Autism and Manga, Recommendations?

[wizard_mouse]

I am not within the autism spectrum, or at least that's what online tests have placed me, but I am interested in the topic, mainly because there are a lot of mangas that cover other psychological issues such as trauma, PTSD, phobias, OCD, etc. However, autism and neurodivergent people seem to be broadly overlooked.
This came to me after reading two mangas:
The Girls Who Traumatized Me Keeps Glancing at Me, but Alas, It’s Too Late

This one is based on a light novel where there are a bunch of girls who "caused" the main character trauma, but at the same time the main character thinks he is somewhat responsible for it. It is a comedy with "serious" tones, but the serious parts are so ridiculous that it ends up being unintentionally funny. The weirdest part is that the main character is pretty much written as neurodivergent, but everyone treats him as "different" and "quirky" while depicting his personality as the result of trauma. No mention of autism, the autism spectrum or neurodivergency.

Asuperu Kanojo (Literally Asperger girlfriend)

This one on the other hand does present the two main characters as neurodivergent from the start. The guy has social anxiety and the girl has Asperger's, OCD, generalized anxiety and suicidal tendencies. Since the guy is more "normal" he takes care of her, but of course since he has his own issues it's a "3 steps forward, 2 steps back" kind of story where there are good times and bad times. It depicts a very real characterization of neurodivergent people in a somewhat "unreal" setting, but it is very good, and it has become one of my favorites.

I wonder if there are more mangas like Asuperu kanojo since I've found a bunch like the first one that dont have the balls (or its just ignorance) to actually show people within the spectrum.

Does anyone know any mangas about or even mention autism??? Honestly it would be very funny if its just one and that's it.

 

[MrIncognito]

Laios from Dungeon Meshi has an obsession with monsters and encyclopedic knowledge of them, and has difficulty with social cues. I heard people theorizing he was on the spectrum and suddenly a lot of things made sense.

 

[undeed]

To be honest, I don’t really understand the whole autism spectrum. In the past, it used to be associated with hyperactivity and difficulty understanding order. But then some say it can also involve seclusiveness, being withdrawn, and having difficulty speaking. Which one is Autism? Which one is ADHD? I really don't know

I was once criticized for using the word “autistic” by a friend whose child was diagnosed with autism. From that point on, I said, “Okay, I’ll just keep my mouth shut.”

So now I just associate autism with someone who has a set of activities or behavior or routines that if such routines are disrupted, they can get very, very upset.
(is it still wrong?)

Does anyone know any mangas about or even mention autism

With only mention or just offhand depictions, I'd say L in Death Note and Niizuma in Bakuman can be seen as such.
They're usually just depicted as such quirky character,
on the other hand, if it is about hyperactivity, there's a lot of character in manga like that.

One manga that I remember dealing with such problem is Boku no Tsuma wa Hattatsu Shougai

 

[PantsMan]

Aspergirl definitely feels like the most "on-point" when it comes to the little touches and details about the condition that make it feel more 'raw' than other portrayals, even though Yokoi as a character has her own baggage on top of that as well. I agree that it's a nice read.

Assuming fictional characters are on the spectrum or have mental conditions just for doing fictional character things is a big pet peeve of mine, so sticking to manga with actual, overtly spelled-out autistic central characters there's slim pickings beyond semi-autobiographical stuff. There's Within the Light, which had an official translation a while back.

Laios from Dungeon Meshi has an obsession with monsters and encyclopedic knowledge of them, and has difficulty with social cues.

This "Laios is autistic" fanfic narrative irritates me, especially since Ryoko Kui actually wrote her own spin/parody(?) on "biographical manga about raising a neurodivergent child", and it's a good short story to boot.

 

[wizard_mouse]

With only mention or just offhand depictions, I'd say L in Death Note and Niizuma in Bakuman can be seen as such.
They're usually just depicted as such quirky character,
on the other hand, if it is about hyperactivity, there's a lot of character in manga like that.

See, that's the issue. Sure, you CAN make a character that is obviously different than the rest, and write their quirks to be positive. However, just like homosexuality in old anime where girls or boys are "reeeeeealy good friends", they are simply treated as "special" and they don't put the name on it. I won't say that my experience of Death note is diminished because there was no chapter where L said: "guys, lets catch Kira, also I am within the spectrum" because that was not the focus of the story.

I can use the first manga I showed as a good point. The manga focuses on the main character's personality, but instead of calling it autism, its "the result of trauma" it gets worse since all of the girls believe that they are the result of the trauma, but when the guy met them, he already was like that, but the manga keeps reiterating that "he was normal before".

Laios from Dungeon Meshi has an obsession with monsters and encyclopedic knowledge of them, and has difficulty with social cues. I heard people theorizing he was on the spectrum and suddenly a lot of things made sense.

This "Laios is autistic" fanfic narrative irritates me, especially since Ryoko Kui actually wrote her own spin/parody(?) on "biographical manga about raising a neurodivergent child", and it's a good short story to boot.

Yes, everyone mentions Laios when it comes to autistic characters, and we can then use a different reason of why its not mentioned: its a fantasy setting, there is no need. In this instances then the one who can actually mention it is the author, however, Ryoko Kui already said that Laios is a really normal person; there's nothing special.

One manga that I remember dealing with such problem is Boku no Tsuma wa Hattatsu Shougai

Now this is a good recommendation and more in tune for what I am searching for. But it only has 4 chapters and it was last updated a year ago .

 

[MrIncognito]

Assuming fictional characters are on the spectrum or have mental conditions just for doing fictional character things is a big pet peeve of mine, so sticking to manga with actual, overtly spelled-out autistic central characters there's slim pickings beyond semi-autobiographical stuff.

Saying nothing is true unless the author spells it out is at odds with "show don't tell" being one of the most basic tenets of good storytelling.

In this instances then the one who can actually mention it is the author, however, Ryoko Kui already said that Laios is a really normal person; there's nothing special.

Just gonna drop an interesting anecdote here that SWERY didn't know he had reactive hypoglycemia until a game he directed came out with a... unique... stamina system and people started going "hold on the protagonist has reactive hypoglycemia doesn't he". SWERY just thought that was normal.

Not really going to die on the "Laios is autistic" hill but these are things worth taking into consideration.

 

[Manko-sensei]

I wouldn't expect much from a country where mental health is completely taboo, you might find some like the examples you showed before but there are going to be the exception. Of course if you dig further in non-serialised works you might find more (in the end serialised ones are just the "successful ones" in terms of sales), but that requires knowing Japanese. Since any condition besides normal is just a resource to be made light off or add drama I stay out of serious topics in manga and similar unless I happen to read the work, so I least I don't recommend this media. And well, what the fandom says is just the result of too much free time and unsurprinsingly only about popular series (I'm quite fed-up of the "it never says otherwise" logic, it's just so pretentiously pointless). So yes, there are autobiographycal series about ways to live that Japanese people don't consider normal as well as series about disorders and mental conditions, but don't take everything as an undeniable fact.

 

[Undorian]

https://mangadex.org/title/38f1d634...ea55/hikari-to-tomo-ni-jiheishouji-wo-kakaete

https://mangadex.org/title/6bc459ba-9c12-4841-8431-24a4615f08a1/sazanka

 

[wizard_mouse]

https://mangadex.org/title/38f1d634...ea55/hikari-to-tomo-ni-jiheishouji-wo-kakaete

https://mangadex.org/title/6bc459ba-9c12-4841-8431-24a4615f08a1/sazanka

Great oneshot, the other one has no chapters 😭.

Dang, I was really joking one I said "there's only one"

 

[Manko-sensei]

Great oneshot, the other one has no chapters 😭.

Dang, I was really joking one I said "there's only one"

The works are completely translated by Yenpress, I replaced the obsolete link, you can either buy the digital edition or download it from your trusty non-official otaku page.