WARNING: The following contains spoilers from the English version of the Komi Can't Communicate manga, by Tomohito Oda, published by Viz Media.
Komi Can’t Communicate is a popular manga series by Tomohito Oda about a first-year high-school student named Shoko Komi who has extreme social anxiety and a communication disorder. During her first semester at Itan Private High School, Shoko meets and befriends a male classmate named Hitohito Tadano, who is the first to figure out she has trouble interacting with people. Through Tadano, Komi meets and befriends a few more of her classmates such as Najimi Osana, Himiko Agari, Ren Yamai, Omoharu Nakanaka, Nene Onemine, and Kaede Otori. Komi's goal in the series is to make 100 friends.
The success of Komi Can't Communicate resulted in two television adaptations: an anime series that streamed on Netflix and a live-action drama that aired on Japan's NHK channel, starring Elaiza Ikeda. Both adaptations aired in Japan during the 2021 fall television season, though only the anime is available for viewing worldwide. Season 1 of the anime offers a more faithful adaptation of the manga than the live-action drama, but the anime still doesn't adapt every story from the first six volumes that made up Season 1. While most of the stories from Vol. 6 will most likely appear in Season 2, there are still eight stories the anime omitted., most notably from Vol. 5.
Can Komi Make 100 Friends Bonus Story (Vol. 3)
The "It's Just a Festival" chapters from the manga were adapted into the anime, but there was a lot more to that story than what was shown. Translated as "Festival" and "Festival, Part 2" in the English version by Viz Media, the summer festival had an epilogue where Komi and Tadano joined Najimi and friends at a food place for drinks. In the bonus chapter called "Can Komi Make 100 friends" in Vol. 3, Komi started keeping track of all the friends she made at school by writing their names down on a memo pad. She indicated that she has made 11 friends with 89 more left to go. Apart from the friends she made earlier, she also listed Yamai's group of friends -- Onigashima, Kishi, Chiarai, Sonoda, and Shinobino as her friends.
A Hot Day (Vol. 4)
One chapter from the "Summer Vacation" story arc that was interestingly omitted from the anime is "A Hot Day" from Vol. 4, which was also one of the chapters that prominently features Komi's brother, Shosuke. In both the Komi Can't Communicate manga and anime, Komi is rarely seen interacting with her brother, and "A Hot Day" is one of the few stories that depicted how they get along. In the story, Komi woke up early due to the summer heat but wants to sleep in. Since her bedroom has no air conditioning, she went to the part of the house that did have AC, the living room, and resumed her sleep on the couch for another half hour.
Later in her day, Komi was bored but doesn't want to go outside due to the sweltering heat. She went to Shosuke's room to relieve her boredom there, but instead layed down and rolled around on her brother's bed. He tried asking her what she needed but she doesn't answer him and Shosuke resumed browsing his laptop. The moment Komi realized her brother's room also has no AC, she asked him if he was hot. Shosuke was surprised to hear his sister speak, but then decided it was only his imagination. Komi mussed through her brother's hair then borrowed his manga. Komi and Shosuke later watched TV together and Komi became inspired to cook for the family after watching a food program.
Feelings (Vol. 4)
One of the more hilarious chapters from Vol. 4 that was also omitted from Season 1 of the anime is "Feelings." In the chapter, both Yamai and Nakanaka asked Tadano to teach them how to read Komi's thoughts through her body language. Tadano tried his best to teach them, but every time he asked them what Komi is thinking, both Yamai and Nakanaka offered wildly different interpretations based on their own perceptions of Komi.
As a yandere, Yamai often interpreted Komi's actions as hints of her own sexual attraction towards her, which, of course, is far from true. As a chūnibyō, Nakanaka also tended to interpret Komi's actions as going through the same immature phase as herself. There are times when both girls come close to guessing correctly Komi's thoughts, but in the end, they never stick the landing.
Typhoon (Vol. 5)
One interesting chapter from Vol. 5 that was left out of Season 1 of the anime is "Typhoon." This chapter explored how Komi handled typhoons and it was also one of the few chapters that depicted Komi being able to hold a verbal conversation over the phone. In the story, Komi got ready for school as she normally did but quickly learned there was heavy wind and rain outside. She's also told by her mother classes have been canceled for the time being due to a typhoon warning.
With nothing to do, Komi watched the rain and wind from her living room window, until lightning struck, which scared her. She sought comfort from her mother, who got up to check on the breaker. Not wanting to sit alone in the living room, Komi summoned the courage to call Tadano over the phone and managed to hold a conversation with him to put her mind at ease. Komi's mother was surprised to learn she can actually talk for lengthy periods of time under the "right" circumstances.
The Weather Clears (Vol. 5)
The follow-up chapter to "Typhoon" titled "The Weather Clears" was also left out of the anime in Season 1. After the storm passed, Komi and her classmates attended afternoon classes, and Yamai obsessed about seeing Komi's underwear. She then got the idea to talk Komi into going outside and standing next to a puddle so Yamai can get a glance under her skirt through the puddle's reflection. Komi, who was unable to "read the room," took Yamai's suggestion at face value and accompanied her outside alongside their group of friends. Yamai's attempts to use the puddle to see up Komi's skirt are averted by the unwitting antics of Najimi and Agari. After a while, she gave up.
Everyone Gets Gourmet (Vol. 5)
When the father and daughter owners of the restaurant saw Komi and friends walk in, they immediately assumed Komi was the mysterious high school food critic known as "RamenCore." The daughter provided exceptional service to both Komi and Najimi wanting to get a good review while neglecting Tadano and Agari. This caused Komi and Najimi to get their orders early while Tadano and Agari had to wait on theirs, which the daughter got wrong. When the review for the restaurant went up by RamenCore, she complained about the poor customer service but praised the food. RamenCore was revealed to be Agari.
Tadano’s Boobs Bonus Story (Vol. 5)
The maid café story arc was adapted into the anime, but there was also more to that story than what was shown over the course of two episodes. One scene from the anime that was actually longer in the manga was Komi checking out Tadano wearing a maid's dress. In the anime, her iconic "cat ears" popped up to indicate she was sexually attracted to Tadano dressed as a girl. This happened in the manga as well, but with a bonus: Komi became interested in Tadano's artificial breasts (as created by Najimi) and was tempted to squeeze them. Not able to resist the temptation, she cops a few feels of Tadano's "breasts," which made him uncomfortable.
Bonus Communication: Sleepy Princess (Vol. 5)
Another story from the maid café story arc that was left out of the anime adaptation for Season 1 is the "Bonus Communication: Sleepy Princess" story. In the story, Komi had a dream where she woke up in a palace that appeared to be inside a bat cave. The palace was also occupied by anthropomorphic animals who then abducted her and took her to the room of the sleeping princess. The princess then invited Komi to her bed, to which the latter acquiesces. The princess cuddled with Komi in the bed and both girls fall asleep until Komi's mother woke her up from her dream.
