Assassination Classroom Manga Banned From U.S. School Libraries Over 50 Times in 2024-2025, Among Others Bans

The report recorded each individual volume ban as an instance, but in some cases, the banning of the entire 21-volume series was listed as a single instance. School districts in Florida, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Texas, and South Carolina have banned the manga, which is included amongst other banned books, as the disturbing trend in public schools continues. Other manga on the list of public schools’ bans from 2024-2025 include Attack on Titan, Bleach, Dragon Ball, Hunter X Hunter, Jujutsu Kaisen, Naruto, One Piece, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, and Soul Eater, among others. 

The Assassination Classroom manga, rated T for Teens, tells the story of a class of middle school students who are tasked with assassinating their homeroom teacher (an apparent alien with superpowers) by the end of the school year before it destroys Earth. The manga ran in Weekly Shonen Jump from 2012 to 2016, and received an animated adaptation in 2015, which ran for two seasons. 

In each instance of the manga’s ban, the school received complaints from parents or groups regarding the series’ content. In one instance in South Carolina, the Horry County school district removed Assassination Classroom after the mother of a ninth grader complained to the district regarding the manga’s content. The mother cited “handguns, rifles, knives, and potions” being depicted in the manga’s pages, and that the story “talks about killing in the pages.” 

Book banning in public schools continues to be a serious issue in the United States, extending far beyond just manga. PEN America’s report states that “national and local groups touting extreme conservative views have played on parents’ fears and anxieties to exert ideological control over public education across the United States,” and that these acts of censorship have trended into “a full-blown attack on public schools and democracy.” As bans like these continue to be normalized, it is important to remember that such censorship is indicative of larger issues, like how the current presidential administration is attempting to dismantle public education, while limiting and attacking students’ rights.