Assassination Classroom is one of the more popular anime and manga series in recent years, receiving praise for its unique concept, action scenes, artwork, and comedy. The manga follows a class of middle school students who are deemed “failures” and their goal is to assassinate their teacher, Koro-sensei, who is really a super-powered alien, by the end of that academic year.
However, it seems like not everybody is on board with Assassination Classroom, at least when it comes to its presence in school libraries. Books getting banned is not a new thing, of course, and neither is censorship in books, and attention is squarely focused on certain manga with Assassination Classroom being at the forefront this time.
Where was Assassination Classroom banned?
Assassination Classroom has been banned in schools in the states of Florida and Wisconsin, which is a direct result of having received complaints from certain parties, whether they be concerned parents or advocacy groups. Gifford Middle School in eastern Florida removed the series from its school library in March of 2023 following complaints while The Elmbrook School District in southeastern Wisconsin removed the series from its online library.
As per Jennifer Pippin, chair of the Indian River County chapter of Moms for Liberty, the manga was unsuitable for children, especially in light of the school shootings across the country. She also said, “We don’t want students to think it’s OK to kill their teachers”.
Another group in Florida called the Citizens Defending Freedom also raised concerns over Assassination Classroom, with their National Communications Director Kristen Huber saying:
“We should all be able to agree that violence toward teachers and explicit sexual content is not something that schools should be glorifying or promoting, especially on taxpayer dollars.”
The Elmbrook School District in southeastern Wisconsin only added the book in the 2021 – 2022 academic year, yet it also faced challenges in the form of complaints from parents with particular reference to gun violence and teachers.
The popular manga is also facing challenges in other states across the USA, such as North Carolina.
Which other manga could face similar challenges?
Assassination Classroom is seemingly being targeted and facing the ire of parents and other groups owing to its depiction of guns in a middle school setting, which is a concern in the country right now after several prominent mass shootings. But it’s far from the only series that is violent, with two famous and popular manga, Attack on Titan and Chainsaw Man being much more gory, bloody, and violent.
However, it doesn’t seem like the two manga are in immediate danger, with fans of Chainsaw Man in particular being concerned for a time. That, though, turned out to be a false alarm, as it was just a lightheaded tweet by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Death Note is another manga that has faced these problems in the past, with the mystery suspense thriller going through several of the same issues in the 2000s and 2010s.
Source: Anime News Network
