 happily admits that if she finds Shuri's phone first she'll delete all of the pictures of Ootani Shuri has. Except for the cross-dressing ones.
- Super-Strength: Shuri, hands down.
- Suspiciously Specific Denial: In Chapter 62, Shuri stays over at the Ootanis' house after an argument with her mother. Just before bedtime, she asks Ootani if she can talk to him in his bedroom. Ootani declines, leading Shuri to assure him she won't touch him. This naturally results in Ootani demanding to know why she felt the need to be so specific.
- Technicolor Eyes: Shuri's eyes are pink with a yellow highlight on the bottom in the anime. In the manga they're amber.
- Thanks for the Mammary: In Chapter 19, Shuri's sandal string breaks while she's looking for Masako and Megumi. Ootani happens to encounter her and gives her a piggy-back ride despite their difference in stature. When Masako and Megumi meet up with Shuri and fix her sandal, they invite him to come along but he declines. As soon as they leave, he collapses, the sensation of Shuri's breasts on his back finally overwhelming him.
- This is generally the result of Shuri hugging Ootani, since due to his height his face comes to roughly right about between her breasts. Ootani is fully aware of this, and sometimes finds it embarrassing.
- That Came Out Wrong: In Chapter 3, while complaining Megumi jokingly asks Shuri to "make me an adult". She then realises what she said as Masako smirks and Shuri blushes.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: Shuri and friends attempt to design a town mascot when the school puts in a request for students to give it a shot. It doesn't really work out, though Ootani gets some Ship Tease with Shuri in the process. Then the school decides to pick a mascot and unanimously makes it Shuri's idea.
- Tiny Guy, Huge Girl: Ootani is one of the shortest people in his class, and compared to the six foot tall Shuri, everyone is tiny, making him look even shorter by comparison. As they point out when they first interact, their names mean the exact opposite.
- True Companions: Shuri, Megumi and Masako. Exemplified by the chapter where they're deciding on a high school to enroll in; their advisor explicitly tells them not to be influenced by friends (directing his attention to Shuri in particular), and they indeed do their best to listen... and all three choose the same school anyway.
- The Unreveal: We don't learn just what Ootani says to Shuri when he asks her to be his girlfriend in Chapter 67. Shuri simply narrates: "After that, he finally said the words I'd been wanting to hear. Naturally, I didn't refuse."
- Uncatty Resemblance: Played with in that Ootani ends up adopting a cat that resembles Shuri. It was originally going to be played straight since Shuri's sister wanted to adopt it, but their mother is allergic to cats (and is more of a dog person).
- Unfortunate Item Swap: After their hiking trip in Chapter 23, Shuri gave some of her pictures to Ootani. The picture in question was her wearing a bikini. She immediately realized her mistake and grabbed it back.Ootani: Hey, this is...
Shuri: WRONG ONE!! - Verbal Backspace: Ootani at times.Ootani: I'm looking forward to (Shuri working at his family's shop)...
Ootani: I mean, it'll make work easier for me!
Ami (Shuri's little sister): He sure is cute, isn't he?
Shuri: Yup. - Vitriolic Best Buds: Yamanaka flat out admits that the reason why he picks on Ootani is because they're best friends.
- Masako and Ootani sort of have this relationship, though it's more on Masako's side than Ootani's. Part of the reason they don't actually hate each other is because both know how important the other is to Shuri, and how much they both love her.
- Yonkoma: Enforced by the Manga Time family of magazines, not to mention that's Cool-kyou Shinja's usual format.
