Volumes: 8/8 Omnibuses (2-in-1 Omnibuses Complete)
(OOP but still available in eBook)
Josei
Genre: Disabilities, Family, Teachers
Summary: Sachiko, a new mother, had a baby boy, and named him Hikaru for the bright morning sun the day he was born. He was supposed to be the pride and joy of her life. But instead he cries constantly, always eats the same things and gets upset at small changes in routine. It has even become a point of contention between her and her husband, Masato. She soon finds out from the program helping new mothers that her child might be autistic. She can’t accept it at first, but as overwhelming pressure from her judgmental mother-in-law blames her for poor parenting, she soon goes back to the program for help. Will Hikaru ever call her mommy? Can she ever get him to stop crying? Will he ever be able to go to school and have a normal life?
Volume 8 also includes two unrelated short stories:
Thank You, Sensei!: A well liked long term substitute teacher and her students struggle with her being forcefully reassigned away from their class.
Spring Sunshine: A grouchy old man whose only joy in life is planting flowers, one day he meets a cheerful little boy who befriends him.
This won the Prize for Excellence at the 2004 Japan Media Arts Festival.
Review: This is a fantastic series that has some well deserved popularity among a crowd that normally doesn’t read manga. It works great as a story about the trials and difficulties of Hikaru’s Mother raising as autistic child, but also focuses on Hikaru’s difficulties too as an autistic child in a neurotypical world. The series was created based on a series of interviews and research that the mangaka did with real parents of autistic children and autistic adults. As a result, even though the story is fiction, it feels very authentic and is also very educational as well, to the point where it is often recommended reading for those looking for an accessible introduction to autism and learning disabilities.
The main storyline follows Hikaru’s trials and difficulties starting from the very beginning as a newborn, to his toddler years, which is covered from volume 1. The bulk of the story focuses on his Elementary School years from volume 2 to 5 (Grades 1-6 in Japan) and then finally some of his Junior High years from volume 6 to 8. The way the plot had been going, I think the mangaka had planned to follow Hikaru and his family all the way through Hikaru’s adulthood, but sadly the creator died unexpectedly. This left the series with an ending so rushed, the last two chapters are literally still in unfinished storyboards.
That being said this is a rich, interesting story and an exceptionally unique comic. The beginning of the story is absolutely heartbreaking as poor Sachiko doesn’t know what’s wrong with Hikaru and why he acts differently from other children. She tries everything she can think of, but everyone around her, including her husband, Masato, blames her for her perceived faulty parenting. Thankfully after she decides to go back to the Welfare Center for help (Social Services equivalent in Japan) Masato soon changes his mind and decides his family is more important than his career, accepts a demotion, goes home and decides to help raise Hikaru.
After that the story centers around young Hikaru as he slowly and steadily grows up. Sachiko and Masato don’t even know what he is able to do at first, but they soon discover he is able to learn, but he is very slow and requires a lot of repetition and consistency to understand something. He understands pictures and reading simple words much better than listening. He also has sensory issues and is easily overwhelmed by loud noises, long sentences and hates being touched from behind him. But still, for every obstacle he overcomes, a new one appears. Like when he’s a little older and learns to unlock doors but still doesn’t understand how to cross the street safely.
There’s also another theme in the story of both community involvement and acceptance. In this manga it does indeed take a village to raise a child, and Hikaru needs much more help than most children. But Hikaru and his parents face many barriers from those who aren’t willing to accommodate even simple requests for his well being or even requests that would allow him to behave. And even worse still, there are a number of adults who believe disabled people should be hidden out of sight, where they cannot bother or inconvenience regular people. That being said, there are also many who have experience with special needs children or are willing to learn, and they are a bright spot in the story.
Highly Recommended: TLDR; Of course I would definitely recommend this to anyone interested in autism, but also in general I think it has a lot to say about teaching and family as well. It’s a touching, compassionate story that is very unique about the difficulties of raising an autistic child, but also the joy and satisfaction of his accomplishments as well. Even though it has no real ending, I think the story was more about the journey than the ending anyway, so please don’t let it stop you if you are interested.
Age Rating: PG13: for some brief storylines about child abuse and bullying. And also some discussion of masturbation (but it reads more like sexual education if anything and is not inappropriate)
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