How Anime Speaks DEEPLY to Neurodivergency

Anime has never been bigger than it is now. Demon Slayer Infinity Castle just became one of the highest grossing films of 2025, and Dandan just finished up a wildly critically acclaimed second season. Anime is truly here to stay, and has gone from being a niche interest to a worldwide phenomenon. But interesting enough, when anime was still niche, it was often autistic and neurodivergent people who found the most comfort in it. With being neurodivergent or being on the autism spectrum being something that can cause a person to feel ostracized or like they don't belong, anime was often something they would watch and find solace in - especially because of how many autistic and neurodivergent coded anime characters that exist. Today we're discussing autistic coded characters from anime, why they're seen as autistic coded, and how they helped an entire generation of anime fans feel seen at a time when the entire medium was still a total niche. I'm also joined by some very special guests today, which I'm very excited about!

0:00 Introduction - how anime appealed to autistic people as a niche
4:04 My picks for autistic coded anime characters
10:55 Dejavudea's pick for an autistic coded anime character
13:42 Yewfiee's pick for a neurodivergent coded anime character
15:52 Angel's pick for a neurodivergent coded anime character
21:02 MissFushi's pick for a neurodivergent coded anime character
25:14 Conclusion

Special thank you to my fellow neurodivergent creators who joined in for this project! Please go follow them, you will not regret it (in order of appearance):
‪@Dejavudea‬
‪@YewfNet‬
‪@ttvresie‬ : https://www.instagram.com/mistletoad/...
‪@MissFushi‬


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