365 Days of Manga, Day 207: With the Light: Raising an Autistic Child

WITH THE LIGHT: RAISING AN AUTISTIC CHILD • Keiko Tobe • Yen Press (September 2007) • Akita Shoten (For Mrs., 2001-2006) • 13+
Jôsei manga, aimed at adult women, is one of the rarest manga genres in English, and what little has been translated tends to be sexy stories aimed at unmarried twentysomethings, like Happy Mania, Walkin’ Butterfly and Erica Sakurazawa. We haven’t seen as much of the dramas about family and marriage (with a few exceptions like Keiko Honda’s Wedding Eve), but With the Light, originally published in For Mrs. magazine, is a sterling example of its kind. Stay-at-home mom Sachiko is overjoyed to give birth to her first child, Hikaru (”light”), but it soon becomes obvious that something is wrong. Hikaru cries when he is touched, and will not learn to speak; when doctors diagnose the boy with autism, Sachiko cannot bear to tell her businessman husband, and she is tormented by stress and shame. Some of the elements are specifically Japanese–the pushy mother-in-law, the “mother’s class group” of fellow young mothers–but the story of autism is universal and is told in a clear, dramatic style. The 10-volume story eventually follows Hikaru from infancy to boyhood, and was adapted into a 2004 Japanese TV drama. Good shôjo-esque artwork, a swift pace and wrenching melodrama make this a strong title for anyone interested in the subject matter. (Review by Jason Thompson – originally printed in Otaku USA magazine.)

I’m out of the country until April 18, so all the winners of “365 Days of Manga” between then and now will be announced after I get back. Please keep entering the contest, there will still be a winner a day, I’ll just be announcing them all at once!