Autos used to be more expensive/less efficient. Called "slush boxes". Great for wide open american highways. Manuals used to just be the base option, its why they're called a "Standard transmission" to older folks.

Europe maintained manuals because they used to provide better fuel economy because you'd get two more gears and optimize yourself rather than letting hydraulic valve computers figure it out. The main crowd for autos in europe were older folks or disabled folks, so manuals maintained popularity as a signal you weren't old.

Additionally, if you like machines, mechanics, operating machines and contraptions, etc, the manual transmission is very enjoyable.

It's hard to explain to someone who's already apathetic about cars/mechanical things but there's a deeply satisfying sensation with feeling the engine connected to the wheels through the controls. Need to pass a truck kicking up rocks? clutch-in, blip of gas, shift down, catch the revs before they fall, clutch-out, gas down.

It's a ritual basically, few rituals make sense. Personally i love controlling the machine and getting better at controlling it.

I don't get the video-game controller ad-on. Nerds like to say EVs don't need transmissions due to instant torque but its BS and electric motors have efficiency ranges just like gas motors. You can attach a traditional manual transmission to an electric motor and operate it nearly exactly the same. The efficiency difference would be equivalent to a roof rack causing drag.