Ren Yamai has had an unpleasant obsession with Shoko Komi since the start of high school. In Episode 23, Yamai’s creepiest move makes Komi’s skin crawl.
There’s no rejecting that Komi Can’t Communicate’s Ren Yamai has an unpleasant obsession with protagonist Shoko Komi. That much has been evident since Episode 4 of Season 1, when she kidnapped Hitohito Tadano and threatened him with death to end him as an adoration rival.
She’s also looked into Komi’s skirt to take pictures of her clothing, both successfully and unsuccessfully. She has even tried to glimpse Komi’s naked body on at least two occasions: once in the changing room of a water park and again in the ladies’ changing room at a public bath in Kyoto.
Quite a bit of Yamai’s unpleasant conduct amounts to sexual harassment, and it was just a matter of time before it would escalate into sexual assault. She almost did as such in Episode 20 of Season 2 when she asked Komi if she could grab her breasts in a public bath during a school trip.
Komi asserted her boundaries that time, but this hasn’t stopped Yamai’s sexual harassment. During Valentine’s Day, Yamai figured out how to turn the innocuous practice of trading chocolates with friends into sexual harassment when she made chocolates in the shape of her face so she could get Komi to indirectly “perform sexual acts” on her.
Episode 23 of Komi Can’t Communicate a greater amount of Yamai’s continued trajectory toward sexual harassment this time. She succeeds in getting Komi to give her what she wants.
During class, Komi’s usual dark tights tear when she gets up from her seat, which isn’t ignored by Yamai sitting behind her. Though it’s a genuinely small opening that’s not prone to be noticed by any other individual, Yamai obsesses over the fact she can see a tiny piece of skin no different either way. From that point, her way of behaving fluctuates between frightening and dangerous.
At the point when Yamai sees the tear, she decides to “protect” Komi from other spectators by getting behind her and moving around Komi’s legs like a crab. She also brings her face uncomfortably close to the space between Komi’s legs, which escalates her desire to touch her inappropriately.
Though Yamai manages to restrain herself from committing sexual assault, her conduct still gets Tadano’s attention, and he finds himself watching out for her.
Yamai eventually decides to illuminate Komi about the tear in her tights to spare her further embarrassment. To “help” Komi out, she offers her replacement tights in the same tone and brand she regularly uses and accompanies her to the washroom to change.
Yamai even offers to clutch Komi’s torn tights while she changes into the new ones. Unfortunately for Komi, she takes the bait. She gives Yamai exactly what she wants: an article of clothing she’s well used that’s the closest thing to obtaining her clothing.
When the tore tights are in her possession, Yamai wears them creepily on her head and runs off with them, causing Komi a deep sense of’s embarrassment. It’s never affirmed whether Komi got those old tights back from Yamai. Still, one thing is clear:
Yamai is determined to get her direction with Komi in any way possible. Between the attempt to grab her breasts at a public bath, the theft of her old tights, and repeat attempts to look into her skirt and get pictures of her clothing, Yamai’s friendship with Komi might reach a conclusion when Komi Can’t Communicate continues.
