The following contains spoilers for Komi Can't Communicate Episode 13, now streaming on Netflix.
Komi Can't Communicate is a charming rom-com anime that has returned as part of the Spring 2022 season. Recent Season 2 episodes have introduced an all-new character, the imposing blond boy Katai Makoto. His stern face and cold smile make him look like a classic delinquent, but as other recent anime have shown, appearances can be deceiving.
Katai makes a strong impression in Episode 13 when he finally makes it to school after weeks of absences, with everyone else running for their lives as he approaches. It's actually Katai who is afraid of everyone else, though that won't stop him from trying to make friends. Against all odds, he is the new Komi Shoko.
How Komi Can't Communicate's Katai Makoto Became Gap Moe
Episode 13 of Komi Can't Communicate sees Katai arrive at schol early in the winter semester. After spending all his time at home working out, he has a big brawny physique to show for it. That's impressive, but his formidable new appearance did nothing to change his gentle and friendly personality, which is more akin to Komi's and Tadano's than anything. Katai also felt unsure if he was too late to make any new friends at this point in the school year, but he will still try -- if he doesn't sabotage himself first.
Katai quickly proved himself to be a friendly dandere character, someone who wants to express affection but is too shy and insecure to do so in most circumstances. In Episode 13, he felt concerned time and again that no one was paying attention to him, wondering if he was making the wrong impression. This means he was in a similar position as Komi, but without the benefit of being the school's ultra-popular beauty queen.
In fact, Katai's scary exterior is actually working against him, so it's up to Komi and the highly empathetic Tadano to see through his gap moe nature and make the first move for him. Knowing them, it's likely to happen sooner or later, and Katai will be deeply grateful.
Other Instances of Anime's Gap Moe Trend
Katai Makoto may feel like a novelty in Komi Can't Communicate -- a combination of Tokyo Revengers' Draken on the outside and Komi on the inside -- but he's not exactly a trailblazer. Instead, like many other Komi cast members, he is the perfect embodiment of an anime stock character. In this case it's the "gap moe" type, a person whose appearance and personality are charmingly different. Such a character is usually intimidating or even villainous on the outside but kind and caring on the inside -- a prominent example of "don't judge a book by its cover."
Gap moe characters seem to be more common in anime than ever, with current trends teaching viewers that there is always more to a person than appearances or first impressions might suggest. The friendly Miyamura Izumi from Horimiya is a good example of this -- even if he's not an exact depiction of gap moe -- and there is Bleach's Captain Zaraki, a bloodthirsty warrior who is also a doting foster father to the young Lieutenant Kusajishi.
Yet another example is My Hero Academia's Gunhead, a thuggish-looking Pro Hero who actually found it cute that Uraraka had so much fun talking with Midoriya on the phone. No matter his appearance, Gunhead is a total teddy bear on the inside, and so is Komi Can't Communicate's Katai Makoto. Now he just needs a chance to prove it and finally find true happiness at school.