Ask John: Are There Any Autistic Anime Characters?

Question:
Are there any anime characters that actually have Autism/Aspergers Syndrome? I know many on the internet like to place those disorders to describe the behavior of some characters such as Erio from Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko, or Yui Hirasawa from K-ON!

Answer:
Japanese otaku culture seems to have an odd, particular sensitivity toward issues of mental health. Ironically, physical and mental handicaps are widely considered permissible within manga and anime when they’re fictitious or presented as lighthearted characterization. But when they’re presented seriously and dramatically, they’re limited to serious and dramatic presentations or simply excluded entirely. The concept of “yandere,” a character whose immediately evident loving personality disguises violent, psychotic jealousy, is embodied in characters like Mirai Nikki’s Yuno Gasai and School Days’ Sekai Saionji. These characters, and the “yandere” concept itself are popular despite the fact that such extreme bipolarity is a significant and dangerous mental illness. I’ve long been mildly offended by the fact that the 2003 Nanaka 6/17 television series and the Ken Yagami’s 2000 manga that the anime is based on are founded on making a girl suffering from a traumatic brain injury the butt of a running joke. Similarly, the protagonist of Junko Kamimura’s 1989 manga and 1990 OVA series 1+1 = Paradise appears to suffer from a near debilitating psychological anxiety, but rather than treat his compulsive fear seriously, it’s used as a joke and weakness to exploit. While K-On’s Yui Hirasawa may be simply ditzy, Erio Towa of Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko does seem as though she may suffer from some mild degree of Aspergers Syndrome. Alice in Kami-sama no Memo-cho seems even more likely to literally exhibit Aspergers Syndrome, but she’s never overtly diagnosed or described with a formal mental illness, thus her distinctive behavior and psychology are deemed quirky, humorous, entertaining personality rather than an actual mental handicap. The disturbingly anti-social Tsubame Otorii in Akihabara Denno Gumi seems to typify aspects of Aspergers Syndrome, although she’s never precisely defined as suffering from any mental disorder. Susanna Hopkins’ personality in Genshiken is presented for humorous effect but also exhibits characteristics that could be descriptive of some form of autism. Vague, undefined mental illnesses are also allowable in grim, morose, dramatic stories such as Koroshiya Ichi, Tonari no Hito 13-go, and Perfect Blue in which, again, the mental handicaps are opaquely defined and are used as personality quirks or narrative tropes rather than as an anchor point for serious, realistic illustration.

Characters overtly described or depicted with formally identified handicaps or debilitating handicaps, however, don’t commonly appear in conventional, lighthearted or otaku-oriented anime. The heartbreaking 2003 anime film Momoko: Kaeru no Uta ga Kikoeru yo revolves around a mentally & physically handicapped little girl. Rather than play as comedy, the tragic film depicts her family’s struggle to support their disabled daughter. Keiko Tobe’s 2000 manga Hikari to Tomoni… ~Jiheishouji o Kakaete~ (With the Light: Raising an Autistic Child) is an award-winning serious and dramatic depiction of childhood autism. While the manga has been adapted into a live-action television series, it does not have an anime adaptation.

Due to Japan’s strict sense of social decorum, mental illness is allowable in anime and manga so long as it’s fictionalized or played off as just an odd, undefined personality quirk. Numerous characters, including Rei Ayanami, Ayumu “Osaka” Kasuga, and numerous characters in Sayanara Zetsubou-sensei, can be interpreted as having some degree of mental illness, but I’m not aware of any anime that has ever overtly attributed an Autistic character. Bizarre personality idiosyncrasies are effective characterization, but formally identified mental illness risks causing offense to viewers that actually suffer from mental handicaps. For example, in June 2010, publisher Shueisha insisted that Gunnm manga author Yukito Kishiro remove references to mental illness from reprintings of his sci-fi action manga, presumably to avoid any possibility of offending readers. So mental illness is okay in anime and manga so long as it’s fictionalized and “harmless.” But if it’s presented realistically or as a severe handicap, it can nearly only be presented in serious, dramatic fashion in socially responsible anime and manga.