AWTY 210 - Komi Follows (Komi Can't Communicate!)

Mommy. It's a stalker. That is a stalker.

Hello and welcome to our week video area in exploration and education and anime. I'm your anime idiot, patrick dugan.

I'm an anime expert, dee hollander gonzalez.

And I'm brenda mccullough, your anime silent rpg protagonist. I was going to do a bit where I was silent and realized it doesn't work for an audio medium.

No good.

I prefer it, but wow.

Shot.

Yeah. Sorry for exploding everyone's ears. I'm looking at the wave peaked so hard.

I love that you're like, yeah. I was planning on doing asylum thing and immediately blow out the audio.

It's hilarious because I always was the quiet kid, like, in school, growing up to, like, high school in hindsight comedically. So it's wild to think there was ever a time where I ever shut up.

Yeah.

Well, if only we could have known.

That, brad wow, feisty coming in with that fight energy.

I like Brendan of today because he can keep a conversation going.

True.

I do not have downs.

You know, the problem is all my conversation starters are very macabre and upsetting factoids. It's like, we don't need this information. Brandon no one needs to know that.

No one needs to know about this obscure celebrity in this cartoon. One cameo from 30 years ago.

Just saying Lucy Laws shows up in voiceover more than you would expect.

Incredible.

What are we watching this week?

This week I had chosen something and then I said, you know what? I don't want to deal with that. I went on the Internet and I looked up best Slice of Life anime and found a list and was reminded that comey Can't Communicate exists. So we're going to watch. comey can't communicate. Yeah. I remember when it came out because Netflix had it on the home page a lot. It was like, hey, you like anime girls? Try this one. weeb. But I never watched it. So here we are.

We have to save anime dude. You need all I feel like you're not coming across.

Don't worry. I'm saving all the anime I can. Don't worry. I promise you I will never watch any outside confines of this show. My guarantee to you.

Brett I have come across a few shows where I'm like, oh, I should watch no, wait. Let's save it for the podcast.

I need the reaction to be in the moment.

I need to be genuine because I'm a bad actor.

Have either of you heard of this one?

We also can't communicate.

Yeah. No? Okay.

Succinct. Yes. I've also had Netflix within the last five years and have had this force fed upon me. But, yeah, I also know the manga got, like I feel like it's new, but I also heard, like, a lot of talk of it right before the anime came out. So I don't know if it was just, like, leading up to the anime, but yeah, Comey's design is very popular, so it's one of those where I'm like, even if I haven't seen the show, I've seen this character a lot. Just from, like, fan art and stuff.

Yeah, she's real cute. She she has very pointy wings. winged eyeliner.

Yeah.

Very long, very pointy queen shit.

Love and respect it because it's hard to do.

Yeah. Lots of practice.

I know of it. And I get the general premise from the name.

I mean, at least we have from square one show about a high schooler where we all know that they can't communicate. That's going in. We're all on the same page.

Yes.

So one problem has been fixed already just by the title.

Yeah, we know that there's miscommunications in here, probably.

No, I can't imagine an anime.

An anime? Never.

Never.

Well, we're going to watch and find out. We're watching the first three episodes.

Let's go. That's my Chris pratt is marty.

Hey, everyone. Welcome back. I hope you had a good break. I hope you're ready. And I hope that the editing software doesn't destroy this audio by cranking it with a hella.

I'm going to whisper for the rest of the episode. Let me turn my gain up. Make it asmr.

Yeah. Can we just do, like, cozy sleepover vibes for the rest of this? Is that can be our direction.

Hey, guys, do you have a crush on anybody? I don't know. God, it whispering, everybody.

I'm bad at a lot of stuff.

Okay, here we go.

I'm scared to mess with the cane because I don't know where it is. On the back of the mic.

Brenton, don't touch it. You're going to break it.

Please don't worry.

Don't commit to this bit, please.

Good news. I can't commit to anything.

Well, brushing past that, let's talk about anime. So, episode one, we open on a little girl. She's, like, holding her mom's hand. She's singing about how she wants 100 friends. There's a cat. There's cherry blossoms. It's lovely. If there's one thing this show is, it's very pretty. The animation is real nice. Enter. comey. Everyone's gawking at her. She's just so pretty. And she passes everyone and stops for a minute and looks at the cat. And we see her, like, grip the handle of her bag real tightly. Then we meet.

She hates that cat. She's so macro. Arthur punch for this.

Frank, you owe me money.

This cat owes me tuna fish. Then we meet. Boy, he can't believe he was accepted to this prestigious school. For now, his goal is to just blend in and have a peaceful high school life. We hear that about five more times in this episode. His name is Hitohito tadano. And there's a narrator in the show. She tells us that he's shy, and he says that he knows how to lay low and that that's the path to happiness. And he knows this because he was insufferable in middle school.

Relatable main character.

He'S at his locker putting on his school shoes and he notices someone putting on their shoes right near him. So he turns to say hello because greeting people is important and it's comey. She looks down at him menacingly, doesn't say anything, and runs away. Cool.

Good start.

Yeah. He walks to class and wonders what was up with her. And he's like, oh, she was so pretty. I probably won't get to talk to her anymore because she's, like, leagues above me. That's fine. But then her seat is right next to his. Neither of them sit out a window. They're in the middle of the classroom.

We get a few other characters known at the window. Very surprised by it.

I bet the kids at the window are having a whole other plot going.

They're in Sunny Boy right now.

Yeah, there's a whole ghost evil dimension thing happening not shown in this series.

So where am I? Everyone in the class is talking about her obsessing over her todd and feels like all the guys are, like, staring daggers at him because he gets to sit next to her. Class starts. The teacher tells everyone to introduce themselves and he thinks that everyone seems very nice and friendly. comey stands up to introduce herself and there's a guy holding a boom mic, which made me laugh.

It does do. The trope of everyone in this entire building is in love with this one single character, which annoys me, but they do it to the extreme like that that they kind of point out we are kind of making fun of this as well.

Yeah. They're like, stands like she's a celebrity.

Especially painting her as the most popular girl in school when no one knows her.

Yeah, no one's talked to her ever.

She doesn't say anything, and after a moment, she walks up to the chalkboard and writes her name. People go crazy. tadano is confused because he's like, what is going on here? Why are people losing their minds over her? And it's his turn to introduce himself. He says he's good at reading the room, but other people already seem annoyed by him, so maybe not. The teacher is listing stuff that they need to know about school. Tada know is just focused on whatever comey is doing. She drops her eraser and he picks it up for her and someone throws something at him. And we see it's a kid and a ninja get up. So he's like, oh, shit. And he, like, puts it on her desk really fast after that happens.

I thought this was like a one time bid thing. No, he's recurring all the time.

She turns to him after he puts it on her desk and instead of saying anything, she just like, vibrates. That's the secret of the whole series. She forgot to turn on her in volume.

She ate a cell phone in middle school and just vibrates.

So tadano is very adamant about this peaceful high school life. But with comey sitting next to him, and everyone fawning over her. That just doesn't seem like it's in the cars anymore. Everybody runs up to her desk, and he gets knocked out somehow in the process. So later he wakes up at his desk and hears a voice, and it's call me talking. She says, I can't speak in front of everyone anymore. So they look at each other. She has a little cat doll. And he's like, I didn't hear you say anything. I definitely didn't hear you say you can't talk to people anymore. And she tries to dash out of the room. She knocks some desks askew, and he feels like, no, I have to fix this. So before she leaves, he's like, hey, do you have trouble talking to people? And she stops and turns to him but still can't say anything. So they fix the desks, and he asks her if she was going to say something to him and then suggests that she writes it on the chalkboard instead. And she likes that idea. So on the board, she asks how he knew she can't talk to people because I guess nobody has ever everyone's just too busy fawning over her that they just never noticed that she can't speak to people. They just completely ignore how she feels.

No one is able there's, like an assumption that it's like, cool girl aloofness rather than I am petrified. I can't get words out. It's that classic. Like, the popular girls never get asked out because everyone's too intimidated. Except this one. No one has heard her vocalize in.

A decade, yet no one is able to make a logical conclusion of, like, oh, she doesn't talk. She must be shy or something. It's always this grandiose conclusion they jump to, to justify in their minds whatever reason they need why she doesn't talk. It's wild.

Yeah, so he's pretty much just like I can just tell, like, based on how you react to people approaching you. He gets awkward and tries to leave, but she stops him. She writes that she didn't get to eat lunch. And she also writes that she freezes up when she talks to people and wishes that she didn't. And they get nervous around her too, because of her reputation as, like, the it girl. She wonders why anyone would want to talk to her. And she writes that she ate lunch in middle school by herself every day, and she couldn't talk to anyone because she was too anxious. And she writes all these things like, what if this happens during the conversation? And what if that happens? And it's just like this spiral of anxiety relatable. And she asks tatano on the board if he'd like to eat lunch with her. And he's like, she's not mean or approachable. She's literally just cripplingly anxious, and it sounds like she's crying. So he offers her a hanky, but she turns around and she just has the hiccups. She's like, huh?

What?

She writes that she feels frustrated that she can't communicate anything. Hey, that's the show. And she apologizes. And she uses his first name in the writing, and he's like, all my first name. Which is yeah, sweet. She apologizes for causing him trouble with all the people fawning over her. And she writes that he can just forget all of this. And she erases the board. And she bows and moves to leave. But then he starts to ride on the board, and he just puts that the weather is nice. So they do small talk on the chalkboard. Small talk board.

The puns.

I'm taking it to Shark Tank.

Write it down. Write it down.

And she writes that the cherry blossoms are pretty. She kind of freaks out that they're like having a conversation and they just keep on going. It's very sweet. They doodle things, and they just fill up the board.

Real dramatic, cinematic shots of just two kids writing on a jog port. The animation is very well done, but very cinematic.

I think this part is really sweet. I don't know.

It was very sweet. It just like, every now and then I was reminded of, like, oh, yeah.

They'Re just writing because for me, there's a lot of text in the show, and it wasn't translated where I watched it. So I do love just, like, the sweeping cinematics, but they already established it's like, the weather is good. It's just the most innate conversations of, like, such sweeping. Saw a dog this morning.

I guess for me, it's just the thought of, like, this is the first time she's ever able to have a regular conversation with someone, at least in a very long time. So for me, it just felt special. But on the board, she writes that she was so nervous to introduce herself. She likes cats. She could talk because she was talking to the doll and not a real person. He's like, hey, do you have any goals or dreams? And she tells him that she wants to make 100 friends. And she's like, I know that's lame, but he says he loves that. And now she only has 99 left because he's her friend now. And she writes thank you. Very sweet. And even after all that, she still can't actually say anything and just runs out of the room. So he decides that he's going to help her make friends. how's he going to do that to no, but he's going to try. The narrator explains that social anxiety doesn't mean that people don't want friends. It's just hard for them to make friends. And then we get the opening, which is very good and cute. The animation is real nice.

I was surprised because we get it at, like, 16 minutes in and there's, like, seven more minutes of the episode. I was like, oh, it's not over. Okay.

Yeah, I was confused because they do essentially two post credit seats.

Yeah. So after that. The next day, Todd noah's thinking about how comey's very beautiful. She smells good. everything's great about her. He says good morning at their lockers. She tries to say it back. Can't quite do it. They walk to class together, and he's like, hey, to start things off, like, I want to help you find your voice. So I think what you should practice saying is, will you be my friend? So that way you can ask people and make 100 friends in no time. And then we find out from the narrator that this school that they go to really values individuality. So the school is filled with a bunch of weirdos, which is a fun detail.

Yeah, I didn't know that. I was like, I feel like the plot of this is real thin and runs dry quickly. And then they're like, hey, everyone in this show is just a real nutshell, okay?

All these people are freaks.

That's the hurdles they have to get over.

Yeah.

That's why there's just a ninja in our class.

Yeah, it kind.

So making friends with eccentric people for someone who can't communicate will be hard. She takes a deep breath, and then we get, like, actual credits. And then there's another really short credit scene where Todd ando is reading in front of the class. And then the teacher calls on comey to read. She stands up, doesn't say anything for a minute. And then the teacher is like, you're right. You're making a statement. Everybody, this is embarrassing for all of you. Just read in silence. I get it. Totally get it. comey, you're so right. And that's episode one.

Yeah, we start out episode two with the same disclaimer. I just love that they're really going for the social message of like, hey, just a reminder, it's not just a fun TV quirk. This is a real thing that people you'll be deal with. So just keep that in mind. So we get the opening again and a quick recap that Todd know is going to help komi make 100 friends. And basically, Tada knows starting out by just saying, like, yeah, let's start going through the classmates, see who's going to be your friends. If we just ask people, you're super popular already. It should get that 100 goal down quick. So he goes and talks to yamai, the leader of the cool girls. So he goes up and tries talking to her and mentions because he's sitting next to me, yamai says, hey, you better leave her the fuck alone, you're dirt. You don't belong in the same social tier. He's like, okay, maybe you won't be friend number two.

Her unique work is she sucks. yep.

Evil.

Yeah.

So he's feeling like a failure because it's been a day and a half, and already she hasn't made 100 friends.

What's that about?

Come on. So he's like, all right, how about I talk to the most excellent communicator in our class, my old childhood friend osava. And he goes over and talks. And the introduction is yeah. osana. Later on they say, call me najimi. najimi.

Happy najimi.

Yeah, that one. I'm going to write it that way. I'm going to say it. God damn it.

Do you want me to call you James NA? Jimmy.

I appreciate it. But essentially, they established. Yeah. Gender wise. Don't worry about it.

I was impressed by that. They're pretty consistent with it.

Yeah, very consistent with using Vayam pronouns for God. I was going to say it again.

Najomy by courage, it spreads. Oh, no.

But yeah, essentially, I just love that they're like, Najamy leans into gender fuckery. In that if you were to think they're a gender, they're going to tell you they're the opposite gender for whatever the situation may arise. So just pure gender. gremlin, chaos. Love it.

That makes me think of I saw a video. It was a TikTok of a person being like, I am a man in the sense that you cannot talk to me like that. I am a grown man, but when I'm doing my homework, I am a woman in Stem. And I feel like that's the vibe of this character.

Yes, exactly.

What's your gender? Spite. The opposite of whatever you think it is.

Why? What are you thinking? Because fuck you.

Fuck you. That's what it is.

So he brings comey over and asks if they want to be friends. It's taking forever. comey can't get the words out. And Todd knows, like, hey, do you want me? And they're like, well, no rough swinging a miss. So Todd node takes them out into the hall and is like, hey, motherfucker, you're the friendliest person in the school, and you won't be friends with the most popular girl in the school.

What's up?

What what's going on? And najimi is like, well, it all goes back to second grade when I tried talking to them and they didn't say anything to me. And I was like, okay, cool. We can't be friends then.

And I took that personally.

Yeah, literally. Tried it with everyone else in the school. It worked. The one person it didn't work on is comey.

They do claim that they've tried over the years, but who knows?

Yeah, I do like that. And the Jimmy is like, gimmick is like, I am everyone's childhood friend, but that kid is a ninja.

I know everyone. The fact that this one person refuses to know me, I think that's their problem, not mine.

They're not wrong. They're not wrong.

Fair. But todd no, really. And says, no, you should be friends. It's all a big misunderstanding. Just walk home and you'll see you have a lot in common. So we see them walk home from their different perspectives. najimi is like, yeah, trying really hard. Talking, just not getting through. It's not working. And then we see two tough guys run up. One, the bigger of the tough guys professes his love for najimi. And najimi is like, that's gay, bro. I'm a dude. Even just fully femmed out in this moment. And the guy is like, hey, but that doesn't bother me. I'm progressive. But also wait, kind of rapey. Yeah, just insists like, hey, no, I'm going to get kisses and whatever. Anyway, so as he's doing that, he drops one of his house keys and comey picks it up and tries to hand it back to him, but can't get the words out. So naturally, seeing that the key was being handed back, he was like, oh, wait, comey, are you saying that because I'm harassing a classmate of yours, you're going to skin me alive with my own house keys? Oh, what a brutal thing. And what a respectful thing to do for your friend that you're protecting. anyways, goodbye and runs away.

So the weirdos aren't exclusive to the school.

The town is just full of weirdos.

It's everybody.

And najimi is like, okay, I'm understanding your stick now. Seeing it through a third party, you just say nothing and people project what they're going through onto you. Oh, cool, now we can be friends.

Got it.

I've solved the riddle and yeah, officially says I'm going to be your second friend.

Hooray.

Yeah, we cut into another day. najimi joins them at lunch and says, hey, yeah, we're such good friends, right? comey? If you're a good friend of mine, could you go get me a very complicated starbucks order? And I will not be your friend if you get it wrong and come back. So naturally, komi freaks the fuck out and leaves, trying to preserve her second friend in life. When Tom knows like, hey, what the hell? They're like, hey, yeah, you got to vocalize when you go into starbucks. So this is a test. This is pushing her outside her comfort zone.

I will say I forget what the legally dissimilar name they used was, but it took me a minute to realize it was starbucks like, until comey got there, I was like, oh, that's how different it was.

Yeah, for me the drink was a flappuccino, but it was something like Steve henderson's Coffee or something like that. It was just a weird, like, slightly too far.

Yeah, it still had the S and the B of starbucks, but yeah, it took me a minute for that one. Good one. comey can't communicate.

I'll say it took me a little bit longer because I didn't realize right now, great. Get your boy is don't well.

So Todd no follows at a distance, just watching how the operation goes. comey gets to the starbucks and walks in, walks out, walks in again. Just too nervous. Can't walk up to the counter. Finally, the barista is like, hey, what can I get for you? And just completely frozen, can't get the order out. And this barista in his mind is like, oh, it's time. It's time. The destiny, my awakening I've worked for this starbucks for so long. They made me the coffee Master. I alone can help this poor person order the drink of their dreams and just makes the fanciest thing completely not what najmi ordered. But it wasn't going to be vocalized anyway. So it was just a big fancy drink.

Thank you. Goodbye.

Comey is too nervous to correct and just takes it. And when she gets back, najami is like, well, this isn't my drink, but I also can't fault you for it because I wasn't going to drink it because it truly was just to torture you. And we're so sorry.

We should have done this. This is a bad idea.

That's where we end episode two.

Yeah. And the jimmy's got like good intention but real scamp energy of just doing it in like the shittiest way.

Yeah, they're trying to be helpful, but they just go about it the wrong way.

Yeah, you don't just throw go me into the deep end with stuff like this to a coffee store by herself. So yeah. As is tradition, continuing on with episode three opens with lunchtime. And we see a green haired girl we saw in the first episode when they're going around doing class introductions. This girl was very nervous in her introduction and kind of flubbed it. Her gimmick. Is she's also nervous? The ninja kid really stands at well, yeah, you find out later. She's also got another gimmick, which is.

Hold on, what I was going to say.

We'll get there.

What I like is that like in episode two, they also kind of focus on nadji me being nervous around comey specifically. So like, that's like a thing in the show. And I'm sure it'll continue of like people also being anxious and nervous about talking with people because everyone's a little bit nervous to meet new people. And I think that's cute also.

Yeah. Even with an Adjami who is incredibly charismatic, everyone even may get intimidated sometimes with other people given the right circumstance. Yeah. So we see this green haired girl with glasses in the library. Her name is Agari. And she gets nervous easily. That's why she got flustered in her introduction. And she likes being the library because she can't do anything right when people are watching. And she's having a rough time right now because Comey's watching her. And we see comey peering out from behind a bookshelf, just staring at her. And then we get the disclaimer info in the opening again about being especially anxious. And then we come back to agari thinks that comey is super great like everyone else does in the school. And she thinks she's the worst. She wears glasses and she gets nervous. And she's chubby and shy and just down trotted on herself. So we see she gets nervous when Comey's looking at her. So she goes to the bathroom to get away like a little private time by herself. She's like, ah, I'm in the stall. I'm by myself. I'm alone. I'm fine. I can decompress a little bit. And then she just hears, like, a very faint, like and like, outside shit, she's here. And gets nervous again because comey is right outside the stall. And then eventually, Agari is, like, praying and stuff, like, oh, please, God, let her, like, walk away. And eventually we hear comey like, walking outside. She's like, oh, thank God. Now I can leave. And as soon as a garry walks outside, she bumps into the teacher. And teacher's like, hey, we're having gym class inside the gym, not out on the field. Go tell the rest of the class that for me. Okay, bye. And ogari is like, Shit, I don't want to do that. I can't go backwards. Comey's right there, and she'll kill me. So she's like it's just it follows, but with comey. So she's like, I got to go do this. So a guard goes to the classroom and opens up the door, and as she does, everyone looks at her and she's like, oh, shit, I don't want to talk in front of people. I'm messing up again. And turns to sees comey right there around the corner. She's like, Shit, we're not on the field today for gym. We're in the gym by and runs out, and everyone in the class is like, the hell was that? She just screams it at the top of her lungs and then runs off in her panic. So then we see her running to the rooftop and skips out onto the rooftop with a glitter and, like, a slow motion. She's like, I did it. I talked in front of everyone, and I got the message right unaware of her delivery was wrong. So progress. I'm looking at the name right now. I will get it wrong. Boy.

Top to who he is. Fine.

I just hear it in crater's voice. Boy tada know happens. Asked what happened to comey afterwards because he sees comey followed behind her in the hallway. And we rewind, and we see najimi saying at Tacomi, like, you can't be friends with everybody. There are some people you're just not going to gel with, and that's fine. You only want 100 friends, easy enough. Instead, we should start targeting the most relatable ones, the ones that you probably gel with the best. And they pull up agari's info being like, she gets nervous and flustered in front of other people and this and that. So she has her own bit of social anxiety so you would actually fit well with her, and that might be something you can connect with. So it was Najimi's idea of making friends with Agari next. And then that's why we see comey following her, like, stalking her in the library and stuff, also failing to be able to talk to her. And then we see comey writes down notes to tatano. Yeah, writing a note, just explaining everything that happened with. Agari earlier in the episode. And Agari tells them that agari comes back and tells them that comey's character because she's very intimidating being the most popular girl in school. Because of Comey being in the hallway, though, she was able to get the message out, which is something she wouldn't have been able to do before. So in a way, she thanks Comey for helping her grow a little get in comfort zone. And Tasmania is like, oh, great. You guys are binding a little bit. A little bit connection. You should be friends. And I mean, guard shoots up the stairwell at the top, hiding around the corner. Like, no, that's too much. I can't what would call me the most popular girl in school when I get dork like me, I can't be her friend. I'd be happy to be her dog, though. All right, come on.

Come on.

Sure. I'm sure this is the only time it will come up. It won't be weird. Next segment. I don't know if these are next days or whatever. Next segment. Comey shows that she shows Tatteno. She got a cell phone, and it's the first time she's ever had a cell phone because why would she need one? And she's excited to text tattoo now. So she tries to start texting a message, like, to write it out, but she keeps messing it up and then ends up deleting the whole thing and gets flustered again. Ends up just writing everything down in her notebook. Again, back to the basics. And tattoo no suggests like, oh, you got a cell phone. Great. You got friends now go ask your friends if you can have their phone numbers, jimmy and Agari, and see if you can get their numbers now. And Comey pauses, says she wants to do tattoos. Is like, yeah, we can do it together. Comey is like, no. She, of course, writes this all down. God forbid she ever speaks. She says she wants to do it by herself. So she goes up to the Jimmy, holds up her phone, and just kind of, like staring it in the jimmy. And then Jimmy is like, what are you doing? What's happening right now? It kind of gets paranoid by it, like, intimidated. And eventually Comey is able to do, like, kind of charade. It like, points out her phone, points out writing points, like, numbers on the chalkboard. And then Jimmy is finally able to piece together, like, oh, I get you. You want my number? Okay, actually, you should go ask Agari as well. And we see. kumi going to find Agari and it's weird. kumi just walks up to her with her cell phone, and a guy is like, oh, what's that? You don't want my number? You're popular. Why would you ever want my number? A dog doesn't have a phone number. Instead, you probably want to take embarrassing photos of me so he can use them against me, right?

I'm like, God, admit you have a degradation king. It's fine, babe.

So hard. Like, it went from zero to 100 so fast with this character. Yeah, it came out and so confused.

How this came up in the interview to get into this interesting character. The teacher was like, oh, yeah, definitely got you. Get you in now, hoo, you're weird.

You got some good grades. Why did you want to attend the school? Oh, I like being spit on. Got you, foundation kink, you're in.

We didn't have one of those.

Woof, woof, woof. bark, bark, bark. Okay, I see.

All right, I'm going to let you in just so I can leave this room. So, yeah, she immediately just goes to that and immediately Comey is like, no, but also I can't talk, so I'm going to just walk away. So Comey goes back to the classroom and a guard comes running back in being like, oh, I'm sorry, you wanted my cell phone number. Because even sometimes, the master needs to talk to their dog. And you got to call me when you need a dog. So if you ever need a footstool, here's my number. It's like that Christ lady laying it on heavy. And they say that after they talked to najimi, they realized that Comey wanted their number. And then nigimi pointed out, like, oh, Comey wants tattoo's number, but she's scared to ask him first, so that's why she's asking us for our numbers first and then get tattoos later so it won't look like she's asking a boy for his phone number. And Agari says that all out loud. And immediately everyone looks away, looks at the ground, and are all very flustered and can't make eye contact because they're all embarrassed.

No.

But eventually taught to know. He's like, oh, yeah, I could do that. Here, let me, you know, put my phone number in your phone. And as he does it, he's like horny screaming in his head. Is he? He's just he's very excited to put it, you know, give a pretty girl his phone number.

Yeah.

It's not that nefarious compared to a garden. No. So you have the next segment. They're electing class president, and everyone's like, oh, Comey. Everyone likes Comey who would even run against her. There's not even contest. And she's like they start vibrating like scared. And they're like, oh, look at her. She's excited. She's troubling with excitement. Completely misunderstood, as she always does.

This is a daily thing, but we know it to be exciting.

Trembling like a rabbit. You know those animals that are notorious for just having heart attacks and dying on the spot out of fear like that, but fun.

Notorious for great leadership. Yeah.

Sometimes wears gloves. Say, what's up? Anyway. And toddo says, like, oh, I'll help comey out. And I'll also volunteer to run. And that's when Jimmy jumps. And it's like, no, I'll volunteer to run. And we see a bunch of thugs circle around the jimmy be like, hey, Jimmy, I know we're all childhood best friends. I like how they really have to emphasize that. But you're not thinking about running. It's comey right. You don't think you're better than Comey? And you're like, no, quite the opposite. Comey is actually too good to be class president. We should create a new position for a higher office. So immediately the teacher starts writing on the board all the different roles. You got president, you got, like, supreme leader, you got, like, dictator, chancellor. And eventually they picked a new position for Comey, and it's goddess of the classroom.

Oh, dear.

Healthy dynamic in this school, we're going.

To anyone who speaks against you.

It's like watching parasocial relationships, but they have the ability to be in front of her, which makes it worse.

They're like, all right, well, we got the new class goddess. It's Comey. We still need a class president. Everyone's like, well, yeah, goddess. Who cares about president? That's a much dumber position. Now give it to tattoo. Everyone hates him. Like, yeah, all right. Everyone just really hates Tottenham out of nowhere.

He's not special.

He's too average. He's got a weird hair flower to thing. That's not enough cut. Back home, we see Comey just playing around with her new phone, checking out the settings, going through the ringtones, and pretending at one point pretending she is having a phone call with tatino.

Very cute.

Brings up his info, and it's like but she holds up the phone up to her ear, and what she forgot is with this new cell phone, is if you select a contact number and hold it up to your head, it auto dials it for you. God forbid you press one more button. I guess it's too hard too hard work. So she holds it up to her ear, and it automatically starts dying. Tata. And he picks it. He's like, oh, hey. Comey immediately hangs up, and Tattena calls her right back. He's like, hey, just wanted to check it wasn't like, an emergency or something. Like, y'all good. Yeah, if you don't want to talk, that's fine. Just give me, like, an if you're okay. And I do appreciate, like, he starts off very, like, puppy love with her, but he does very quickly adapt of like, I understand how little you can say we'll work with this, so I do appreciate that with him. So instead of just responding with, like, a like a noise, she tries to pretend to be the operator of like, hello, the number you have contacted is out of service. I'm sorry. That's dumb. I messed up. I told you. If I mistake by and hangs up, tada is like, oh, she actually spoke on the phone?

Yeah, she said a full sentence while he's learning hooray.

Also, oh my God, her voice is so cute. And Alex screams out of his balcony, and we see next day in class a group of the popular kids are playing a game and one of those games where they're like copying stuff the other one does in a pattern. Comey wants to play but can't join. So tata's like, I'll go along with you. I'll join and bring you along and we can all play together. And then Jimmy overhears this. And again scampin oh, no. tatano says, like, oh, we'll play after school with Jimmy and Agari. And then Jimmy hears this and it's like, no, no, no. Let's play now in front of all these other people that you can't talk in front of. Again, kind of a good intention, but also scamp yeah, comey and tatano join the group. And everyone starts freaking out that comey's joining and also annoyed that tatano is joining. And the fence join, and they start playing a new game. And najimi insists on this new game, flies through what the rules are. Like, they even speed it up so you can't hear it. Something about putting thumbs up when you name something so you have to say a thing. And then people put thumbs that correlate with it. I don't get it. And it goes around the whole group. Everyone does their thing, everyone say it's their thing, and it gets to comey's turn. And it ends up working out because Comey says a thing, people put up the thumbs, and it's the exact amount they need for Comey to win and tatano to lose.

Perfect.

And then Jimmy says like, all right, here's another game, but why don't we spice it up a bit and make a bet? loser has to show us their kissy face. And of course, everyone loses their mind at the idea of Comey doing that. So, like, yeah, let's do this and talk to them. I have to do everything I can to make sure she doesn't lose. So it's a new game. Everyone gets hyper competitive and start immediately doing it real quick and being a lot faster than the previous game. And Comey does not understand what the rules are like the rest of us. So it gets to just her and Tottenham who are left. And tatton is like, come on. Comey in his head, he's like, you do the thing, so you win and I lose. But Comey didn't know the rules, so she's just sitting there, clueless. tata's like, Well, I can't do it, so I have to wait. I know. And he does it, but he intentionally says the wrong thing. So he loses and Comey wins by default.

What a good friend.

He takes the bullet. And so everyone's annoyed because Comey didn't lose. Now she doesn't share the kissy face. And everyone's like, frigging tatana. Yeah, screw this. And they all leave. And as they're all leaving, Tatano's wallowing in his shame because everyone clearly hates them. And Comey writes down on a message like, hey, thanks for joining with me. That was fun. And he's happy because Comey had a good time and then Jimmy runs in is like, hey, Tata, no, don't don't think we forgot. You still got to show us the kissy face. So that's episode three.

Yeah. How are we feeling?

Are we there yet?

At a well timed cough. yay. Yeah. I was concerned going into a show where it's like, yeah, this is all about high school miscommunications.

Our favorite.

Our favorite. The style and the comedy definitely worked for me better than I thought it would because it definitely has that sweetness of like, hey, people think they know you, but I actually want you to have a life and be successful and have friends and stuff. So I feel like this is very hyper specific and is very much in the vein of what's it haven't you.

Heard I'm sakamoto the one sentence premise for a full series.

Yeah, sort of that dynamic of like, oh, you're a golden god no matter what you do. So I'm just going to talk circles to either cause a problem or solve a problem, depending on what part of the story you're in that I feel gets old a little bit, even though we're pretty early in. But yeah, this has a nice tone to it that I enjoy. Yeah, I had a good time. Yeah.

I like that even though it is based in miscommunication, almost those miscommunications are solved in an episode because the whole point of the show is that tatano is helping her communicate with other people. And I also like that even though he does kind of have a little crush on her, he's not weird toward her at all. And he's really just like, I want to be your friend. None of these other people are trying to be your friend, and I recognize that. So I would like to be your first real friend. And I think that's very sweet. Go ahead.

No, you finished.

Oh, I was also going to say I really appreciate that even though the show kind of happens in segments, like the usual slice of life format, it's not just bits. It's like a through line of the show. But there's still those, like, segment breaks for whatever reason. I don't know. I like it, though.

It's segments throughout their days rather than segments of like, here's our sketch for our next improv scene.

Yes. But overall, I did really enjoy it. But it is 24 episodes, and I can see how that would it seems like probably each episode is about her making one new friend, and that can get old.

Yeah.

The entire run so far is a quarter of the way there. Yeah.

I was surprised at Tata because clearly everyone loves her. She's gorgeous. She's the most beautiful person in the world. So, yeah, Tata clearly has a little bit of a crush on her. I was very pleasantly surprised by how much that doesn't come into a factor with him, like, how he is able to act normal around her and it is very refreshing.

Yeah. He has that very sense of, like, I'm aware of our conflicting social standings. So even though you are objectively the most attractive person I've ever seen, I think he says that almost verbatim. He's like, I'm not stupid enough to try to make a move and then have the entire school be like, you felt you were good enough for Comey, you idiot.

I'm helping you, and I know my place. There is a degree of the exaggerated, how we talk about how the whole town is kind of nuts. Megan. The parisian of. Haven't you heard of Sakamoto? Reminded me of the scene of Sakamoto crawling on the ceiling to avoid his friend's mom who was in love with them.

Oh, yeah.

That's kind of crazier for me, which I enjoyed because it's just truly ridiculous as hell. This isn't as exaggerated as that. It's more rained. But yeah. The coffee barista being like, this is my test to prove I'm the best barista in the world. I'll do whatever it takes. Having never met her before and never seen her before, I'm like, if this is the one joke, it will wear thin fast. And comey is cute. Comey is a good character, but because she doesn't talk, it does rely a lot on the supporting cast of, like, we see a bunch of friends in the opening who I assume will be regulars in the show. Like, we have the Jimmy and Agari in the opening, so I feel like it does heavily rely on, like, if you like them, you'll like the rest of the show. Since Comey, the whole premise is Comey doesn't really say anything.

I think that even though she doesn't say anything, she does have a good character. Like, seeing her alone when she had that moment in her room of pretending to call tada no was very cute. The fact that she would do that kind of shows that she's, like, goofy to herself and I don't know, I like her a lot even though she doesn't actually speak.

Yeah. I would like it if there's more scenes like that because a lot of the scenes first episode, I understand you're setting the tone. A lot of what we saw with her was just her standing behind something, staring at someone, like, being too intimidated to talk. But if there are more scenes of her actually doing something, yeah, it would be good. But yeah, we've been burnt on the one sentence premise or one joke shows before, so I am concerned. But it is well done. It is cute. It is pretty well written. It's a good time.

Why?

It's popular. Yeah.

And it's nice that even in episode three, it took until the end, but she started to talk on the phone. So already you can see there are cracks forming into, like okay. The dam of silence. She may talk at some point, but she'll get there.

Yeah.

I feel like it's not like end of season one. She said the.

I feel like that will definitely be a thing of like it's easier for her to talk on the phone because she doesn't have to see somebody face to face. I feel like that'll probably continue very.

Much so, because I was very surprised. Early let's start with the first sentence saying, I want to be your friend. I'm like that's a lot. For a girl that can't say hello, I would start smaller, but, yeah, I think the phone will definitely be a device for her to communicate easier, which is what a phone is for all of us.

There's another device used to communicate with us and it's an email address. If you have an anime that you would like us to watch, you can send your recommendations to rwariat@gmail.com or you can reach out to us on Instagram or TikTok at Are We There Yet? On both. We're technically still on Twitter, but.

I also made us a tumblr, which is also are we there yet? So if you want to follow us there, yeah. And you can find me on Instagram and TikTok at honey, period d or on tumblr at honey d all one word and Honey is spelled hunnie.

Oh, me also, mate. We're also on twitch. Already there yet? On twitch. We don't do anything with it. It's mostly just me making sure no one steals that name.

Brandon thank you to camille ruley for our artwork. And thank you to Louisong for themed song stories. You can find all of louie's music at Louisong bandcamp.com. Thank you and we hope you'll join us next week as we learn to live with anime.

Goodbye.

There was more cats in this show than the last one and that had cats in the title.