Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny! in Anime & Manga.
- Alice Fuji from Arachnid has a condition named "Congenital Excessive Concentration" that makes her overfocused on random things and lose track of everything else. With some unspecified training, though, it becomes a Disability Superpower that improves her learning skills and gives her Super-Reflexes.
- Rightly or wrongly, Azumanga Daioh is sometimes used to illustrate the difference between ADHD (Tomo, Genki Girl Jerkass extraordinaire) and ADD (Osaka, Cloudcuckoolander extraordinaire).
- Sakura, an ill girl from Betterman. Her canon ADHD is only referred to once, but it's a severe case, and she receives heavy, heavy medication for it. Also, while she can be considered a Cloudcuckoolander, she's a thoroughly creepy and tragic Nightmare Fuel Station Attendant.
- The villain Princess Buburina from Catnapped! is easily distracted by shiny objects and Chu Chu distracts her at one point by dangling a toy on a string in front of her, slightly justified because she's a cat.
- Excel of the Excel♡Saga anime is this every second she's on screen, & can't even focus when she's talking, twisting her lightning fast sentences into twisting paths of unrelated subjects. In a meta sense, her poor English VA Jessica Calvello, herself diagnosed with ADD, ended up damaging her vocal cords by Episode 14 because she couldn't keep it up.
- The main children in Hanamaru Kindergarten see their attempts to follow Tsuchi during his day off hampered by their kindergartener attention spans. After the trio is distracted by a toy machine, a cat, and a panda-cat poster, Hiiragi decides that perhaps kindergarteners shouldn't be detectives.
- Hell Teacher Nube: "Tremble before Baki, the Supreme Oni sealed in Nube's left hand that has been loosed upon the human world! With but a wave of his hand, this Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever gigantic, blood-red demon will incinerate the city and there is no-one with the power to stop h— OH MY GOD did that man just cut a can with a Ginsu knife? How did he do that? Whee, the kiddy train at the park looks fun, I wanna ride it! One, two, one, two! Aerobics is fun! Wh-what is this... slinky? Can I eat it? Look, Minki! The man with the animal balloons made me a giraffe, yay!" Then again, if Minki is hurt in any way, Baki will become fiercely focused and absolutely nothing will distract him from annihilating the offender.
- From Hyouka, Episode 12 has Chitanda, who has been tasked with asking the Student Council President to allow the Classic Literature Club to have an additional booth for the Cultural Festival. However, she just can't seem to make it there without being drawn in by all the various activities around her.
- The iDOLM@STER. Hibiki stops in the middle of her swimming race with Makoto to catch a fish.
- Cocoa of Is the Order a Rabbit? is very easily distracted. In episode 9, she goes to the park to help look for Aoyama's lost fountain pen. She looks under a bench without any luck. Later when she spots a rabbit, she chases after it, completely forgetting about looking for the pen. In episode 10, she starts spouting off prime numbers. She gets into the thousands, then turns her head, notices a picture album, and gets distracted by that. Sharo wonders how she gets so easily distracted.
- Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple: "Renka has a habit of chasing moving objects!"
- In Kill la Kill, Mrs. Mankanshoku keeps getting distracted by Mikisugi's shiny purple crotch glow, on several occasions. Her daughter Mako is much worse, getting mostly distracted by food.
- Yui Hirasawa from K-On! tends to get very easily distracted, especially by things that she considers cute (such as dogs). This is prominently displayed in episode 8 when she proves immune to nerves after finding a 100 yen coin on stage right before the Light Music Club's concert.
- Hanako from Massugu ni Ikou is scattered-brained and gets distracted easily. She is a dog, after all, and Kishu have a high prey drive.
- Miyako from Hidamari Sketch is quite hyperactive and prone to distractions around her. Despite this, she is shown to be the smartest and most artistically talented of the main characters.
- Catarina tends to zone out during conversations in My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!, which tends to result in her gaining siblings, fiancees and destroying absolutely any dignity she had been showing off until that point. And then she forgets and does it again the next day.
- Myriad Colors Phantom World: Haruhiko has a tendency to get distracted and go on tangents when talking. For example, when he meets Reina and is fascinated by her ability to eat Phantoms, he runs up to greet her, then out of nowhere starts comparing her to a manticore and then talks about an author for a work about a manticore, confusing the poor girl. Ruru angrily smacks him and yells at him to quit going on tangents.
- Naruto: Naruto is shown to be this. From the beginning of the series, he shows some clear signs of having ADHD. He even earned the nickname, "hyperactive knucklehead ninja."
- Shinobu of Ninja Nonsense has a great one of these in the first episode.Shinobu: I passed the exam! Your panties gave me a high mark!
Kaede: I'm happy for you.
Shinobu: Yes. Thank you very much. A kitty! (wanders off) - Yu Touma from Q.E.D., which, in a rare case, is not played for laughs. To clarify, as a little girl she was unknowingly responsible for their beloved family dog getting out of the house and getting run over because she was supposed to shut the door but got distracted. Many years later, while visiting her older brother Sou, she finally realises what had happened and breaks down in tears.
- Ramen Fighter Miki:
- Miki literally cannot focus on making deliveries without being distracted by helping stray dogs, beating Bit-Part Bad Guys or chasing insects.
- Kayahara Sensei seems to take her responsibilities as a teacher and a Bully Hunter seriously until she gets her Trademark Favorite Food and then forgets everything else.
- Ranma ½:
- Hinako Ninomiya is both hyperactive and easily distracted, especially in child form. This certainly doesn't help in her job as an English teacher, the students frequently taking advantage of her distractions. She's more focused as an adult, but if she stays too long this way she starts reverting to her childish behavior.
- Happōsai is one of the series' most powerful martial artists, and the man responsible for teaching Hinako Ninomiya her draining technique. However, he's such a Dirty Old Man that he can easily be distracted with an exposed cleavage or some woman's underwear, something that Ranma has exploited on more than one occasion.
- Suzu from RIN-NE is a prime example of this. Special mention goes to when she took part in an obstacle course race filled with many cat toys alongside other black cats. All of them fell for the trap and started playing with the toys instead of advancing, except for Oboro, whose owner, Ageha, is filthy rich so he doesn't care for cheap toys (but he does get disqualified for exiting the course). Suzu, however, arrived first by a wide margin. Why? Her attention span is so short that she quickly becomes bored with the current toy and moves to the next one, eventually reaching the finish line.
- Usagi from Sailor Moon often gets easily distracted when trying to accomplish important tasks. Especially if it involves either food or boys.
- Hotaru from Samurai Deeper Kyo has a fairly realistic display of ADD, but it's played for laughs in the way that the people around him react to him. He comes off as a mix between Cloudcuckoolander and Obfuscating Stupidity.
- In Sonic X, Sonic spends a lot of the time he isn't running around lying on rooftops and snoozing, yet goes utterly insane when cooped up on a ship for ten days and nights. This may be because he's somewhat aquaphobic and can't swim.
- The Harpies of 12 Beast are highly excitable, curious, and very energetic, but never remember for more than five minutes — or less, really. Poster Girl Aero is a (partial) subversion. This is a common trait of harpies in Okayado's works. See also the other Aero from Deadline Summoner and Papi from Monster Musume.
- All of Yes! Pretty Cure 5 — the entire series, as well as its Oddly Named Sequel — happens because Nozomi gets distracted one morning before school and chases a passing butterfly. In a later episode, she displayed more realistic ADHD symptoms. ADHD was never explicitly mentioned, but much like Cosmo, the intention was clear.
- The five-year-old titular character of Yotsuba&!, from the same author of Azumanga, being the cheerful hyperactive cloudcuckoolander she is, also has her moments.Fuuka: (After explaining to Yotsuba about how everyone has two sets of grandparents) Understand?Yotsuba: (Pointing out to the side) Ah! A bus!
- Yuzuko and Yukari from Yuyushiki are prone to this, often talking about one thing, then immediately switching the subject when another topic comes up.
