Ikoku Nikki - Vol. 11 Ch. 53 - page.53

[MangaDex]

 

[Nicopico]

Ah, those last few pages got to me. I'm 25 now, right in between Makio and Asa's ages at the start of the story, and not to be cliche, but they are just like me fr. I tend to be more like Makio however, because I need to be alone more than I am with others, but oh yeah, maintaining good relationships is something I work for and grapple with a lot, despite (because) my lack of knowledge on social cues.

Thank you for the chapter as always!

 

[Guyincognitus]

Does know where I what those two panels of Makio and her sister are referencing?

 

[Ranzo]

Cool that Asa finally met the girlfriend

 

[LucidDayDreamer]

I love characters where you're like "they're autistic" & it most likely wasn't the authors intention, but based off of people they've met/know who probably are too and just don't know. There are so many people out there who are "different" but it was never enough for concern, and now they go though life w/o a diagnosis wondering why they do x y z

 

[Regnells]

Every single chapter of this manga makes me feel and think about new things. I never expected that from a manga but I am so happy I found this one.

 

[bdenra]

Thank you for the chapter! I love Touno's phrasing of wanting to connect as arrogant, it really does capture how I feel about my own abilities to form real human relationships.

Does know where I what those two panels of Makio and her sister are referencing?

In the past there was a big argument between them where Makio had enough of being told "go be normal" and lashed out back at her sister. I think the argument was shown the most in chapter 23.

 

[Borduroy]

Thanks for the chapter!

 

[crimony]

hmm but both makio and touno seem like empathetic people to me (what does that make me LOL).. like touno when he got outraged on kasamachi's behalf about how his father neglected him. or makio understanding so well what asa needed to hear when she was at her parents' funeral.

they just have bad timing for the minute stuff. or communicate poorly sometimes. i think since they're so harsh on themselves, it's that they can't empathize with themselves more than anything, so when someone has a situation they can relate to, they sorta shut down. like makio not wanting to think about her sister so she claims she can't relate to asa's loneliness (when actually, it feels like she can, she's just not willing to go down the rabbit hole). idk

 

[Blanche]

I love characters where you're like "they're autistic" & it most likely wasn't the authors intention, but based off of people they've met/know who probably are too and just don't know. There are so many people out there who are "different" but it was never enough for concern, and now they go though life w/o a diagnosis wondering why they do x y z

I'm diagnosed, I've met plenty of people who lack empathy that are not autistic. I have plenty of empathy, can we stop diagnosing characters based on harmful stereotypes??

 

[LucidDayDreamer]

I'm diagnosed, I've met plenty of people who lack empathy that are not autistic. I have plenty of empathy, can we stop diagnosing characters based on harmful stereotypes??

1. I was basing it off of my own experiences as an autistic person

2. Nowhere did I say all autistic people lack empathy, in all honesty I forgot I had even wrote this comment, I don't even think I was speaking of Touno specifically, but a few in this manga who I Headcanon as autistic

3. While I agree "lacks empathy" is a harmful stereotype, in this case I relate to Touno. In my own experience, there have been times where I feel like I lack empathy, but as I've learned more about myself, and spoken to other people like me, I have learned that the reality is I just experience, and express it differently. His yearning for human connection despite the fact he feels unworthy of it because of his supposed "lack of empathy" reminds me of myself and my journey.

There are so many people out there who are "different" but it was never enough for concern, and now they go though life w/o a diagnosis wondering why they do x y z

 

[sotokouya]

i'm the mix of makio and touno

 

[Fari]

I'm diagnosed, I've met plenty of people who lack empathy that are not autistic. I have plenty of empathy, can we stop diagnosing characters based on harmful stereotypes??

Food for thought that these apparently lacking in empathy characters don't actually seem to be lacking it at all, just handling it a bit differently, which I'd personally say makes them relatable if you do more than a surface level read of them, I've never met any autistic people who truly lack empathy, but plenty come at it from a different angle like this.

 

[LucidDayDreamer]

which I'd personally say makes them relatable if you do more than a surface level read of them

THANK YOU!!!!
Their comment bugged me so much, because I know he says he lacks empathy, but nothing Touno has said or done makes it seem like he does! Sure maybe he lacks tact, and I'm sure there's a cultural element too since Japan has a bunch of "secret social rules." But if you understood his character at all, or paid attention to his actions, you'd see he has it!! It's there!!!

 

[Knighto]

THANK YOU!!!!
Their comment bugged me so much, because I know he says he lacks empathy, but nothing Touno has said or done makes it seem like he does! Sure maybe he lacks tact, and I'm sure there's a cultural element too since Japan has a bunch of "secret social rules." But if you understood his character at all, or paid attention to his actions, you'd see he has it!! It's there!!!

it's more in how they express it, like we have Makio clearly caring for Asa, but she doesn't want to give her the answers or sometimes say the words she wants to hear the most, because at the same time she also has problems fully accepting others.
we can remember at the start of the series how she helped Asa not break her friendship with Emiri, as she gave her a more rational view of how Emiri cared about Asa, but in the end is still empathy as she herself had a moment where she noticed her own friend being like that.

Touno, maybe it could be more like as you mention the secret rules, like he has to respect the "clients" and he still asked Makio if she actually was read to act as the parent (guardian) of Asa, for us in the west it would be more like Touno (or Makio) or more lacking in tact than in empathy, but on the east they kinda mixed (as in fuse) them together.