Is Niizuma Eiji autistic?

[Kibate]

Also, I'm thinking that in a place such Jump HQ overlooking autism might be easy. You expect mangakas to be weird, like all talented artists.

I actually think they very well know that he is "different"(wether it is autistic, asperger or whatever) but why waste a good artist just because of that? As long as he does what he is suppose to do nothing is wrong. Though but because they know that he is not normal they are a little carefree with him. Remember when he was suppose to serialize his yellow-something manga, but he insisted on crow? The chef editor was all ike "okay, let him do that" that wouldn't work on anyone else.
Of course, they can't promote him in the jump as "The new amazing manga by the 16 year old autistic child" so they just call him "genuis" and thats it.

Of course, oftne the word "genius" is used for people who focus on solely ONE thing, therefore excel at it more than in anything else.

[saladesu]

1- Bill Gates hasn't been diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome.
2- Only very few cases of Asperger savants are known. Having Asperger doesn't mean you'll excel at anything.

I know a guy with Asperger's and he told me it causes him physical pain to make eye contact. And Eiji made eye contact easily with Saiko when he took notice of his hero like eyes.

So if Eiji has Asperger's, then its poorly portrayed.

1- True. My bad, I assumed that it was true because that's what I hear all the time. The only way we could actually know if is true is to ask his doctor (or him), but from the way he acts/acted, he does sound very Asperger's to me.

2- They aren't that few at all, just that not all of them make the news and the headlines. There is no direct correlation, though, but many times the Asperger's characteristics "help". As a member of the Asperger's/autism community as a family member of an autistic, I hear (and see for myself) many stories of such people. Maybe they aren't AS genius-like to invent groundbreaking things like Bill Gates (if he is Asperger's), but many of them do excel. If there are so many in my country which is so tiny, surely there are many more in the world out there ^^

Not all Asperger's find it painful to make eye contact. My brother is autistic (worse than Asperger's, so you'd expect it to be worse for him), and he can make eye contact. In fact he has a habit of staring intently into the person's eyes while waiting for them to answer a question he's asked them. I guess in this respect (and many others), the "symptoms" could vary slightly.

And eiji got friends? -.- He only got coworkers who respect him, nothing more.
Saiko doesn't have any weird habits, he talks quite easily with people, he used to have several friends in grade school, and now has at least 1 friend, and that friend is way more than just a bff.

Saikou does have weird habits, actually XD The way he sits, it's often the way L does, but I see that more as a homage by Obata-sensei to L. But yes, I agree, he had no problem making friends in school (he had friends with him when he was at the exhibition place where Azuki first saw him from afar). Now we only see him interacting with his fellow mangaka (Eiji, Hiramaru, Aoki etc), assistants and of course Shuujin Kaya and Azuki. I'd say that's mainly because Ohba-sensei sees no need to show he has friends outside. I mean, what are we going to get out of seeing Saikou out having tea with a friend? Obviously since that doesn't add to the story's development, we don't see it happening. It's not like we see Shuujin hanging out with people outside that same circle of friends I mentioned above, either

[topkomputer]

And eiji got friends? -.- He only got coworkers who respect him, nothing more.
Saiko doesn't have any weird habits, he talks quite easily with people, he used to have several friends in grade school, and now has at least 1 friend, and that friend is way more than just a bff.

Aren't ashirogi mutos, yoshida and people that gathered in Eiji's apartment his friends? Anyway, Authisthic is people that live in their own world. And Saiko matched it best. About stranger that hang around when saiko is kid, I think he is just an audience. Probably saiko didn't know his name either. He is basically didn't have any friends except shujin and kaya who keep pushing themselves around him.

[saladesu]

Aren't ashirogi mutos, yoshida and people that gathered in Eiji's apartment his friends? Anyway, Authisthic is people that live in their own world. And Saiko matched it best. About stranger that hang around when saiko is kid, I think he is just an audience. Probably saiko didn't know his name either. He is basically didn't have any friends except shujin and kaya who keep pushing themselves around him.

Saikou clearly had friends here ^^ His behavior here is totally not autistic or even remotely Asperger's. Not only does he have friends, he brags about being good, and takes the lead in suggesting where to go next etc. And before anyone suggests it, no, you cannot suddenly develop autism/Asperger's in later life (not after the age of 10 in any case).

[topkomputer]

I still think Saikou is kinda introvert or geeky. If Shujin and Kaya didn't push themselves into his world, he won't accept them. And now I think authism didn't connect with not having friends but more closer with introvert or geek person.

http://abnormaldiversity.blogspot.co...nd-autism.html
"I am autistic. I am also introverted. I don't think I have heard of a single autistic who isn't introverted. Introversion is a near-universal characteristic of autistic, though of course not all introverts are autistic. Autistic people also have a number of other traits, which are not any better or worse than normal, just different."

[Baron Vorg]

i think he's autistic like L in death note..

[RoloLamperouge]

I hate the way when a character is eccentric, people think they are autistic. People say some autistic people are geniuses but then again so are non-autistic people. Eiji just loves manga and describes himself as an "eternal boy" because he loves shonen manga. Also I never thought L was autistic, he was never shy one bit.

Also if you were trying to make a rival or genius for your main characters why would it be an autistic kid? Then one of their first goals would have been to beat that autistic kid. I think him being a genius is because thats one of the different types on Mangaka that Hattori decribed and would be some challenge for them to overcome to become better.

I think Eiji is just an eccentric and the sounds he makes help him draw the characters and the feathers are for photorealism.

Also there are a few people with aspergers in my school and they aren't geniuses by far, They do lower level work in a small room together, they aren't slow, they just cannot cope with the work.

[Kibate]

@RoloLamperouge: What about that one scene where he flipped out after his editor put a cellphone on his table, becaust it wasn't "right"?

Also not EVERY mangaka makes the enemy in a reallife manga autistic, just ohba, because s/he admitted that s/he is very much like L, so it could be he is basing the autistic people on him/herself

[CBlitz]

I've worked with autistic kids before peeps and they're generally nothing like Eiji. He's just eccentric, yeah he's a bit weird but outside of manga he's pretty "normal". Even high-functioning autistic people still find it very hard to blend in with society. As to whether he has Asperger's....um I guess not. I don't think he's socially awkward at all, in fact he's friendly and interacts pretty well with everyone around him. His lightheartedness towards stuff is just a quirk. I've only really dealt with low-functioning people who've had autism so maybe my definition is kinda different

[Kibate]

I have never met any autistic people aside for myself(though i'm quite low at that) so i can't say from experience, but i have seen a LOT of tv documentations about such people, and eiji is pretty much spot on(except that he can talk to other people, but thats pretty much the only thing that doesn't resemble typical autistic behaviour)

[RoloLamperouge]

If anyone in this manga is autistic, I'd bet on Ryu Shizuka.

[topkomputer]

Eiji is eccentric the only almost-authistic person here is Saiko. I really not understand myself, but I really dislike Saiko!