After 8 years and more than 30 volumes, one of my favorite slice of life manga is entering its final arc and I don't know how to feel

(Image credit: Netflix / Shogakukan)

For years now, one of the most reliably sweet, funny, and overall relaxing manga series in my reading rotation has been Komi Can't Communicate, a straightforward but occasionally absurd story about an almost competitively anxious girl struggling to make friends in high school, and who finally starts to make some headway with help from a boy named Tadano. It's consumed nearly an entire shelf in my manga library, and every new volume is always a short and simple treat. So the news that this manga's final arc will start this year fills me with mixed emotions.

As Anime News Network reported, Komi Can't Communicate will start its final arc with the next issue of Japanese magazine Shogakukan, due July 24. It's unclear how long this arc will last – we could have a few months or many, many months of new releases still to come – but the series is very much approaching the end.

While the manga has gained plenty of new characters, leaned more into youth romance, and subtly shifted its art style over the years, Komi Can't Communicate remains a down-to-Earth series about breaking out of your shell, and its deceptively cute presentation can still serve up some of the hardest-hitting character stills I've seen in manga. I'll be turning to the 10 best manga to read right now to help fill the void.

Creator Tomohito Oda began Komi Can't Communicate in 2016, expanding on a 2015 one-shot. The series is up to 34 volumes in Japanese, with 30 volumes currently available in English and volume 31 due later this year. It received an excellent anime adaptation in 2021, which you can watch on Netflix.

This manga got six amazing chapters and then vanished for over a year, and it's finally back.

Austin has been a game journalist for 12 years, having freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree. He's been with GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize his position is a cover for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a lot of news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible.