Komi Can't Communicate Ren Yamai - Comic Relief or Something Worse?

gamerant.com:

Ren Yamai may inspire a giggle or two from most viewers, with her dramatic and outlandish obsession with the Class Goddess, Komi, but does her character carry some harmful stigmas around with her? Class 1-1 is not just filled with heterosexuals after all, but that does not mean is the LGBTQ+ community is being adequately represented in Komi Can't Communicate.

While everyone clearly admires Shouko Komi, Ren takes her affections to the next level, subsequently putting herself on the list of lesbian creeps in the process, as the stereotypical Yuri tropes are exploited to their full extent.

When dealing with any girl-on-girl content, it is quite easy to differentiate who the target audience is, depending on how the subject matter is handled. The differences have become so distinct that specialized subcategories have been formed, which include the following:

While many of the female relationships in Komi Can't Communicate neatly fit into the supportive, healthy category of Shoujo yuri, the same cannot be said for Ren Yamai, whose sexual advances become exceedingly inappropriate as time goes by. Clearly designs to satisfy sexual urges, Ren has minimal appeal when it comes to the LGBTQ+ audience, who have gotten quite tired of seeing deranged lesbian stalkers who are completely out of touch with reality dominating their favorite Anime storylines. Ren personifies Shōnen yuri to a tee, leaving most fans wondering why Komi is even friends with her at all.

The first impression that fans get of Ren is to avoid her at all costs, as her potential for violence is put on full display right off the bat in «It's just a crush». In an almost hostage-like situation, Ren kidnaps Tadano and hides him in her bedroom, bound and gagged, without