On the subject of auto fluid in a manual tranny, which has been somewhat passed over, since it is the minor issue right now, Toyota actually sent out the early MKI's with auto fluid in them.
You won't find much info on this, but there are Toyota reference bulletins regarding it.
I first found out about it after the first tranny oil change on an
'85 MKIa I bought new.
The oil was red in color and didn't smell like normal tranny fluid.
I had it done at a dealer and they also noted the difference, with one of them suspecting it was auto fluid.
I did some checking with a parts counter person afterwards, and sure enough they found one or two reference bulletins about it.
Honestly, the car never shifted quite as smoothly again after I started using standard tranny fluid, but I never found an auto fluid that worked all that well either, so I gave up on it, as the BGB references standard oil.