#MangaMonday 124 “Spacewalking with You” by Inuhiko Doronoda
Kobayashi is a high school delinquent. He’s disengaged from school, but unable to hold down a job. When Keisuke transfers into his class Kobayashi is bemused by his loud voice and odd mannerisms. He ends up looking out for him, and then befriending him, to the annoyance of his current friend group.
It’s not stated outright, but Keisuke is probably #autistic. Kobayashi, who has thought of himself as a screw-up, realizes he may have some kind of learning disability and adapts one of Keisuke’s coping strategies to break down the complex tasks that have always befuddled him. It doesn’t go completely smoothly—among other things, Kobayashi has face-of-a-thug syndrome—but he gets there in the end. Eventually his coworkers realize what he’s doing is also useful for them. An unstated theme of this #manga might be “there is no neuro-standard.”
Ongoing with three of six volumes available in English (Kodansha.)