Characters On The Autism Spectrum
AnimeSpoiler
These anime characters have autistic traits and/are implied to have autism. I’m no psychologist and I can’t say with certainty that some of these characters are autistic but I myself have autism so this is just based on my own experience and speculation based on the characters themselves. I’ll put my reasonings in here as well. (Sill writing descriptions)
TV, 2008,
25 eps
Me:-
Author:10
The main character in this show, Kyouko, has a very hard time dealing with social cues. She can’t seem to get along with people her age. She tends to do very rash things to get what she wants without realizing how bad of an action it actually is till someone points it out to her. She doesn’t quite understand when people are vague or don’t get to the point. She’s incredibly blunt. She has no talent in lying at all. She’s got plenty of special interests; making dolls, mysticism. fantasy like things, princesses. She still believes in fairies and no one can tell her otherwise.
TV, 2008,
12 eps
Me:-
Author:8
This BL is a classic, and there are many interpretations of the characters but I believe that Usagi is autistic. He doesn’t understand how to act with someone he loves because he self isolated most of his life. True, his family wasn’t very accommodating with his needs but he genuinely just doesn’t understand how to interact with people. He is obsessed with trinkets like teddy bears, trains, certain foods, books, and writing, etc. he has so many special interests that I wonder why nobody ever talks about the possibility he could be autistic. The way he interacts with Misaki is telling as well. He has meltdowns often when things aren’t a particular way, he seems to be a genius but he finds it extremely difficult to do certain things like cooking no matter what kind of instruction he gets. I don’t find his jealousy endearing but I understand it as I’ve had similar meltdowns when I was younger. He needs introspection but at the same time I can’t see them as anything but autistic meltdowns. He’s not really trying to control Misaki and he’s not really trying to harm him either, they’re outbursts. Even the way that Misaki handles Usagi feels like a man who is trying to understand triggers and avoid them at times. Again, this is just my opinion but I hope others can agree with me even a little on this one.
TV, 2006,
25 eps
Me:-
Author:7
Sunako, the protagonist of this series develops a special interest in the supernatural, dark, and otherworldly things after she was dumped by a pretty terrible guy. This attachment becomes an integral part of who she is even after Kyo helps her get over that traumatic experience. She stims, she hops around and giggles around things she adores and she screams and shrinks up around things she dislikes. She finds it difficult to be affectionate around people she loves. Although you could say that because she could do it prior to the traumatic experience of being dumped, it’s because of that, I say it’s simple skill regression which is a normal part of autism. She’s autistic, or at least seems that way to me.
TV, 2014,
25 eps
Me:-
Author:7
While I believe that Hinata has the possibility of being autistic because of his intense adoration for Volleyball, his love for a specific team in particular, and his slight awkwardness when talking about anything besides volleyball... I think Kageyama has more autistic traits than Hinata. Kageyama has trauma because he took his specialinterest too seriously and couldn't understand why others would struggle to keep up with his training regimen. He couldn't socialize or comfort his teammates well and expected other people who loved the sport to have his same devotion. He doesn't speak to people unless they're talking about the sport itself, and he also has a lot of trouble with social interactions. While he can understand social cues to an extent, he still tends to make wrong decisions in conversations that create misunderstandings. He can't maintain his facial expressions well. He also stims and tends to expect a certain level of order to things and if things don't go on schedule in a specific order, he gets angry.
TV, 2019,
11 eps
Me:-
Author:9
Mafuyu is a character that I found to be very obviously autistic. He has trouble managing a reasonable distance between two people and often gets in people's personal space. He tends to get confused if people aren't explicitly direct with instructions. He's sensitive to sound, and he finds himself constantly humming even without being aware of it, and that looks a lot like stimming. He's attached to music, so much so that it seems like a specialinterest. He's got no sense of social cues. He's very repetitive with his word choices and he's very blunt.
TV, 2019,
12 eps
Me:-
Author:6
Shin Walford is autistic. The little jokes that he doesn’t understand common sense aren’t just jokes to me because he genuinely can’t tell. His special interest in magic and fighting could come from video games, but the manga, the anime, and even the light novel don’t seem to suggest that. He just genuinely loves these things. He doesn’t just show this unawareness of social cues with magic though. He’s often misunderstanding jokes, missing sarcasm, and being offended in areas that weren’t meant to be seen as offensive. He tends to ignore things that don’t have to do with his friends, family, or magic unless it’s extremely important. He’s from a different world sure, but he’s making mistakes that I would genuinely make. Maybe I’m overthinking, but I’m like 85% sure he’s autistic.
TV, 2011,
60 eps
Me:-
Author:8
Oga Tatsumi doesn’t mask regularly like many people on this list; his traits are more apparent. He gets overstimulated quite easily. He has difficulty being transparent about his feelings and tends to mask when he’s with people he cares about. He doesn’t understand social cues, and he genuinely doesn’t care enough about them, either. He has a powerful sense of what a man should be and a strong sense of justice despite what he would tell you or what his expressions would make you believe. His actions prove that. His specialinterest is fighting; he doesn’t care about being a delinquent in school or looking tough. He likes to fight. He has comfort people who he trusts, and if they aren’t comfort people, he doesn’t communicate with them. He even goes as far as distancing himself from people if he thinks his presence would do more harm than good. He’s incredibly intuitive and sensitive and makes a pretty good father for his age. He has repetitive behaviors, and he scripts the first two episodes, he uses the same first line to describe what’s going on. He’s got pronounced signals to me that he could be autistic.
TV, 2014,
102 eps
Me:-
Author:6
Natsu Dragneel stims echoes his own catchphrases, has a challenging time with social cues, and has special interests. The way he expresses himself is often seen as odd, and while people around him try to make him seem dumb, Natsu is very focused on things he’s interested in. They call it instinct, but Natsu worked hard his whole life to reach the skill level he’s at now. It can’t be considered instinct. It can be considered an incredible focus on a hyperfixation he's had for years that becomes so intense he becomes a borderline genius at it.
TV, 2019,
13 eps
Me:-
Author:8
Chika Kudo is a misunderstood boy who picks up on the koto after his grandfather dies. After every experience he’s ever had, I understand that a lot of his behaviors are because of trauma. However, his autism, while debatable, is something I can’t help but consider. He cannot find interest in the class curriculum unless his best friend Tetsuki helps him study, and the only reason it works when he does it is because he changes the material in a way where Kudo isn’t wholly disinterested. He makes math characters into people and gives these people stories that pull on Kudo’s heartstrings. Chika has safe foods, strawberries. Kudo is also very particular once he finds an interest. The way he raises his voice when he talks without realizing and people find it terrifying is a common autistic experience. Adjusting the sound of your voice is something a lot of Autistic people struggle with. He’s susceptible to people and their emotions to the point where it feels like he’s compensating. His incredibly blunt nature can be seen as intimidating and insensitive. However, he’s never actually intending to hurt others and gets incredibly hurt if he does so. He only raises his hands to protect others, even when he is just mindlessly going with the flow and fighting because he gave up on himself and others. I genuinely think he’s autistic. However, I understand if people disagree.
TV, 2009,
25 eps
Me:-
Author:8
This series is about a young girl who has struggled with communicating with people her age all her life due to comparisons between her and a horror movie character. Sadako is sweet, kind, and adorable, and she has a huge crush on this boy in her class named Kazehaya who likes her as well. Her trouble with social cues makes her distance herself from him sometimes though. She’s often mislead by people with negative intentions because she isn’t understanding that they have these negative intentions. She stims, quite regularly actually if watch the anime. She’s very expressive and has a hard time hiding how she feels. She masks, and it’s quite obvious that it isn’t really working for her favor. She believes that the people around her want to be scary so her demeanor comes off scary around people even when she doesn’t want it to. I could be reading too into that part but it’s something I would struggle with too.
TV, 2012,
25 eps
Me:-
Author:7
Now, before I’m completely shut down and you throw away the entire list, I’m unsure if he’s on the spectrum. However, I felt it was a good idea to mention it anyway because there are some autistic traits and behaviors that I can recognize in him. His intense devotion to basketball is very reminiscent of an autistic special-interest. While we could say he simply likes basketball, I have trouble believing it’s that simple when he has comfort spots in the same restaurant, food, and other special interests. His awkward social cues and blunt nature are also telling, but that’s not what had me scraping my head thinking, ‘Is he?’ His faint presence that he utilizes for basketball is intentional, but he had it before he joined the club. It’s a superpower in the show, but fading into a crowd and walking silently isn’t hard to learn when masking and avoiding people like your life depends on it. That theory that it wasn’t just this weird thing he had since birth solidified more when, in certain games, he would make his presence more visible to people and that people would start noticing him after a while if he wasn’t careful.
TV, 2019,
12 eps
Me:-
Author:8
Subaru is a man who has always despised social interactions, loud noises, tiresome situations, and anything outside of reading. It’s hard to look past his sensory overload, repetition, meltdowns, and try to view him as anything but. His relationship with his cat is adorable though and that’s more on what the show is about so if you’re a cat person this show is probably for you.
TV, 2023,
12 eps
Me:-
Author:8
TV, 2024,
12 eps
Me:-
Author:7
A young girl is isekai'd into the body of Eumilia Dolkness, a dark magic user. Still, instead of caring about the main characters, her new family, or anything else, she’s fascinated by leveling up and being strong. She’s not an expressive person, so people misunderstand her quite often, and while it does bug her, it’s not her priority. She loves magic, to the point where it becomes an attachment or special interest. She would put everything behind because of it. She doesn’t understand social cues either, when a young lady tries to become friends with her she uses a script she’s created to have a decent conversation. She’s blunt, honest to a fault. Plus, when she finally finds someone she likes she doesn’t understand quite obvious signs he likes her back. I know all of this is genuinely for a comedic effect, the author probably isn’t trying to propose that she’s actually autistic but the very few flashbacks we see of her life in Japan make me believe it’s not only a theory. She has very clear and obvious symptoms of autism and I refuse to ignore them.