Discourse on Azumanga Daioh – Part 2: The Triumph of Representation

Originally posted on Realmgard:
To recap my last post: Azumanga Daioh, good; J.B. Norman, autistic. The Simpsons, “Treehouse of Horror” VII: Disney and Gracie Films. And to set up this post: Azumanga Daioh, good at autism. Now, it’s rather fitting that the chapter divisions in the Azumanga Daioh manga have pictures of the characters with…

J.B. Norman

For reasons I admittedly don’t entirely understand, my post about the autistic representation in Azumanga Daioh and why it matters to me as an autistic creator has been one of my most consistently popular posts this year…

Please consider giving the original post read to learn all about autistic anime and why it matters.

J.B. Norman's avatarRealmgard

To recap my last post: Azumanga Daioh, good; J.B. Norman, autistic.

A scene from "The Simpsons": Bart with the quote 'Oh, don't look so shocked.'
The Simpsons, “Treehouse of Horror” VII: Disney and Gracie Films.

And to set up this post: Azumanga Daioh, good at autism.

Now, it’s rather fitting that the chapter divisions in the Azumanga Daioh manga have pictures of the characters with the caption “You Belong”.

An image from the Azumanga Daioh manga, a whimsical image of Chiyo with the caption 'You belong'.
Azumanga Daioh: Shogakukan and Yen Press.

Because, yeah, it’s clear that all the main characters have found somewhere they well and truly belong. And that’s an important lesson for autistic kids. I mean, hey, that’s an important lesson for autistic adults.

It’s a lesson that a lot of Pop Culture abjectly fails at taking into consideration, given that what most Pop Culture depictions seem to be telling autistic people is “You’re a freak and a robot who deserves to be laughed at.”

A robot.
So, basically, this is me, according to Hollywood.

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