WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Episode 2 of Komi Can't Communicate, "It’s Just A Childhood Friend," now streaming on Netflix.
Komi Can’t Communicate made its worldwide debut on Netflix last week with a major thesis on social anxiety as explored through main characters Hitohito Tadano and Shoko Komi. Tadano wants to connect with his classmates but also doesn't want to be the nail that sticks out and gets hammered down at an elite institution like Itan Private High School. Komi also wants to connect with her classmates but freezes the moment she's the center of attention and struggles to verbalize her thoughts.
Episode 2 of the anime immediately challenges the status quo set up by Episode 1 with the introduction of Najimi Osana, who is the non-binary childhood friend of Hitohito Tadano. In contrast with Komi and Tadano, Najimi seems perfectly comfortable in their own skin and doesn’t experience the paralyzing social anxiety of their classmates. As such, they are able to make friends with tremendous ease.
Najimi is an interesting choice of character to present as a foil for both Komi and Tadano on multiple levels. As a student who doesn’t conform to binary gender norms, Najimi would easily stand out at the elite Itan Private High School -- a school that most likely values tradition and conformity over individual expression. Yet, despite this, students are drawn to Najimi's personality and magnetism like moths to a flame. What is their secret? Tadano doesn't really know but thinks Najimi can help Komi make more friends.
To Tadano's surprise, Najimi had met Komi as a child but was not able to successfully befriend her the first time due to the latter's paralyzing anxiety. Najimi initially mistook Komi's silence for haughtiness, which traumatized the young Najimi. Since then, Najimi avoided Komi, most likely to avoid reliving the trauma of perceived rejection.
Interestingly, this past encounter with Komi may have actually revealed a potentially hidden aspect of Najimi's character: they may actually be just as anxious as the other students but masks their anxiety behind the façade of an outgoing personality. The moment Najimi feels rejected by another student, that's when the façade drops, and their fear of rejection comes out. This especially plays out in the latter half of the second episode when Najimi tries once again to befriend Komi.
On the walk home from school, Najimi puts a lot of effort into initiating a conversation with Komi and gets anxious when she doesn't respond. This comes in the form of Najimi joking around to mask the anxiety they're obviously feeling. During that same walk, Najimi encounters a male classmate from their previous school who expresses love for them, mistaking them for a girl. Najimi tries to turn the classmate down by pointing out they are a boy, which is a contrast to them telling Tadano they are a girl earlier in the episode.
The encounter with the male classmate seems to reveal another potential character trait in Najimi. They seem to "change" their gender as a way of protecting themself from certain social situations. Najimi themself may identify as completely non-binary with a penchant for masculine clothing and the male pronoun "Boku." However, in an elite school like Itan, they most likely felt pressured to conform to their assigned gender and opted to wear the female school uniform with a male tie. Outside of school, they can lower their guard and be their authentic self, but they immediately tell male suitors they are male as a way of turning them down, especially if they find that suitor threatening in some capacity.
While Najimi's anxiety isn't paralyzing the way it is for both Komi and Tadano, it does tend to manifest itself differently, which continues the series' thesis on social anxiety. They also appear to be the character who will challenge norms on two accounts: they are least likely to conform to school rules as the series progresses, and they won't allow themself to be limited by their anxieties. In this regard, Najimi functions as a perfect foil for both Komi and Tadano.
