On Namito Kominato's first day of high school, he fantasizes about making friends and walking home with a girl. Luckily, he's seated behind a gorgeous girl in class! She's tall, strong...constantly dripping with sweat...and...she wears a paper bag over her head?!

Meet Samidare Kamiyama, a kind but shy student with severe social anxiety. Though Kamiyama couldn't talk her way out of a wet paper bag (literally—it's hard to breathe under there), Namito gets her to open up. The pair become fast friends, and soon enough, the outgoing, uniform-obsessed class representative is joining in. Together, they decide to found the “Conversation Club” to help Kamiyama participate in high school life. The club needs four members to become official, and there just so happens to be the perfect addition: a student who can only talk to a cardboard cutout of a magical girl!

When given a welcoming space to be themselves, even social outcasts can flourish. Let the first meeting of the Conversation Club commence!

What's with the Bag, Kamiyama-san? has story by Abyss Enoshima and art by Pochi Edoya. English translation is done by Asuka Forest and lettering by Viet Phuong Vu. Published by J-Novel Club (December 31, 2026). Rated 12+.

Lucas DeRuyter
Rating:

If you like Komi Can't Communicate but wish that the titular Komi was a giant, well endowed, perpetually sweating young woman surrounded by an even wackier cast of supporting characters, then you're probably going to like What's with the Bag, Kamiyama-san? more than I did. This work is actually a tricky one for me to review and grade as, while it's perfectly competent on a technical level and doesn't even come close to offending any of my personal sensibilities, it also doesn't do ANYTHING for me. Maybe I just didn't click into the more irreverent humor that What's With the Bag was going for, or maybe it didn't establish it well enough early on, but I just did not vibe with this one.

I'm not deploying that Komi comparison to be glib, either. What's With the Bag follows a “normal” young man who's entering high school with the hopes of making friends only to be saddled with a lovable group of misfits; with the shy, bag-over-her-head beauty Kamiyama being the center of this growing friend group. By the end of the first volume, it's clear that What's With the Bag is going to be playing more in harem series tropes and “the writer's barely disguised fetish” than Komi, but to less of an immediate impact. Again, the work isn't bad, but I'm struggling to root for, or even care about, any of these characters as quickly as I could for those in Komi.

A part of that disconnect might also stem from the antics in What's With the Bag being less than hysterical for me. A lot of the jokes in this manga are referential; with shout outs to Pokémon, older manga series, and a bunch of other pop culture touchstones. One again, dipping into this kind of humor works for me in other series, like The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You, but the way it's done here isn't having as much of an effect. Maybe the references are a little less inspired or cleverly worked into the text, but I find myself being more pleasantly surprised by a reference I recognize in What's With the Bag than entertained.

I know comparison is the death of joy, but I think the conclusion I'm circling is that What's With the Bag borrows a lot of ideas and story conventions from other works without doing enough to make them feel distinct. Even if there isn't anything wrong with this manga, I'm probably going to forget it exists as soon as I finish writing this review, but I could totally see it maybe hitting a sweet spot for someone who's read less manga than me.

Bolts
Rating:

It's hard living life as a nervous wreck with severe communication and anxiety. I like the fact that we are starting to see more stories about these types of issues. I'm not sure if it's indicative of that just being the next popular trope, or if a lot of these writers are coming from a place of similar experiences. There's also a third option where people who have trouble communicating can be prime examples of untapped comedic potential which I think is the angle that this story is taking.

Paper Bag is a story about two high schoolers who have trouble communicating at the start of high school, or rather one has such a severe problem with communicating that she ends up inadvertently getting tied to the other main character Namito. I like the bond between him and Kamiyama because while it's clear that the series is setting up a more romantic angle down the road, I do actually like the friendship between them. Nothing feels forced despite the exaggerated qualities of everybody present. There is a real patience and sympathy these two have for each other, even if one's antics definitely push the line of being intrusive but at the very least, the book doesn't feel mean spirited about anything.

The book is very funny without being overly cynical. There are definitely a lot of gags that overstay their welcome like Kamiyama having a problem with her perspiration when she's nervous. I'm sure part of why that's there is to see a thin outline of her bra at all times, but I swear to God, this girl is drenched in her own sweat on almost every single page. Jokes like that didn't land for me, but every now and then the story will throw in a really good bit of slapstick or a really good comedic punchline that just sort of sucker punched me out of nowhere. I think that also comes down to the fact that the art direction and comedic timing for the book is actually pretty strong. When it's allowed to get creative, it can be really pretty to look at and I wish there were more moments like that in the story rather than the more recycled humor.

The intentions of the story don't make themselves clear until the final third. It looks like the story is gathering an ensemble cast that all have different communication issues. It's gonna be one of those school club series where everybody is just quirky and comedy comes from everybody bouncing off of each other while our male lead is the straight man. Like a lot of other stories in this guide, this is definitely a story that I've seen several times before, but I feel like there's a lot more potential with this because it all comes down to the unique ways the writer creates those character interactions. These are definitely tropes and characters that I've seen before but, I can't say that I've seen them presented in this exact way. Overall, it's off to a solid start.