#hirofumi has fumi in his name so ofc he has my heart

[fumifooms]

Autistic reading of Hirofumi + general observations

The time has come. I’m talking about cryptid boy. I adore him, and to me he reads as autistic highkey. Earlier today this post happened and it just made me want to get into the nitty gritty of him: https://fumifooms.tumblr.com/post/704906702244429824/his-whole-job-is-keeping-chainsaw-man-alive-and What’s funny too is, because well, we have Asa right there, Yuko too, and arguably others like Denji or Power which, yeah, y’all got a place on the spectrum- But when it comes to Hirofumi people jump a lot to more supernatural explanations for his vibes being “off”. When, like… The fact that you can’t read him isn’t necessarily because he’s some conspiracy. Not to say that he’s not suspicious, he is, but it’s funny to me that people don’t consider that mostly he may just be… Socially inept. Irl people like him exist, I assure you. Autism makes the dream work, amirite.

Tldr: He’s my kind of autism (aka he’s me irl. His behavior was my way of adapting to a neurotypical world, too! I try to keep projection out of this analysis, tho). Developed a mastery of social behavior to seem friendly and casual until his social acting became too much instead of too little (the latter being the one usually associated with autism) and something feels off about him now because he does a front of being neurotypical when he’s autistic as shit. Like a cryptid trying to wear a human suit-disguise and just ends up feeling uncanny, y’know. He’s always cold and calculated on the inside, but attempts to have a warm exterior to put people at ease so he can do his job better and blend in with everyone else without bumps in the road.  I’ll spend this analysis mostly pointing out things about him rather than arguing that they’re inherently autistic traits, since we know little about him the argument is first of all about pining down his character rather than arguing about the nature of the traits, tbh. Still, for anyone familiar with autistic traits a lot of these are super self-explanatory, and I won’t explain all the links.

This is long and has tons of pictures, so I’m putting it under a cut!

Pt 1: social outcast? Two worlds

He appears cool guy to most, sure, but no one really ever… Bothers to interact with him? He’s always there TM, but people don’t talk to him, and he usually keeps his input to conversations to minimum (when they aren’t one-on-one). He doesn’t approach anyone, no one approaches him. It’s a mutual “I don’t really care” between him and the rest of the world. Though, he does get singled out and otherized for being successful in devil hunting at his age, when it’s brought up, and so both by fellow devil hunters and classmates. (Most visible in how the school devil hunting club greets him, but also in part 1 Kishibe forgetting a devil hunter could possibly be a highschooler, etc). From what we see it’s implied he has 0 friends.

I do think remembering that he’s a highschooler for this is important, because Yoshida is essentially between two worlds. Professional devil hunting, which makes him have to be cool-headed and works with professional adults, facing death all the time and quickly develop working chemistry with new colleagues, and highschool, where you have to be normal enough and perform socially, esp since we know bullying is a rampant problem his school has. I do think, as an autistic, that would party explain his behavior; switching behaviors and personas for one or the other would be bothersome and erratic, so he mashes both sides of what he has to be into one personality that can work for both worlds, and keeps the same demeanor for every situation he’s in. Casual and friendly enough for school, always cool-headed and ready to face life-or-death situations for devil hunting. The result is this fucking guy. Feels misplaced in every situation he’s in as a reader, imo at least. I do think he realizes that he can be off-putting, but what he does with that information is kinda unclear. I feel like he feels that he’s above others, in many situations. That or very nihilist. 

Pt 2: His smile, interactions

His smile is 90% of why I saw him as autistic. It’s such an autistic smile. He sucks at it. It doesn’t reach his eyes, it’s clear that it’s always plastered on and it’s empty. He ends up just looking like a sneaky bastard half the time. And like- Remember that time he wanted to see if the hitman in the alley was an hitman or a civilian? It doesn’t seem like he was going for intimidation at all, because in that same interaction he just goes “hm well he’s scared shitless, it can’t be my target.” Plus he doesn’t comment on the civilian clearly being in range to realize he just killed someone, so that part wasn’t intentional, either. His fucking smile when he looked at him?? Guys, he was trying to approach the guy to casually ask him what he’s doing. That fucking smile, was him being casual to ask a rando something. Also there’s something very autistic and funny in “hey yo you good? You’re not a hitman per chance are you?” “Urgh I don’t feel so good” “ok fair, good argument, bye”

I think that interaction perfectly represents what I was saying about him being stuck between two worlds, though. He has to be threatening and cold enough so that if the guy is the assassin he’s giving enough pressure so that he may slip up, but friendly and normal enough so that if he’s a civilian he didn’t just freak him out, and that balance is very important so that he can get the correct information and assessment. But like, he accomplishes all of that through subliminal messaging lol, through vibes, body language etc however you want to say it. And that duality messes his game up, and he’s quick to make assumptions and be confident that they’re the right ones. The latter point is not only supported by the pages below but also through the way he talked with Kishibe about Makima. He’s very intuitive, and rather impulsive once he thinks he has something figured out. It does backfire on him somewhat regularly. Counting the “I am taking away your cutlery so you can’t eat cake until you listen to me” strategy he tried on Denji lol. More on that later.

He also sucks at conversations. Like, he really does. I haven’t seen him holding a good conversation ever highkey. Which, he doesn’t try much, either, as previously mentioned when he’s not one-on-one he talks extremely little. It was easy to forget about his presence when he was on the rooftop with Denji and Asa arguing, or in the aquarium tbh, or in part 1′s gang. He’s easy to lose in a crowd. It was a whole joke when part 2 started; “Be honest guys who here remembered Yoshida existed?”. People in-world look at him and see nothing notable about him, then promptly forget about him when he autistically sticks to being quiet in a corner, while still doing his job efficiently well. He’s good at seeming well-adjusted and normal on the surface, but keeps people at bay just by being a hard to approach milktoast guy. He blends in with the background. He’s great for spy shit, bad for the rest. He seems like he’d be good for interrogations at first, but beyond being observant he’d be absolute shit at it, like his interactions with the assassin guy and Denji prove. He’s honestly not great at reading people. He can puzzle out characteristics or skills they have, but on the more emotional or social workings he has to be walked through things slowly, or just make wild guesses and risky plays.

Moving on, his infamous lame-ass excuses for always being at the same place as Denji all the time? Yeah. I don’t know how much he tries for them to be believable but we all know they fall really flat. Also the way he laughs when he doesn’t know how to react is hilarious. Hirofumi is such an awkward person

General demeanor, tone deafness

It feels like he’s kinda bored all of the time imo, but of course that’s just an assumption based on his demeanor. The classic thing about being autistic is precisely that no one has a clue what’s happening inside, emotions or whatever. He’s so deadpan about everything ever. 

I think the reason he keeps his bangs that way is a sensory thing tbh. Or, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was actively trying to hide his face, his eyes that he can never get to emote right. Maybe he doesn’t like being looked at, or noticed. Maybe it ties in with his devil contract, ink clouds are for hiding + to blind, after all. Ooh maybe something about that is his contract cost- That’d be epic.

His smile is a constant rather than a way to communicate something. Masking. It’s always just plastered on along with his shallow pleasant countenance, it feels almost like a survival tactic, or his state of being. He’s almost beastly sometimes, in part 1 mostly. Like idk how to explain it but the autistic experience of “Masking & emoting for social interactions is my token of survival even if I feel like an animal backed into a corner” is raw and real & f yeah. This bit may seem out of left-field, but yeah if Hirofumi has some internal turmoil I feel like that sort of shit is how he’d go

He has this almost obsession with being casual & appearing friendly, despite how misplaced it can be for the situation. Which does tie in with the smile thing. But yeah just in this pleasant demeanor we’ve discussed, he really does stand out with just how friendly and casual he always is

He’s so tonedeaf. The page below is just after it’s revealed to them that some assassins are after the guy he’s protecting (Denji) and that they can shapeshift. He’s smiling even as he’s saying that they’re in deep, deep shit. This page doesn’t show it well on its own, but he’s the first to recover his composure, esp with Denji half-dead. Beyond Power being Power, everyone is like 😨 Yoshida stands out with his reaction, which goes straight to the point and assess their situation logically all while smiling, but more on that later.

He’s constantly saying grave stuff while being pretty lighthearted. His nonchalant attitude would be comedic if this wasn’t an horror & tragedy manga lol. He just admitted that he’s ready to die & expects it and what, just like that, one sentence and cool let’s get onto the next topic. It is interesting how he acted during the aquarium arc crisis tbh. He truly has no desire to connect with other people, even in this conversation with Denji he’s talking business all through it, rather than anything else. He doesn’t approach or interact with the others, doesn’t give his input on the situation when the group is brainstorming. He just stays in his corner and observes from afar.

Logic-oriented, coldness and laser focus

His rigidly logical nature is actually somewhat of a flaw for him. His rationale makes him make mistakes, such as assuming a pro would never puke. It’s also why he attempts to use reason and logic with Denji so much, which becomes quickly apparent that it doesn’t work with him. This attitude/way of looking at things backfires on him regularly, as mentioned. This is what I mean by laser focus, mostly, because he has a hard time looking beyond a narrow field of possibilities and causal links, like we already discussed. Once it leaves that field he becomes blind to it, he’s so laser focused that not only does he not consider any possibility beyond what his logic tells him, but if something presents itself that doesn’t align with his logic he’ll promptly dismiss it, in a very erratic way.

He’s obviously very very dedicated to his job. He has for sure trained to have his martial arts skills, and he spends pretty much all his time in part 2 looking over Denji. Being part of the background is part of his job, and he has 0 friends. And he’s fine with it. He’s SO good at hiding his emotions and thoughts, because he keeps the same face 90% of the time.

Money is his motivation, we know this. As much as we can know something about him right now, anyways. I wouldn’t be surprised if he does have some ideological devotion for his job’s mission, but he talks about is as his job first of all, and, yeah, money.

I think there’s also something you can say about how it feels like he’s always one step ahead or playing a higher game when holding conversations with people. Which, I think it’s also important to not that that’s only a feeling, and that doesn’t mean that that’s what he’s doing, or rather, intending. Usually, what he says is only ever to inform or figure out something. Anyways- The only time I feel like this is less true, that he’s constantly blatantly playing games in his conversations, is with the convo above with Kishibe. They’re both super honest and blunt, laying all their cards on the table and speaking with a similar demeanor of cold nonchalance. He speaks matter-of-factly, objectively, without empathy, no matter the topic. No matter the topic. Ever. He calculates risks and rewards constantly and only reveals he’s made those maths when he feels like it (Like with the phone he had in the aquarium arc). Anyways, My point here is just that autistic kids tend to get along better with older people than other kids, the classic “oh you’re so mature for your age”, and I feel like that’s reflected well here. The reason of why that is is pretty simple, autistic kids tend to communicate in ways that are different to other kids and which can weird them out, while adults are more used to different kinds of people and more blunt or wordy conversations. It’s Kishibe’s logical outlook and assessment of situations that allow him to keep up with what Hirofumi’s saying instead of being weirded out here, and they have a good & productive conversation as equals because of it. 

I do think that’s a big part of the appeal of yoshiden, because Denji disregards social conventions and common sense so much that even Yoshida gets stumped sometimes, and it makes him feel more like a highschooler, makes him lose control of the situation and even his face for a bit. It’s healthy for him. And it’s fun on top of humanizing this otherwise cryptic character.

As we’ve seen, surprise is the only emotion he emotes other than his smile (neutrality not included). That’s actually a pretty huge thing!! It does confirm on some level that his smile is a constant that he has to put on, since surprise is the only thing that breaks it and makes him emote more genuinely. Look I made a collage lol. These are 100% of the times where he’s not either smiling or having a neutral face. Like… A dozen panels. I think there’s something to say about surprise being the one emotion he emotes and how he can be rather impulsive, too.

He’s very methodical, the way he interacts with people. With Denji especially, we could see him in real time trying to get a read on Denji. He eventually does, learning to provide what Denji wants so he’ll listen to him more.

——

Misc

At last, the most compelling argument /j: HE SITS FUCKIN’ WEIRD!! In the pic below part of it is that they have to be ready to stand up at any moment to fight, but! He also always crosses his legs when sitting, and I think that’s a lovely detail Fujimoto, and also yeah same. Ofc leg-crossing isn’t exclusive to neurodivergent people, but ways people sit can be surprisingly affected by stuff like being understimulated. I always sit cross-legged, I cannot sit normally without some other way to tuck my legs if I don’t have them crossed, or my brain goes blank. I am not kidding. 

ANYWAYS HE SITS FUCKIN WEIRD!! Doing the big lean, look at him go

Also he holds phones like L Lawliet which is really all the evidence you need lol

In conclusion

Have you *seen* the way he just sits and tries to psychanalyze Denji, asking him why he does the things he does? Have you seen a more autistic bitch ever? He oozes the autism in every little thing he does. Honestly I’m surprised there aren’t more people saying the same thing when it’s so blatant. Once you get to a certain threshold of masking and avoiding attention people don’t suspect a thing. I was diagnosed at 18 and my mom at 50, so yeah, relatable lol. I love him so much

Part 1 Yoshida is a lil fella on the job being weird but trying his best and minding his business. Part 2 Yoshida is a deadpan but fake smile master who autistically struggle to connect with people in a way that allows him to do his job well. He’s creepy and uncanny af without meaning to. 

My autism is the direct reason that attracts me to him, rather than aesthetics or anything else, if that makes sense. (I’m not saying that any reason is superior, just that since my autism is what draws me to him as a character it is an argument for him being autistic coded, in that way). I humanize him a lot, and he humanizes me in turn.

#chainsaw man #hirofumi yoshida #yoshida hirofumi #csm manga spoilers #character analysis #Theories #i spent like 5 hours on this help #hirofumi has fumi in his name so ofc he has my heart #csm part 2 #fumi rambles #autistic headcanon #autism headcanon #this is kinda hard to clean up but i did my best