Spacewalking With You is a truly special series that I can’t recommend highly enough! It deals with the friendship between Uno and Kobayashi, who are portrayed as having two different kinds of neurodivergence (Uno being Autistic and Kobayashi seeming to have some sort of ADHD/dyslexia deal going on). In the first volume, Uno is a new transfer student and is immediately clearly different and gets laughed at and made fun of. His autism is never stated explicitly, but he has social issues, gets overstimulated easily by lights and sounds, is very literal minded, etc, so it’s clear that’s what’s going on. Kobayashi is someone who’s being written off by the school and society in general — he has trouble reading, sits in the back of the class and falls asleep, keeps getting fired from part time jobs because he has issues with remembering how to do things and then panics and lashes out when he feels like he’s being cornered — and so he at first joins in with thinking that Uno is a weird person who he’s going to tease and avoid. But they then end up becoming friends and Kobayashi starts to turn his life around thanks to Uno’s influence, and Uno learns a lot from Kobayashi about friendship and how to value himself.
This second volume focuses on the stargazing trip and then final exams, which Kobayashi wants to pass so that he can go on the summer planetarium trip. I think what makes this series so meaningful to me is how realistic the characters are and how much affection the author puts into their portrayal. No one is evil, everyone has their own motivations and back story, and people have to learn how to talk to each other and work with their own unique brains. It’s a very nuanced and thoughtful look at growing up and grappling with difference. Kobayashi in particular is such a unique character — I don’t feel like I’ve read another work about someone dealing with an undiagnosed learning disability and the impact that’s had on him within the school system. I’m rooting for him to succeed, whatever that means for him.
My highest recommendation! Can’t wait for Volume 3.
