According to a report from the free speech organization PEN America, the manga Assassination Classroom has been removed from public school libraries over 50 times due to its mature content and extremely violent themes.
Assassination Classroom banned at least 50 times in US school libraries
The rise of Japanese manga in the US has brought challenges that the education system is taking seriously. Leading the wave of scrutiny is Assassination Classroom, a classic shonen manga that ran successfully from 2012 to 2016 in Weekly Shonen Jump, followed by a popular anime adaptation.
The story of Assassination Classroom is simple yet shocking: a group of students is tasked with the difficult mission of assassinating their superpowered alien teacher, Koro-sensei, or risk the destruction of Earth. True to its premise, the manga includes extreme violence as the children devise ruthless strategies to kill their teacher.
The story’s gripping appeal helped the manga spread widely through public school libraries, but it has also drawn sharp criticism across schools in the US.
According to a PEN America report released on October 5, Assassination Classroom was banned at least 54 times in public school libraries during the 2024-2025 school year. Alongside other popular titles like Attack on Titan, Black Clover, and Jujutsu Kaisen, it has been permanently removed from some school libraries.
The manga has faced strong backlash from school administrators and parents who condemn its R-rated themes as inappropriate for children under 18.
Schools across the US, including Pennridge School District in Pennsylvania, Oak Ridge School in Tennessee, Nacogdoches Independent School District in Texas, and Rutherford County School in Tennessee, have all removed the manga from their libraries.
A masterpiece manga, but for the right audience
PEN America, which has documented over 6,800 book bans across 23 states, notes that the removal of Assassination Classroom is not driven by social prejudice but is a deliberate effort to protect young readers from sensitive themes.
After all, manga and anime often boldly explore complex and violent topics that are not always suitable for younger audiences. Therefore, it is important for authorities to carefully evaluate these works to ensure they reach the appropriate readers.