One South Carolina county has pulled the manga Assassination Classroom from school libraries following a parental complaint.
Jennifer Hannigan of Horry County complained to the school district after her ninth grade daughter had checked out the book Assassination Classroom from the school library. The series from creator Yusei Matsui features a classroom taught by an alien that challenges his students to kill him or else he will destroy the world.
The series is no stranger to controversy in the US after it had been banned in a New York school district back in 2019; and more recently a Florida school district challenged the book in 2023 at the behest of Moms For Liberty.
Complaints from parents and activists tend to focus on the aspect of killing a teacher, ignoring the fact that the teacher is an alien allegedly planning on destroying the world. Ms. Hannigan went on to make similar claims: “They’re talking about the operative on how they’re going to kill this teacher, and different ways to kill the teacher.”
Assassination Classroom has been a popular series among middle and high school aged students ever since it came to Cartoon Network’s Toonami block a few years ago. The series is also readily available in stores like Barnes & Noble. The manga is licensed in English by Viz.
It’s worth mentioning that the book is suggested for ages 14-17 according to retailer Barnes & Noble.