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Komi Can’t Communicate season 2 episode 5 returned to its segmented pattern. The episode featured a snowball fight, a return to the Komi Family home, and a visit to the shrine which ended with Komi befriending a classmate.
The episode focused entirely on Shouko, with brief appearances from Tadano and Najimi. It also moved further into the winter break and the festive mood surrounding the new year after last episode’s Christmas special.
Komi Can’t Communicate season 2 episode 5 shows Shouko bonding with her cousin and making an unexpected friend
In Komi Can’t Communicate season 2 episode 4, Shouko’s class held a Christmas/birthday party at her house. They gifted her a large cat plush. Meanwhile, Shouko bought scarves as a present for her friends and thanked them for a wonderful birthday.
Komi Can’t Communicate season 2 episode 5: Snowmen
The episode began with Najimi waking up at 3.00 AM and dragging a sleepy Tadano to Shouko’s place at 6.00 AM in the morning to make snowmen. The three friends make a large snowman and decorate it with a scarf, a carrot, and assortments.
Tadano also makes a small snowman, and Shouko makes another one of the same size to complete a set. This entire segment was mostly without dialog and translated the manga chapter panel-by-panel.
Snowball fight
In the next segment of Komi Can’t Communicate season 2 episode 5, after refreshing themselves with some hot soup, Najimi beckons multiple people to engage in a snowball fight. Shouko is relegated to a team with four elementary school students to even out the numbers. Najimi does this intentionally, and is scolded by Tadano.
The elementary school students get taken out quite easily. Komi is scared and cannot throw snowballs to save her comrades, something that makes the kids skeptical about her. However, once all four of her teammates are taken out, Komi walks across the battlefield towards the enemy fort.
As she walks, Yamai, who was on the opposing team, takes everyone out so that they cannot target Shouko. In the end, Shouko takes Yamai out, winning the match. The little children see her in a new light and befriend her.
Year's End
Next, Komi Can’t Communicate season 2 episode 5 moves to the Komi family home, where Shouko and her family come to visit for the new year. Nothing seems to have changed, as her grandmother is just as strict and her aunt is just as bubbly as last time. There seems to be a distance between her and her cousin Akira, which dissipates as they spend more time together.
Akira and Shouko engage in a game of Hanafuda, and soon their grandmother joins as well. She bets that for every point she loses, she will add 100 yen to their new year money, but will subtract the same amount for every point they lose.
Akira loses the first game by 34 points, losing 3400 yen. But Grandma Yuiko offers Shouko the chance to win it back by clinching the next match. Despite being a novice at the game, Shouko manages to defeat her grandma and win back Akira’s money.
New Year's Day
In the next segment of Komi Can’t Communicate season 2 episode 5, the Komi family women, wearing traditional kimonos, visit the local shrine for New Year’s greeting. At the shrine, Yuiko asks Shouko if her wish from last year to make friends came true. Upon receiving an affirmative answer, she asked her granddaughter to give her thanks to the gods.
The shrine office was running short on staff, however, and Shouko was forced to tend to the shop alongside her classmate, Inaka. Inaka becomes hilariously worried that Shouko will realize that she is from the country, a fact she is insecure about, and will use that to demean her.
Shouko, however, is petrified at having to talk to the shrine visitors at the shop. After noticing her discomfort, Inaka helps her by providing her with some paper and ink.
Shouko fulfills her duties by using her signature written mode of communication. At the end of the day, she thanks Inaka for help and wishes her a happy new year. Inaka returns the gesture, and they begin a tentative friendship.
Final thoughts
Komi Can’t Communicate season 2 episode 5 focuses more on how Shouko is slowly becoming able to make friends even without Tadano and Najimi’s help. An interesting look into her relationship with her extended family also clarifies that she is beloved by many people. At the end of the episode, Shouko is only 81 companions short of fulfilling her wish: To have 100 friends.
