With the Light… 7

Keiko Tobe – Yen Press – 2010 – 15 volumes
this is an omnibus containing vols 13-14

Mmmm… again, this isn’t the type of series that the average manga reader is going to be interested in. At all. The continued trials and tribulations of Sachiko and her autistic son Hikaru, now in junior high, are fairly mundane for anybody that’s looking… well, for anything that comics usually deliver. This even falls short in the more obscure slice-of-life category, since the activities are fairly mundane. Especially in this volume. The major complication here is that Masato is transferred at work, and Sachiko must move both her children in with her mother-in-law, who is ashamed of Hikaru. There are plenty of pressing concerns when that happens, mostly in the second half of the book, but the first half is truly episodic. Sachiko has to find ways to prevent Hikaru from saying and doing rude things, such as telling people not using a basket in a store that not paying for something is stealing. One chapter is about Kanon, Hikaru’s younger sister, and how her schoolmates react to Hikaru. Another chapter features Kanon acting out against a boy who was making fun of her brother. The first chapter of the book has Sachiko searching for ways to keep Hikaru from touching himself in public.

Most of these stories are fairly repetitive. Something happens, Sachiko finds a solution to the problem, apologizes, and the issue is dropped. None of these problems persist, and it almost seems like Sachiko is phoning it in. It’s unfortunate that the fact her problems don’t persist make me think her quick and easy solutions aren’t effective, but nothing is ever as easy for her as it is in these early chapters.

But the thing that continues to impress me the most about this series is how thoroughly researched everything is. The first chapter, about developmentally disabled children reaching puberty, features several stories about several different types of children and ways to counteract typical adolescent behavior. These stories were likely all gathered from other people and included in the manga. All the problems that Sachiko has are also obviously the result of a lot of research into common behavior issues that autistic children have, and possible solutions or ways to help the children adapt. There are few manga that have this much work put into accuracy, and I do admire it for that. While it’s not at all what manga readers want or desire, I do hope that it can serve to help those connected with autism.

I also have to appreciate the way she’s made her characters age throughout the run of the series. While Sachiko and Masato don’t really look any different, I like the way she’s slowly aged Hikaru and Kanon. It’s something you don’t often see.