Florida School Removes Assassination Classroom Manga

Three books in Yusei Matsui’s comedy manga Assassination Classroom series have been removed from a Florida school’s library after pressure from a conservative advocacy group. Jennifer Pippin, chair of the Indian River County chapter of Moms for Liberty, challenged the book’s presence in Gifford Middle School’s library because of the depiction of students wielding firearms. “We don’t want students to think it’s OK to kill their teachers,” she was quoted as saying in a USA Today story. [Thanks, USA Today!]

Assassination Classroom follows a class of middle schoolers being taught by an alien, who they must assassinate within a year to save the earth. The series inspired two animated films, a live action film, a mobile game and two 3DS games. It is published in North America by Viz, with the anime adaptation on Crunchyroll. It also appeared on Cartoon Network’s Toonami.

Pippin also challenged a graphic novel adaptation of the diary of Anne Frank, which was then removed from nearby Vero Beach High School. Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation, adapted by Ari Folman and illustrated by David Polonsky, was criticized for “sexually explicit” illustrations and for “minimalising the Holocaust.” Other books on Frank, including her original diary, remain available in the school.

The Assassination Classroom manga is published in North America by Viz, while the anime adaptation is available on Hulu and Crunchyroll.