Not here to claim all people with autism of whatever level or form have the same experiences and not claiming I am an expert. Mostly will be discussing my own experiences and how it shaped my anime and manga fandom.
Online Communities
Everyone almost always asks IRL if I go to conventions. Answers for the neurotypical person is something like a quick no and there’s too many people. I do not think I am someone that would appear to be a party goer so I think an anime convention would be over the top. Some people call it over stimulation, but for me I have always found describing why difficult. Talking to someone about fandom is fine and online even better. Forums, blogs, and the like you can search for something of your taste and reply when you want or not at all. I would say Discord or Twitter but such platforms are devoid of actual discussion.
Expressions
Emotions of others and how to interact is a learning experience for those on the spectrum. Lots of trial and error with some frustration. Anyone reading this that is new or casual has noticed the visual style of eyes and facial expressions are exaggerated. Then even so for characters that do not show much, as it is pushed and made clear.
Stye and Personality
Depending on the anime there are just certain characters I admire for being loud with their hair, arrogance, clothing, or just literally loud. Maybe like Laharl in Disgaea or so. Characters in an anime would have their hair more styled and intentional with something to make what they are wearing stand out like a hoodie with dangling things. I want that and have made adjustments, but now I am just snarky. Sometimes I otherwise find characters relatable like an expert that can go on and on about their expertise. Then other times it just might be they are reserved personality, social deviations or awkwardness.
Honor and friendship are common and many stories are based entirely around what they mean and how important they are. It is wonderful to think there are people out there that do not have wishy-washy honor. They are predictable easy to understand traits and relationships to go by. Also, some characters like things…like their mech friend.
Its Own World and Rules
Would be nice to worry about catching Pokemon in life or having a world with a set of rules that are more forgiving or fluid for each person. Anime and manga are an escape with simpler worlds where people are just themselves.
As always I am a heavily casual writer, so much what I wrote about might appear condensed. There are several things I have subtly dropped in this article that is common among those that are high functioning or Asperger’s, but would be more easily picked up on or understood by them. To me I am just normal trying to explain that I might not be in some aspects.