Palate cleanser was needed so I went for a volume of Komi Can’t Communicate (v.29). In yet another improbable (and stupid if you think about it too hard) situation, Komi and pals’ school is in danger of being shut down because the 20-something nepo-baby in charge got drunk and made a wager. Now, Komi, Tadano, et al. have to compete in a trivia game, and go to camp to do it. That’s plot thread 1. Plot thread is that it turns out that the star of the competing school is someone Tadano used to go to school with, and who he had had a major crush on. He asked her out, she said no, but according to her it was for his own good because he was going through a stupid phase, and she wanted him to grow as a person before accepting; yes, she likes him back. Which in a problem now that Tadano and Komi are dating.
Cue a lot of the usual high school manga shenanigan tropes. Most of this stuff is generic and quasi entertaining (the two girls competing, and clearly turning into frenemies), but once again Najimi is just cringe. I don’t care they’re the queer rep, they’re an awful person who needs to be gotten rid of. Najimi is the person who thinks it’s funny to sneak into everyone’s rooms, film them sleeping, then try to film their reactions at being forcible woken up by Najimi. The last bit of this is Najimi sneaking into Komi’s room, only to make a startling discovery in the process of trying to sneak into Komi’s bed and scare her awake. Can we just get rid of Najimi already?
Komi is still making some progress w2ith her efforts to gain 100 friends and work on improving her communication skills; Tadano is static and mildly boring at this point. Komi’s willingness to maybe stand up for herself and what she wants at least a little, but still make more friends is good will cozy for the most part. It’s a little predictable (which is fine), and now the story is wide open for something new.m