Anime's Best Portrayals of Autism Proves What Makes the Medium so Special (2024)

As an autistic viewer, it can be frustrating how few positive depictions of autism there are in TV and movies. Autistic characters are usually written with completely exaggerated traits, as utterly unlikeable people, or are used primarily as the butt of mean-spirited jokes. Unexpectedly, anime has some of pop culture's most positive depictions of autism. These anime characters are incredibly meaningful for autistic viewers and demonstrate that the medium really is something special.

With the caveat that it's impossible to speak for all autistic people as a monolithic group and the knowledge that autism is indeed a spectrum, so there isn't one single autistic experience, there are several anime characters who stand out as particularly meaningful and positive depictions of life with autism. For the benefit of context, it's helpful to get a sense of how Autism Spectrum Disorder is formally defined and diagnosed. The CDC's full diagnostic criteria for Autism Spectrum Disorder can be read here. It's worth highlighting the two general diagnostic areas laid out in the criteria:

A. Persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction across multiple contexts …

B. Restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities …

The CDC criteria provides specific examples of those two broad areas, but for the purposes of this article it's probably sufficient to summarize Criterion A as difficulty with social interactions and communication, especially nonverbal communication and Criterion B as narrow, but intensely focused interests and routines, as well as sensitivity to environmental and sensory input like noises and smells.

Azumanga Daioh & the Importance of Belonging

Azumanga Daioh is a weird series, but it's also one of pop culture's most affirming depictions of neurodiversity. Of the six main characters, no fewer than three display traits that many neurodivergent fans will relate to. Tomo displays traits of ADHD, while Osaka and Sakaki demonstrate several criteria of ASD or Autism Spectrum Disorder. Though these characters aren't confirmed to be neurodivergent in the actual series, their personalities are still relatable to many fans who are neurodiverse themselves.

Osaka is a nuanced portrayal of autism and a marked change of pace from pop culture's "people with autism are STEM geniuses" stereotype. She might be one of the weakest students in class, but still displays her own unique insights and intelligence. She doesn't thrive academically in a school setting, but throughout the series, she demonstrates an impressive knack for riddles and wordplay and offers insights into situations that other characters miss. In contrast, Sakaki is shy, withdrawn, and assumed to be aloof and unfriendly. She's actually the nicest character in the entire cast, is obsessed with cute things and animals, and just wants friends. Interestingly, she's also depicted as the best athlete in the cast, which is not common among characters coded with autism.

Osaka and Sakaki are clearly not like their classmates, but the most powerful thing about their portrayal is that it doesn't matter. They're welcomed into the core friend group without judgment. The humor in Azumanga Daioh is never mean-spirited. Even the narrative of Azumanga Daioh itself never places any judgment on them for their differences. It's a beautifully positive and affirming depiction of neurodiverse characters being accepted and valued by their neurotypical friends, and it's particularly amazing to see in a series that's 20 years old, before ASD awareness was as widespread as it is now, especially in Japan.

Azumanga Daioh's most meaningful thematic statement can be summed up in the two simple words that accompany every chapter heading in the original manga: "You Belong."

Most of Anya's academic and social difficulties can be attributed to the fact that she's spent most of her life living either in a lab as a test subject, or in a sketchy orphanage that doesn't particularly care about her well-being or development. Living with Loid and Yor, even as a pretend family, is the first time she has ever been in a nurturing environment. While Anya may not formally fit the diagnostic criteria of ASD, her portrayal in the series makes her easily relatable to autistic viewers.

Specifically, Anya's plot-relevant telepathy is a fantastic fictional parallel to autistic sensory sensitivity. At several points in Spy X Family, Anya is overwhelmed by the telepathic input generated by large crowds to the point of fainting. The noise and sensation created by large crowds can be similarly overwhelming to autistic people in real life and are a very common and incredibly relatable experience for autistic people. Overall, Anya is actually quite autistic-coded. She has a major attachment to her chimera and penguin dolls, she's obsessed with her favorite cartoons and bases her schedule around being able to watch them, she often interprets instructions and information in the most straightforwardly literal manner, for example responding to instructions to sound more formal by haphazardly adding "please" to most of her speech.

This interpretation of Anya is an example of what some authors call Applicability. At its most simple, Applicability means that the audience will often read characters in ways the original author didn't necessarily intend based on similarities with their own life experience. Although it isn't deliberate and Anya is probably written as autistic, her character invites Applicability from the autistic audience members and is a fantastic metaphor for life with autism.

With the Light & Authenticity to the Autistic Experience

There's an editorial note on the opening page of With the Light explaining that although the depiction of Hikaru's autism is fictional, the story is based on extensive interviews of families with autistic children and research of the condition. With the Light is one of the most simultaneously heartwarming and heartbreaking fictional depictions of autism. Written by Keiko Tobe and first published in 2000, With the Light originally ran in a magazine aimed primarily at adult women, so the main character of With the Light Sachiko Azuma, the mother of an autistic son named Hikaru. Tobe sadly died in 2010 before she could finish the story. Her intention was to follow Hikaru all the way to adulthood, but the story was abandoned with Hikaru in middle school.

With the Light's straightforward Slice-of-Life story is remarkable in its frank, sincere depiction of autism. Ableism is a major problem in Japanese society, and this was especially true 20 years ago. Tobe uses Sachiko's character to soundly criticize a lot of contemporary Japanese attitudes about disability in general and autism specifically. At the same time, the manga isn't shy about the fact that it can be difficult both to grow up as an autistic child and to raise an autistic child as a parent. Even though, throughout the manga's story, Hikaru's most committed advocates are his parents and his sister. It's a beautiful affirmation of autistic life, and especially meaningful because it was originally written in a time and place with such a heavy stigma about autism.

It can be hard to find positive portrayals of autism in pop culture. Azumanga Daioh, Spy X Family, and With the Light provide powerful exceptions to that. These anime and manga characters are among the most positive and affirming depictions of autism in all Pop Culture, period. That's why anime's best portrayals of autism proves what makes the medium so special.

Source: Diagnostic Criteria / Centers for Disease Control