The anime "Komi-san wa, Komyushou desu.", scheduled to air from October 2021, is a work serialized in Weekly Shonen Sunday. It is a school comedy about Komi-san, who is not good at communicating, and her efforts to make 100 friends, starting with Tadano-kun, a very average male student. Recently, it was decided to make a live-action drama, and since it is so long-awaited that it is often mentioned as a work that people want to see animated, we would like to introduce the author, Oda Tomohito!
Synopsis of "Komi-san is a social anxiety disorder."
Tadano Hitoshi (Tadano-kun), who has an ordinary face, mediocre grades, and no distinctive features, decided to spend his time not causing any trouble after entering high school, but he ends up sitting next to Komi Shouko (Komi-san), who is extremely beautiful and difficult to approach. At first, he was nervous because he didn't know what she was thinking, but after he realized that Komi-san was just extremely bad at communicating, he began to help her achieve her goal of making 100 friends. Komi-san and Tadano-kun struggle to make friends while interacting with their eccentric classmates.
Profile of Oda Tomohito, the author of Komi-san!
https://twitter.com/ooodaaaatooo/status/1394576791382102017
Born on March 10, 1991 in Gamagori, Aichi Prefecture. Graduated from the Department of Manga, Faculty of Art, Tokyo Polytechnic University. Married, his wife is manga artist Furuhachi Ruka. In 2012, he won the Grand Prize in the Boys' Division of the 70th Shogakukan Newcomer Comics Award. After that, he made his debut with the one-shot work Space Convenience Store Business Diary in Weekly Shonen Sunday. From 2014 to 2015, he serialized "DigiCon" in Weekly Shonen Sunday, which was his serial debut. After that, after one-shots, he began serializing "Komi-san wa, Komyushou desu." in 2016.
Did Oda Tomohito bring his work to Jump?
Oda Tomohito had brought his work to Jump before he brought it to Sunday, but it was not well received there. However, when he brought the same work to Sunday, it was well received and submitted to the Shogakukan Newcomer Comic Award, where it won the grand prize. The magazines reacted in completely opposite ways, but his work at that time, "World Worst One," had a Jump-like style, unlike his current style.
Did Jump's editors miss a big fish?
Looking at it this way, it seems that the Jump editorial department missed a big fish by failing to see the talent, while the Sunday editorial department had an eye for it, but the author's previous work, "DigiCon," which followed the same style, was serialized weekly in Sunday, but it was not popular and was canceled after the third volume. After that, he serialized a school comedy instead of a battle manga, which became very popular, and the author himself said that battle manga was not suitable for him after all. In that sense, I think the Jump editorial department was not wrong. However, I think the Sunday editorial department was also competent in seeing the bright spots. I don't know if "Komi-san wa, Komyushou desu." would have been popular even if it had been serialized in Jump, so I don't think it suited Jump.
What kind of style is Tomohito Oda's work?
"World Worst One," which he brought to the Jump and Sunday editorial departments, was a classic battle manga, and "DigiCon," which was serialized afterwards, was also a battle manga in the same vein. For example, My Hero Academia, which is serialized in Jump, was drawn in a way that was typical of a shounen manga, but it was not well received in Jump, and the serialized work was canceled after three volumes. In "Komi-san wa, Komyushou desu.", the drawings are softer and more deformed, and the style is more heartwarming. Comparing the two, the style has changed drastically, but the female characters are still attractive, and I think that the style of drawing with a heartwarming everyday story was a good way to bring out the charm of the characters!
Oda Tomohito is married, and his partner is the same manga artist!?
#はなにあらし 9巻紙、電子版共に明日発売です🎄🎁
— 古鉢るか 🦀 (@kovachi_luka) June 10, 2021
クリスマス🎅お正月🎍バレンタイン🍫と、冬はイベントがいっぱい…
是非読んでみてください…
はなにあらし (9) https://t.co/zgDTcGJq7b pic.twitter.com/XraApaEcRN
Oda Tomohito is married and has children. His partner is Kobachi Ruka, who is serializing "Hana ni Arashi" weekly on Sunday Webry. Currently, Kobachi Ruka is not taking on new work due to childcare, but the weekly serialization is still ongoing. Amazing! It seems that they met through the same workplace. "Hana ni Arashi" is a yuri manga, and 9 volumes have been published so far! I like the beautiful illustrations. I'd like to see a spinoff about how he and his wife met.
About Tomohito Oda's Newcomer Comic Grand Prize-winning work "World Worst One"
Tomohito Oda's first work, "World Worst One," won the Grand Prize in the Boys' Division of the 70th Shogakukan Newcomer Comic Grand Prize. There is an archive online so anyone can see it. The illustrations are quite different from Komi-san's current style. I think it's only a professional to be able to change the illustration style so drastically. The setting and story are common, but the girls are cute.
What kind of work was World Worst One?
This is a super-classic supernatural battle manga. In a world where supernatural powers are commonplace, the protagonist is the only one who has no supernatural powers, but in fact, he has the powerful ability to stop time. The story is so straightforward that it can be said to have no changes. It may not be well-received in Jump. If it was serialized in Jump, it would probably be canceled. On the other hand, Sunday seems to favor relatively harmless and straightforward works, so it may have been well-received.
About Oda Tomohito's previous work "Digicon"
Oda Tomohito's previous work "Digicon" was serialized for one year from 2014 to 2015, and the genre was supernatural battle and comedy. The style of the drawings was similar to that of one-shot works, and it was a very boyish manga. The style of "Komi-san wa, Komyushou desu." is hard to believe that it is the same author. It was canceled after one year, so it seems that it did not become very popular. However, the part where the characters are drawn attractively was appreciated. I think these works are the source of hits.
About the hugely popular anime adaptation of "Komi-san wa, Komyushou desu."
一着のポーズ pic.twitter.com/QQKmTlNPc4
— オダトモヒト (@ooodaaaatooo) May 5, 2021
After serializing DigiCon, Oda Tomohito felt that he was not good at drawing battle scenes, so he published a one-shot of "Komi-san wa, Komyushou desu.", a daily comedy that allows him to use his strengths, and then it became a serialization. The subject matter allows him to use his strengths, which are his attractive characters, and the story is a casual, hectic daily life that is completed in one episode, so I think he was able to make use of his greatest strength, which is the appeal of the characters. The drawing style has also changed from a shounen manga-like style to one that makes use of cute, deformed characters. It's quite a drastic change. He also changed his name to Oda Tomohito at this point.
Tomohito Oda, a 30-something who loves games
There are quite a few little jokes in the story that will appeal to men in their 30s. You can tell his age from his style of writing. He was probably an avid reader of CoroCoro. He sometimes throws in little jokes that made kids go crazy at the time, like the Ball○ldome, Be○blade, and High○yo-yo. I don't think kids today would understand (lol). He must have read Chosoku Spinner as a boy. He often includes trendy jokes. He probably likes games, but I think he's probably playing horse racing these days.
【Komi-san wa, Komyushou desu. 】Summary about the author
We introduced Oda Tomohito, the author of "Komi-san wa, Comyushou desu.", which will soon be made into an anime! I was surprised to learn that he is married and that his partner is a manga artist from the same Sunday series. I think he could write a story on this subject, so I hope he will announce it someday! His original style is completely different, and I think he must have gone through a lot of hardship and effort to get to his current style! Despite all that, Komi-san has been made into an anime, and it has become a highly anticipated work. The anime "Komi-san wa, Comyushou desu." is scheduled to air from October!
